Albums with outstanding production

[Bob Drake]

I’m not a musician and I’ve never set foot in a recording studio, so someone might set me right here - but I always thought that good production was less about sonic fidelity and more about maximizing the players and the compositions to achieve a certain ‘vision’.
Am I far off?

You are absolutely right in my opinion.

[JJ88]

^No, I absolutely get where you're coming from. I love the old mono Sun, Chess*, Motown and Phil Spector records; in no way are they anywhere near 'audiophile' level but they all have distinct sonic signatures as they are anyway. It's hard to imagine anyone claiming 'if only they'd sounded better' with these...their specific sound is an intrinsic part of the whole.

Some of the early Cliff Richard and The Shadows records sound marvellous. Indeed, their early albums received very early stereo mixes (Cliff Sings, Me And My Shadows, The Shadows' eponymous debut) of a quality very unusual for pop/rock acts of the late 50s/early 60s. For some reason the recording quality of later Cliff/Shadows songs/albums got worse, not better!

(*At least, not Chess in the 50s. By the 60s they were recording for stereo and folding down- The Rolling Stones' recordings in Chess are by far and away the best sounding of their early period. Their earliest UK recordings (the first album and EP in particular) are downright hopeless on a technical level!)

[sergio]

material selection and ability to perform up to a certain level is paramount, but recording/engineering tech level (sonic fidelity) is key. Pink Floyd-Animals would have benefited in that aspect (as an example). I take it, the question is 'who would you choose to record/produce your own material'... hypothetically speaking!

[moecurlythanu]

I think the OP was looking for albums with exceptional sonic qualities, and we're getting lost in the weeds of semantics.

Imagine that.

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

I think the OP was looking for albums with exceptional sonic qualities, and we're getting lost in the weeds of semantics.

Imagine that.

word!

I still say that the debut UK album and RTF's RW are the finest produced albums in all progdom

[MJBrady]

Names like Bernie Grundman, Bob Katz, Neil Kernon, Tommy Vicari, Bob Clearmountain,Skip Drinkwater, Jerry Smith, are some names of engineers/producer/mix experts that have graced many of my favorite sounding records.
I agree with the previous poster who mentioned the CMP label, also DMP records, Chesky, GRP, Telarc, Sheffield Labs are all record labels that strive for sonic excellence, there are others, however your music tastes may have to be open for the styles of music that are featured.

[DoubleDrummer]

First and foremost, I will certainly agree with MT that RTF's ROMANTIC WARRIOR is in a class by itself.
To a lesser degree, I also love the debut UK along with a few others mentioned here -- Crime of the Century, Abbey Road, Aja, Trilogy, Tales of Mystery & Imagination, Brother to Brother, Operation Mindcrime, Hysteria, and The Ladder.

A few others:

Revolver -- The Beatles
Rumours -- Fleetwood Mac
Hotel California -- Eagles
Wish You Were Here/The Division Bell -- Pink Floyd
Scenes From a Memory -- DT
Overnight Sensation -- Zappa
The Seventh House/Dark Matter/Frequency/The Road of Bones -- IQ
Blow By Blow -- jeff Beck
New York Reunion -- McCoy Tyner
OSI (debut) -- OSI
In Absentia/Deadwing -- Porky Tree
Switched On Bach -- W. Carlos
Magnification -- Yes
Boston -- Boston
A Night at the Opera -- Queen
A Trick of the Tail -- Genesis
Breakfast in America -- Supertramp
Toto IV -- Toto
Tumbleweed Connection/Goodbye Yellow Brick Road -- EJ
World Sinfonia -- Al DiMeola
Harvest -- Neil Young
The Original Soundtrack -- 10CC
Faith Hope Love -- Kings X
Whos Next -- Who
Birds of Fire -- Mahavishnu Orchestra
Greatest Hits -- The Cars
Ah Via Musicom -- Eric Johnson
Night & Day -- Joe Jackson
Dozens more I can't remember at this moment -- did I mention ROMANTIC WARRIOR ?

[Tom]

RTF's RW

I had to write a query to figure out WTF RTF's RW was. PE should have a glossary somewhere.

[moecurlythanu]

did I mention ROMANTIC WARRIOR ?

I don't think so.

[Yellow Jester]

Here are some of my favorite albums that I feel had outstanding production;

The Beatles-Rubber Soul thru Abbey Road
Earth, Wind & Fire-That's The Way Of The World thru Raise!
Yes-The Yes Album thru Relayer (except Yessongs)
King Crimson-Larks' Tongues In Aspic thru Red
Pink Floyd-The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here & The Wall
Gentle Giant-Octopus, The Power And The Glory & Free Hand
Emerson, Lake & Palmer-Brain Salad Surgery
Stevie Wonder-Music Of My Mind thru Songs In The Key Of Life
Weather Report-Mysterious Traveler thru Heavy Weather
Steely Dan-Pretzel Logic thru Aja
Genesis-A Trick Of The Tale & Wind And Wuthering
Donald Fagen-The Nightfly
Rush-Moving Pictures & Clockwork Angels

[dfan]

Mr. Bungle's California was already mentioned.
Here Come The Warm Jets is my gold standard. I hear something new every time I listen.
I don't know that the production is objectively so great, but I love the hot sweaty organic sound of Absolutely Free.

[zombywoof]

Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Oh yeah!!

[zombywoof]

As for albums with "outstanding production", I can't even start to list any because I like the production and engineering on SO many, there are so many...and can equally appreciate and enjoy shoddy or problematic production or inept engineering.

Agree with this sentiment 100%. Production is my instrument so it's something I value quite a bit. While I appreciate the sound and cleanliness of Aja; it's not the kind of album I really gravitate toward in the sound department. There are quite a few albums with lesser production I actually like the sound of much better.

[zombywoof]

I’m not a musician and I’ve never set foot in a recording studio, so someone might set me right here - but I always thought that good production was less about sonic fidelity and more about maximizing the players and the compositions to achieve a certain ‘vision’. That could mean sonic fidelity, if that’s what the producer thought would best further the material, but it could also mean being deliberately muddy or muffled if that’s the sound that best realized the players/comps.

Am I far off?

Not in the least. This is exactly how I see it.

Overly pristine recordings are in danger of sounding too sterilized - sometimes some stank adds to the feel and humanity.

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

sometimes some stank adds to the feel and humanity.

ah!

Soft Machine - Third
Tony Williams' Lifetime - Emergency

[rickmoraz]

my top 2

Return To Forever - Romantic Warrior
UK - UK

Absolutely Utterly, with the former representing the absolute height in perfection of conveying sound to the listener: UK is brilliant as well. Bruford's crisp drum rolls echo in my head days after listening to In the Dead of Night

Ed

[Tom]

While I appreciate the sound and cleanliness of Aja; it's not the kind of album I really gravitate toward in the sound department. There are quite a few albums with lesser production I actually like the sound of much better.

'Cause they are less boring!

[miamiscot]

XTC Apple Venus

[Plasmatopia]

Yeah, I don't think I've heard anything by Rundgren in the 70s which was anywhere near audiophile. And bear in mind how long some albums were- A Wizard A True Star, ...Utopia, Initiation. Would presumably have been murder to fit on the record!

One of the biggest (negative) factors for me on the Utopia albums is the drum sound. Almost every Utopia album has the weirdest, clunkiest drum sounds. At least on Oblivion they were going for such a strange, atypical sound palette that it's hard to fault the drums because they seem to work well with the rest of the instrumentation. So while I love Todd/Utopia, I don't quite get the praise for his production work. Bat Out Of Hell sounds better than most of Todd's '70s production on his own material, IMO.

[Lino]

Lucifer's Friend - Banquet

[Plasmatopia]

One album I really love the production on is District 97's "The Trouble With Machines". Besides the material being really well recorded, it's got a nice dynamic mastering. Their other two albums aren't terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but "Trouble" (to my ears) strikes the perfect balance of all the various elements.

Viljans Öga is another one that I really like.

I know there are some albums I really love that have less than stellar production and yet seem to work perfectly...hmmmm....I'd have to say that several Blue Oyster Cult albums fall into that category for me.

[Kcrimso]

Present: High Infidelity

What a power and dynamics this recording have!

[Udi Koomran]

Present: High Infidelity What a power and dynamics this recording have!

Glad you like it
The Japanese editions sound better then the original

[chalkpie]

Speaking of Udester, Ahvak displayed a pristine, killer production with clarity and depth. The acoustic percussion comes off brilliantly too. The mixture of band and computer sequencer is seamless.

[Jerjo]

I find that jazz albums are a good fallback for system demos because of the sound clarity. I was never fond of Flim & the BBs' soft jazz but yikes, the sound was just stunning. I haven't seen Rick Landwehr around here for a while but that little combo he was in, Tamamdua, had a fantastic sounding album. It was proof you didn't need an expensive studio or big label to come up with exquisite sound.