Best and worst SOUNDING albums?

[Poor Deportee]

National Ransom sounds pretty bad to me ...

Initially I thought it was a dodgy mp3 collection. But then I bought the vinyl .. the same ...; I bought the CD ... the same ...

some really sloppy mixing with distorting and clashing sound levels (e.g. the rhythm guitar in the title track is an ugly blob). Maybe it sounds fine on a £10,000 soundsystem, but a normal 20 year old stereo can't cope with it.

Interesting that you say that...this was my reaction as well. Indeed, I initially wondered whether there was some sort of defect in my CD copy (eventually my ears adjusted and I reconciled myself to the fact that these songs, some of EC's best, were recorded in an odd way). Yet EC made a point of claiming in an interview that the album sounded exceptionally good, and the producer (T Bone Burnett) is of course one of the very best in the business. Is it possible, as you suggest, that the thing was designed to sound optimal only on elite equipment?? Or are you and I the only ones who find the album's sound questionable?

[the_platypus]

The sound in NR is indeed a little muddy. I have a pretty good setup, gear-wise, and it still sounds murky. But I don't think all the songs are like that. I think the title track suffers the most-- "Bullets" sounds great, as does "Stations of the Cross".

[Neil.]

My favourite is probably This Year's Model - apart from the too-quiet piano at the start of Little Triggers, all the players can be heard battling to be the best in the band, and it's this incredible energy that Nick Lowe captures masterfully. Elvis's voice is perfect in the mix, and the whole thing the classic Attractions sound, which brings back a whole era when you hear it, but which still sounds thrilling today.

I also love the sound of Blood and Chocolate - lots of people, Elvis included, call it muddy and murky, but I think that suits the songs wonderfully.

Least faves are the Langer/WInstanley albums. Such a shame that their production, which had provided HUGE hits for Dexy's and Madness, just didn't pay off for Elvis. This was his last chance for mass appeal, and it just didn't work. His incredibly idiosyncratic voice just doesn't sit well among those shiny sounds.

[Kevin Davis]

Least faves are the Langer/WInstanley albums. Such a shame that their production, which had provided HUGE hits for Dexy's and Madness, just didn't pay off for Elvis. This was his last chance for mass appeal, and it just didn't work. His incredibly idiosyncratic voice just doesn't sit well among those shiny sounds.

Yeah, these are my least favorite, too. The worst songs on "Punch the Clock" and "Goodbye Cruel World" are badly overwritten, too many words crammed into awkwardly shaped melodies not suited to accommodating them, and all those horns and synths just clutter the crap out of it (maybe this is more an "arrangement" thing, but it all essentially ties into the same process). The second half of "Punch the Clock," in particular--the stretch between "Shipbuilding" and "Pills and Soap"--to me is just one big noisy assault. It's not surprising the way many of these songs improve when stripped down and tweaked (i.e. the "Deportee" from the "King of America" bonus).

For sonic trickery, favorite is obviously "Imperial Bedroom"; for class and clarity, it's "North."

In general, I love the way the bass was recorded on the early Attractions records; if anyone has ever heard Sonny Rollins's "G-Man" album from 1986, there are a lot of similarities in quality of bass playing--sonically and formally. To borrow a phrase from The Who, the sound is positively "meaty, beaty, big, and bouncy."

[cwr]

Generally, EC tends to make good-sounding albums. The examples most people are citing as "bad" are times when he seems to have deliberately set out to achieve a very specific and uncharacteristic sound. All that compression on WIWC is kind of ugly, even on vinyl, but it's a choice, and it serves SOME of those songs very well. (Others, like "45" I think got a little ruined by the WIWC sonic approach, and sounded much better when he was playing them in concert before he made the record. Is there any video online of when he premiered that song on Leno's Tonight Show?)

PTC and GCW are both his attempts to make "hit" records in the early 80s, and they sound like it. I actually like the way these sound, even though I didn't used to. They have grown on me.

But I must admit I have a special fondness for the sound of BY. I think there are all sorts of things that make it an odd-sounding record, but it's odd in a way that makes it exciting, especially on headphones.

[sulky lad]

Played S,P & S in the car today (not the sonically best place to listen) but,like KOA, T-Bone certainly produces exquisite sounding records. That makes it TYM, GH,Trust, IB,KOA,B&C,BY ,ATUB, and SP&S that I think sound wonderful - so what do I know ??

[wordnat]

NORTH sounds wonderful -- pity about the songs....

[Neil.]

I've not noticed anything particularly muddy about National Ransom - but I haven't listened to it for quite a while.

And I forgot to mention how much I like the sound of Get Happy - echoey, bouncy, warm - and I love the shouty, unhinged vocals on many of the tracks.

[docinwestchester]

(Others, like "45" I think got a little ruined by the WIWC sonic approach, and sounded much better when he was playing them in concert before he made the record. Is there any video online of when he premiered that song on Leno's Tonight Show?)

But of course! Featuring Steve:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AWbsngKhUk

[bronxapostle]

i got a couple more vids for you if u wanna meet tomorrow doc!

[Kevin Davis]

I've not noticed anything particularly muddy about National Ransom - but I haven't listened to it for quite a while.

And I forgot to mention how much I like the sound of Get Happy - echoey, bouncy, warm - and I love the shouty, unhinged vocals on many of the tracks.

The rock tracks have kind of a swampy, almost backwoods vibe to them. I like it--gives the foreground instruments (Marc Ribot's manic guitar playing on the title track, for example) ample opportunity to leap out. The acoustic tracks are crystal clear, though--some of his best presentations in that format to date.

[Harry Worth]

'King of America' and 'Delivery Man' are the most expansive and rich to me when listening on headphones, 'Goodbye Cruel World' is cack - ClangerWinstanley did nothing for the EC sound.

Echoing comments made earlier, I find the sense of fun on 'Get Happy' and 'Momofuku' infectious. For some reason I always find the mix of 'Secret, Profane and Sugarcane' as something going on in a corner rather than straight at me. Its an album I have great difficulty concentrating on.

[VonOfterdingen]

The sound of River in Reverse and National Ransom is to muddy for me - like you have to turn the treble up and up.

On the other - as some have said already - King of America and The Delivery Man sounds the best.