Any punk fans? Doesn't sound quality make you angry?

[Systolic]

I love punk, but I'm also a bit of an audiophile. When I listen to punk on my hifi it makes it sound like crap cause I know what a good recording sounds like on it. A hi-fi system really shows the limitations of most punk recordings. If I listen to it in the car it sounds fine. Most punk is not listened to on a hi-fi.

It is sort of a catch 22, the rawness of some of the recordings IS part of punk, but on the other hand that rawness sounds like crap a lot of the time. All tinny mids, etc. But it is possible to capture raw and still have a quality recording, look at the Black Keys, White Stripes etc. There are some good recent punk recordings like the Hellcat label, Bad Religion, Rancid, etc, but most classic stuff sounds like crap (not what they are playing, but the way it was recorded).

Anyone else feel my pain? Are there any classic punk albums that you think sound really good?

 

[fuzz092888]

Personally, I love the way the old punk albums sound. They're gritty and awful, but that's part of the charm. If the recording was pristine, it just wouldn't be the same.

 

[slipperybidness]

Hellcat, not many people seem to know that label.

Yeah, it's a catch 22 for sure.

I will say that I have a few that are good recordings, but almost all of my punk is on vinyl.

As far as that goes:

*Fear has good quality recordings (and some freaking great punk music too). Lee Ving is the king of the punk solo guitar shred!
*I have an Oxymoron vinyl that's pretty good quality
*The first album from Dropkick Murphy's is great quality (and much better than later sold-out DKM )
*Subhumans / Citizen Fish have some good quality vinyl.
*U.S. Bombs (some more dirty rock/punk)
*Sound City (it's not all punk, but it is all high quality).

 

[zhimbo]

Hmmm...depends on how broad your definition is of "punk". The Clash's "London Calling" is pretty well done, but to me it's only marginally a punk album - damn good, though.

And...let's see...Repeater by Fugazi isn't the height of the recording art, but still sounds pretty darn good - rough and raw, pretty dynamic and immediate sounding. (if 1989-ish is "classic" enough for you).

That's all I got right now. True classic punk is poorly recorded almost by definition, it seems.

 

[Hobbit]

A lot of older (and plenty of newer) music isn't that well recorded. Butthole Surfers Electriclarryland is pretty good. It is newish 90's punk. As someone else mentioned London Calling is pretty good too. For the most part I just turn punk up and jump around the room!

To contrast these, I was recently listening to Carol King's Tapestry and for some reason I expected much better quality. Someday I may have to purchase the remastered version and compare. I picked up Supertramps remastered version of Breakfast in America and it is night and day over the original. There's probably not enough of a market for old punk albums for someone to go back and remaster them.

A lot of old jazz like Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, Billie Holiday, et al in them sound plain bad, even compared to old punk. I still love them.

 

[psbfan9]

I agree with most of the other comments. The first band that popped into my head was Fugazi. Most of the Dischord offerings were pretty well done I think. Another band that hasn't been mentioned yet is Husker Du. Their (most) of their recordings are well done. Especially the album Flip Your Wig.

 

[Sheep]

It would be nice if they did 2 versions. Like that last NIN album or was it Radiohead? No, NIN.

http://nineinchnails.tumblr.com/post/59587808317/hesitation-marks-was-mastered-in-two-different

They did 2 different masterings for those that wanted more HIFI.

Or, give me the raw tracks and let me mix and master them as I wish!

SheepStar

 

[ariche503]

Love older Punk bands and I do agree with you on the hifi issue. Some of the newer releases that have been remastered sound okay but it's a hit and miss.

 

[lsiberian]

Are you using ported speakers? If so try switching to sealed ones for punk. I think you'll like the results.

 

[psbfan9]

Are you using ported speakers? If so try switching to sealed ones for punk. I think you'll like the results.

Really? Hm. I think I have an old pair of sealed Paradigm bookshelf speakers. I'll get them out and try it.

 

[lsiberian]

Really? Hm. I think I have an old pair of sealed Paradigm bookshelf speakers. I'll get them out and try it.

Please share your results. It may just be my ears.

 

[dodgers831]

Anyone else feel my pain? Are there any classic punk albums that you think sound really good?

Maybe not pain, but I do agree that I wish punk albums in general were better engineered. I understand that you need to keep the raw-ness of punk in the recording, but I've been to punk shows in the 70-80s and, although loud and grungy, the sound wasn't shrill or fatiguing. But then again, how could you get fatigued watching a punk band.

Here's my choice for a decent sounding punk LP:

 

[KEW]

Really? Hm. I think I have an old pair of sealed Paradigm bookshelf speakers. I'll get them out and try it.

Did you ever try this?

I wonder what stuffing the port with socks would do?

 

[psbfan9]

Did you ever try this?

I wonder what stuffing the port with socks would do?

No. I forgot to try it and have my Paradigms hooked up as surrounds. If/When, I get new speakers I'll try it. Sticky note on desktop top!

 

[highfigh]

Did you ever try this?

I wonder what stuffing the port with socks would do?

Oh, great! Now someone will come along and tell you that you're using the wrong kind of socks. Once that debate rages on for a while or possibly as a pre-emptive marketing move, they'll come up with something that makes everything sound better with their socks before anyone knows they need them.

 

[3db]

The Clash "London Calling" is a fairly decent recording.

 

[Montucky]

Then again, I've been to plenty of punk shows where the actual sound quality was pretty awful in and of itself. Haha. Usually seedy dives with less than desirable acoustics/equipment. Always made me kind of sad. Especially when you could tell that the band's performance was just awesome.