Music you love that's poorly recorded

AsSiMiLaTeD
AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,728
edited January 2012 in Music & Movies
So what albums do you still have and listen to, even though they're poor recordings, because you like them enough to endure the poor quality? Another way to ask this question would be "What albums would you like better records of".

I'll get the list started with Muse. I've loved their music for over a decade (long before they became popular), but their music is just horribly recorded. I find myself listening to them much less than I would otherwise because of the poor quality. I can listen to them in the car and that's about it, every other system I have at this point is transparent enough that they're really just unlistenable.

It's a shame because I like all their albums.

So whacha got?
Post edited by AsSiMiLaTeD on
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,203
    edited January 2012
    I have 500+ Led Zep bootlegs and many are poor compared to a proper studio album. But I love them all and enjoy listening to them.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited January 2012
    thousands of Grateful Dead bootlegs, both audience recordings and soundboards. Even a lot of the Dead's officially released live shows aren't very good recordings. The new Europe 72 box set is pretty damn good though, plus it's one of my favorite time periods for them.
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  • cubdog
    cubdog Posts: 835
    edited January 2012
    Derek and the Dominos, Laya always comes to mind.

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  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,728
    edited January 2012
    I guess I should have ruled out bootlegs, I was thinking regular albums
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,328
    edited January 2012
    Iron Maiden all of them.. What a shame considering the band..
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  • decal
    decal Posts: 3,205
    edited January 2012
    I love rock music from the 60's and 70's. Most of it was poorly recorded.
    If you can't hear a difference, don't waste your money.
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  • brgman
    brgman Posts: 2,859
    edited January 2012
    I listened to Nugent's Double Live Gonzo the other night."Remastered" version.It took me back to my teenage years in both music and crappy distorted sound quality.What a shame.
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited January 2012
    AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »
    I guess I should have ruled out bootlegs, I was thinking regular albums

    How 'bout I rule you out?!:biggrin:
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited January 2012
    double post. whoops.
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  • ROHfan
    ROHfan Posts: 1,014
    edited January 2012
    Any album by Rush. I've never heard a three-man-band over-produced like these boys. I blame it on Hugh Syme. I was in a Rush tribute band for about five years (we played at RushCon in Toronto once) and that stuff was STILL almost impossible to pull off live, and we were a 5-piece. The better my audio equipment gets, the less I listen to Rush and the more I listen to Jazz and acoustic stuff.
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  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited January 2012
    All the early Stones albums. I don't think it would be quite the same if they were well recorded. I love them as they are.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,990
    edited January 2012
    Rush, Stones......let me add that I can't find a good recording of any Foreigner stuff. Even picked up a SACD of their music and still sounded like arse.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,203
    edited January 2012
    I haven't found a Rush recording that's all that great in their entire catalog, including the remasters. I still listen to them, but wish Peart's drums were a bit more like drums and not sounding like a wooden spoon playing Tupperware bowls.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • Oldfatdogs
    Oldfatdogs Posts: 1,874
    edited January 2012
    The Temptations,it seems most of the Motown cds are poorly recorded.
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  • gudnoyez
    gudnoyez Posts: 8,132
    edited January 2012
    Anything Kevin Shirley has produced the last couple of Joe Bonamassa cd's are terrible, along with Black Country Communion, I still listen but wish these would get some remastering done. Rush Vapor Trails sounds awful I cant listen to that one at all.
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  • scottyboy76
    scottyboy76 Posts: 2,905
    edited January 2012
    This is both worrisome and comforting.

    Unless they are just awful, my gear probably wouldnt expose a bad recording to my old ears.

    Its troubling to hear much of my beloved 60s,70s,80s rock sounds bad on better gear, which i aspire to someday, but comforting in that maybe my future turntable and preamp upgrade might not be helpful after all.

    I have many well maintained albums of music i have loved, might just keep spinnin them on crappy technics tt.
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  • Disc Jockey
    Disc Jockey Posts: 1,013
    edited January 2012
    Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell. I'm sure this was never a high quality recording but it sounds awful now when I try to take it up to any kind of decent SPL. Still enjoy it though. I'll second the GD bootlegs. Never going to be good sq but still great to listen to. Especially the ones that you attended.
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  • Polkersince85
    Polkersince85 Posts: 2,883
    edited January 2012
    Ever tried to listen to the Woodstock tapes? Either everybody was stoned or they used a Ratshack cassette recorder.
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  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,387
    edited January 2012
    I have to agree about Rush recordings. Great music but I have never liked the recording mix. "A Show of Hands" sounds pretty much like being there at the concert, which also seemed to have an odd mix. Most of mine is on vinyl but I just tried "Grace Under Pressure" remastered and still kind of cringe at the recording. An exception is "Permanent Waves" MFSL which sounds pretty good.

    My worst that I listen to occasionally is an off the radio (92 WLPL in Baltimore) recording of Rush on King Biscuit Flower Hour that a friend of mine made with his radio / cassette boom-box. The batteries started going and the motors were slowing down. Therefore, the playback speed up as you go further into the recording. It really sounds horrible but it is kind of cool at the same time, like finding a weathered artifact.
    Stan

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  • Joe08867
    Joe08867 Posts: 3,919
    edited January 2012
    Anything from Rush. Poor recording quality for such a good band.

    And anything from Slayer has issues as well. Most Heavy metal from the 90's.
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  • sda2mike
    sda2mike Posts: 3,131
    edited January 2012
    dead and floyd bootlegs...like h9, i like them, but they don't sound so good, sonically...stones stuff is sub-par, but matches their gritty selves...i can't stand the overly 'hot' new recordings...an example would be, jj cale & eric clapton 'road to escondido' and some of jeff beck's new stuff...why do the engineers do this to great playing?
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  • evhudsons
    evhudsons Posts: 1,175
    edited January 2012
    I've inherited about 50 original Elvis albums. I love listening to them, but the recording is awful.
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,456
    edited January 2012
    Anything by KISS and ABBA....
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited January 2012
    Bad recordings? Way more than should be. The audio industry should have standards in place so the "hacks" occupying the studios can learn how to do their craft correctly.
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  • gdb
    gdb Posts: 6,012
    edited January 2012
    Most of Eva Cassidy's catalog, unfortunately.
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,456
    edited January 2012
    steveinaz wrote: »
    Bad recordings? Way more than should be. The audio industry should have standards in place so the "hacks" occupying the studios can learn how to do their craft correctly.

    I love it... another "Occupy" movement is born! We are the 99%:cheesygrin:
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  • fossy
    fossy Posts: 1,378
    edited January 2012
    Hell bent for Leather ---- Judas Priest
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  • vcwatkins
    vcwatkins Posts: 1,993
    edited January 2012
    cubdog wrote: »
    Derek and the Dominos, Laya always comes to mind.

    cubdog

    I, uh, "ran across" a mfsl remaster of this recently and the sound is surprisingly good. Bass is restored and instrument separation is much improved. I had forgotten how much I loved those old songs. Heavy play lately.
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  • xsmi
    xsmi Posts: 1,798
    edited January 2012
    The Mahler Symphonies by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under George Solti! Yes Classical on the Gramophone label! BRIGHT! I LOVE the tempi and what he gets out of the orchestra but if I was a bass or tympani player, I would have been pissed.
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  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,496
    edited January 2012
    Ten Years After - Cricklewood Green. Even the MFSL version sounds poor. This album is amazing, but the recording could be better.

    Greg
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