RIP - Steve Albini

[Dunbar]

His production chops were mostly mediocre.

Albini was an engineer. He charged an engineers fee. He was there to record the band, not make the band sound like something they were not.

[machinesworking]

His production chops were mostly mediocre.

Albini was an engineer. He charged an engineers fee. He was there to record the band, not make the band sound like something they were not.

Again listen to the drums on Nevermind VS In Utero. There's a noticeable muddiness on In Utero. Same drummer, different engineers/producers. I'm a huge fan of Big Black, but his production/engineering chops were not so great for a very long time.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

The difference you're hearing is an aesthetic one. It's taste. Entirely subjective. Kurt famously hated the slick sound of Nevermind. The Andy Wallace Nevermind mixes used triggered samples on the drums. They sought out Albini because they wanted his more naturalistic drum sound and approach to recording. They knew his work and loved it. Wanted it. Prior to his death, I never heard word one about anyone in the band complaining about the sound of In Utero like they did Nevermind. They were happy.

Do you like dark chocolate or light chocolate? Whatever your answer: it's subjective. Doesn't make one better than another.

[Dunbar]

Again listen to the drums on Nevermind VS In Utero.

Nevermind isn't a good sounding album, to my ears. The band still manages to shine through despite the attempt to smother them with corporate smegma.

[seafire]

Prior to his death, I never heard word one about anyone in the band complaining about the sound of In Utero like they did Nevermind. They were happy.

The band began to have doubts about the record. Cobain said, "The first time I played it at home, I knew there was something wrong. The whole first week I wasn't really interested in listening to it at all, and that usually doesn't happen. I got no emotion from it, I was just numb."[38] The group concluded that the bass and lyrics were inaudible and asked Albini to remix the album. He declined; as he recalled, "[Cobain] wanted to make a record that he could slam down on the table and say, 'Listen, I know this is good, and I know your concerns about it are meaningless, so go with it.' And I don't think he felt he had that yet ... My problem was that I feared a slippery slope."[39] The band attempted to address their concerns during the mastering process with Bob Ludwig at his studio in Portland, Maine. Novoselic was pleased with the results, but Cobain still did not feel it was perfect.[40]

[Bunny_boy]

The liner notes of In Utero had a bit about where to place the bass and treble dials on your stereo, which suggests dissatisfaction with the end results. Who thought this, I dont know (although I'm sure the wiki article on the album must mention it).

[PR1392]

[bmanic]

I'm not trying to drag him he did get better over the years, but there are plenty of great producers out there, he really wasn't that great at it, his drums almost always suck.

100% agree with this. However, to his defense, even the sucky mixes managed to enhance the "soul" of a song. Yes some mixes could definitely have been a lot better but I don't think he managed to destroy the heart of a song he mixed.. like ever.

Personally I always admired the guy for being himself. I felt like he never played any character or tried to sugar coat anything. Yes he could be a down right douche but he was always himself.. or then he was the greatest actor ever!

What is absolutely irrefutable is the impact he had on the industry. It's undeniable, no matter where he stacks as a producer or engineer (which is all subjective anyhow, at least the engineer part).

Anyhow,

R.I.P Steve

[machinesworking]

The difference you're hearing is an aesthetic one. It's taste. Entirely subjective. Kurt famously hated the slick sound of Nevermind. The Andy Wallace Nevermind mixes used triggered samples on the drums. They sought out Albini because they wanted his more naturalistic drum sound and approach to recording. They knew his work and loved it. Wanted it. Prior to his death, I never heard word one about anyone in the band complaining about the sound of In Utero like they did Nevermind. They were happy.

Do you like dark chocolate or light chocolate? Whatever your answer: it's subjective. Doesn't make one better than another.

I feel like this is getting missed over and over again, multiple drummers I know pointed out to me that In Utero has muddy drums, these aren't hacks or corporate drummers. One of them is the last drummer for Tad, pretty much everyone in Seattles favorite drummer. Again, it had to be pointed out to me, it wasn't something I noticed, probably because most underground bands that I listened to had no money for recording and drums usually suffered the most.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

I dunno, I personally love that drum sound. I was texting a friend of mine, who isn't a musician (but is a huge music fan), when Albini died and one of the things she pointed out was how great the drums sound on In Utero, particularly Scentless Apprentice.

For the "muddy drums" folks, would you say the same thing about Bonham's drum sound? What's happening on In Utero isn't a hi-fi modern drum sound that's super processed and crisp - sure, totally agree there. But it's the sound of drums in a room. At least, without all the top-end that would kill your hearing. Speaking of which: asking drummers what they think of a sound is a risky endeavor considering how much time they spend with their heads less than 2ft away from loud cymbals. Dave Grohl reportedly has a huge gap in his hearing at 5k from being Dave Grohl.

[machinesworking]

I'm not trying to drag him he did get better over the years, but there are plenty of great producers out there, he really wasn't that great at it, his drums almost always suck.

100% agree with this. However, to his defense, even the sucky mixes managed to enhance the "soul" of a song. Yes some mixes could definitely have been a lot better but I don't think he managed to destroy the heart of a song he mixed.. like ever.

Personally I always admired the guy for being himself. I felt like he never played any character or tried to sugar coat anything. Yes he could be a down right douche but he was always himself.. or then he was the greatest actor ever!

What is absolutely irrefutable is the impact he had on the industry. It's undeniable, no matter where he stacks as a producer or engineer (which is all subjective anyhow, at least the engineer part).

Anyhow,

R.I.P Steve

Yeah he was a character. In my mind a compatriot in terms of taste, he liked old Industrial, electronic music, punk, and was involved in the noise rock crowd with Big Black, groups like Sonic Youth, Swans, Scratch Acid etc.

I did like is acidic take on the music industry, and personally having met Courtney Love it was fun to read that he thought she was a "psycho hose bitch" (his words! ), it was common knowledge in SF and Seattle that she was a nutjob at the time.

When Big Black played their second to last show in SF CA me and the keyboard player in our band talked about how Big Black quitting was sad not just because they were a good band, who was going to replace them?

I kind of feel that about Albini dying, a famous particularly smart and abrasive smart ass who rarely says something patently ridiculous is hard to come by.

R.I.P. indeed.

[machinesworking]

I dunno, I personally love that drum sound. I was texting a friend of mine, who isn't a musician (but is a huge music fan), when Albini died and one of the things she pointed out was how great the drums sound on In Utero, particularly Scentless Apprentice.

For the "muddy drums" folks, would you say the same thing about Bonham's drum sound? What's happening on In Utero isn't a hi-fi modern drum sound that's super processed and crisp - sure, totally agree there. But it's the sound of drums in a room. At least, without all the top-end that would kill your hearing. Speaking of which: asking drummers what they think of a sound is a risky endeavor considering how much time they spend with their heads less than 2ft away from loud cymbals. Dave Grohl reportedly has a huge gap in his hearing at 5k from being Dave Grohl.

IMO taking the advice of musicians who work in similar styles on what they think of the production of the instrument they play is logical. I respect you like the sound, but trying to discredit drummers by way of hearing loss is a bad take, and doesn't make any sense. Again, his guitar productions IMO were better than Butch Vig etc. because he liked a more raw sound, and that fits guitar.
So if I had my way Butch Vig would do drums, Jack Endino would do bass, and Steve Albini would do guitar production. Listen to the low end on Bleach, the drums on Nevermind and the guitars on In Utero.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Bleach always sounded like it had a muddy low end to me. But you like whatever you like man. Like I said, these things are subjective.

[machinesworking]

Bleach always sounded like it had a muddy low end to me. But you like whatever you like man. Like I said, these things are subjective.

Different drummer, different budget, lower quality mics etc. etc.

All of the original 90's Seattle acts got produced by Jack Endino, his thing is definitely low end, it's what he was known for, not a lot of money was spent recording Bleach among other debuts from the whole grunge period, nothing like what majors spent that's for sure. At least it has a low end.

[Dalle]

Funny how the articles written to exonerate him of his past sins just mention him using a few bad words but leave out his descriptions of being aroused by violent child pornography.