Johnny Cash - Bitter Tears : Ballads of the American Indian

Howard the Duck · 12-17-2011, 02:40 AM

^^I never have a problem with production values much, i don't understand the concept of "dated" - obviously they're relics of that time, but the effects themselves are of historical value - surely, you can't expect them to sound like records today

a lot of people I know hate that gated reverb drum sound of the 80s but my argument for that is the same as the above

i mean i don't criticise Robert Johnson's guitar sounding shrill and whiny because his records were all cut on acetate and remastered from 78s

~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ · 12-17-2011, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Il Duce

^^I never have a problem with production values much, i don't understand the concept of "dated" - obviously they're relics of that time, but the effects themselves are of historical value - surely, you can't expect them to sound like records today

a lot of people I know hate that gated reverb drum sound of the 80s but my argument for that is the same as the above

i mean i don't criticise Robert Johnson's guitar sounding shrill and whiny because his records were all cut on acetate and remastered from 78s

But imagine if the producers had jammed Johnson's stuff with string ballads, reverb and harpsichords. It's not so much about the fidelity of the music as it is the production decisions to accompany perfectly stark, beautiful tunes (like the Cash songs on this record) with production values that undermines the actual music. The Beatles "Let It Be" record is a good example of generally poor production/mixing/mastering that I enjoyed much more when it was remastered as "Let It Be...Naked".

I guess this is an area where we fundamentally disagree, but I definitely do think music can be dated, not by the music itself, but by the production values.