Albums with the best production - Music - Forums : Best Ever Albums

indieshins

Age: 27

I really love great production on an album - when it really adds something to the overall experience, when you can notice new details on later listens. With that in mind, I want to know what your favourite albums are in regards to production. While I like layered production, please feel free to recommend or discuss albums that fit your own tastes.

Additionally, I'd like to open the floor to discuss the role production can have in a listening experience. For example, What does it add? Should it be noticeable? Is an album being "over-produced" necessarily a bad thing? What are some of your favourite production moments on an album (Discuss the classics and/or any personal favourites)?

I realise this has been done before, but not in a while. So thought I'd re-post. Give me your recommendations and thoughts!

Tap

to resume download

Gender: Female

Age: 40

As far as I'm concerned, everything that falls under production is a part of the songwriting, a crucial part of what the song is and does. So I'd put a lot of my favorites up in the best production category. One that I thing is pretty agreeable is Sung Tongs

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Sung Tongs by Animal Collective

Like all the field recordings and layers and layers of guitar, voice and percussion, it's a feast for the ears.

indieshins

Age: 27

Tap wrote:

As far as I'm concerned, everything that falls under production is a part of the songwriting, a crucial part of what the song is and does. So I'd put a lot of my favorites up in the best production category. One that I thing is pretty agreeable is Sung Tongs

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Sung Tongs by Animal Collective

Like all the field recordings and layers and layers of guitar, voice and percussion, it's a feast for the ears.

I'd agree with that. Which is why I completely understand bands taking their time to figure out how to play their really elaborate studio stuff live. Because if the productions great, then the song wouldn't be the same without it.

I really need to check out more AnCo, so thanks for that. I will probably put some headphones on and give this a spin some time soon

bobbyb5

Gender: Male

Location: New York

Production can mean everything or it can mean nothing. I wish I knew more about music technically, so i could talk about it more intelligently. But i think what im really talking about is engineering more than producing. I find that the one thing that makes me love a record is the way it actually SOUNDS. I think most people judge a record by its content. The lyrics, the intentions of the artist, how meaningful it is. But i find that most records i love almost have zero content or unspectacular content. So I can only assume that what I love about these records is just how pleasing they sound to me. It could be just the way the bass and the drums were recorded or engineered that makes all the difference. For example, some of my favorite albums are disco albums which content-wise are absolutely horrible, but the way they sound is absolutely spectacular. In other words, it's the way they were produced or engineered that makes them attractive to me. But on the other hand there are albums that were absolutely horribly produced and sound absolutely awful, but the songwriting or some other part of the content is so spectacular that you can overlook the horrible production. So in that way, production can mean everything or it can mean nothing.

bobbyb5

Gender: Male

Location: New York

This is my Top 10 Best Produced and/or Best Engineered and/or Best Recorded. (Because I'm not really sure which of these three things is responsible for making it sound so good)

Aja. Steely Dan
Nilsson Schmilsson. Harry Nilsson
Abbey Road. Beatles
Goodbye Country, Hello Nightclub. Groove Armada
Tapestry. Carole King
Dark Side of the Moon. Pink Floyd
Come With Us. Chemical Brothers
Talk Talk Talk. Psychedelic Furs
Transformer. Lou Reed
USA-European Connection. Come Into My Heart
Risque. Chic
No Secrets. Carly Simon
Oblivion. Orb
Richard D. James Album. Aphex Twin
Homework. Daft Punk

craola

crayon master

Location: pdx

Tap wrote:

As far as I'm concerned, everything that falls under production is a part of the songwriting, a crucial part of what the song is and does. So I'd put a lot of my favorites up in the best production category. One that I thing is pretty agreeable is Sung Tongs

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Sung Tongs by Animal Collective

Like all the field recordings and layers and layers of guitar, voice and percussion, it's a feast for the ears.

this is a very interesting selection. i agree with the philosophy behind your choice, but i'll have to think on the nomination here.... i certainly like the statement it makes.

productionally, i'm a pretty big fan of:

but it's a way hell of a lot easier to produce instrumental music ESP electronic music reliant on sampling. for production including "live recording" that blows my mind, i'd turn to:

this is based more on my own desires as a producer, recognizing there's a lot to be learned from these records. in the past, i've gleaned a lot from these albums:

ETA: OK i'm relistening to Sung Tongs for the first time since Centipede Hz came out, and i forgot how incredible this album is, and i fully endorse your nomination. the production makes this album.
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bobbyb5

Gender: Male

Location: New York

Heres a couple more fantastically produced rock albums, Sonically-wise.

Boston. Boston
Tusk and Rumours. Fleetwood Mac

Tha1ChiefRocka

Fratt Sinapp

Location: Ohio

Here are some of my favorite albums period;

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Loveless by My Bloody Valentine

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Chill Out by The KLF

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Since I Left You by The Avalanches

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Uncle Meat by The Mothers of Invention

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Chairs Missing by Wire

Naked City by John Zorn

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Disco Volante by Mr. Bungle

These are just off the top of my head.

EDIT: Ha, I just looked at your top albums and saw both Zorn and Bungle on there. Good man!

glynspsa

Gender: Male

Age: 53

2001- Dr. Dre
My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts- Byrne/Eno
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band- The beatles
Wish You Were Here- Pink Floyd
Madvillany-Madvillan
Musicology-Prince
and an unbelievable live recording the unplugged Jay Z album. Jays voice is crisp and clean and ?Questlove's drums shine so bright. All the instruments come through crisp and clean a gorgeous live record.

Hayden

Location: Vietnam

bobbyb5 wrote:

Aja. Steely Dan

For a high school class I watched a behind-the-scenes explanation to the production of this album, and it was actually quite impressive. Over-the-top, but impressive. There was one key sound-altering trick that I still use to this day in my music. Def recommend. I think I actually preferred the doc to the album (not too big on Steely Dan).

Anyway, these recent albums have stuck out. Glimmers of elements that really make me go 'wow, how did they make it sound like that?'

D'Angelo - Black Messiah
Jlin - Dark Energy & Black Origami
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel
Autre Ne Veut - Anxiety
Frank Ocean - Blonde
FKA Twigs - LP1
Andy Stott - Luxury Problems
Yves Tumor - Serpent Music
Holly Herndon - Movement
Archy Marshall - A New Place 2 Drown
Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here
Arca - Pretty much anything
Portishead - Third
Scott Walker - Bish Bosch
Madvillainy, Donuts, Mm... Food, etc...
Burial - Untrue
SOPHIE - Product
Most of PC Music (not all... but like, the majority)
Anything by Colin Stetson, Joanna Newsom, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Bjork, Beach House, James Blake and Erykah Badu.
Plenty more.

Won't both going into anything pre-2000's at the moment, but maybe I will eventually.