I don't think the production will ruin this one. But I do think Hello Exile lacks a lot of pop. What's the bad production hall of fame look like for this site? I'd submit No Closer To Heaven
I like (or at least am not bothered by) a lot of the albums that get the bad production tag here, but the first Knuckle Puck album is the one that is really baffling to me.
A lot of Hello Exile sounds fine to me, but I really struggle to hear the vocals particularly on "Anna", which is a shame because it's such a great song. My hearing is starting to go though so I know it is partially down to that. The most egregious example of this for me has got to be Jim James' solo album from 2018 Uniform Distortion - I like the album and the songs but it sounds like you are playing the album on a crappy old speaker that is under a heavy wet blanket situated across a large room from you.
I’ll be honest, I don’t hear the production issues too much on these Gaslight songs but No Closer To Heaven sounds awful. I don’t think I’ve ever made it through the whole album. Every time I listen to it I feel like the melodies and everything I love about TWY are so impossible to hear that I just lose interest.
I love the wide-open sound of "Anna" and all of Hello Exile. I so prefer that to a more claustrophobic production style. The Wonder Years consistently have not-great-sounding albums, IMO. I think Sister Cities is the one I have the most trouble with.
Yeah, I really just can't hear the singer in "Anna", especially in parts, it's like the vocals get drowned out by the music - it feels / sounds like he's singing into a mic and then steps away from it or turns away from it but keeps singing.
That's fair, like I said, I've been struggling with hearing loss lately and I think it's getting worse. Been doing a lot of lip reading lately. Love the song and the album either way, and musically the album sounds incredible to me.
I'm so sorry man, I totally missed the part where you said you were experiencing hearing loss. I can only imagine what that's like and I apologize if my reply was callous. I'm really glad you are still finding ways to enjoy music, and I hope you can continue to do that.
Thanks, it wasn't like that though - I just notice I'm missing more stuff in music and on movies that my wife can hear perfectly fine, or I can't hear what anyone is saying if the TV and the AC is on but everyone else can hear fine. Now that I'm thinking about it though, I don't think I said it in this thread and it was probably in one of the other threads where there's discussion of production gripes, like Menzingers or Jimmy Eat World with Damage.
Take the sadness out of Saturday night. Im sure it sounds exactly like Jack wants it to, he clearly knows what he’s doing, there are just so many decisions that don’t do it for me.
I can't think of literally one example where I couldn't enjoy an album from a band I like due to production.
I usually come around to it if it is a band I already like, but bad/ill-fitting production has stopped me multiple times from getting into a band. The Wonder Years is a great example of that.
Sister Cities desperately needs a remix and especially a remaster. No Closer to Heaven too, but not as badly. I hope both get that treatment for their 10th anniversaries.
Too much production talk. Not enough excitement talk about the fact there’s a new Gaslight Anthem album coming and that we have two very good songs.