Rocky Road

From Classic Rock to Progessive to hip hop to today's hot new tunes!

Return to Rocky Road

Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

Any punk fans? Doesn't sound quality make you angry?

96.255.214.148
Posted on February 23, 2015 at 19:46:52
Systolic
Audiophile

Posts: 4
Location: VA
Joined: February 23, 2015
 I love punk, but I'm also a bit of an audiophile. When I listen to punk on my hifi it makes it sound like crap cause I know what a good recording sounds like on it. A hi-fi system really shows the limitations of most punk recordings. If I listen to it in the car it sounds fine. Most punk is not listened to on a hi-fi. It's probably the least hi-fi modern music -and that is sort of the catch 22 for audiophile punk fans.

The rawness of some of the recordings IS part of punk, but on the other hand that rawness sounds like crap a lot of the time. All tinny mids, etc. But it is possible to capture raw and still have a quality recording, look at the Black Keys, White Stripes etc. There are some good recent punk recordings like the Hellcat label, Bad Religion, Rancid, etc, but most classic stuff sounds like crap (not what they are playing, but the way it was recorded).

Anyone else feel my pain? Are there any classic punk albums that you think sound really good?
Nicholas

 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
"Are there any classic punk albums that you think sound really good?", posted on February 23, 2015 at 21:04:08
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 31879
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004
 Though not much into the genre, London Calling sounds SUPERB! ESPECIALLY the original UK pressing.

Also love the sound of Double Nickels on the Dime. Never Mind the Bollocks too.

At this point in time though many probably consider those titles as "classic rock"!

But I feel your frustration, it's a genre of immediacy & energy; if it happens
to be well recorded, that's just a bonus!



"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

RE: Any punk fans? Doesn't sound quality make you angry?, posted on February 23, 2015 at 21:52:23
dirtyvinyl
 Only the groups that were able to get picked up by bigger labels had any chance of sounding decent. I have period issues of many I liked when they were around.The first Pistols and the first 3 Ramones albums sound quite good at max volume. Almost like a classic R&R album that always gets played LOUD.

 

Doesn't bother me, posted on February 23, 2015 at 22:42:03
Goober58
 Took me some time but I learned to included shitty recordings as part of my demo so the gear I own doesn't sound real crappy playing it back. Of course good recordings sound pretty damn fantastic though I guess maybe they don't sound as good as if I hadn't included the shitty stuff in the demo. Who cares beats the shit out owning a stereo that sounds like shit.

And FWIW all my recordings sound better, including the shitty ones, on my home stereos than on my car stereos or my boomboxes. Poor me!

In fact I kind of like raw and rough sounding recordings. The squeeky clean production of most audiophile approved pop/rock recordings can (not always) be a put off.

 

RE: Any punk fans? Doesn't sound quality make you angry?, posted on February 24, 2015 at 02:43:08
Kim S.
Audiophile

Posts: 201
Location: NW Michigan
Joined: March 12, 2004
 I agree most of the early punk stuff was poorly recorded or at least poorly transferred to CD. One time I was at a friends house who is a guitar fanatic. We played "Never Mind the Bullocks" by the Sex Pistols through his huge Sun amps and speakers. It was a revelation. You would swear you were there live. Other CD's we played were not that great through his set up

 

RE: Any punk fans? Doesn't sound quality make you angry?, posted on February 24, 2015 at 03:25:44
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Welcome! Nicholas-

Punk, Hard Rock/Metal were not treated well during the recording process.
I am into Clash & Black Flag- yes the sound-quality is bad indeed.

 

RE: Any punk fans? Doesn't sound quality make you angry?, posted on February 24, 2015 at 05:46:47
Systolic
Audiophile

Posts: 4
Location: VA
Joined: February 23, 2015
 The Clash is actually not too bad compared to most since their first studio LP they were on Sony/Columbia and recorded in decent studios. The Nevermind the Bullocks session was major label sponsored in a decent studio too. I think there is even a Blu Ray Audio version available now. Even recordings of the UK Subs sound decent since they were on RCA.

I was referring to stuff more like non major label 80s US punk, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Bratmobile, The Pist, etc.

Early Social D is a bit raw, but later albums are recorded well for the genre, but again, they were on Epic so they had major label backing for their sessions.

There are lots of Lo-fi recordings that sound great on a hi-fi though, where the rawness of the recording colors the music instead of destroys it. Take the Black Keys' Thickfreakness for example. It was recorded on a 1980s Tascam 388 8-track, and the same or similar was probably used on a lot of punk. So it is possible for a lo-fi basement recording to not sound like garbage.
Nicholas

 

RE: Any punk fans? Doesn't sound quality make you angry?, posted on February 24, 2015 at 05:48:56
Systolic
Audiophile

Posts: 4
Location: VA
Joined: February 23, 2015
 One of the Ramones LPs was produced by Phil Spector, who is regarded as one of the best producers of all time, even though he was a weirdo.
Nicholas

 

RE: Any punk fans? Doesn't sound quality make you angry?, posted on February 24, 2015 at 07:09:50
dirtyvinyl
 "One of the Ramones LPs was produced by Phil Spector, who is regarded as one of the best producers of all time, even though he was a weirdo"

Yeah, IMO the Ramones thing started to sound cheesy by then.I lost interest. They had "jumped the shark"with their appearance in that R&R High School movie. Somewhere around there was the end of my record collection-had I known that I would be once again be buying some of the same records I had back then, I would have kept them!

I saw them with some opening band called X. My friends and I thought they sounded awful, but they were another band that gained a little traction and caught the attention of punk fans. I did buy their first record after seeing them. Didn't care for them after their debut album.

 

RE: Any punk fans? Doesn't sound quality make you angry?, posted on February 24, 2015 at 07:58:28
woober goober
Audiophile

Posts: 727
Location: Atlanta
Joined: November 6, 2009
 YES!
YES!!
Iggy, X, Ramones, Demolition Doll Rods, arghhhhh!!!!

 

RE: Any punk fans? Doesn't sound quality make you angry?, posted on February 25, 2015 at 03:29:53
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Don't forget Generation X!

 

RE:The Clash London Calling, posted on February 26, 2015 at 23:04:54
digda_beat
Audiophile

Posts: 1724
Location: Canberra
Joined: July 31, 2003
 always one of my favourite punk albums (I am that old) and yes, sound quality is shocki9ng. Radiohead are also very bad (not punk, I know)
Elvis Costello (i never thought of him as punk but at least one biographer tries arguing he was) is pretty good. I have great japanes pressings and mobile fidelities of a lot of his stuff, but I suppose it is the post- punk stuff

 

RE: Any punk fans? Doesn't sound quality make you angry?, posted on March 1, 2015 at 15:27:44
Picaro
Audiophile

Posts: 6
Joined: February 16, 2015
 I would think sounding bad would go hand in hand with being a true punk rocker. :-)

 

Wire's Pink Flag has excellent sound. , posted on March 2, 2015 at 07:16:00
MWE
Audiophile

Posts: 2202
Location: Burlington, NC
Joined: June 8, 2000
 The follow-up Chairs Missing does, too, but it's more post-punk than punk.

Mark in NC
Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon

 

RE:The Clash London Calling, posted on March 2, 2015 at 07:43:54
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 No doubt that EC started out as punk w/ his "angry young man" schtick.
The Police, in their early days, were punk as well.

 

RE: Any punk fans? Doesn't sound quality make you angry?, posted on March 2, 2015 at 07:44:36
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 I concur that a true Punk rocker would not care about SQ.

 

RE:The Clash London Calling, posted on March 6, 2015 at 16:03:30
robert920rogers@gmail.com
Audiophile

Posts: 1048
Location: southern california
Joined: February 9, 2010
 Elvis Costello has been everything,my buddy always talks about his country album

 

No, posted on March 12, 2015 at 06:02:35
Rob Doorack
Audiophile

Posts: 5378
Joined: May 26, 2000
 Most of mankind's recorded legacy sounds like crap. The groundbreaking records by Louis Armstrong - the most important and influential musician of the 20th century - have lower fidelity than you could get from the voice memo app on an iPhone today. Robert Johnson's staggering performances must be heard through a fog of noise. The bands in the '70s punk revolution weren't concerned with making audiophile quality records; they just wanted their voices to be heard.

If your system limits the music you can enjoy to just high quality recordings, your stereo sucks.

 

RE: No, posted on March 12, 2015 at 06:39:30
Systolic
Audiophile

Posts: 4
Location: VA
Joined: February 23, 2015
 The difference is that while not audiophile recordings to be sure, Louis Armstrong and Johnson tracks don't become fatiguing to the ears. Except maybe if there is a lot of shrill horn playing.

I'm not blaming punk bands for having crappy recordings, I mean, I get it, they were limited by funds, being on indie labels, and the raw sound is part of the vibe.

A good hifi system isn't making it "sound bad", it is just playing it more accurately than a car stereo or boom box. Also, it is recorded louder and with less dynamic range than classic jazz and roots music. So, it becomes fatiguing to the ears faster. Also, most major label rock uses side chain compression to make different parts of the track stand out, with punk it is often a mush of mids with the guitar, vocals, and snare, which can really get at your ears. So it isn't sounding bad, as much as it is sounding exactly like it is recorded.
Nicholas

 

I get where you're coming from..., posted on March 12, 2015 at 08:38:40
cfraser
Audiophile

Posts: 3208
Location: Pickering, Ontario
Joined: April 30, 2000
 but if it didn't sound raw, I think that would be even worse.

The "poor" SQ doesn't bother me nearly as much as it probably should... If it helps, it didn't sound any better live. It's a rare "classic" punk recording I can't listen to, that sounds so bad I have to pass (e.g. some of the Damned stuff). OTOH some of the early "proto-punk" (e.g. Stooges) sounds rather good to me, no prob cranking that on a half-decent stereo.

 

Page processed in 0.035 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]