Best engineered LP/CD in your collection:

[musiclawyer]

.....I mean in terms of just sound quality, not clever tricks of sampling or overdubbing etc.

My choice, The Cars and follow-up Candy-O
I listend to them after many years of not, on a good system finally, and you could hear EVERYTHING-- every hit on each component of the drum; every clap of the hand, even some claps where someone clapped not real clean. And eveything was balanced, and not too much compression, if any, because it's not incredibly loud unless you want it to be.

I know some of you will cite Boston 1 etc. but I think that album was over-engineered--two much doubling of guitars, too much wall of sound.

I also exclude 10CC sheet music--a true masterpiece of engineering skill by Eric Stewart, but sound-wise, just above average.

Have at it.

[leftofthedial]

1. Robert Johnson

or maybe Jimmy Rodgers

original recordings

[Lethe]

16. huh?

Robert Johnson was never recorded in any good way? Some white guy held a mic up to his guitar, and that was about it?

:shrug:

[Bennyboy]

17. The way it should be.....

The old single mic days!

[leftofthedial]

19. him, his guitar, one microphone

spawnedthree generations of guitar players so far.

[mitchum]

26. And Johnson played facing the corner, not because he was shy (which is a ridiculous...

notion), but because such a configurtion emphasized the mids of his guitar.
I remember when Ry Cooder figured out the reasoning behind that detail several years ago

[leftofthedial]

33. yep.

you gotta play the room too.

[JuniperLea]

2. Electric Light Orchestra... El Dorado

I agree on Candy-O... Love that album. It's what I call "High Fidelity"... not sure such a thing exists anymore.

My grandfather built stereos from scratch... all but the turntables. All tubes too! He did this well into the 80's, then tubes were very expensive and very hard for him to find. I grew up on high fidelity sound... the man was an audiophile like I've never seen since. Today's recordings don't hold a candle. I guess that's why we had to go back so far to find good sound?

[JuniperLea]

3. PS - did you listen from vinyl?

'Cuz vinyl still rules... CD's can't compete at all.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

4. AJA, of course.

So pristine you could test sound equipment with it, and I think some do.

[Fire Walk With Me]

5. Beatles, Steely Dan, many things by Flood, and a couple of the Depeche Modes

are pretty darn good.

Of course, Pink Floyd, The Who, etc. Bob Clearmountain and Bruce Swedien aren't any slouches, nor is George Massenburg.

Are we allowed to mention classical recordings? Some vintage EMI, some Deutsche Grammophone, some Telarc, etc.

[Lethe]

14. i 2nd Depeche Mode

they must have had great studio engineering and/or effects back in the early days...

Take a listen to Violator....a lot of the samples they use sound like some 1980's casio reject when listened to the individual sound of the sample, but if you don't actually pay attention the track sounds wonderful. (and not at all dated)

edit: also compare their newest album with Violator.....it sounds like they recorded it on a laptop in their bedroom, Violator sounds like a masterpiece of sound.

[DaDooRonRon]

6. Anything on 200 gram "heavy vinyl"

Take a listen to any of the Creedence stuff - it will knock yer socks off.

Of course, the Reference Standard for any true audiophile or music geek is Jennifer Warnes's "Famous Blue Raincoat" - but you probably knew that.

Didn't you? :)

[JCMach1]

24. I have Peter Gabriel's first solo effort on heavy vinyl and I agree

with that assessment...

[leeroysphitz]

7. Liz Phair, Whitechocolatespaceegg N/T

[laconicsax]

8. I have a couple.

Maria Schneider Orchestra - Sky Blue. Phenomenal sound quality, every last detail is audible but not intrusive. Listening to it is like being immersed in the sound.

[DaDooRonRon]

9. Good grief - somebody KNOWS that CD?

It just came out of the CD player about an hour ago. I never thought anyone could write more challenging big band charts than Bob Florence or Carla Bley until I heard her. She is astounding.

[laconicsax]

15. You should check out her other stuff too.

She's been setting the pace for a while now.

[flvegan]

10. Engineering? Gotta go with "Paul's Boutique" by the Beastie Boys

That was brilliant shit from end to end.

[Forkboy]

34. A lot of that had to do with the Dust Brothers involvement.

I think it's still the B-Boys best one, and I like all their stuff quite a bit. The feel throughout Paul's Boutique is classic.

[flvegan]

37. Without the Dust Bros it wouldn't have been close to the same.

It was also DJ Hurricane's debut with the BBoys.

[johnnie]

11. There's a few

But one that instantly comes to mind is AC/DC's "Highway to Hell". I don't know who engineered it, but I think George Young produced it. The first time I heard it I couldn't believe what a great sound that the drums had on them. Not one of my favorite albums of all-time, but the sound of that record knocked me out.

There are many others that I have spent countless hours on trying to figure out what they did to get certain sounds, but Geoff Emerick is one of the best engineers that recorded music has ever seen in my opinion.

[supernova]

12. Besides all the new stuff, Dire Straits

Their records are amazing. Sounds like they are sitting in the same room with you, just jammin' away.

[swag]

13. Not my favorite record,

but probably Fugazi "Repeater," engineered by Don Zientara.

Sounds so clean.

[RandomKoolzip]

21. Good choice. Shudder to Think's "Pony Express Record" comes close, too.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

18. Tangerine Dream

Granted, Edgar Froese CAN get a bit repetitive now and again, but everything he does is sheer genius on EVERY level.

I'm listening to 'em now. I have almost their entire collection.

[enigmatic]

20. "Metal Machine Music"- Lou Reed

And I'm only half-kidding...

[harmonicon]

28. have you heard the "cover" version?

The idea seemed horrible to me, until I actually heard it. Lou Reed must like it well enough, since he also plays on it.... This guy, Ulrich Kieger, by name, made an arrangement of the whole album for a live ensemble. It's very very cool.

[enigmatic]

44. whoa!

No I haven't, but I'm looking for it right now. Thanks for this!

[harmonicon]

46. here's a link to it on amazon

<http://www.amazon.com/Metal-Machine-Music-Lou-Reed/dp/B000RXYU42/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1202727988&sr=8-2>

[lildreamer316]

22. This dj's list:

Toto - Falling In Between (anything by them really)
Van Halen - Balance
Queensryche - Empire
Alan Parsons Project - Games People Play
Mike & The Mechanics
Chicago - 17
Eric Clapton - Pilgrim
Ace of Base - Signs
Enigma - MCMXC A.D.
Bruce Hornsby & The Range - The Way It Is

just off top of head atm.

[JCMach1]

23. Roger Waters- Pro's and Con's of Hitchiking

Eric Clapton and David Sanborn on this... You can hear EVERYTHING... Also was engineered with that 3-D recording technology for vinyl.

A highly underrated album

[Oeditpus Rex]

25. 'The Wall'

[seemunkee]

27. Vinyl - Dark Side of the Moon, CD- Brian Eno Another Day on Earth

DSOM is one of the best selling best produced albums ever

I was amazed at how clean the sound was on Another Day on Earth. Eno always knew what he was doing in the studio but this CD really caught me by surprised when I first played it. It can make even mediocre stereo systems sound good.

[harmonicon]

29. depends what you mean

I personally like really shitty sounds. I have when producing stuff of my own done things such as recording drum machine onto cassette and then playing that back through a boombox and recording that with a shitty microphone. In that sense, I really like the first few velvet underground albums - especially the 3rd album.

On the other extreme, I'd say it would be the 1980s recording of Bach's "Goldberg Variations" by Glenn Gould.

Somewhere in between I'd place any late-period My Bloody Valentine, from the two post-strawberry wine EPs through Loveless.

[Fire Walk With Me]

35. Thumbsup.

Engineering is not always just about cleanliness and clarity, but about compelling results. Which is why I listen to music, because it moves me in some manner.

Technically speaking, one of the most beloved instruments of the 20th century, the Mellotron (strawberry fields, court of the crimson king), is a total loss. Emotionally, it is a true winner.

[harmonicon]

40. mellotrons rule

I also should have added everything from early factory records days - I can't think of the producer's name right now though.... the guy who produced all of the joy division albums - the production on those is completely brilliant, but totally weird.

[mitchum]

48. Martin Hannett was indeed a genius

I steal from him with impunity

[quip]

53. Which is why the Alan Parsons Project is my fav band.

He and Eric Woolfson were an unbelievably talented pair!

[bbernardini]

30. Kevin Gilbert's "The Shaming Of The True"

A particularly admirable feat when you consider the album was put together after he died, so some tracks were based solely on piano/vocal scratch recordings, etc.

[AngryAmish]

31. Pixies - Surfer Rosa

I just like Steve Albini's sound and the quiet/loud stuff.

[mitchum]

32. T Edison's "Mary Had A Little Lamb"...

it set new standards for recording

[midnight armadillo]

36. Dark Side of the Moon

'nuff said.

Other really good ones, let's see... I have a John Williams CD (classical guitar) that's quite beautifully done.

Bela Fleck's "Tales of the Acoustic Planet" is well done as well.

[quip]

52. YES! Engineered by Alan Parsons

[Tikki]

38. "Electric Music For The Mind and Body"....Country Joe and The Fish....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ds5ErXQdAg
Tikki

[midnight armadillo]

39. Tales of the Iron Mountain by Tony Levin

I forgot about this one. It's a binaural recording done (with the recording engineer wearing microphones on his ears) inside of an old mine in NY State. Totally awesome, musically and engineering-wise.

[Drum]

45. I agree!

Actually, it was on a visit to Portugal when someone turned me on to this album. I've not heard anyone else mention it until now, 8years later! Great soundscape, this one. :thumbsup:

:hi:

[Twillig]

41. Van Halen I

Best damn guitar sound ever. (Well, since Hendrix.)

Each album is different, Eddie's the same, but the sound ain't the same.

Van Halen I is magic.

[Burma Jones]

42. The classic audiophile darling - The Casino Royale (1967) Soundtrack - also

Rough Mix by Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane

Beethoven Ninth Symphony, John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique

I also have an old Angel LP. long out of print, of Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. martin in the Field doing Harpsichord Concerti by Haydn and one of JS Bach's sons that is also very well recorded.

[JeffR]

43. Who's Next (The Who), Dead Cities (FSOL), Tabernakel (Jan Akkerman)

and Abbey Road (Oasis, if I remember right).

[SKKY]

47. I'm gonna have to go with...

Nine Inch Nails - "The Downward Spiral" (Trent simultaneously screaming and whispering on "Heresy" still gives me goosebumps and unlike some NIN albums, it doesn't seem "Overdone")
Depeche Mode - "Violator" (From top to bottom, easily their best album from a craftsmanship standpoint. Plus, it just sounds fantastic.)
The Police - "Synchronicity" (Sting's best vocal performances, IMHO)
Jarabe de Palo - "La Flaca" (This album is good, top to bottom, in every way, shape, and form. It's on every "best of" list I can think of.)

[Phillycat]

49. Michael Jackson, "Thriller".

[bif]

50. Bjork's "Vespertine" listened through headphones

It's truly astounding. The sound is absolutely 360. You feel as if you were sitting in the middle of a choir. The mixing is unbelievable. The sound comes from every direction. Even if you don't like Bjork, it's worth listening to just for the production values.

[Dukkha]

51. Roxy Music - Avalon SACD my system test disc

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon MFSL Gold CD
U2 - The Joshua tree anniversary edition 180 gram LP
Joy Division - Closer 180 gram LP
Sigur Ros - In A Frozen Sea LP box set
Emerson Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery DVD-A