Your favourite sounding albums

yup correct

 

they could've level shifted the volume a bit but still...

 

Alison Krauss & Union Station - New Favorite
Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well and Slow Burn
Jason Isbell - Here We Rest

These are just so cozy sounding.

Toto IV should be mentioned for it's dynamics and clarity.

 

Bryan Ferry - Boys and Girls

 

Phoebe Snow’s debut LP from 1974 sounds great to me. I believe our host engineered this one.

 

That Christopher Cross album is a great sounding one. Bought it in college and remember it really standing out.

 

Three favorites- but I could name a hundred more like many people here could:

Patricia Barber - Modern Cool. But all her records have excellent SQ.

The Three - Joe Sample, Ray Brown and Shelley Manne. Incredible sonics. Great jazz trio.

Another favorite great sounding record is one that Susannah McCorkle made on Pausa records called Dream. I mention the Pausa record label because I have never heard any release from them that did not have excellent sonics.

 

I assume that "favorite sounding" means that these are albums that we consider high water marks in terms of production and mastering. In that regard, just from my CD collection alone, and confining myself to one artist each, I can think of the following:

• (The) Art of Noise - In No Sense? Nonsense! Art of Noise were a team of producers moonlighting as a band, so it's no surprise that their catalog features some of the best sampledelica you could get with the technology of the day. This however is a particular standout, displaying the group's skills as musicians, producers, and engineers at their peak.
• Kate Bush - Hounds of Love. With the sole exception of The Red Shoes, Bush's catalog in general is exemplary in terms of sound quality, but Hounds of Love displays that in a way that goes above and beyond the rest. The unusually anthemic sound of this record means that Bush went all in on making it sound as rich and bombastic as possible, and it paid off. This album sports some of the best usage of the Fairlight CMI I've ever heard, and Bush compliments it well with session players who give their all in committing their skills to tape.
• David Byrne - Rei Momo. The effective sequel to Talking Heads' final album, Byrne goes all-out with his interest in postwar Latin American dance, and boy does it pay off from a sound quality standpoint. The arrangements are brilliantly lively, and the digital mixing does much to make the music sound rich and all-enveloping.
• Peter Gabriel - Security. Gabriel's '80s output in general features some pretty stellar production and mastering, and Security is probably the best showcase of that. You can tell that Gabriel was enthusiastic about emerging digital recording equipment, because this album (especially the Geffen target disc and other releases with its mastering) is rich with detail, from booming bass to ethereal pan flute and everything in between. i/o may be my favorite Gabriel album, but if you asked me to demo some hi-fi equipment with one of his CDs, Security is the one I'd pull out first.
• Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn. Oldfield was the overdubbing nut of the '70s, and his classically inclined approach to prog meant that he cared a lot about the way his material sounded (to the point where I'm genuinely surprised that he took until 2008 to put out an album on a classical label). It shows, especially on Ommadawn, the first part of which was re-recorded from scratch due to dropouts caused by tape deterioration. This features some of the best arrangements and production from a musician whose output was almost always a benchmark in both regards, whether you're listening to the original 1975 mix or the 2010 remix.
• Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon. Need I say more?
• R.E.M. - Reckoning. This album was recorded binaurally via two mics in a cardboard box, and man does it pay off as a result. The intention was to replicate the feeling of being at an R.E.M. concert, and that plus the jangly, watery sound of the record results in music that really swirls around you with every note. This band in general had very good sound quality on their albums all the way until Automatic for the People, but Reckoning stands out the most in this regard (then again, it is my favorite R.E.M. album as a whole, so I might be biased ).
• Sting - ...Nothing Like the Sun. This is probably the one album that I'd most liken to a British equivalent of The Nightfly. Sting got really into digital recording in his solo career, and his first showcase of that on a studio record is a standout example of the technology done right. Building upon the jazz fusion sound of The Dream of the Blue Turtles and even the Police's Synchronicity, this album is downright beautiful to listen to from start to finish.
• David Sylvian - Secrets of the Beehive. Sylvian's '80s discography in general encompasses some of the best and best-sounding art pop of that decade, so it's probably unsurprising that the biggest fan-favorite album in his catalog is also his best-sounding release. The production style is a lot more spacious compared to the density of Brilliant Trees and Secrets of the Beehive, and Sylvian takes full advantage of it, with a heavy focus on piano and acoustic guitar that makes it come off as a bridge between Talk Talk's The Colour of Spring and Spirit of Eden. It's a perfect example of how good sound quality should be present in sparse arrangements as well as packed ones.
• Talk Talk - Laughing Stock. Its predecessor and solo successor are also beautiful-sounding records, but the tighter songwriting on Laughing Stock makes the strengths of the production and arrangements even more apparent. Mark Hollis' quasi-religious lyricism is very much complimented by the way this album sounds, especially on "New Grass": it's as serene, atmospheric, and detailed as the James Marsh painting that graces the front cover.
• Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair. I find myself constantly bouncing back and forth between whether I like Songs from the Big Chair or The Seeds of Love more, both as albums and as illustrations of good sound quality, but the former has the advantage of having one thing that I come back for every time: "The Working Hour", one of the most excellently produced songs of the entire 1980s. I once read a review of this album that affectionately called it the point where Tears for Fears embraced American overproduction, and that's an assessment that I fully stand by with equal affection, because every second on this CD feels like a painting.
• Yello - Flag. Yello spent the '80s as one of the most audiophile-friendly industrial acts out there; I only have a small handful of their material on my shelf, but of the albums I do have, Flag is the best showcase of what they are capable of in the control room. The sound is fat and punchy in the exact right way, with wide, detailed soundscapes that make excellent use of high and low ends alike; it should come as no surprise that Boris Blank is a lifelong audio nut.

 

Nightbeat, Sam Cooke, AP 45rpm.

 

'From Gardens Where We Feel Secure' ~ Virginia Astley
'Band On The Run' ~ Paul McCartney and Wings.

 

Fleetwood Mac - Tango In The Night
Roxy Music - Avalon
Steely Dan - Gaucho
kd lang - Ingenue
Lindsey Buckingham - Out Of The Cradle
Alan Parsons Project - Tales Of Mystery And Imagination
Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden
The Blue Nile - Hats
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Al Stewart - Time Passages

 

My go-to test records are Kind Of Blue and Michelangeli's recording of the Ravel concerto. I used to add Propaganda's A Secret Wish snd Thomas Dolby's Flat Earth to those two plus the opening of Ultravox's Slow Motion. Especially if auditioning speakers. These days it is more likely to be Haden and Forcione's Heartplay and King Tubby's Dub Like Dirt on Blood & Fire.

 

Thank you sincerely for this recommendation. I had never heard this album. I listened to it twice last night — I was very impressed. It’s such a unique album, like nothing Ivecever really heard before. A beautiful work!!!

 

Not a worry. Amazing record, one of my favourites. Do check out Phill's book, he wrote a lot aboutt the Talk Talk stuff in it, great book.

 

The Police - Synchronicity
U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
Beck - Sea Change

 

Some great ones posted!
Other favorites
Delerium-Karma V1, 1997
Deep Forest-S/T, 1992 holographic
Front 242-Front By Front, 1988
Level 42-World Machine, 1985
Men Without Hats-Rhythm of Youth, 1983
Yello-Stella, 1985
The Shamen-En-Tact V1, 1990
Sinead-The Lion And The Cobra, 1987/1988 Japan/Euro Sonopress mastering.
Joy Division-Unknown Pleasures, 1979/1991 Canadian
Midnight Oil-Diesel And Dust, 1987/1988 old stock US mastering.
China Crisis-Flaunt The Imperfection, 1985 West German
Pretty much anything John Matousek touched for Motown.

 

For CDs - Your 25 Best Sounding CDs

And SACDs - Your 25 Best Sounding SACDs

 

I recently listened to my vinyl of Genesis - ...And Then There Were Three, and was very impressed at how good it sounded.

 

Stooges Fun House. You can hear the template for punk, and it's so... Honest

Black Monk Time also.

Anything aphex twin

However going to mention Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Their main albums for me - the first two, though all are great - basically sound natural and cool

I emailed the drummer years ago who described the technique

Only record it when it sounds good
No limiter no compression
Commit it to tape


Simple. No tricks. That band has such amazing dynamics that overcompression at the mastering stage would be highly negative.

Who else.. There's loads really. The Doors, particularly Morrison Hotel.

I do have a thing for "bands live in the room" but I do absolutely adore the Gaslamp Killer. His stuff makes my head spin,it's just so, so good sounding

Portishead

Radiohead usually. I think Nigel Gotrich is a tad overrated. On the leaked minidiscs you had unmastered album tracks from OKC and I find them a much more dynamic listen. Granted, the original version of Exit Music sounds so quiet at the start many people would have a problem with it, but I adore those versions.

In Rainbows and Kid A in particular stand out as production masterclasses. In different ways.

The Bends is faultless. Leckie was good but Kolderie and Slade saved that album IMO, such power in the mixes. I don't find it sonically that different to PH but the songwriting is just levels and levels above.

Jeff Buckley Grace - unique and lovely and just the right aesthetic

Creedence, anything - songs aside I adore the sound Creedence get. It's just right. Simplicity itself proving three chords and the truth will always work.

Gil Norton on Doolittle. I heard some of his Nirvana work and no. Oddly, I like Albini for Pixies but not overjoyed with his work for Nirvana.
Nevermind is great, but is obviously pop (by a certain standard)

...clash: London calling, superb. Sandanista: I dislike this album. Probably the fault of the aesthetic choices for the songs though.

 

Beautiful sound.

Phil Ramone was the engineer for the album. Steve Hoffman later engineered a CD reissue for DCC.

 

I have about a mid-70's pressing of Spirit's "Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus". It's on rather flimsy vinyl but it's an amazing sounding "regular" pressing that stands up to anything else I have in my collection. I'd love to hear what Kevin Gray and QRP could do with it. And a woefully overlooked killer classic of an LP to boot.

 

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Trilogy
Thomas Dolby - The Flat Earth
Santana - S/T
Peter Gabriel - Plays Live

 

Pretty much anything by Dire Straits (or Mark Knopfler), either on vinyl or CD, but maybe the LP of Love Over Gold if I had to pick one. Agree with many of the previous posts suggestions. Doesn’t matter whether you get an original, a Chris Bellman remaster or a MOFI. All good.

 

I like the "sonic ambiance" of these albums:

The Doors -- The Soft Parade
Dave Mason -- Alone Together
Traffic -- Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys
The Rolling Stones -- Sticky Fingers
Black Sabbath -- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Pink Floyd -- Dark Side of the Moon
The Doobie Brothers -- The Captain & Me
The Rolling Stones -- Goats Head Soup
Aerosmith -- Rocks
Pink Floyd -- Animals
Blue Oyster Cult -- Spectres
Fleetwood Mac -- Rumours
Van Halen -- I, II
Aerosmith -- Night in the Ruts
Tears For Fears -- Songs From The Big Chair
Ozzy - The Ultimate Sin
Metallica -- S/T '91
Seal -- S/T '91
Tears For Fears -- Elemental