Klauth
Active member
Not like they are now.
DanTravis62
Moderator
Moderator
Honestly I think online text based forums are one of the things that's changed the least since that time period
The big changes seem more like influencer culture in engineering, with youtubers and tiktokers and IG being hugely influential to the sounds of albums
And then how cheap and easy digital is now (compared to in the 90s, when it was about the same as analog recording - in some cases more expensive)
skoora
Well-known member
Early 2000’s, I’m not an emo guy but I do like Jimmy Eat World when they’re rockin’ out and Bleed American came on my phone shuffle and I’m not sure there’s a better sounding rock record since, except for maybe their own follow up, Futures and 2003’s Blast Tyrant by Clutch.
Both powerful and loud without feeling brickwalled and amazing tones and mixing for all the instruments and vocals.
Both powerful and loud without feeling brickwalled and amazing tones and mixing for all the instruments and vocals.
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DanTravis62
Moderator
Moderator
That jimmy eat world record has fucking incredible guitar tones
"get it faster"
that harmonized breakdown, holy shit is that heavy (especially for an emo band)
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
I love in utero so much . So nasty and the songs are oozing with a real edge
DanTravis62
Moderator
Moderator
The drums sound absolutely enormous on that record
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
I remember thinking wow …. All the fucking miking on the drums and how it mixed I was like this is fresh af . The reverbs on the drums sound like a guitar reverb almost . It’s super cool
Soundstorm
Well-known member
I'm a Nevermind man, myself. Everything Andy Wallace mixes is just audio perfection (imo). I agree that Albini's style worked in some cases, but not all. High on Fire's one of my favorite bands, and I think some of their strongest material is on Blessed Black Wings, but I think Albini's production style robbed some of their power on that album. Still, dude really knew his shit and I love watching his videos even though he was a sick pedo.
You also have to keep in mind that some of the albums you're talking about from the 90s were made at the absolute peak of the record industry. The best studios, engineers, and producers were all teaming up with some of the best acts at the time who had an actual budget to develop their songs with some of the best ears in the world working with them. It's just not like that anymore. Budgets are tight, studios are closing down left and right. Engineers are selling their old Neve consoles and outboard gear to lower their overhead and are just mixing everything with ProTools and plugins. And also, yes, the loudness wars had a lasting effect on music production that is still affecting the way albums sound in 2026. Everything gets crushed in an effort to keep up with the loudness of current releases.
You also have to keep in mind that some of the albums you're talking about from the 90s were made at the absolute peak of the record industry. The best studios, engineers, and producers were all teaming up with some of the best acts at the time who had an actual budget to develop their songs with some of the best ears in the world working with them. It's just not like that anymore. Budgets are tight, studios are closing down left and right. Engineers are selling their old Neve consoles and outboard gear to lower their overhead and are just mixing everything with ProTools and plugins. And also, yes, the loudness wars had a lasting effect on music production that is still affecting the way albums sound in 2026. Everything gets crushed in an effort to keep up with the loudness of current releases.
geetarmikey
Well-known member
Most metal and rock is just plug-in'd and eq'd to death with bottom end that's too boomy and no cut or bite to the sound.
Rock production really peaked around the early to mid 90s to me.
Rock production really peaked around the early to mid 90s to me.
DanTravis62
Moderator
Moderator
It really did. There's something critical missing in the modern, ultra quantized, super autotuned, "perfect" recordings of 2026.
It's strange because I didn't think of 90's music as having any particular "Style", but just that that was what production itself sounded like.
Now with decades in the rear view mirror, it definitely was a good medium between clarity/punch and having organic "life" and bite to it.
Speeddemon
Well-known member
Agreed.
I started with recording in '96, on a Tascam 4-track porta studio that the drummer of my band owned.
A few years later, went to college (and did my minor @SAE...so...y'know, actually learning about mixing and recording), got myself a Korg D16 all in one box, that sounded way better than anything Roland or Fostex was pumping out at the time.
But, while I was doing actual tape splicing on an Otari at the SAE (on the Prince track "sexy MF" mind you
), I also had to work projects on ProTools.Since day one I was skeptical!
This data-approach @DanTravis62 is mentioned, maybe I felt that subconsciously or something, but I instinctively knew "no ProTools for me".
And the funny thing was, I wasn't even doing that much magic (well, recording a jazz quartet on that Korg D16 with just '57's and AKG D330BT dynamic mics, and using Exciter/Limiter fx-patches on the Korg to make it sound like condenser mics was rather nifty
), but my recordings just sounded so much livelier than others.I had some basic out board gear back in the day, like a B**** Tube Composer and an FMR RNC comp, little Boss SE-50 and. Lexicon LXP1 for outboard FX/reverbs and those limitations made me a better engineer. Not endless tracks, plugins, etc.
Sure, I tried some MIDI stuff in Cubase 3.7, programmed some drums, but the latency back then was a bitch.
I kept that no-ProTools vow, even when upgrading my home studio.
The Korg D16 became a Yamaha AW2400, the Yamaha became an Akai DPS24 with moving faders even... Then I started missing my Korg and its easy workflow, so I got a newer Korg D1200mkII (which I still have as a scratchpad recorder) and tired of menu scrolling on the Akai, I got some near-grail gear, where I'm at now:
A&H GSR24 mixing desk with the FW/ADAT card, and an Alexis HD24XR recorder. Tons of (old) outboard:
0 plugins, limited tracks, limited workflow, but oh so much more musical.
Sorry for the long winded post, but *that's* how much I loathe ProTools for 25 years!
N
Nigel
Well-known member
I listened to Brendan O’Brien’s mix of “Never Let You Go” by 3rd Eye Blind and was floored by how good it was.
Ermagherd! Pull that shit up with some good converters and monitors and tell me the 90’s mixes weren’t the absolute cat’s pajamas!
Ermagherd! Pull that shit up with some good converters and monitors and tell me the 90’s mixes weren’t the absolute cat’s pajamas!
Uzi Nein Millimetah
Well-known member
I was never an Alt Rocker, but I appreciate both the craftsmanship and the real angst of that album.
stratjacket
Well-known member
Will watch the video later. But for my 2 cents, I think there is not one smoking gun, it’s a bunch of smaller things added up.
There the history of how we got here with the loudness wars and the conversion to everything streaming where every services adds compression.
Artists used to work extremely hard guy the perfect take, but slight variations made it great. Now just get a perfect bar and copy/paste.
The maturity of Drum samples and triggers are so good right out of the box it’s way easier to get a canned, well known drum sound.
Golden age if gear where you can get a commercial sounds pretty easy through plugins, modeling, pedals/amps and IR’s.
Auto tune for vocals is a whole other added perfection
Probably others I’m not thinking of right now.
There the history of how we got here with the loudness wars and the conversion to everything streaming where every services adds compression.
Artists used to work extremely hard guy the perfect take, but slight variations made it great. Now just get a perfect bar and copy/paste.
The maturity of Drum samples and triggers are so good right out of the box it’s way easier to get a canned, well known drum sound.
Golden age if gear where you can get a commercial sounds pretty easy through plugins, modeling, pedals/amps and IR’s.
Auto tune for vocals is a whole other added perfection
Probably others I’m not thinking of right now.
BABMusic
Well-known member
I was about to say, Dave Grohl sounded the best he ever did on In Utero.
stephen sawall
SEMI ERECT MEMBER
I rarely hear anything I like in the last decade. I could care less about style or type of music. I do like some of the material by Olivia Rodrigo. How everything is done is so different now.
Klauth
Active member
production only needs to be so good (to a point) a well-played well written song is most important (as the 80's proved) when the pro tools bedroom mixing jockeys came to the front and over compensated production of bad songs...just to say, " I can fix it(you) good music started to go away. and forums were a HUGE part of that destruction. similar to what happens here, "dude...I got a new amp/cab/modeler/speaker/guitar/pedal (fill in the blank)" I have the best IR's now! great, but you still can't write a song or even play a riff longer than 30 seconds. (might have something to do with that fat sack of weed on the table in front of you?) the reality is, cheap and lazy wins 99.99 % of the time. back in the day you had to work for it. the only thing I see/hear now that involves work amongst "creators" (if you want to call it work is...covering (if not blacking out) yourself with ink. there-someone needed to say it.
Uzi Nein Millimetah
Well-known member
Image over substance has NEVER been as bad as it is today, and is seems almost everyone embraces FAKE performances instead of real ones.....let alone original ones.....
The Multi-Purpose Celebrity of today makes me want to puke. They've definitely made money faster than ever before mostly via merchandising/brand whoring, etc. Some of the pop chicks have already caught up to freakin' McCartney in wealth, but they have no artistic relevance whatsoever IMO. Pop trash.
(PS: Get off my lawn!
)
Klauth
Active member
And now that YT has increased the standard of effort to monetize, A LOT of "creators" are gunna disappear as the effort required to get paid is just too demanding so, seeing that the forums are the least amount of effort needed to get attention, we might see an uptick in visits?
skoora
Well-known member
I was never more creative than when I was in the 90’s, using a 4 track cassette machine and a couple of pedals, one Marshall, one SG, one jazz bass and an Ampeg pre. I still listen to ideas where I created tones and effects that I scratch my head on how I got it to sound so good with nothing more than two tracks of guitar and printed effects from pedals and probably messing with panning on mix down. Mono electric drums, one track bass.
