Ground-breaking recordings

October 26, 2005 5:33 AM

What are some rock albums/songs that introduced ground-breaking production/engineering techniques (along the lines of The Beatles' song Tomorrow Never Knows or Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon)?
posted by punkfloyd to Media & Arts (45 answers total)

Joy Division - "Disorder" (and the rest of Unknown Pleasures)
posted by Marquis at 5:46 AM on October 26, 2005

Phil Spector's wall of sound leaps immediately to mind -- "Be My Baby," as does the entirety of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless.
posted by melissa may at 6:04 AM on October 26, 2005

Spiritualized's Electric Mainline in which J. Spaceman combined two finished productions of the same album into one.
posted by grimley at 6:08 AM on October 26, 2005

Peter Gabriel III - gated reverb.
Cher "Believer" - autotune as a musical effect
Paul Hardcastle "19" - first DDD recording
posted by benzo8 at 6:10 AM on October 26, 2005

Public Enemy's first album.
posted by bondcliff at 6:13 AM on October 26, 2005

Ba\eatles - Sgt. Pepper
First 8 track recording (2 four track used in tandem, if memory serves).

If you're just talkiing about uncommonly good recordings, you'd have to throw Pet Sounds in there, too.
posted by doctor_negative at 6:13 AM on October 26, 2005

Doesn't Laurie Anderson's "O, Superman" count because of her use of vocoder? Of course, she's probably preceded by Wendy Carlos's score to A Clockwork Orange in that regard ...
posted by grabbingsand at 6:16 AM on October 26, 2005

Autotune is not a vocoder.
posted by benzo8 at 6:18 AM on October 26, 2005

It didn't exactly "introduce" synthesizers to rock music, but David Bowie's 1977 album Low is often cited as the forerunner of industrial and techno. (Though that album was itself influenced by Kraftwerk; in addition, I'd argue that you can hear the genesis of the sound of Nine Inch Nails as early as Bowie's Diamond Dogs, from 1974.)

If we are allowed to include fusion (which I'd say we should), then Miles Davis's Bitches Brew and (even though I hate this album) On the Corner are on the list because of their editing techniques, as is just about any Davis album produced by Teo Macero.
posted by Prospero at 6:18 AM on October 26, 2005

Another one:

The Tornadoes "Telstar" - compression and EQ techniques (a lot of Joe Meek's production work would probably fit...)
posted by benzo8 at 6:22 AM on October 26, 2005

Autotune is not a vocoder.

No, it's Autotune. :)

Of course, Cher used a DigiTech Talker on "Believe" -- not Autotune.
posted by grabbingsand at 6:27 AM on October 26, 2005

grabbingsand writes "Of course, Cher used a DigiTech Talker on 'Believe' -- not Autotune."

Ah well - there you go! For such a long time there was no official story that it was never going to be solved until the engineer came out with it. Of course, he did that in Feb 1999 so I'm a bit behind the curve on that one...
posted by benzo8 at 6:34 AM on October 26, 2005

I believe Buddy Holly was the first to utilize overdubbing and multi-tracking.

Also, John Lennon claims that "I Feel Fine" is the first intentional use of feedback on a recording (although I have heard other artists dispute this).
posted by gfrobe at 6:38 AM on October 26, 2005

gfrobe: you misspelled Les Paul.
posted by keswick at 6:40 AM on October 26, 2005

Beatles again: "Eight Days A Week" was the first song to use fade in; on preview, I don't have to mention "I Feel Fine."
posted by librarina at 6:41 AM on October 26, 2005

As long as you don't mention "flanging" in terms of the Beatles, we'll be OK... (Let's give that one to Toni Fisher "The Big Hurt" - the Beatles "Flanging" was something entirely different to what's known by the term today...)
posted by benzo8 at 6:44 AM on October 26, 2005

I would throw in anything produced by either Daniel Lanois or Brian Eno in terms of production technique.
posted by spicynuts at 6:46 AM on October 26, 2005

Although it was probably recorded using traditional modern techniques, the Flaming Lips' "Zaireeka" was produced to be listened to on four CDs simultaneously.
posted by bkeaggy at 8:36 AM on October 26, 2005

The early (1947!) multi-track recordings and overdubbing done by Les Paul.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:38 AM on October 26, 2005

I believe that Alan Parsons Project was the first to use the vocoder in their album Edgar Allen Poe: Tales of Mystery and Imagination.

No, wait. It was probably Wendy Carlos.

How about Peter Frampton's use of the Talkbox in Frampton Comes Alive?
posted by ashbury at 8:44 AM on October 26, 2005

Glenn Gould's intercutting on the Goldberg Variations were groundbreaking for the genre.
posted by Marquis at 8:52 AM on October 26, 2005

I'm pretty sure Max Matthews was the first person to make a computer sing (the song was "Bicycle Built for Two")
posted by soplerfo at 8:56 AM on October 26, 2005

Tom Dowd was house producer at Atlantic Records for many years and was a pioneer of multitracking.

You might be interested in a documentary about Mr. Dowd, The Language of Music.
posted by padraigin at 9:02 AM on October 26, 2005

I'm not sure if Led Zeppelin emulated studio recording techniques pioneered by others (Les Paul?), but a good portion of their material has to be considered groundbreaking for rock n roll.
posted by terrier319 at 9:02 AM on October 26, 2005

I have heard from an engineer who worked on the album that many of the guitar sounds on NIN's "The Downward Spiral" were recorded with the amplifier cabinet lying underneath a grand piano.
I also read an interview with the guitarist from System of a Down where he said they recorded some sounds in a room with acoustic guitars mounted to the walls and ceiling.
Not a big fan of either, but cool techniques.
posted by bradn at 9:05 AM on October 26, 2005

The drums for "Bridge Over Troubled Water" were recorded in an elevator shaft for that cavernous sound. In another genre, Shelley Mann, TV composer for "Daktari," turned a big bass drum on its side and poured Uncle Ben's rice onto the head for an effect.
posted by Edward King at 9:08 AM on October 26, 2005

Ry Cooder's great record "Bop Till You Drop" was the first digitally recorded album.
posted by wsg at 9:11 AM on October 26, 2005

Sgt. Pepper
First 8 track recording

Les Paul (who has a new record out) was recording on eight-track in the '50s.
posted by timeistight at 9:19 AM on October 26, 2005

The little bass solo in Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al" is a palindrome. The bassline is played and then followed by the same lick in reverse. I'm not sure if it is conclusively the first to feature this, but it was damn hard to do in 1986.
posted by kyleg at 9:24 AM on October 26, 2005

les paul's 40s and 50s songs were the first use of overdubbing

sgt pepper was not the first 8 track recording ... atlantic records started using them in 1958, although they weren't doing any stunning studio tricks with them and often didn't overdub

going further back, electronically recorded disks first came along in 1925 ... this was a huge advance

as near as i can figure out, the first 16 track recording was aoxomoxoa by the grateful dead ... if it wasn't the first, it was very close

close miking techniques of amps were developed in the 60s, as far as i know

the moog synthesizer is an obvious innovation ... it's too confusing to say what was the first recording of one, but certainly walter/wendy carlos' switched on bach was the recording that made people take notice of it ... i'd say that emerson lake and palmer's lucky man was the first well-known rock song where the use of one was really obvious

one of the first uses of a drum machine i'm aware of was on sly and the family stone's "family affair"

i also think that many of columbia records' late 60s recordings set standards for clarity and production ... simon and garfunkel's bookends is one example ... many of atlantic records' r&b output did also ... the beatles' last few albums were certainly standard setters, too

there's nothing in dark side of the moon that by itself is an innovation ... it's the cumulative effect of many different techniques that were used well that makes this a milestone

although it wasn't necessarily the first of its kind, i remember elton john's caribou album as sounding amazingly polished and clean ... which was not necessarily a good thing, but soon, many records sounded like that

the first digital recording that a lot of people heard was tusk by fleetwood mac ... it just sounded different ... a little thin but very clear

kraftwerk, can and various dub artists created production and musical techniques that became standard later

"she blinded me with science" by thomas dolby seems to be one of the first obvious uses of digital sampling

i'd agree that public enemy's recordings took sampling to another level

with the exception of cher electronically bleating "i believe", i don't think there's been anything really stunningly advanced done for years ... now they're even autotuning country records ... i kind of hate it

it seems as though innovations are more minor these days than something that changes the technology drastically ...
posted by pyramid termite at 9:29 AM on October 26, 2005

Would Alvin Lucier's "I am sitting in a room" fit here?
posted by kuperman at 9:31 AM on October 26, 2005

May not be the first, but Donald Fagin's "The Nightfly" was one of the better early digital recordings (1982) The sound is a lot warmer and richer than many digital recordings that came later.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:03 AM on October 26, 2005

Buchanan & Goodman pioneered dense collages of pop music for comedic effect:

http://www.nydailynews.com/city_life/big_town/v-bigtown_archive/story/300985p-257684c.html

Raymond Scott created some of the first 100% electronically generated jingles in the 1950s

http://www.raymondscott.com/

Matmos created an album using sounds recorded during plastic surgery operations:

http://www.brainwashed.com/matmos/discog/index.html

Someone came up with the idea of the mashup, whence 1 song's instrumental is joined in an unholy union with another song's acapella track. (basic definition)

http://www.2manydjs.org/v2/frameset.htm

Grandmaster Flash extended the "break" on a record by playing two copies of the same record, switching back and forth between them:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A//www.grandmasterflash.com/&ei=0bhfQ4HiOcyYaM_GoesC&sig2=DV1GX-94igJ-4q0q81htOA

on a more conceptual than technical note, the Talking Heads switched instruments for "Naive Melody"

Supposedly Keith Richards put a knitting needle into his amp to create the fuzz tone on "I can't get no Satisfaction"

An anonymous Jamaican recording engineer was dubbing a record onto a blank disc and forgot to turn on the vocal track, thus creating an instrumental dub track that the toaster could speak over, thus leading eventually to hip hop.

The Roland TB-303, a sequencer and synth designed as an automated bass accompaniment to guitarists, is a commercial failure, and later discovered by thrifty producers in pawn shops, and found to create amazing abstract aceeeid patterns.
posted by pantufla at 10:22 AM on October 26, 2005

I'm not sure if Led Zeppelin emulated studio recording techniques pioneered by others (Les Paul?), but a good portion of their material has to be considered groundbreaking for rock n roll.

I know that Jimmy Page recorded his electric guitar direct into the mixing board on Black Dog. I'm not sure if that had been done before.

And automatic double tracking was invented for The Beatles and first appeared on Revolver.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:23 AM on October 26, 2005

Supposedly Keith Richards put a knitting needle into his amp to create the fuzz tone on "I can't get no Satisfaction"

I thought the Kinks were there first, with "You Really Got Me."
posted by Rash at 11:33 AM on October 26, 2005

Peter Townsend/The Who's Baba O'Riley
posted by Ogre Lawless at 12:58 PM on October 26, 2005

Supposedly Keith Richards put a knitting needle into his amp to create the fuzz tone on "I can't get no Satisfaction"

Link Wray poked holes in his amp with a pencil to get the definitively sleazy "Rumble."
posted by keswick at 1:14 PM on October 26, 2005

Supposedly Keith Richards put a knitting needle into his amp to create the fuzz tone on "I can't get no Satisfaction"

I thought the Kinks were there first, with "You Really Got Me."

Much earlier than either of them.
posted by timeistight at 1:18 PM on October 26, 2005

Theres really lots of examples of odd mike and amp placement and speaker tearring and ripping for guitar sounds.

I've heard the Five Royales guitar solo on the 1959 song 'the slummer the slum' referred to as the first recording of distortion.

Some other interestion things to think about for modern times are innovations in home recording / home studio / lofi sortof movements. i know devendra banhart has done releases recorded on answering machines and stuff like that.
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 1:32 PM on October 26, 2005

The 303 was preceded by over a decade of strange drum machines. Afrika Bambaataa was making crucial first steps in hip-hop in the late 70s. I don't know that he used drum machines, I'm sure he used various methods to create beats. The 303 became important, but I wouldn't say it was revolutionary when it was created.

The video for "Walk this way" featuring Aerosmith and Run DMC was the first video played on MTV.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 3:24 PM on October 26, 2005

...first RAP video...
posted by Jack Karaoke at 3:24 PM on October 26, 2005

The sketchy production on The Stooges' "Raw Power" was accidental, but it greatly influenced punk production values a generation later.

The Smiths' brilliant "How Soon is Now" supposedly has 30+ guitar tracks on it.

HR from Bad Brains recorded the vocals for "Sacred Love" from a prison phone.

Big Black apparently uses a car door slam for a kick somewhere on "Atomizer" (or is it "Songs About Fucking"?)

Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" was recorded under some pretty mysterious circumstances. Reed claimed to have used no electronic devices in it (but he also lies alot).

Flaming Lips' "Zaireeka!" is 4 discs, meant to be played simultaneously.

Talk Talk's "Laughing Stock" was a huge influence on the "post-rock" genre. It was recorded so that you could tell where the musicians are in the room.

Not rock, but the Studio One production on Bob Marley's "Rastaman Vibration" is excellent. Nothing specific to mention really, just over all great.

On top of being an amazing album, The production on Can's "Future Days" is flawless.
posted by hellbient at 3:58 PM on October 26, 2005

I know that Jimmy Page recorded his electric guitar direct into the mixing board on Black Dog. I'm not sure if that had been done before.

i would think someone had ... i know that a lot of the motown records had the bass playing into the board
posted by pyramid termite at 9:07 PM on October 26, 2005

Steve Albini's recordings were groundbreaking. He worked out that if you give raw, aggressive music an airy, light production, it will sound all the more horrible. The albums he records always sound to me like they've been produced on a hill in the middle of nowhere with sound being reflected off clouds and trees.

Key albums: Big Black's Songs About Fucking. Shellac's At Action Park.
posted by pollystark at 4:03 AM on October 27, 2005

I believe "Rain" by the Beatles was one of the first uses of backwards music on record...though perhaps experimental musicians may have done it first.
posted by Vidiot at 9:07 PM on October 27, 2005