ELO< "Eldorado", "Face the music" mediocre recordings?

I have owned both of these in several media and versions, but in the end, simply find both to be not all that great sounding overall.

To sum up, they both seem to have weak bass, especially deep bass lacking, and a very cardboard sounding boost of the upper bass sounds.

Kinda thin and weak, but not with great clarity either.

What is odd, "on the third day" seems to better both rather easily, although it is not perfect either.

"Out of the blue" Seems to fix most of the bass issues, and has good clarity, but a boosted top end.

I know it is not just mastering, as it seems more to be part of the original recordings.

Moody blues "Days of future passed" sounds fantastic in comparison, using a similar style of music.

It has clarity galore, deep bass, and very good overall sound.

Why was ELO recorded so badly?

 

Gee I'll have to go back and listen again....I have the remastered CD's from a few years ago and I thought they sounded good. But, what do I know, I am no audiophile by any means.

 

Why was ________ recorded so badly?

I wish I had a nickel for every situation where this question was valid.

 

I listened to Face The Music a few weeks ago and thought it sounded pretty good.

Mark

 

I always thought OOTB sounded worse off (mushy), recording wise

 

My first Canadian LP press of Eldorado sounds fine. I do not have it on digital.

 

These albums sound great to me. The JET Columbia pressings are better and quieter than any of the UA pressings here in the States.

 

I think Eldorado has a peculiar sound; it sounds orchestral and at the same time quite dry. I had the recording on vinyl years ago and now on DCC and despite it's eccentrentic production it sounds fine to me; on my system it sounds it could have a bit more low end, but not thin or weak at all!

 

I just don't agree.

 

I agree, the drum sound was so compressed even up to my fav A New World Record, maybe because of the large amount of overdubs the sound quality dropped? Maybe?

 

I can agree on the low end part..it could have been a little more pronounced.

 

For "Eldorado", the best sounding CD is the DCC gold. I think there's one for sale right now in the classifieds.

 

Compression is a specific and intended sound from Lynn and ELO. Just their style.

 

I have the original 1974 Eldorado and I always thought it sounded pretty good.

 

I agree re: Third Day; a great-sounding album. Sort of an updated "white album" production æsthetic. Startlingly dry (for the most part), with great separation. Back in the day I was somewhat let down by the sonics of the ELO albums which immediately followed.

 

My UK pressings of the first eight albums sound great on my system. No better or worse than the first UK of Days Of Future Passed.

 

I think both UK CDs sound ok.
ELO used a lot of analogue looping and dubbing to obtain their wall of sound, as a lot of bands did in the 60's and 70s.
When band members get too involved in the recording and mastering process this tends to happen. No point in looking for the multitrack's either.

 

Okay guys, not saying they sound overall bad, but certain elements "Within" each song, seem to be lacking at times.

So its not a mastering issue so much, but "How it was mixed" etc, type of issue.

I will give a specific examplex of songs that to me are a let down sonically.

From Eldorado,

Overture.............Okay Not bad overall, not perfect, but hey
Cant get it out of my head..............Not bad also, a bit lacking in clarity, and deep bass
Boy blue.......Orchestra part pretty good, band part thin and light sounding, but also a bit lacking in clarity............
Laredo...............Very thin, production just does not appeal to me. ...orchestra parts good though
Poor Boy........Bit lacking in clarity, muffled, and lacking deep bass
Mister Kingdom..ehh okay, but lacking bass overall
Nobody's child...Not bad overall, orchestra part pretty decent.
Illusions...............Just thin and weak, although maybe intentional to create a sound.
Eldorado.....>This one I like the production and sound pretty much overall.
Finale Not bad, but a bit muffled sonically.


I guess overall, in comparison to my Moody Blues "Days of future passed", it just feels to be lacking in air, clarity, maybe deep bass on some songs.

Sonically not what I would call an audiophile masterpiece at all, but I feel it is in how the vocals are done, the drums are very cardboard box sounding at times and overall, it lacks deep bass on most songs below 45 hz or so.

 

Third day to me sounds very good. Clear open vocals without all the reverb and muck, drums that are tight and solid sounding, and some deep bass overall.

Not perfect either, but an improvement over Face the music, and Eldorado to me

ELO II is also bad sounding to me overall. A mucky mess sonically at times.

ELO "No answer" overall fairly good to me.

What bothers me, is when they were "The Move", the sonics were actually Better except on the first Move album.

 

I think I simply do not like "How" they recorded several parts of many of their albums.

The vocals, drums, etc, just simply pale compared to the "Sound" I tend to like.

Huge ELO and MOVE fan here, but always was a bit let down by the sound and production.


"Dawn is a feeling", is almost perfection to me sound wise, at least for 60's and 70's stuff.

The more you crank it, the better it sounds. Cymbals and percussion are airy bell like and clear, vocals immediate and very clear, bass strong and punchy etc.

Part around 2;50 mark very clean and clear, great image etc.

This recording could be used to show off Imaging, clarity and really good overall sound~!!

 

ELO's albums have that kind of AM radio sound to them, but I think that's what they were going for. It does has a certain charm to it.
As for Days of Future Passed, that is probably one of the earliest examples of an "audiophile" recording, still stands up well today.

 

Shazam used to show up as a hifi demo disc. A killer album, musically and sonically. And yeah, a few of the early Moodies albums are breathtaking. Depth, tone and an inky-black background (thinking of some tracks on Threshold…)