[kj] "Absolute Dissent": The Loudness Wars

[folk devil]

There's a difference between rough edges and crap recording. Extremities might as well have been d/i to their home stereo..
 


Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:03:46 -0700
From: saulomar1 at yahoo.com
To: gathering at misera.net
Subject: Re: [kj] "Absolute Dissent": The Loudness Wars








> Extremities - abomination


  I say Nyet on that, for the same reason - "Rough edges are nice," - among others.  I think if they would've cleaned it up any further it would damage the album.  
That said, on certain songs ("Extremities..") the range of volume level (or whatever music techs call it) between loudest and softest parts (redundancy 4 emphasis? ha!) is enough to startle some listeners and maybe even affect the speakers if they're already turned up pretty loud. That, I think should've been improved.
  
 





From: folk devil <folk.devil at hotmail.com>
To: gathering at misera.net
Sent: Wed, October 27, 2010 10:45:55 AM
Subject: Re: [kj] "Absolute Dissent": The Loudness Wars



Hosannas - abomination
Extremities - abomination
Fire Dances - abomination
 
My biggest gripe with KJ production is the bass treatment.
 
I'll give AD a 7 or 8 out of 10.
 
However, I typically hate really squeaky clean production. Nor do I like 'mastering' that is effectively tubing the whole thing to constant loudness.
 Rough edges are nice. 
 


Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 13:18:30 -0400
From: vassifer at earthlink.net
To: gathering at misera.net; gathering at misera.net
Subject: Re: [kj] "Absolute Dissent": The Loudness Wars



"the production is an abomination."
These fools obviously never listened to HOSANNAS.
Alex in NYC





-----Original Message----- 
From: Rheinhold Squeegee 
Sent: Oct 27, 2010 1:14 PM 
To: Gathering Gathering 
Subject: [kj] "Absolute Dissent": The Loudness Wars 



Not interested in starting a flamewar here since the answer is pretty subjective, but I've been seeing a lot of comments from YouTube, Amazon etc. where a few very indignant individuals insist that while "AD" may be decent, the production is an abomination. 
 
Most interestingly, they cite KJ (1980) as an example of "good" KJ production when, to me, it sounds like it was recorded in a fish tank down the hall. I have also seen "HFTBOH" cited as well-produced, when it's obvious (again, to me) that they just drove the needles into the red and left them there. Very one-note with no subtlety at all.
 
I get the whole "Loudness Wars" thing, but that's a mastering, rather than production, issue, isn't it? CDs have a set peak and you can only give the perception of exceeding that peak through signal compression.
 
I'll be the first to admit that I'm deaf as a post, but this album "sounds" as good as any I've heard. I have been able to pick out levels of nuance in songs like "Ghosts of Ladbroke Grove" that I had never experienced with another KJ disc. I have listened to it loud in the car, at normal room volume, and with headphones. 
 
I have always appreciated the "chaos" of their sound and I would never want to experience KJ with the type of clinical separation that I hear in the (limited) amount of modern metal I've actually listened to. I like the fact that they sound like they're in the process of falling off a cliff. KJ (1980) wouldn't have the same resonance if it had been produced under better circumstances.
 
Is there anyone on this list with expertise in recording and production who can comment?  Can someone who thinks "AD" sounds bad reccommend a similar disc that they think sounds "good"? What KJ albums are well-produced?
 
Discuss.
 
 
 

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