Bad Recordings

[Lycareth]

The other day I was speaking to a friend about bands we've really enjoyed in or history of friendship. We ALWAYS end up with different opinions concerning which songs we like mostly because he digs bad recordings where as I like more produced material. He makes it seem as if I don't really like the artists because I can't dig the raw sound where as I go to at least four times as man shows as he's ever been to and I generally thoroughly enjoy it where as he hasn't listened to new music since idk 2006.

I don't know what it is, it's just that tracks that sound like everyone just got into a garage with a bunch of dynamic mics never appealed to me.
examples :
early silverstein
early adtr
early FYS (though I do love the stuff they dont play anymore, I kinda wish they would redo it)
early alexisonfire
early early the bled

and those are the bands I can kind of stand the demo'd/EP releases.

[pnkhrdwndr]

I like rise or die's sound much more than enemy, your friend needs to listen to new music there is some good good stuff out there

[sleepyseanzzz]

i kind of wish their were cleaner, crisp versions of dude ranch, losing streak, and NFG self-titled, but it's the rawness that makes it a classic

[route36west1]

im turned off to a band if they have bad quality recordings. unless its a classic, then i don't mind it. like NFG self-titled as man above me said

[ohitsmark]

Anything ADTR is great. Don't care how bad it is. Acrobatic Tenement is still one of my favorites by them

[SomedayTheFire]

Anything ADTR is great. Don't care how bad it is. Acrobatic Tenement is still one of my favorites by them
I'm going to assume you mean At The Drive In and not A Day To Remember.

[ohitsmark]

I'm going to assume you mean At The Drive In and not A Day To Remember.


Oh Jesus Christ, what the fuck was I thinking? I don't even like ADTR.

Ugh, I fail as a ATDI fan. :|

[TheOtherAndrew]

i kind of wish their were cleaner, crisp versions of dude ranch, losing streak, and NFG self-titled, but it's the rawness that makes it a classic
Dude Ranch isn't that raw at all. Sure, if you want to compare it to Enema of the State or the self-titled album then it is. But Jerry Finn's production style is incredibly polished for the type of music that he generally recorded. If it just stands by itself, Dude Ranch is a pretty sharply produced album.

[jeremyc]

Oh Jesus Christ, what the fuck was I thinking? I don't even like ADTR.

Ugh, I fail as a ATDI fan. :|

Gnarly fail dude. Fuckin abbreviations!

[joshsurber]

I think that most older recordings of songs are better.
the older recordings of Heartless and You Should Have Killed Me When You Had The Chance from ADTR are WAAAY better than the re-recorded versions on For Those Who Have Heart .

[drawndead]

I dig a lot of demos but it's cool to see the growth of a band when their sound is refined as well

[Lycareth]

I like rise or die's sound much more than enemy, your friend needs to listen to new music there is some good good stuff out there

I do too, but I'm talking like Go Long Dad and Put You On

[SophGod]

Baseball by Say Anything is alright

[exploration #4]

Anything ADTR is great. Don't care how bad it is. Acrobatic Tenement is still one of my favorites by them

This post scared me real bad.

[ohitsmark]

This post scared me real bad.

It was a typo! I apologized. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. :shrug:

[exploration #4]

It was a typo! I apologized. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. :shrug:

Haha I know, i was just expressing my fear of ADTR covering ATDI or anything relating those two bands.

[the sky below]

i don't mind bad recordings... however, i think it's lame if a band purposefully tries to mimic bad recordings. that's lame.

my philosophy is that if you cant tell a song is good with a bad recording, it's not a good song to begin with (i guess this applies mostly for demos).

a good song is a good song.

[Fringe]

Senses Fail's new stuff... still good songs. It kind of bothers me, though. I'd prefer it to be radio-quality.

[GoWaitInTheCar]

There are so many punk bands that would be a lot better if they got their shit in gear. I just hate that people expect and "appreciate" Punk Rock because of it's "raw" sound. I can't name the amount of artists that think it's alright to sound like shit. It's all fuzz and everything is leveled on the same platform. You hear no vocals, just bass and terrible percussion.

[LGFUAD21]

i personally think it depends on whether the production compliments the sound.

for example i felt that orchestra of wolves by gallows was awesome because it was raw (but had clarity) and it really worked with their sound, whereas grey britain was just a little too clean for their sound (the compression really ruins frank carters vocals for me)

the used are a band i really feel have had production that compliments their albums. The self titled was really raw in terms of production (little editing and compression etc) and lies for the liars was really strengthened by a cleaner sound that highlighted the pop elements. however i really find that artwork is let down by its production (it just lacks energy for me)

i think that problems in raw production arise when you have a band with little funding recording an album that obviously will be raw but tries to cover up that fact by putting stupid editing flourishes on it instead of embracing it.

in summary i think that raw can be equally as good as clean. sometimes raw albums show the real talent behind a band. eg) elliott smith's early albums are very limited in production tricks but the songs still work (in fact they are given more character). truly good songs should be able to translate through the most stripped back production

[apresnuledeluge]

Depending on the sound of the band, sometimes I prefer a lower quality recording. I've been somewhat turned off by the glossy, fine-tuned approach recently because I feel like, more often than not, it deprives the album of a substantial amount of energy, honesty, and tangibility, (in a certain sense).

Like I said, the biggest thing for me is the type of sound the band is going for, so I guess my opinion varies from band to band. That in mind, most of my favorite albums are very bare-bones from a production standpoint. They feel the most real.

[chutterhanban]

Let him have his day. I mean, if you're talking about quality recording, you'll take the cake. But clearly this kid couldn't care less about perfectly compressed guitars and precisely sampled kick drums.

That being said, I guarantee this kid's just stuck in the past and wants to hold on to how cool he used to be in 2002 or something. :)

[chutterhanban]

There are so many punk bands that would be a lot better if they got their shit in gear. I just hate that people expect and "appreciate" Punk Rock because of it's "raw" sound. I can't name the amount of artists that think it's alright to sound like shit. It's all fuzz and everything is leveled on the same platform. You hear no vocals, just bass and terrible percussion.

A-freakin-MEN brother.

[briewer]

I'll take shitty production over clean production any day.