Best Producers
 

Title say it all. Remember that the modern producers job ismake hits not to help along artistic achievement.

Rick Ruben

Rubin.

you all know that everyone is going to suck Albini's dick here

Martin Hamnett. Produced Joy Division, New Order, The Durutti Column, Buzzcocks, A Certain Ratio, Happy Mondays, The Psychedelic Furs among others.

Even an aborted album (funnily enough due to it's bad production) with Stone Roses called, 'Garage Flower'...it was released eventually, anyone got an up?

Not the best producer, but definately one of the more interesting ones and probably my favourite.

Phil Spector wins this title though.

Steven Wilson

James Dilla Yancey aka
J Dilla aka
Jay Dee.



Easily one of the greatest rap/hiphop/R&B producers to have ever lived.
Stones Throw Records

RIP DILLA

Take a listen to Rubin's work on Tom Petty - Wildflowers

Petty never sounded better

Timberland is a good producer.

Tom Sholtz - The 'Boston sound' was a first.

Rick Rubin- 'Wildfolwers' is one of Petty's best sounding albums. I also love the sound on 'Blood, Sugar'

I don't like most of Bob Rock's products, but you gotta respect the guy.

John Leckie , here's a list of the stuff he's produced....

* The Adverts: Crossing The Red Sea
* Ashkhabad: City of Love
* The Atrix: The Atrix
* BeBop Deluxe: Sunburst Finish
* BeBop Deluxe: Modern Music
* BeBop Deluxe: Life In The Air Age
* BeBop Deluxe: Drastic Plastic
* Bill Nelson: Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam
* Phillip Boa & Voodoo Club : Copperfield Germany
* Doctors of Madness Figments of Emancipation
* Dr. John : Anutha Zone
* Cast: All Change
* Cast: Mother Nature Calls
* Cowboy Junkies: Miles From Home Canada
* The Cut: Shadow Talks Norway
* Denim: Back In Denim
* De Press: Block to Block and Product Norway
* The Dukes of Stratosphear: 25 O'Clock, Psonic Psunspot (as Swami Anand Nagara, his sannyasin name, when he was a follower of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)[citation needed]
* Endgames: Futures Looking Fine EP
* The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall
* The Fall: This Nation's Saving Grace
* The Fall: Bend Sinister
* Fear Of Music: Fast. Faster. Fastest. EP
* Felt: The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories
* Folks: how i learnt to stop worrying about the bomb and love the folks
* Gene Loves Jezebel: Immigrant
* Gopal Shankar Misra: Out Of Stillness
* The Grapes of Wrath: These Days Canada
* Roy Harper: Bullinamingvase
* Robyn Hitch**** & The Egyptians: Respect
* Thee Hypnotics: Soul, Glitter,Sin
* Holy Toy: Perfect Day (EP) Norway
* House of Freaks : Tantilla USA
* Hamell On Trial: Tough Love USA
* Human League: Holiday 80 EP
* Kula Shaker: K
* Let's Active: Every Dog Has His Day USA
* Los Lobos: Good Morning Aztlán USA
* Longwave: There's A Fire USA
* Lilac Time: And Love For All
* The Lucy Show: Mania
* Baaba Maal: Missing You (Mi Yeewnii) Senegal
* Magazine: Real Life
* Roger McGough : Summer With Monica
* Morgan Fisher : Seasons
* Muse: Showbiz
* Muse: Origin of Symmetry
* My Morning Jacket: Z USA
* My Computer: No CV album Manchester N of E
* New Order: Waiting for the Sirens' Call (certain tracks) as above..
* One Minute Silence: One Lie Fits All
* Mark Owen: Green Man
* John Power : Happening For Love
* The Posies: Dear 23 USA
* The Proof : First Rate USA
* Public Image Ltd: Public Image 1st single
* Radiohead: The Bends
* Red Noise: Sound On Sound
* Ride: Carnival of Light
* Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali: Sacrifice To Love
* Rodrigo y Gabriela: Rodrigo y Gabriela
* Marc Seberg : Lumiere Et Traisons France
* Scarlet :Chemistry
* Scott Matthews: The John Leckie Sessions with Strings EP
* Shiv Kumar Sharma: Sampradaya
* The Skids: Masquerade EP
* The Silencers: Dance To The Holy Man
* Simple Minds: Life in a Day
* Simple Minds: "Real to Real Cacophony
* Simple Minds: Empires and Dance
* Six By Seven: The Closer You Get
* Suede: Positivity (tracks)
* Starsailor : Sharkfood (tracks)
* The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses 1st album
* The Stone Roses: Fools Gold + One Love EPs
* Trashcan Sinatras : [[Cake]]
* The Troubadours: Gimme Love - Here Comes The Tide (Double A-Side)
* Tiny Dancers: Free School Milk
* The Verve: A Storm in Heaven
* Papa Wemba: Molokai
* XTC: White Music
* XTC: Go 2
* XTC: Explode!

Lee Perry, the greatest Reggae producer.

Steven Wilson

He also supervises the SACD 5.1 MIXES as well as any DVD releases too. The DTS track on Arriving Somewhere is the best music track I have ever heard on a DVD.

I think that these great producers aren't really active like they were in past... sob T_T

Why not?

Trevor Horn. Although he created that huge OTT 80's sound, he could definitely transform a track. listen to the original FGTH version of RELAX circa 82 and then what Trevor Horn does with it in 84.

Joe Boyd. (Early Floyd, Vashti Bunyan, Nick Drake)
Chas Chandler.(Jimi Hendrix)
Mike Vernon (John Mayalls Bluesbreakers)
Alan Parsons.

Alan Parsons.

Producers
 

I'm a bit of a Paul Epworth fan myself, (Maximo Park, Bloc Party, Futureheads, Babyshambels, among others)

Mark Ronson is great and i think alot of the time dismissed as 'covers with horns in'

Nick Launay was great on the latest cribs album and I'm currently looking up alot of his older stuff after watching the documentary thing that came with the CD featuring him.

Um, Steve Albini?

I don't really follow the track records of producers - I know the production and studio treatment can matter so much, but it's more whoever made the music than who was sitting in the producer's chair that concerns me.

Nevertheless, Nick Gold is an absolute champ. He founded World Circuit Records, has therefore been instrumental in bringing a lot of musical talent from Africa and Latin America to the attention of western audiences, and he's produced some of the very best talents from those areas too - Ry Cooder, Ali Farka Toure, Toumani Diabate, Orchestra Boabab, Habib Koite, Ibrahim Ferrer, the Buena Vista Social Club (which he basically formed himself), it's a huge list.

The Sly Dunbar/Robbie Shakespeare, aka Sly & Robbie partnership has worked on a ridiculous amount of rreggae ecords as well - Black Uhuru, Prince Far I, Bunny Wailer, Mighty Diamonds, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Gregory Isaacs, Beenie Man and so on. The records they've produced that I've heard have this great, really heavy and rhythm-centric sound, which does a whole lot of good for any of their albums. They've made some great music themselves too, which helps.

I don't really pay as much attention to producers as I should but I really do enjoy Steve Wilson's production. His work on the new Orphaned Land album is sliiiick.

I used to pay more attention than I do now. Names like Rick Rubin, Butch Vig, Steve Albini, etc. used to come up on several albums I liked back in the day, but somewhere along the way I quit paying attention. And I never made a conscious effort to get albums produced by these people unless I was already interested in the band or style of music. Like Bulldog says above...it's who's making the music that matters most. I have a lot of albums produced by Dave Ogilvie, but that's because he produced nearly every Skinny Puppy album in the 80s/90s. I have a lot produced by Hypo/Luxa because that was the production duo of Al Jourgansen and Paul Barker, who produced most of their own albums as Ministry plus many side projects.

Now when it comes to electronic and hip-hop, that's another story. It's all about the producer, as the producer is in most cases the artist.

I don't know about that, I think the producer has just as much input on how an album sounds as the band/artist does a lot of the time.

Yes but the band has a style, is associated with a genre, has a distinct vocalist that people identify said band with. No doubt the producer can have a huge impact on the sound of an album, I'm just saying I'm not likely to follow a producer around because he made one band or one album sound great to me. The next band he produces could have a terrible singer for all I know...I just go for bands that sound good to me.

Flood (Depeche Mode, U2, Pop Will Eat Itself, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins)

Yeah, outside of hip-hop I couldn't give less of a shit about producers. It just doesn't seem to matter to me. I could listen to Bad Brains, Radiohead, and Tom Waits, on three completely different production levels, and couldn't rank one above the other.