Well Recorded Rock Music

[psychotropic]

Just yesterday I was having a conversation with a friend where he was exclaiming about the superb recordings were available among jazz records, and we mused to the effect that "if only the music weren't jazz."

I like jazz, but I am still new to it, and don't like it anywhere as much as I like rock music, and it's a bit unfortunate that well recorded rock music is much rarer than well recorded jazz. Still, I would love to hear what well recorded rock music the members of hifivision have heard.

Broadly Supertramp and Dire Straits are two rock groups whose records are quite well recorded. Any other rock bands, albums or singles that anyone has heard that would come up to the standard of supertramp and dire straits? And I am not talking about "reasonably well recorded by rock standards" stuff. I am talking seriously good recordings! Thanks in advance.

By rock I would probably include older pop music like Elton John and Prince I guess (i realise that's arbitrary, but what the heck, i am the thread starter )

 

[Shuvc]

Not sure how to define well recorded ... but I do think I know what you mean.

I like these recordings.

Alan Parsons Project.
Pink Floyd
Sting
Jethro Tull (not all)
Fleetwood Mac
Simon & Garfunkel
Metallica
Collective Soul
Red Hot Chili Peppers


Some of these artists seem to have not so good recordings - or maybe it's just how the music is
The Doors
Hendrix
Led Zeppelin
Deep Purple
Grateful Dead
Uriah Heep
Thin Lizzy
Black Sabbath
Rainbow
Scorpions

More as I recall ....

 

[sameer kumar]

And I am not talking about "reasonably well recorded by rock standards" stuff. I am talking seriously good recordings!

Check out

Stealy Dan AJA.... Superb recording

 

[moserw]

Check out

Stealy Dan AJA.... Superb recording

+1 and a brilliant work of art, one of the greatest albums of all time.

Also, most of the CDs that are "remastered" have pretty good SQ.

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab and Chesky Records (but not really rock).

 

[nirrej]

once bought a CD of Bryan Adams "Best of me"
the recording quality just deviates a lot from song to song.
maybe its becoz itz a compilation CD..

so far have listened to that CD just 4 times..
eventhough it contains many of my fav tracks..
felt that the recording quality was poorer than
Indian film music recordings..

 

[psychotropic]

Which Tull albums have you liked the recording on? Which Metallica albums? RHCP I agree has very good recording as well.

Alan Parsons Project.
Pink Floyd
Sting
Jethro Tull (not all)
Fleetwood Mac
Simon & Garfunkel
Metallica
Collective Soul
Red Hot Chili Peppers


Some of these artists seem to have not so good recordings - or maybe it's just how the music is
The Doors
Hendrix
Led Zeppelin
Deep Purple
Grateful Dead
Uriah Heep
Thin Lizzy
Black Sabbath
Rainbow
Scorpions

More as I recall ....

 

[doors666]

I like this thread

For pink floyd, the latest version of cds (doug sax remasters) are really good. the previous ones werent all that good.

Metallica earlier albums are good, but death magnetic is supposed to be the worst cd ever released.

led zep jimmy page remasters are not good.

grateful dead - doesnt matter, all their studio albums are nothing compared to their live shows, which are legally freely available from the web, also applies to most of the jam bands.

most of the blues, jazz and classical music is fine. its rock thats really messed up.

Any cd which was released in 80s and early nineties should be much better.

check the steve hoffman forums for a lot more info on good releases, both vinyl and cds. mostly any album remastered by steve hoffman is also fine.

Usually any copy from the real master tapes, which is not badly done should be fine.

 

[sandeepmohan]

My take

AC/DC
The Corrs
Tracy Chapman
Tool
Metallica - Black Album is the best recording ever of this band

 

[murali_n]

Hai Psycho,

The Queen Best of Vol-I on Vinyl sounds terrific,
Duran Duran are also good on Vinyl
Police is another well mastered band.

N Murali

 

[moserw]

Some of these artists seem to have not so good recordings - or maybe it's just how the music is
The Doors
Hendrix
Led Zeppelin
Deep Purple
Grateful Dead
Uriah Heep
Thin Lizzy
Black Sabbath
Rainbow
Scorpions

More as I recall ....

All my copies of The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Rainbow & Scorpions do have good recording quality. I have all the albums of these groups (barring Jimi Hendrix) and don't really find much of a problem with their recording.

I'm not much into Grateful Dead, Uriah Heep, Thin Lizzy, & Black Sabbath so cannot say about them.

 

[marsilians]

Arguably - One of the best recordings of classic rock

Amazon.com: The Allman Brothers at Fillmore East: The Allman Brothers Band: Music

The newer releases of American beauty and Dead Set 1 & 2 are also very good recordings.

10 Summoners tale and brand new day by Sting are excellent. i believe there are DTS versions of the same

 

[saran]

Just yesterday I was having a conversation with a friend where he was exclaiming about the superb recordings were available among jazz records, and we mused to the effect that "if only the music weren't jazz."

I like jazz, but I am still new to it, and don't like it anywhere as much as I like rock music, and it's a bit unfortunate that well recorded rock music is much rarer than well recorded jazz. Still, I would love to hear what well recorded rock music the members of hifivision have heard.

Broadly Supertramp and Dire Straits are two rock groups whose records are quite well recorded. Any other rock bands, albums or singles that anyone has heard that would come up to the standard of supertramp and dire straits? And I am not talking about "reasonably well recorded by rock standards" stuff. I am talking seriously good recordings! Thanks in advance.

By rock I would probably include older pop music like Elton John and Prince I guess (i realise that's arbitrary, but what the heck, i am the thread starter )

counting crows -August and Everything After well recorded album especiallly the songs omaha, mr jones, perfect blue buildings:yahoo:

 

[ashwin59]

Arguably - One of the best recordings of classic rock

Amazon.com: The Allman Brothers at Fillmore East: The Allman Brothers Band: Music

The newer releases of American beauty and Dead Set 1 & 2 are also very good recordings.

10 Summoners tale and brand new day by Sting are excellent. i believe there are DTS versions of the same

Guys,

You say CDs can be got from amzon to Inda. But when i tried to put an order on the said Allman CD amazon says it can't be shipped. Ay thoughts?

Regards
ash

 

[m4w]

May I suggest some Tool? Danny Carey (drummer) has a really open sound to his kit as opposed to the usual tight, constrained sound heard in rock/metal. I like the mix on almost all their albums equally. They avoid the loudness wars and use a dynamic mix that is reminiscent of old-school prog rock.

From the wiki page:

Tool is a Grammy Award-winning American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1990. Since their inception, the band's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. The current bassist is Justin Chancellor, who has been with the band since 1995. Tool is known to have rigorous touring schedules in support of their albums, they have performed well on charts worldwide, and have sold an estimated 9.25 million records in the US alone.

Tool emerged with a heavy metal sound on their first studio album, Undertow, at a time when the genre was dominated by thrash metal; and later became a dominant act in the alternative metal movement with the release of their second effort, nima, in 1996. Their efforts to unify musical experimentation, visual arts, and a message of personal evolution continued with their third album, Lateralus, in 2001; and their most recent album, 10,000 Days, released in 2006, gained the band critical acclaim and success around the world.

Due to Tool's incorporation of visual arts and relatively long and complex releases, the band is generally described as a style-transcending act and part of progressive rock and art rock. The relationship between the band and today's music industry is ambivalent, at times marked by censorship and the band members' insistence on privacy.

YouTube - Tool - Lateralus (HQ)

 

[doctur]

Guys,

You say CDs can be got from amzon to Inda. But when i tried to put an order on the said Allman CD amazon says it can't be shipped. Ay thoughts?

Regards
ash

try 20north.com

 

[Shuvc]

Which Tull albums have you liked the recording on? Which Metallica albums? RHCP I agree has very good recording as well.

Metallica - Black Album surely. Load too.

Tull - Aqualung (I have a special edition though); Crest of a Knave; Also Thick as a Brick. And though technically not Tull neither rock, Ian Anderson's Divinities.

Roger Waters - Amused to Death
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People sounds good
Lynyrd Skynyrd is ok.

Although newer - White Stripes: Elephant (Wikipedia says : "Jack White produced the album with antiquated equipment, including an eight-track tape machine and pre-1960s recording gear") sounds really good.

 

[unBound]

Completely agree that you cannot go wrong with SQ for most Pink Floyd or any Alan Parsons recordings (in the same breath, for good reasons too )!

I also think that Scorpions, Judas Priest and some of the later albums from GnR and Iron Maiden are very good. Whether from tape, CD/DVD or even mp3, the music from any of these formats seem to engulf the listener.

Diverging slightly away to the more modern varieties -instrumental rock - such as albums by Joe Satriani, Steve Vai or even complete (non-rock) instrumentals like the music of the Blue Man Group - very high recording and SQ and it can fill most listening spaces.

Other good recordings I have heard - alternative and punk rock - and these are definitely benefiting from better recording technology available to them: Linkin Park - In The End, Creed - My Sacrifice, Green Day - Time of Your Life and Santana's Supernatural with all the collaborations.

If anyone has heard the 100 Greatest Rock Guitar Solo's album - this has a varied mix of songs and the recording quality also varies, but there are certainly quite a few gems in there!

 

[spycatcher]

I just ordered from Amazon - 6 CDs costing about 60 US$ with 40 US $ as courier charge. The CDs got delivered within 2 weeks to Delhi and in excellent condition. Recording quality is far better than the stuff we get here.

Here are the CDs I ordered - most of them are special editions or stuff we cant get in India.

1. Fleetwood Mac - Tango In the Night
2. Midnight Cowboys - Soundtrack - music by John Barry
3. Dave Mathews Band - Big Whiskey & Groo Grux King
4. Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood - Live from the Madison Square Garden (2 CD Collection)
5. Miles Davis - A Kind of Blue - 50TH Anniversary Edition - Legacy Series.

I Love Amazon!

 

[gobble]

Hey guys

A discussion of recording quality is pointless if you dont mention the record label. I have some of the albums of the above mentioned artistes but not too happy about the recording quality. So please list album and label.

TIA
Regards

 

[psychotropic]

Isn't this one a brilliant album? recording is good but not great, but the music is superb!

3. Dave Mathews Band - Big Whiskey & Groo Grux King