DTH Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 ok, so before someone says "we have a thread about the best album": this thread is not about what you think is the best album, it is just about the sound of the albums. i added a poll just to get an overview, which one is most favored for its sound, but please explain your opinion and discuss as well. it doesnt matter if you like the songwriting or not. it is just about the sound of the instruments and/or billies voice. i think it is very relevant, because i heard a lot of people complaining about the trilogy sound (which is counted as one. even if uno, dos, tre do have their own sound it is not that different). tre with insomniac sound? id love it! now: in my opinion insomniac has the best overall sound. i like all of it. no weird effects, loud bass, heavy distorted guitars (but not mushy like on 21st century breakdown) and the drum sound. since 21stcbd the drum sound on GD records annoys the hell out of me... that snare drum is so penetrant on those records. i prefer the more muted sound of the snare like on earlier records. all albums: - 1,039/smoothed out slappy hours (i know its not one single album, but they sound more or less the same): i really dig the cheap sound. its sound so raw and gives the whole record this special atmosphere. my second favorite album sound. dirty guitar sound and great harmonies. and i actually like billies voice on here, too! i know a lot people cant stand it. but i like it more than the way he sang live later.... keeping his voice deep to sound "punk". not my cup of tee. all in all something i would call a "warm album". even if its simple, it sounds full and has some soul. - kerplunk: worse than 1,039... . everything sounds so powerless. proves that you can produce a great sound without money (1,039...) and a shitty sound with no money (kerplunk). one of the "cold albums" - dookie: its alright. but a bit to popy for me. all instrument could be a bit louder. better than kerplunk though. even if welcome to paradise is slower here, it has much more power with the new sound. - insomniac: i think i said a lot about it already. its the maximum green day sound. you can hear mikes bass enough, everything is louder and dirtier than on dookie and tres drum sound is the best of all records. another "warm album" as well. - nimrod: it sounds very similiar to insomniac. maybe a bit to many guitars at once. drum sound getting worse as well... for that reason you cant hear mikes bass that good anymore. nevertheless it has a good sound. - warning: well... different. but i think the accoustic layer they added is good for the songs they have on that record. drums start to annoy me a bit on here already. - American Idiot: You can hear that this one is a real producers album. many effects, plenty of sound layers... usually not a fan of it. but what they did, they did good. it is still a very warm album to me, maybe because they still have an accoustic layer here, too. you slightly hear it anymore, but even muted in the backround it adds something. billies singign is great! some effects, but ok... after that album it went downhill... 3rd favorite sound. - 21st century breakdown: seriously: such a cold album. everything is over the top. to many guitars, to many effects and an annoying penetrant snare drum. it doesnt help that tre always plays the same beat... - trilogy: to many effects on billies voice, to clean guitars. i like the guitar soli sounds though. bass: not hearable enough, the drums are way to loud. and snare drum again... i think my ears blead. and billies voice: way to high. i know he cant change it probably, its just how his voice developed. but i dont like it. (i think it has something to do with the drugs he did...). least favorite album sound. what do you think? if you dont think its worth a thread: dont post.
Shredder2 Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 I picked the trilogy because, well, it sounds very clean, yet, still has that punk feel to it, and what not... Second to that is the balls-out ambitious American Idiot.
Guest Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 The Trilogy, purely for the vocal effects on Nightlife. Love it.
Mato Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 The fact is that American Idiot is still their best produced record, if not one of the best produced ever. What Rob Cavallo did there is unsurpassed.
greenday_jlb Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 Warning has to be my favourite, but I love the cleverness behind American idiot, the fact the songs tell a story, so ill have to say American idiot
Alan86 Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 Warning for me. And i love that some of the new stuff reminds me so much of the warning sound. Walk Away and little boy named train are very like the warning style, especially "walk away" though.
HolyHandGrenade Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 Nimrod. The beginning of Scattered wins my vote single-handedly, and I love the effects on Last Ride In
The Grohl Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 i have to go with Insomniac because there's this really hard edge to the music and at times it's really dark. There also seems like there's this raw energy to it too that I just love.
Guest Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 American Idiot has the best sound for my ears. The guitars were really cut loose in a way that they hadn't been on previous albums, aside from maybe Insomniac. Despite having a very polished finish to it, the record was very rough and very raw-sounding underneath. 21CB is my least favorite. There are a couple of hidden gems on there, but overall, the vocals kill it (well, no more so than everything else about that album kills it. Billie Joe's got a great voice; why was it hidden behind an abusive amount of Autotune on this record?
localinsomniac Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 I went with Dookie because the tones were stellar across the board, and I thought the mix was just right. nimrod was a close second, but it didn't have one distinct "sound" to it; there were lots of different things going on there. I thought everything about the recording of Dookie was perfect.
Lauren Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 Indeed, American Idiot does sound the best, even though I don't like the songs on it as much as other albums. (So yes, I actually voted for best produced and not favorite) I also really love the Trilogy sound because Billie's voice really improved. Especially Uno. It sounds raw and pure. Like they're singing right next to you. 21st Century Breakdown was the ABSOLUTE WORST. I remember watching a video of Murder City live and thinking it'd be my new favorite song, but when I heard it on the album, I wanted to throw my ipod at the wall, lol. Just way too over-produced. However, I do really like Insomniac because of the bass lines sticking out. My only complaints about the newer stuff is I can barely hear the bass. but that's also because there used to only be one guitar, so the bass kind of became this lead guitar. Now there's a lot of other instruments so I guess it can't really stick out as much. I can't tell you how happy I was when they announced Rob Cavallo would be producing the trilogy. I think they made a huge mistake in having Butch Vig to do 21st Century Breakdown, and I think they know it, too. Rob makes great albums!
DTH Posted April 8, 2013 Author Posted April 8, 2013 Sure the instruments are great, but what about Billie's vocals? They're totally drowned out. You can barely hear what he's saying in some places. yeah i know that this is something people would complain about. i think it is just a matter of taste. you probably like the dookie sound more then... to me its just a but to popy. i like it when the instruments are loud compared to the voice. give em enoug rope from the clash is critisized for the same reason: the instruments are to loud (the producer did that because he didnt like joes voice ). i personally love it as well (even though joes singing is great!)! adds so much power in my opinion. give em enough rope and insomniac are albums i would describe nearly as the perfect sund for a punk album. even though they are very different of course in other aspects than the volume of the instruments.
WhiteTim Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 American Idiot has the best sound for my ears. The guitars were really cut loose in a way that they hadn't been on previous albums, aside from maybe Insomniac. Despite having a very polished finish to it, the record was very rough and very raw-sounding underneath. 21CB is my least favorite. There are a couple of hidden gems on there, but overall, the vocals kill it (well, no more so than everything else about that album kills it. Billie Joe's got a great voice; why was it hidden behind an abusive amount of Autotune on this record? Autotune wasnt used on 21st
DTH Posted April 8, 2013 Author Posted April 8, 2013 Warning has to be my favourite, but I love the cleverness behind American idiot, the fact the songs tell a story, so ill have to say American idiot read the OP! i knew there would be still people not getting it...
WestboundSign! Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 American Idiot's sound would have to be my favorite. It sounds super comforting and warm to me, if you can say so. Always absolutely loved how Billie's voice sounds on the record, how the guitar playing is so clear. It may be a "producers album" as said before, but it's awesomely produced, that's for certain. Billie's voice sounds grand on the triology as well, though. The songs on it generally impressed me sound-wise, also because there's a lot of variation between the single tracks. So American Idiot #1 and Triology #2. 21st Century Breakdown would have to be my least favorite when it comes to sound even though I do really like it as a whole. But I have to agree with everyone saying it sounds a little too cold and overdone.
Jimmy Strummer Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 I hate 1,039. Yeah yeah, it's raw, it's punk, blah blah blah, but at the end of the day, the guitars are thin, the drums are really dry, the bass sound sucks, and the echo on the vocals gets really annoying after a while. Kerplunk's actually better to me, because the mix sounds more full. The guitars got a tiny bit thicker, the bass improved, the drums got a little wetter, and no echo on the vocals. Not great, but better than 1,039. Dookie feels a bit too stale for me. The guitars aren't that punchy, the drums are pretty dry, the bass sound is only fun at times, and the vocal sound is okay. I remember Billie saying that when the band went into the studio, they told Rob they wanted a dry sound, like the first Black Sabbath record. Dry doesn't really play to the band's skill set. They're better when they're punchy, not dry. With Insomniac, Cat said it best: sure, the guitars are really loud and dirty, bass is more present, drums are okay, but the vocals don't sit well in the mix. Everything you want to hear kinda overpowers what you need to hear. I think Nimrod has a good balance: better vocal presence, sharper guitars, punchier bass (I really like the bass sound on Nimrod), and the drums are better, more clear. Warning, I think they kinda went overkill on the treble. Everything's very sharp and piercing when it should be a little softer and warmer, especially considering this is a record that prominently features the acoustic guitar. And in my opinion, this is the drum sound that gets on my nerves. And as everyone else has said, I think American Idiot is produced very well. I think that album has the maximum Green Day sound: loud and dirty but still punchy guitars, sharp bass, good solid compromise on the drum sound, and the vocals fit very well into the mix. And it's very detailed: every time you listen to it, you can find something new that you didn't hear before. Great production. Now that I think about it, 21CB, which used to be my favorite album of all time before the Trilogy, is kinda cold. I think it was trying to take the American Idiot sound and take it to a much larger scale, but something got lost in the translation: the sound isn't very detailed. Butch Vig produces in a way where he sacrifices a lot of things (such as texture and detail) just for pure size, making the album sound big but without having its own real identity. And that kind of production style doesn't work well with a band like Green Day who has a sound that thrives on detail, like punchy guitars and present bass and textured drums. Overall, looking back, yeah, it's very overproduced, but would you expect anything else from Butch Vig? I think the production's fine on the Trilogy, and I like how the guitars have an actual tone rather than just being dirty and loud. Sure they're dirty, but not the kind of dirty on Insomniac where you're sacrificing a lot of the details for pure distortion. The bass is present, you just gotta listen more carefully; and I like drums that have plenty of attack and punch, so my ears certainly don't bleed when listening to them. Everything's well balanced on this album, and it sounds really fresh and new.
NaughtyHellGod Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 I have to say the trilogy because it has mix of different sounds that could be compared to the older albums.
WhiteTim Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 If Jerry Finn hadnt buried the vocals on Insomniac it'd be the best sounding GD album to me
Vic_Rattlehead Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 Has to be Insomniac, everything was levelled perfectly.
greenday_jlb Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 read the OP! i knew there would be still people not getting it... There really was no need for this comment, I know it's about the sound which is why I voted as I did, with regard to my comment I was just commenting along with the others, there's no need to be rude
DTH Posted April 8, 2013 Author Posted April 8, 2013 There really was no need for this comment, I know it's about the sound which is why I voted as I did, with regard to my comment I was just commenting along with the others, there's no need to be rude didnt want to be rude. sorry if you took it that way. from your way of reasoning you voted for AI i assumed you voted for it because you like the "storry telling".
greenday_jlb Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 didnt want to be rude. sorry if you took it that way. from your way of reasoning you voted for AI i assumed you voted for it because you like the "storry telling". For the comment that I put, I did, but I voted according to sound, I was just saying I love the sound of warning, but in relation to other comments I was saying that overall favourite (not sound related) was AI, probably wrongly placed so sorry for that, no hard feelings though.
alexgrogan Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 American Idiot all the way. Maybe not as raw as their earlier stuff but I love it. That album changed my life.
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