[AllHandsOnTheBigOne]

Originally Posted by SpectralJulianIsNotDead

Production, mastering, engineering, arrangements are all fluff.

Haha. Bullshit. They are integral. And Loveless is a perfect case in point. The album was written and created around it's production, mastering, engineering, and arrangments. They are what make the songs. And you can't come along after the fact and say "well, remove all of that, and i just want to hear the band bang out the guitars/drums/vocals". Uh, duh. The songs are built on it's gorgeous tones, samples and beautiful textures. Remove all of that, and you're changing the songs at a core level. You're not hearing what the artist intended. The studio is an instrument.

Sometimes it is very satisfying to listen to very fluffy albums, but other times I want to listen to songs that are built on a good foundation.

I don't even understand what that means. "Fluffy" albums? And what the hell is the foundation?

It is always interesting to see what an artist can do with a studio album, and I love studio albums. It is really easy to get carried away in all the prettiness and dreaminess of a studio album. . . but to say they are miles beyond the simpler albums with the band just rocking out to me is just ridiculous. It is like two different styles of cuisine or two different flavors of ice cream. You know the analogy.

I honestly don't know what you're on about. Even "simpler" albums require production, engineering, etc. Poor production can make energetic material sound flat. Raw, edgy guitar tones can end up sounding overtly processed and stale.

I never said rocking out was a bad thing. Good production doesn't necessarily mean "hifi" or "overproduced" or anything like that. 4 Track recordings can be great in certain instances, and in that case, they still have great production.

A "studio album" is like chocolate decadendence or some other incredibly over-indulgent ice-cream. Maybe chunky monkey.

But a simpler album with a band rocking out is cookie dough, or cookies and cream, or mint chocolate chip.

I hate analogies that compare music to food. I don't like ice cream.

Sometimes I'm in the mood to be overindulgent, other times I want to go to old faithful. And by old faithful I mean rock and roll. And Isn't Anything is an album very firmly planted in Rock and Roll. They do the pretty stuff, but the songs still want to make you move.

Um, well they're both firmly planted in rock and roll. And while I like Isn't Anything quite a bit, I just feel Loveless takes a lot of the ideas presented on that album to a whole new level.

I mean shit man. The twisting synth parts, the waves upon waves of harmonizing "oooohs", and some of the most awe-inspiring sounds to ever come out of a six-string. It's fucking perfect.