Triggsy
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 229
Favourite Quo Album: On The Level
Favourite other bands.: AC/DC Greenday Airbourne
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Post by Triggsy on Oct 17, 2020 16:33:49 GMT
Quo production then? Many Quo albums have become 'tainted' with poor production, mainly at the 'Hands' of Pip 'No Guitars Please' Williams, Quo should have always been 'a Guitar sound' based Band, but with the introduction of Pip to 'clean up the sound' they made a glaring error of judgement, but then he did make some amends in 1979 with 'Whatever You Want' (a Quo Classic) Being hyper critical, 'Hello!' production isn't overly great in my opinion, it's not a patch on Piledriver/Quo/On the Level/Blue For You production (although it contains more Quo classics than any others) so who's right and who's wrong? Francis produced 'RTYD' and 'Thirsty Work', two albums following each other (in the scheme of releases) but production wise RTYD sounds raw and semi live, while 'TW' is poor all round (standard of songs left a lot to be desired obviously) Mike Paxman was a breath of fresh air after 'TW' and the Covers 'tripe' and overall , has done a fair job I feel...Who'd be a Producer eh?
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gav
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 2,152
Favourite Quo Album: On The Level
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Post by gav on Oct 17, 2020 20:23:26 GMT
I thought that the remaster of "Under The Influence" was a vast improvement - can't really say why as i'm not fluent in audiophilia! Save to say it seemed to create a bigger, warmer sound, less sterile, more organic.
Or something.
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jcb
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 77
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Post by jcb on Oct 17, 2020 21:08:37 GMT
Always been a big fan of thirsty work...tremendous album..as for the production on the early albums, for me it became more noticeable with hello...especially on headphones...I like to play “ count the guitars” there’s one, oh, there’s another, and what’s that over there....one more...and there’s another on the chorus....and that’s just Caroline! I think it’s great they have used a few different producers, and seem to rotate the same bunch....all sounds like Quo to me. Wonderful stuff....and so much of it. To me it sounds like they have tried every available method as and when it reared it’s ugly head....and still managed to sound the same, without actually sounding the same. Clever stuff. Take something from DOTH and put it next to something from Backless, they sound nothing like each other, but they still sound like Quo. Like I said, clever stuff.
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Post by twentytwenty on Oct 17, 2020 21:22:20 GMT
Quo production then? Many Quo albums have become 'tainted' with poor production, mainly at the 'Hands' of Pip 'No Guitars Please' Williams, Quo should have always been 'a Guitar sound' based Band, but with the introduction of Pip to 'clean up the sound' they made a glaring error of judgement, but then he did make some amends in 1979 with 'Whatever You Want' (a Quo Classic) Being hyper critical, 'Hello!' production isn't overly great in my opinion, it's not a patch on Piledriver/Quo/On the Level/Blue For You production (although it contains more Quo classics than any others) so who's right and who's wrong? Francis produced 'RTYD' and 'Thirsty Work', two albums following each other (in the scheme of releases) but production wise RTYD sounds raw and semi live, while 'TW' is poor all round (standard of songs left a lot to be desired obviously) Mike Paxman was a breath of fresh air after 'TW' and the Covers 'tripe' and overall , has done a fair job I feel...Who'd be a Producer eh? Wow, to say that Thirsty Work had bad production makes me literally laugh out loud.
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Post by sqcollector on Oct 17, 2020 22:05:48 GMT
I thought that the remaster of "Under The Influence" was a vast improvement - can't really say why as i'm not fluent in audiophilia! Save to say it seemed to create a bigger, warmer sound, less sterile, more organic. Or something. I only have the original release, but I've listened to a couple of tracks from some remaster. The idea I have is the remasters were slightly less muddy, which is good, albeit more compressed.
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Post by frozenhero on Oct 18, 2020 13:30:35 GMT
Interestingly enough, nobody has uploaded the DR values of the "Under the Influence" remaster to the dynamic range database...
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gav
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 2,152
Favourite Quo Album: On The Level
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Post by gav on Oct 18, 2020 17:47:57 GMT
Interestingly enough, nobody has uploaded the DR values of the "Under the Influence" remaster to the dynamic range database... It doesn't seem to be a much mentioned release at all, almost like it slipped out un-noticed! Maybe it was just swamped by all the other remasters either side of it.
Nice wee package though, digipack with booklet insert, original concept cover art (the bent fork) and 3 bonus tracks.
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matt
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 1,010
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Post by matt on Oct 19, 2020 13:31:37 GMT
Actually just to contradict myself slightly - Ive just listed to Quid Pro Quo for the first time in a long while. Two way traffic sounds pretty excellent - Very full. Yes its loud, but it sounds good. Im listening on Amazon music unlimited though earphones. Sounds really good actually. Arguably better than Rock Til you drop the same platform.
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Post by unspokenwords on Oct 19, 2020 18:56:08 GMT
Whilst I can appreciate that production and a producer can make a difference, Quo never really had a 'Phil Spector'/George Martin/Rick Rubin/Joe Meek level of product or producer.
In a sense they were a straight down the line, hit the button and record musical act.
After their creative period in the 1970's they unfortunately did not have the product or band spirit and dynamic and at that stage, as many have said down the years on this site, 'you can't polish a turd', so no producer was going to make a significant difference.
In terms of producer apart from when they self produced, I think the best producer they ever had was John Schroeder. He produced real pychadelic masterpieces with them and a soul and layers that deserve real respect. He also in a sense trained them in the studio, techniques etc., and gave them the confidence to set up the amplifiers in IBC studios and press 'record'.
What made the 'production' good in the early to mid 1970's masterpieces was that they were a band, had thought through arrangements and sounds they wanted and probably did not over think or try to be too clever and in the process they produced real quality.
They did not need Phil Spector or Burt bacharach although interestingly I always think they they produced their own version of 'wall of sound' before the Ramones and punk in general were credited with the same effect.
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matt
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 1,010
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Post by matt on Oct 19, 2020 21:15:28 GMT
I like the sound of things like Lies. The drums are clear, the guitars crunchy not Heavy metals and the whole things sounds organic
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gav
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 2,152
Favourite Quo Album: On The Level
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Post by gav on Oct 20, 2020 9:03:40 GMT
Interestingly enough, nobody has uploaded the DR values of the "Under the Influence" remaster to the dynamic range database... I can send over the files if you like if you want to do it yourself? Me - no idea how to!
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Post by twentytwenty on Oct 20, 2020 10:50:29 GMT
The raw multitrack files from several Queen and Rolling Stones recordings has surfaced online over the years, do anybody know if there's any Quo tracks that's out there?
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Post by frozenhero on Oct 20, 2020 11:57:11 GMT
Interestingly enough, nobody has uploaded the DR values of the "Under the Influence" remaster to the dynamic range database... I can send over the files if you like if you want to do it yourself? Me - no idea how to! With my internet connection, I think buying the CD myself is the easier option, but thanks! Sadly, it seems the old TT-DR meter is not available anymore; the updated version isn't free, but I still have the program files for both the actual program and the foobar2000 plugin...The raw multitrack files from several Queen and Rolling Stones recordings has surfaced online over the years, do anybody know if there's any Quo tracks that's out there? I'm not aware. A lot of the multis were only recently discovered and I'm sure Universal will not be too keen on getting them out there.
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Post by twentytwenty on Oct 20, 2020 12:36:32 GMT
I can send over the files if you like if you want to do it yourself? Me - no idea how to! With my internet connection, I think buying the CD myself is the easier option, but thanks! Sadly, it seems the old TT-DR meter is not available anymore; the updated version isn't free, but I still have the program files for both the actual program and the foobar2000 plugin...The raw multitrack files from several Queen and Rolling Stones recordings has surfaced online over the years, do anybody know if there's any Quo tracks that's out there? I'm not aware. A lot of the multis were only recently discovered and I'm sure Universal will not be too keen on getting them out there. Yeah that's probably the case. That's unfortunate though, oh what I would have wanted to get my hands on just a single song. On that note, I really hope they release a remixed version of heavy traffic. That album deserves so much better mix.
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mortified
4500 Timer
Posts: 5,861
Favourite Quo Album: Hello!
Favourite other bands.: Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow, Gary Numan, Alabama 3, ZZ Top, Paul van Dyk, Jeff Beck, Bowie, Gerry Rafferty, Band of Skulls, UFO, S.A.H.B
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Post by mortified on Oct 20, 2020 14:04:31 GMT
Being a complete caveman when it comes to technical things like this, I never know what's down to production, or engineering, or mixing, or compression (which is actually a new one on me in recent years but now spoken of like it was an every day occurrence) or a combination of everything including issues with vinyl. I tend to just listen and if it sounds a bit 'flat' or instruments/vocals aren't quite where I'd prefer them to be, I've always put that down to the production. Which it maybe isn't. I go by the overall 'sound' and do not have an ear for the minutiae. Or choose not to use it, put it that way. Albums that spring to mind in the past where I've thought, "ooh, that lacks clarity and a bit of oomph" but where I've normally really liked an artist are these: Defenders of the Faith - Judas Priest Making Contact - UFO Rockin' All Over The World - Quo (obviously very well documented) The Unforgettable Fire - U2 Diamond Dogs - Bowie Recycler - ZZ Top Black Rose - Thin Lizzy Animals - Pink Floyd None of these albums are new, of course, but they all made a lasting impression on me and, apart from Rockin', became my least favourite albums by these artists as a result, purely because of what I perceived to be a 'dull' sound. Then again, maybe I just had a crap stereo Although I paid a fortune for it!
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