[atsonicpark]

I don't think Albini's sound works for every band. A band like McLusky? He works (on the slower songs especially). A band like Space Streakings or Melt Banana? Not so much. Listen to The Ghost, the album with Albini and the album without him... the album without him sounds so much better. He has a very very particular sound that works well on albums with lots of space in the mix (Pod, Tweez -- I think he would have done excellent work on Spiderland, but yeah.. Rid of Me). On faster, more dynamic albums, his sound doesn't really work (I don't think Surfer Rosa sounds very good, to be honest, the songs always feel a bit lagging because the drums are so loud and the other instruments can't seem to keep up; I think COME ON PILGRIM was a perfect production for that type of sound, whoever produced that). I wouldn't get him to producer an SS record. Maybe a robe. record.

That being said, he's not a bad producer at all; I LOVE his drum sounds. And he has produced, flat-out, more classic albums than any other producer, ever. Just having "engineered by Steve Albini" on the back of your record will get people to check it out. Did he ever produce any Low albums, btw? I can't remember, but that seems like a band that would be perfect for his type of sound. OH -- case in point -- SHELLAC albums are some of the best sounding I've ever heard. Listen to a song like "crow". But again, that's 3 instruments, usually not played blindingly fast, not complex as hell either (despite them being termed as "math rock"). Anyway, enough examples...

Albini really doesn't seem to work in the way a lot of producers do because of his aesthetic; a lot of producers do overdo it (see Butch Vig). But you know, someone like Ian MacKaye, I think, has the perfect mix of sounds on his record -- with some bands, you really do need to have walls of guitar, you need to have overdubs. Look at Ross Robinson; yeah, his vocals are always too loud, and he worked with a few shitty bands, but listen to the GlassJAw or Amen or At the Drive-In stuff he did. Recorded live, without a click track, to capture the whole band -- you can hear every instrument clearly, and it sounds fucking FIERCE -- but then there's clearly a shitload of guitar overdubs to give it a meaner, more interesting and complex sound. It really really works. And that's just something you'd NEVER see on an Albini record, for better or worse. He's too interested in, y'know, "keeping it real". (wanna give another shout-out to Ross Robinson's production on SlipKnot's self-titled album; can you even comprehend recording 9 guys, playing blindingly fast almost all the time -- and then still having a shit ton of guitar overdubs and other weird sounds ON TOP? How are those songs not a complete mess? They streamlined their sound almost immediately afterwards, making it slower but a bit noisier, and then a bit more "metal". But that self-titled album.. damn.. must have been a nightmare. 3 fucking drummers for fuck's sakes. And you can hear every instrument in the mix perfectly. Vocals being too loud aside, I think if you want to hear a masterpiece of production, listen to a SlipKnot song like Prosthetics or Scissors or Eyeless or whatever).

...Anyway, I won't blame Albini for having a certain sound. But every record he produced sounds exactly the same. And I agree with Glice.. he has produced some stuff that sounds awful, but I mainly blame the band in that case. Seriously, check out those Melt Banana records he produced. They sound AWFUL!

Anyway, Dave Friddman is a great producer, Terry Date is great... you know who I think is one of the worst producers ever? RICK RUBIN. God his stuff sounds so fucking FLAT.

Anyway, I've never liked In Utero. It has some great songs on it, some of their best even, but also their worst ever. Heart-Shaped Box goes nowhere, Tourettes is boring despite being a minute long, All Apologies is their most boring song ever, Rape Me is awful. Would've made a good EP. It seems like Kurt was wanting to go in a softer direction, but he was also probably burned by the people calling them sellouts and all that. The album is very uncomfortable and hard to sit through, which I guess may be some of the appeal. Live shows around that time fucking killed though, adding Pat Smear was a genius movie.
What kills me about Nirvana is that their best songs -- Blandest, Marigold, Sappy, SPANK THRU!, and so on -- are kinda buried and obscure, in a sense (nothing is really "obscure" because of the internet, but you know; they aren't household name songs). I watched LIVE AT READING dvd, and they really had a good sound live, but they played so many songs in a row that kinda just sounded exactly the same, very formulaic and boring. Only on BLEACH stuff did they really sound amazing, Negative Creep and even the simplicity of School really really worked, because they were creative and interesting. But all those Nevermind songs in a row really really dragged. For their encore, they played Spank THru (god that song rules), D7, Money Will Roll Right In, etc... which sounded AMAZING!

Also, I think "Polly" is just flat-out just a bad song. What's the appeal of that one, again?

...Anyway, I think Kurt/Nirvana definitely had some amazing stuff, but I think the reason I was so down on them for so long was because the stuff that is overplayed didn't do anything for me. Kurt was actually a talented and creative guitar player. BLEACH, INSESTICIDE, part of IN UTERO are amazing. All their b-sides and covers rock. But like I said, listening to MUDDY BANKS is really really does it for me. That's the record. They just sounded so good live, especialyl the tracks with Pat Smear. Also, the "Aneurysm" on that one is probably their best moment, ever.