Honestly though, this is an album that does not pull any punches. Its an album written by a band as a means for them to play the songs live at a rally, and as a consequence they end up sounding that way too. RATM is their best album. Evil Empire and Battle Of LA do not even come close to touching it.

I talked a bit more about RATM here:

http://productionadvice.co.uk/audio-personality/

Let me know what you think

Happy to see you included Goldfrapp!

Oh, and there’s WAY too little Fleetwood Mac in this thread!

Klaatu – first album (different US/UK titles): excellent all round. Terry Brown production I recall;
Pet Sounds: DVD-A version is stunning; I do like the original mono but the stereo is great too IMO;
Toy Matinee: stereo or surround versions very impressive;
Thunderclap Newman – Hollywood Dream: “Accidents” includes the coolest bass sound I’ve ever heard;
Beatles, Love: wonderful piece of work sound-wise as well as mixwise. Again, the DVD-A is brilliant;

I could be biased for Extreme’s “Waiting For The Punchline”, the same way people are biased for RATM… It’s the music really. “Punchline” has great playing… I also like Californication, even though it’s pretty squashed…

Morphine however, they are a category of their own. I think everythting they put out is very special… There is a collection of the solo work of Mark Sandman called “Sandbox”. Ian, you talk about signature sound and how you can tell a recording, JJ Cale’s, etc.. I feel the same way about Mark Sandman’s solo work – not only he used harmonica microphones a lot, which is a signature sound by itself, but just about everything he recorded has that special Mark Sandman touch. He was a DIY guy and absolutely brilliant.

Thanks for commenting – I’m going to check out your suggestions, thanks !

Ian