Songs or albums that annoy you due to poor mixing or mastering.

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Rad Dudeski, Apr 21, 2018.

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  1. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    The stereo version of this album must have been mixed by Helen Keller...

    [​IMG]
     
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  2. Odieman

    Odieman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Saskatchewan
    Two words (and an abbreviation) Husker Du-SST
     
  3. kippyy

    kippyy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oakland,CA,USA
    Blue and Lonsome-Rolling Stones

    Impossible to crank cause it’s so compressed
     
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  4. idleracer

    idleracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    :kilroy: There's stuff in the middle, and stuff over to the right, but nothing on the left. I don't think Mickey Most every really understood what stereo was all about:

     
  5. Nostaljack

    Nostaljack Resident R&B enthusiast

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    This is a comfy old chestnut. One more time since it seems to get missed more often than not:

    Mixing/mastering engineers generally do not make mixing decisions. Either artists, producers, or a combination of both make those decisions.

    Ed
     
  6. AppleCorp3

    AppleCorp3 Forum Resident

    Fleetwood Mac's "Without You" - as someone on another thread describes it, it's like Lindsey is playing the guitar with a cheese grater. The same goes for Mary Chapin Carpenter's "This Shirt" which is so bright and sounds like it's going to blow right into the read...but the highs are still so brittle.

    Finally - just about anything Lou Adler produced for Carole King or the Mama's and the Papas. Brilliant material, but awful sounding. Like, "someone should have caught that," awful.
     
  7. InStepWithTheStars

    InStepWithTheStars It's a miracle, let it alter you

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Yeah, you've got something there...
     
  8. bmh5879

    bmh5879 Forum Resident

    Location:
    SoCal
    All Oasis as mentioned. All Springsteen post The Rising.
     
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  9. gss

    gss Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    “Something/Anything” by Todd Rundgren?

    Am I alone on this? Played the Bearsville ‎– 2BX 2066 Goldisc Pressing on LP last week and was really disappointed.

    No breathing room, a little harsh. Great music, great album, but...
     
  10. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Check out the SACD by Analog Spark. It was Mastered by Kevin Gray.
     
  11. captainsolo

    captainsolo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Murfreesboro, TN
    Accelerate is somewhat saved by the LP.

    The worst for me is Zeitgeist-Smashing Pumpkins. Super loud but great musically and then has the worst overmixed vocals ever that criminally ruins many tracks that would have been fine. This is made even worse by the extreme loudness. Of their entire career this is the one album of the Pumpkins that truly needs a remaster.
     
  12. Malcolm Crowne

    Malcolm Crowne Forum Habitue

    Location:
    Portland OR
    here's the two I first thought of, both these lp's are in my line of sight right now funny enough:

    Bat Out Of Hell --- way too midrangy, especially vexing considering the over the top Phil Spectorish production concept. Should be full on hi fi, but isn't :(

    Mothership Connection -- also kind of middy but maybe it shouldn't be hi fi I'm just wishing it was...."the desired effect is what you get" ... including the sonic flavor of a big plastic tape deck being carried on somebody's shoulder!
     
  13. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Janet Jackson- Number Ones. Great song selection, awful brick walling! Totally unlistenable because of it.
     
  14. Gavman

    Gavman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grimsby. UK
    It would be easy to pick multiple albums based on mastering. Yet if we are talking of a less than perfect mix that would be found on all formats (pre loudness war):

    U2. The Unforgettable Fire, Great songs, muddy mix lacking in clarity. That weird vocal distortion you get on vocals when you sing loudly.

    Guns N Roses. Use your Illusion 1 & 2. Bad mix on most songs, Slash with his big rock sounding guitar, Izzy with his played through a practice amp sounding guitar, Matt's super boomy drum sound,
    Metallica ... And justice for all (see 5 million other threads for details)

    All great albums that I can happily listen too. It's just slightly annoying they have not given the same treatment at the mixing stage as other albums in these artists catalogue. See: U2 - Boy Or October, Appetite for Destruction, The Black Album(Metallica). All great clear mixes to my ears.
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2018
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  15. Doctor Fine

    Doctor Fine "So Hip It Would Blister Your Brain"

    I detest the Beatles Boxed Set in Stereo.
    The bass on a lot of it is ridiculously boomy.
    Some idiot ruined the "circus barker effect" of Paul singing from a high spot panned to the side opening "Sgt Pepper."
    Placing him smack in the middle (the most boring place) simply made no sense musically.
    The treble is all rolled off probably (I'm guessing of course) due to the fact that Abbey Road is festooned with nasty sounding B&W 802 monitors which tear the top of your head off.
    I don't know what the "experts" have for a stereo but after all the rave reviews all I can do is hold my bleeding ears and moan...
     
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  16. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Personally I have no problem at all with a “poor” mix or a compressed mastering if that is what the artist intended from the outset. I do object to post hoc remixing and reissues with crushed dynamics, even if the artist has a hand in it, as they usually do. When I buy a reissue it’s to get the original release as it was heard at the time; it’s supposed to be a reissue not a reconception.
     
  17. Gavman

    Gavman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grimsby. UK
    I listened to the MFIT version recently: it sounds fairly good to me. I suspect the compression on The Soft Bulletin is added at the recording and or/mixing stage. It's far better than the MFIT of 'At War With The Mystics' now that is a complete contradiction to the so called 'Mastered For iTunes' standards. Average DR 4!
     
  18. vudicus

    vudicus Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Ron Wood - Gimme Some Neck.
    Fantastic album with an abysmal mix, especially the god awful drum sound.
     
  19. The vinyl recording is a loud mess. I had it shelved for years and when I had some visitors over I wanted to share a song with them on it. It was kind of embarrassing how bad the record sounded. I'll probably look for the MFIT at some point in the future. Thanks for letting me know.
     
  20. Which version? The first CD sounds fairly good a little less dynamic than I would ha e hoped.
     
  21. JoeF.

    JoeF. Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    Joe Jackson's Look Sharp ! is an album I used to listen to a lot because the songs were great. But the production is thin and lifeless and when I hear "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" on the radio, I'm wondering if it's in mono.
     
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  22. I honestly have a hard time listening to Oasis. It’s an assault on the senses and not enjoyable. I can listen to one or two songs but that’s about it at a time.
     
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  23. Gavman

    Gavman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grimsby. UK
    The DR values for the MFIT don't appear to be published on the Dynamic Range Database, I can only see an itunes version stated as 'not showing as mastered for itunes' in the comment section. With a copyright 2009 date.
    The MFIT is still a loud compressed sounding album, Yet I find it a pretty nice listen. I use a pair of Koss Ur55 headphones on my amp (made even more open back by my removing the grills and cloth cover beneath). These headphones make compressed albums I own (which is not many!) fairly relaxed sounding. I don't know what the MFIT will sound like on your personal equipment, but I prefer it to the cd version on my system.
    The Itunes release includes the track 'The Spiderbite Song' that is not on my CD version: the CD has a song called 'Slow Motion' not on the MFIT.
     
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2018
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  24. mr. steak

    mr. steak Forum Resident

    Location:
    chandler az
    What a great song with horrible 90's compression/loudness. This version is unlistenable. I have a another version not brickwalled to the point of clipped distortion that I can sit through.

     
  25. Solitaire1

    Solitaire1 Carpenters Fan

    The Righteous Brothers Greatest Hits (the Verve CD)

    One of my longest-held CDs, but one that I don't really listen to because it just doesn't sound that good to me. It sounds very muddy and dull to my ears. It is possible that it is the way the music itself was recorded could be a factor because when I've heard the music from other sources (such as radio) it seems to be similar in sound to the way it is on my CD.
     
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