over produced?
denverchef
Posts: 11
I see so many times people like to say "overproduced" and "too slick" when describing certain albums, Backspacer to be precise....I understand the concept being a musician myself, but i'm wondering what everyone's interpretation is of "over produced"? i mean, what is it you're looking for? garage sound?
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There is a big movement amongst audiophiles to bring attention to an effect referred to as brickwalling sound. As in, that song was brickwalled. Also called the "loudness wars," it has to do with the observation of a song's waveform (a graphic representation of audible frequencies) and how higher end frequencies are lost (or clipped off) when music is improperly (my word) mastered or remastered. Below is a visualization from the wiki page link in the next paragraph.
There are a lot of really interesting articles out there. You could start at the wiki page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_wars) to get an idea and then investigate further. The references section at the bottom of the wiki has some good articles.
The album Backspacer never struck me as overproduced, but that may be because my first taste was Got Some which is pretty stripped down (in my entirely uneducated, musically stupid, liable to be flamed opinion). First impressions go a long way. Also, my absolute favorite track, Unthought Known, seems pretty simple to me too. Having said that, Speed of Sound was grotesquely overproduced in my mind. I understand they had other songs that were similar to it on the album... in which case, you pick a different song... don't slather that one in layers of molasses and lasers to make it stick out. Please see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2H6L4MmPUo for an example of what Speed of Sound would be if it was a cartoon character in a Raggedy Anne and Andy movie.
Avocado seems like a heavily produced album to me, thinking back on it, and I do no look back fondly on it for that reason. Not many of the songs translate to the stage.
Oh... and Ten... the original mix... ugh.
album version = over produced!!
which means...they added a lot of crap that didn't need to be there! the result is..they fucked up what was a really good song and now it sounds like shit!
"any album by Bon Jovi"
Bingo. The classic example. Can't believe I didn't remember it.
You think this is something Mr.Spector was responsible for when creating the Wall of Sound?
With Backspacer there are several songs where I feel like a layer of crap has been added over the top of music I would otherwise be quite content with. I can be following allong pleased with a song like The End and then get slapped my something which sounds very foreign. I'm not opposed to the introduction of things like strings, piano, or fire extinguishers adding to songs when it all sounds and feels right. For the most part, Boom was able to contribute on a record like Riot Act in a way that still felt in tune with the music of Pearl Jam. I can't say the same for Brendan O'Brien when I cringe when strings blare into the song instead of softly introduce themselves, or I hear clap-happy additions to things like The Fixer. Something very alien (meaning foreign in this usage) was added to many of the songs on Backspacer. I'd list glaring a bunch of examples that are glaring to me, but I don't really want to bother to spend the time. I feel that the band has made a poor decision in allowing Brendan to paint all over the top of their work instead of forcing themselves to make music which doesn't want or need that... but rather benefits from a technician's silent hand boosting this or that in subtle ways instead.
Pearl Jam's studio efforts started out very polished and produced, so saying it doesn't sound like them is all relative.
I happen to like the polished and "over-produced" stuff. If I want to hear them raw, they have hundreds of boots.
Studio albums should be very produced. That's the point of hiring a producer.
Their least produced album would have to be Vitalogy. Most produced would have to be Binaural.
No one ever complains that Binaural is over-produced, yet its the most produced Pearl Jam album. They put a hell of a lot into its production.
I've never heard overproduced refer to loudness wars.
Maybe, but overproduced is just like overrated or sellout. It's based on a person's individual taste.
Not necessarily. Some would argue that Sgt. Peppers is overproduced due to the elaborate recording techniques and arrangements used on tunes like Mr. Kite, A Day in the Life, and Within You Without You
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
More would argue that it has the perfect amount of production.
Well yes I guess that's what I would argue as well.
I'm just not getting what people are saying is "overproduced" about Backspacer. But this could be due in large part that I never listen to Backspacer.
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com