10 Legendary Rock Albums That Were Produced Terribly
A Little Rough Around the Edges.
When you're making your masterpiece in the studio, getting the right producer is half the battle. If you end up not having the right sound that you're looking for on an album, all you're going to be left with is a spotty mess once you finally decide to mix the record. Then again, sometimes the best albums ever released can have the songs shine through some iffy production.
Because these albums are by no means easy to listen to from front to back. Going through every single one of these songs, you'll find tracks where the production is either way too dry and sounds like crap or are going for something a lot more edgy and just sounding unprofessional as a result. Production is a two way street though, and some of these records have the kind of production that's almost too clean to be considered good.
Since some of these bands are known for how gritty they can get, having clean production can just lead to them sounding neutered in the studio. Hell, beyond just the producer, you can also look to different albums that were produced in a slapdash way, with the band getting more and more agitated with the way everything went down in the studio. For as many classic tracks may be on here, it stings a little bit when you know that the production is holding everything back.
10. Freaky Styley - Red Hot Chili Peppers
The differences between the Red Hot Chili Peppers of today and the one that got started back in the '80s is practically night and day. While funk had always been a trademark part of their sound since day one, they were still a more primal band for their first handful of releases, with Anthony Kiedis only rapping rather than singing all that much. So pairing them with a legend of funk should have helped them, right? Not exactly.
Despite being a fairly local California band, The Peppers managed to get George Clinton to produce their record, which ended up turning to hell from the minute that they started. Original guitarist Hillel Slovak was back on board, only to be pushed to the side in the mix to make room for Flea's basslines. Though the low end is a big part of the Peppers' sound, everything else seems to be really messy listening back to it, which might have to do with the partying going on.
Around the time that the album was being recorded, the misbehavior going on in the studio is the stuff of rock and roll legend, with George being out of his mind on cocaine most of the time and even giving his dealer a vocal cameo on the album when he didn't have enough money to pay him. Compared to the Rick Rubin years, this almost barely qualifies as a Red Hot Chili Peppers record. It's more of a fun experiment by George Clinton that didn't quite pan out.