I'm a King's x fan(atic) and have some pretty strong convictions as to the recording qualities/problems of their entire canon, so..... 1. OOTSP---very 80's sounding, they did the best they could do at the time 2. Gretchen---definite improvement over OOTSP 3. FHL----pretty bad. very sterile, too clean 4. S/T---very good. ESPECIALLY my coveted vinyl copy. 5. Dogman--I love it. Compressed, yes, but very visceral. 6. Ear Candy----Too compressed for me. But I've never heard the drums sound better. 7. Tape Head---this is when it starts getting out of hand, with the compression, the muddiness, the hazy highs, the inarticulate lows. 8. PCHMB---No complaints here. I really thought things were going to take a turn for the better recording-wise when this first came out, but I was wrong 9. MM---really, quite, bad. I hear dropouts, crazy compression, boosted highs and lows. The music is growing on me, in spite of the butchering production-wise.
Like I could resist this thread... Production-wise, Dogman is my favorite. I've always thought the first 4 sounded lean. I also like Ear Candy from a production standpoint. The Metal Blade era albums have been criticized for sloppy production from the beginning. The theory goes that Ty has way too many irons in the fire. The guy will have ***5*** albums out between 9/01 and 6/02! (Manic Moonlight, The Jelly Jam, Safety, his ambient album, Jughead) Keep in mind that he is generally writing, singing, playing, mixing, mastering, producing, and doing the cover art for the albums he plays on. In the meantime, KX is doing a 3 leg tour for MM and Ty is currently doing guitar clinincs in Asia. Whew! I know all too well that KX fans (in general) do NOT take kindly to constructive criticism. Tim, do you have Jelly Jam? Did you see my thread about the digital crud on it?
Do you think it's worse than MM, because that one's a difficult listen for me. I did read a section about Ty's recording studio, where he explains his (misguided) approach to recording.
Jelly Jam The problem is that I essentially can't stand MM, so I haven't listened to it much. Far and away the worst album they've ever done, IMO. On Jelly Jam, the songwriting is really strong, but the production sucks. Because I've played it more, I'm sure I've noticed more flaws with it. Check out these mp3s for an idea: http://sector7g.org/mp3/I Cant Help You.mp3 http://sector7g.org/mp3/JJ_crud.mp3
I'll be seeing them live in about two months! I've been a fan since the first album (haven't bothered with the last two or three).
First time or frequent flyer? I saw them twice in March of this year. They're still one of the best bands around live.
