DocHolliday
Footballguy
I love listening to Adele sing but I cannot imagine wanting an album of hers. A little goes a long way for some artists.
Not only have I never listened to this album, I can honestly say I have never heard of a single one of those song titles. Furthermore, I'm OK with that.Adele- 21- (2011)
Rolling In the Deep
Rumour Has It
Turning Tables
Don’t You Remember
Set Fire to the Rain
He Won’t Go
Take It All
I’ll Be Waiting
One and Only
Lovesong
Someone Like You
I Found a Boy
I look at great singers like great musicians. I still want to hear a great song to go with it. That said, I did like her james bond theme a few years back.I love listening to Adele sing but I cannot imagine wanting an album of hers. A little goes a long way for some artists.
It's a great song.Billy Joel- The Stranger (1977)
Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)
The Stranger
Just the Way You Are
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Vienna
Only The Good Die Young
She’s Always a Woman
Get It Right the First Time
Everybody Has a Dream
A couple years back I was astonished when my younger daughter told me how much she loved “Vienna”- she had to learn it for a ballet dance. At first I thought she might be referring to the Ultravox song (which is also very good BTW). But it shows you the enduring quality of this album.
“She’s Always A Woman” is about as pretty a ballad as produced in the 70s. “Just the Way You Are” is truly overplayed but still a great love song; “Only the Good Die Young” is as close to rock as Joel ever got.
But- and I know I’m going to get crap for this because so many people love it (including my wife) but I find “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” to be pretentious, long, and annoying. There I said it.
Everyone is so untrue.honestly have never gone out of my way to listen to a Billy Joel song.
I lived in Hackensack for a few years. And you don't get a lot for your money.Movin' Out is probably my favorite song off of this album.
Still very well produced by Phil Ramone (no relation to Johnny or Joey).Billy had quite an album run through the '70s, but I think The Stranger is where he truly hit on all cylinders. Definitely overplayed - particularly where I live in the NYC area where his material gets crammed down your throat - but there's no denying the tight hooks of this album. And to think, George Martin almost produced it, but backed away.
But at least you can polish the fenders.I lived in Hackensack for a few years. And you don't get a lot for your money.
It's a great sounding record with a less gimmicky production style than Joel's three previous albums. Ramone used Joel's touring band instead of session men and the use of synthesizers is pared down to the minimum.Still very well produced by Phil Ramone (no relation to Johnny or Joey).
It still kills me how guys using old technology made better sounding albums than a lot of modern music.It's a great sounding record with a less gimmicky production style than Joel's three previous albums. Ramone used Joel's touring band instead of session men and the use of synthesizers is pared down to the minimum.
I really have a hard time listening to/liking stuff made prior to the mid/late 70's because the sound quality just isn't there. It tends to sound like a transistor radio even if you're not listening to it on a transistor radio.I've tried to restrain myself in this thread but I do believe one of the things that distinguish classic records is audio quality that stands the test of time.
In many cases, early songs were recorded and mixed with playback over transistor radios in mind. Phil Spector's Wall of Sound sounds much better blasting out of speakers than on headphones.I really have a hard time listening to/liking stuff made prior to the mid/late 70's because the sound quality just isn't there. It tends to sound like a transistor radio even if you're listening to it on a transistor radio.
Workin' too hard can give you A heart attack (ack) ack ack ack! This part of the song always grated on me.I lived in Hackensack for a few years. And you don't get a lot for your money.
Billy has unapologetically said the opening drum fill was lifted from Hal Blaine’s iconic thwap that opens the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby”.. "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" opens the earlier record. Joel is trying to emulate an early rock n roll sound but it just comes off as muddy to my ears.
He should apologize for his cheesy production on "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights etc)".Billy has unapologetically said the opening drum fill was lifted from Hal Blaine’s iconic thwap that opens the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby”.
His name was Keith Moon and it was I Can See For MilesEephus said:It's easy to highlight the impact of multi-track boards because it was pretty much of a technological step change over a very short period of time. I think advances in the techniques used to mike up drum kits up in the studio were just as significant for rock n roll's sound.
I wish I knew more about how and when it was done but I'd put it somewhere between the British Invasion and Led Zeppelin I. Even the heavy rock records from 66-68 like the Yardbirds and Vanilla Fudge have kind of a crappy drum sound.compared to just a few years later. There are a lot of 70s rock records where the drums are still pretty low in the mix but a corner had been turned. Maybe it was all related if it was simply a matter of more tracks allowing more microphones to be devoted to the drums.
The short answer is Ken Scott who produced the record. Scott started at Abbey Road at the age of 16 and worked under George Martin during the Beatles' most creative period. His first production credit was on Hunky Dory and he produced every Bowie album until Diamond Dogs. Scott's efforts are always cleanly recorded in keeping with his background as an engineer.timschochet said:Eephus, I know next to nothing about sound quality.
But an album we reviewed earlier, Ziggy Stardust, always struck me as having great sound. I don’t know why it sounds different and so good- care to comment?
Good stuff, thanks!The short answer is Ken Scott who produced the record. Scott started at Abbey Road at the age of 16 and worked under George Martin during the Beatles' most creative period. His first production credit was on Hunky Dory and he produced every Bowie album until Diamond Dogs. Scott's efforts are always cleanly recorded in keeping with his background as an engineer.
The long answer is more qualitative. To my ears, there's the clarity that Scott brought along with a very spacious sound with tons of separation between the instruments. The rhythm section is very trebly; there's very little kick drum by modern standards and many tracks are dominated by strummed acoustic rhythm guitars that work as percussion. It's always difficult to separate the artist and the producer but there's an obvious change in Bowie's sound between Pin-ups (produced by Scott) and Diamond Dogs (produced by Bowie himself). Pin-ups is a covers album but it sounds more like Ziggy than the album that followed. Diamond Dogs has a more claustrophobic sound with much more reverb.
Diamond Dogs was Bowie's only solo production credit (I think). Afterwards he began a partnership with Tony Visconti that lasted until the artist's death. Even when the hands of other producers like Eno and Nile Rogers were involved, Visconti got co-producer credits.
Bowie is a legend of course but he's a mixed bag producer. I've always thought his production work on Mott's All the Young Dudes didn't flatter the band. Iggy's TV Eye live album sounds like there's a wall of garbage between the microphone and the speakers but that may have been Bowie's intent. His studio records with Iggy and Lou Reed are great but not great sounding.
Along with the multi track, microphones got significantly better and more diverse over the course of the 70's. The mic you use for the hi hats has nothing to do with the mic you use in the bass drum, but I don't think there was much differentiation until the 70's. By the mid 70's in the studio you had a mic on every drum, at least 2 overheads for the whole set, top and bottom mics on the snare, a dedicated mic for the hihats, etc.. I'm thinking of Billy Cobham's setup in particular as evidence. Until they could use that kind of setup, with different types of mics for different applications on the set, you couldn't achieve the clarity and the range (particularly low end) you needed to get a good drum recording.Eephus said:It's easy to highlight the impact of multi-track boards because it was pretty much of a technological step change over a very short period of time. I think advances in the techniques used to mike up drum kits up in the studio were just as significant for rock n roll's sound.
I wish I knew more about how and when it was done but I'd put it somewhere between the British Invasion and Led Zeppelin I. Even the heavy rock records from 66-68 like the Yardbirds and Vanilla Fudge have kind of a crappy drum sound.compared to just a few years later. There are a lot of 70s rock records where the drums are still pretty low in the mix but a corner had been turned. Maybe it was all related if it was simply a matter of more tracks allowing more microphones to be devoted to the drums.
This is the Aerosmith that I want to remember. Aerosmith, like too many bands, sold out. It is easy to see why this happens to bands. Making money after struggling for years has to feel great. But, it is really disappointing to the fans that love the early music. The music that they put out in the second half of their career is embarrassing. It is weak and nothing like the cool music that Aerosmith made when they were starting out.Aerosmith- Toys in the Attic (1975)
Toys in the Attic
Uncle Salty
Adam’s Apple
Walk This Way
Big Ten Inch Record
Sweet Emotion
No More No More
Round and Round
You See Me Crying
Like several other artists that we’ve already covered, Aerosmith is a band that has reinvented itself over the years. This album along with their debut represents the first and best version. The fact that they unashamedly attempted to imitate the Stones doesn’t mask a pretty damn good band, with a great rhythm section. The two hit songs that emerged here, “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion” were as good as any hard rock in the 70s.
It's no coincidence that you mention Billy Cobham because Ken Scott worked with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and on Cobham's early solo records.Along with the multi track, microphones got significantly better and more diverse over the course of the 70's. The mic you use for the hi hats has nothing to do with the mic you use in the bass drum, but I don't think there was much differentiation until the 70's. By the mid 70's in the studio you had a mic on every drum, at least 2 overheads for the whole set, top and bottom mics on the snare, a dedicated mic for the hihats, etc.. I'm thinking of Billy Cobham's setup in particular as evidence. Until they could use that kind of setup, with different types of mics for different applications on the set, you couldn't achieve the clarity and the range (particularly low end) you needed to get a good drum recording.
Definitely not cheesy when they came out, but I see it now.Aerosmith has some great songs, but I always found them a bit cheesy.