OK. What's your WORST sounding CD.

[DPM]

I figured--since we're on the subject of sound quality--why not discuss those sonic monsters in our collections. Here's a few of mine.

1) KISS/Alive!--Exciting show, but terrible sound.
2) Iggy Pop/Raw Power--I know it's punk, but come on.
3) Deep Purple/In Rock--Too many chefs...
4) Hampton Grease Band/Music To Eat--Low budget for sure.
5) Allan Holdsworth/I.O.U.--Recorded on a barge and it shows.
6) Rainbow/Down To Earth--...and into the toilet soundwise.
7) Rush/Vapor Trails
8) Black Sabbath/Technical Ecstasy--Not likely.
9) Gryphon/Raindance
10) Rick Derringer/Spring Fever--(brings migraine)

Dave M

[Dusty Chalk]

I don't remember the name of it, but I have this one industrial noise-fest that sounds like it was mastered on bookshelf speakers that have no bass, and they cranked up the bass so that they sound like floorstanders. There is no turning this down enough. Starts with an es...

[progfan]

Too many to list! I agree with Rush's Vapor Trails. The sound of Iron Maiden's Death of Death is just awful; the mix is really bad.

All in all I think CDs have gotten better over the years, but here's an interesting exception-Jethro Tull's Aqualung. When that one came out on CD back in the mid eighties, it was a notorious example of a bad CD transfer. I don't think the 1997 remaster does much to correct it outside of reducing the level of hiss. It still sounds like a flat recording to my ears.

[N. Abstentia]

I definitely agree with Vapor Trails and Dance Of Death. Two CD's full of good songs ruined. I can't listen to them at all.

Jeez other than those I can't think of any right now!

[skewiff]

ruined by absolute crap mix and recording.

Eat it .............Humble Pie

Stevie Marriott ruined this great album by insisting he mix it at his home studio.

On vinyl the 4 sides are all mixed different, on cd it's all over the place.

This is one of my all time faves, buggered up by drugs.

God bless you Sevie.

Tony

[mad rhetorik]

2) Iggy Pop/Raw Power--I know it's punk, but come on.

Totally agree--that is, if you're talking about the Iggy-supervised remix/remaster. Pushing EVERYTHING into the red does not a remaster make. It sounds like shit, even compared to the way-muted Bowie mix.

However, a good percentage of the music I enjoy listening to has pretty lo-fi production--sometimes budget-related, sometimes intentional.

Here's a few discs I own or have heard that have poor sound quality (quality of sound does not equate to quality of music):

Nirvana: In Utero
Actually, Steve Albini's raw recording quality does a lot to enhance this. It rocks out with a trebly, intense fury. Same goes with the Pixies' Surfer Rosa, though that's not quite as harsh. I also have a Big Black comp that sounds like it was recorded in a closet, but that's the Albini touch. Either you dig his calculated anti-production or it offends your ears.

Velvet Underground: White Light/White Heat
The harsh, bootleg-like sound also benefits this album. "Sister Ray" would sound way less intense if it were recorded well.

Pearl Jam: Seattle 11/6/2000
Great show, awful recording quality. Vedder's voice is pushed so far back into the mix you can barely make out what he's saying.

High On Fire: The Art Of Self-Defense
Heavy, heavy, heavy, and recorded quite lo-fi, which only adds to the heaviness.

Cave-In: Antenna
This album suffers from the modern fallacy of making everything LOUD through compression. It gets on my nerves.

Sonic Youth: Confusion Is Sex/Kill Yr. Idols
On the scale of abrasiveness this album probably ranks something like a 9. Ear-bleedin' noisy no-wave rock with production to match.

The White Stripes: De Stijl
Garage rock that actually sounds like it was recorded in a garage.

I'm sure there are more, but can't remember at the moment.

[tentoze]

I figured--since we're on the subject of sound quality--why not discuss those sonic monsters in our collections.

Only 2 jump out in my dim memory right now, although I'm sure I could add several more with a little thought put into it:

Volunteers, Jefferson Airplane- I waited anxiously for the original cd release of Volunteers, and when it finally came out, I played it once and was AGHAST at the sound quality. I think I may have tried a 2nd spin but never made it all the way through. Disgraceful. No idea if any subsequent remasters were done that helped; I decided to stick to original vinyl and never looked.

Veedon Fleece, V. Morrison- Again, the first cd version- simply dreadful. Sounds like it was done under water. I would hope the remasters of Van's stuff several years ago helped, but again, I reverted to the vinyl and didn't gamble again.

[Swish]

[QUOTE=[I]mad rhetorik]Totally agree--that is, if you're talking about the Iggy-supervised remix/remaster. Pushing EVERYTHING into the red does not a remaster make. It sounds like shit, even compared to the way-muted Bowie mix. [/I]

I fell for the "remastered" version of Raw Power and you're correct, it does sound like shit! I can't believe how bad it is, considering that pretty much all the other remastered cds I've heard are considerably better than the original, which is the obvious point of remastering.

Swish

[dld]

Best Ofs and Live albums s/b off limits for a thread about worst sounding albums. My top two, in no particular order:

Best Of ELO. Simply dreadful. Whoever was responsible for this absolutely killed the music. Steve Hoffman remasters are known for putting the breath of life into music, here, someone sucked it right out of these songs that, if memory serves me well, were fairly well recorded initially.

Neil Young, Decade. Another "Best Of" collection of great music rendered mostly lifleless again. What happened to the bass?

NP- Police live 2CD. This is no slouch. Very alive with many energetic moments.

[-Jar-]

Nirvana: In Utero
Actually, Steve Albini's raw recording quality does a lot to enhance this. It rocks out with a trebly, intense fury. Same goes with the Pixies' Surfer Rosa, though that's not quite as harsh. I also have a Big Black comp that sounds like it was recorded in a closet, but that's the Albini touch. Either you dig his calculated anti-production or it offends your ears.

Sonic Youth: Confusion Is Sex/Kill Yr. Idols
On the scale of abrasiveness this album probably ranks something like a 9. Ear-bleedin' noisy no-wave rock with production to match.

.

re: Nirvana.. and Albini in general.. I really enjoy his recordings for the most part.. a couple of his early productions are pretty harsh though.. Failure's COMFORT and the Dazzling Killmen's DIG OUT THE SWITCH. The next Killmen album.. FACE OF COLLAPSE actually has a little atmosphere.. if you can imagine that.

As for CONFUSION IS SEX.. yea.. man.. BAD MOON RISING and EVOL sound downright lush compared to CONFUSION.. even their first ep sounds better..

Some would say that Husker Du's ZEN ARCADE and NEW DAY RISING are horrible recordings.. but I can't imagine them sounding any different. As for CANDY APPLE GREY and WAREHOUSE: SONGS AND STORIES.. I sometimes wish they would have put a little more effort (or money) into the recordings..

-jar

[DPM]

All in all I think CDs have gotten better over the years, but here's an interesting exception-Jethro Tull's Aqualung. When that one came out on CD back in the mid eighties, it was a notorious example of a bad CD transfer. I don't think the 1997 remaster does much to correct it outside of reducing the level of hiss. It still sounds like a flat recording to my ears.

I have owned six different versions of Aqualung. I still have two of them--the DCC gold disk that was mastered by Steve Hoffman from Ian Anderson's personal master, and the Mobile Fidelity vinyl I've owned for over two decades now. Both sound different from each other, but neither of them are going to win any awards. However, they are the best versions I know of sonically speaking.

The fact is the original mix is to blame. Aqualung was recorded in a studio that had either just been constructed or had been totally redesigned. Anyway, the sound coming back to the band via the studio monitors was not the sound going onto the tape. Hence, the flat sound with anemic bass. The only possible fix is a remix. (Hopefully, in SACD or DVD Audio.)

Dave M

[3-LockBox]

I was so disappointed with the sound on a couple of Genesis remasters, barely any difference from the first issues on CD.

Kansas Monolith- Both Leftoverture and POKR sounded better on first CD issue, why did the production value take such a drastic dip on this one?

Just about any new mainstream recording is way over compressed.

Any re-re-remaster of Ozzy's '80s redux with new drum and bass parts pasted in...OK, I don't really care if the bass and drums are different for his early '80s releases, but why oh why did they squash the dynamics like they did for these? They sound like sh!t. They are compressed all to hell.

Blue Oyster Cult Fire Of Unknown Origin- Have they ever remastered this release? Likely not to matter since I'm not impressed with the sonics of the other remasteres from this band. Great album, but the bass is nonexistent, and the guitars tinny as hell.

Yes Relayer- The fact that the playback on 'Sound Chaser' is sped up in the final mix makes absolutely no sense. When slowed down a tad, it sounds way better and is actually musical. But still, the remaster sounds like crap compared to Yes' early non-remastered releases. And it seemed to stay like that until Drama.

[3-LockBox]

Best Ofs and Live albums s/b off limits for a thread about worst sounding albums.

I remember getting the best of Kansas on tape, then on CD and they just ruined every song from the '70s, adding echo and screwing with the playback speed ('Song For America is a full minute shorter and it isn't edited or a different version). Hearing the actual albums on vinyl or CD was such a revelation to my ears. ZZ Top did the same thing to 'La Grange' and other '70s hits on their '92 release, Greatest Hits CD. And the ZZ Top Six-Pack is an abomination.

[Worf101]

Some of those early Motown remasters to CD are absolutely worthless... whew. In a rush to get money from their catalogue they really put out some chite. Luckily things have gotten better. As for individual albums.

1. "Urban Renewal" - Tower of Power - No mids, little bass, sounds like it was recorded in a trash can. Live cuts of the same songs or the Rhino remasters of the same songs are marvelous.

2. "Gonna take a Miracle" - Laura Nyro - How Gamble and Huff could let this album out like this in it's original form is beyond me. I love this album despite its flaws but the distortion on some of the vocals and the total lack of bass on some tracks made it maddening. The remaster was done perfectly and worth every single penny.

3. "War Live" - War - Phew... I wish they'd never done that one.

4. "Can't Buy a Thrill", "Countdown to Ecstacy" & "Katy Lied" - Steely Dan - Masterful albums, great work... VERY uneven production. Some cuts sound like they were recorded in a phone booth.

Well that's all that jumps to mind right off the top... Later...

Da Worfster

[Dave_G]

I agree with the comments on the Tull album, but the DCC one sounds pretty good.

A few old school Deep Purple titles sound like crapola.

In general if a title sounds like crud to me I don't keep it.

Dave

[Jim Clark]

I've got this dreadful best of Kiss CD that has the worst sound I've ever come across. All of my Kiss stuff is on vinyl and of course these things are ancient anyway so I figured this was a much better idea than rebuying all of the CDs up till Love Gun. Wrongo. Unlistenable.

Siouxsie CD's all seem to have the most prevalent tape hiss out of any CDs that I have. This is one band that have been waiting for reissues to come out for. While they seem in the most dire need they obviously aren't forthcoming anytime soon. I don't usually get real excited about remasters but here I will make an exception.

jc

[Javier]

Yes beyond and before early recordings comp that sound very cramped ( but thats the way producers intended to be.
Agreed on Tull's aqualung just plain lifeless
Same go to Genesis nursery crime and tresspas first cd editions.

[dld]

I need to correct my post and its too late to use the edit feature. Best Of ELO is actually pretty well recorded. I meant, Ole Elo. That one (another Best Of collection) is a complete stinker.