Guitar Gear Forum

Just a random thought I had today while walking the dog...

Why does King Diamond's "Them" sound like someone put a high-pass filter on the master? This is an artist/band that already had one major album under their belt with "Abigail." Why does "Them" sound so thin and shitty in comparison? Is it monitoring in the studio? Quality of the recording tool/format? Choice of producer and engineer?

Or do I just have a shit mp3 of it? I seem to remember the CD was pretty darn thin sounding as well, so I don't think it's an mp3 issue.

Thoughts?

Typical 80's metal recording.. Overall, everything is actually recorded pretty good. I think the guitars sound pretty big, despite the mix being so thin.
I mean, look at Queensryche Operation: Mindcrime. Done at the same time, same thin, but really clear sounding mix. Just the way they did it in the 80's

Not to take anything away from your point, but then why do both Abigail and Conspiracy have balls in comparison? I never have to crank the bass on those albums. I have to adjust my listening environment to make Them sound right, regardless of the actual production values and playing on that album.

digression: I got to hear King Diamond do a talk-through of Them on Z-Rock radio in Dallas in the late 80s. He sat in with a DJ and explained the story as they played through the entire album. That was amazing. Is that kind of stuff all done on satellite radio these days?

I'm sure the had more money for Them. And the more commercial metal albums of that time sound more like what Them does. While i like the first 2 albums and they have more low end, they also arent that great of recordings.. They probably sound muddy to those guys back then. They certainly lack the fidelity compared to Them. Honestly, i really like the guitar tone. Its still big and warm , imo...

For instance VH first few albums are all fatter than 1984, which is really thin and bright...

I always wondered this too.....especially about the Suicidal albums. Those always sounded really thin to me and seeing them live made me wonder how come the albums sounded like crap.

The number of metal albums that sounded thin in the eighties was so high I almost wondered if the well paid mixers didn't spend all their money on adding subs to their mixing setups.

I still love Them and Conspiracy though. Conspiracy has a bit more depth, but the story that flows through them keeps me coming back to them.

Yeah "Them" certainly doesn't have huge sounding production by any stretch but I LOVE that album enough to not care.

I never miss a chance to post this (I take the first lead):
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7sfYim6Res[/video]

nightflameauto wrote:The number of metal albums that sounded thin in the eighties was so high I almost wondered if the well paid mixers didn't spend all their money on adding subs to their mixing setups.

I still love Them and Conspiracy though. Conspiracy has a bit more depth, but the story that flows through them keeps me coming back to them.

At the time of its release Conspiracy seemed like such a huge jump forward sonically. Listening back, maybe not so much as I thought but the songs, riffs, and soloing still impress.

JerEvil wrote:Yeah "Them" certainly doesn't have huge sounding production by any stretch but I LOVE that album enough to not care.

I never miss a chance to post this (I take the first lead):
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7sfYim6Res[/video]

OK, guys. The mp3s that I was listening to were the culprit. I went ahead and re-bought the album on iTunes (Kim needs more royalties, after all), and those m4a files sound way better. Perhaps a little dated in terms of the era in which the album was produced as mentioned earlier in the thread, but not as thin as what I had cued up on the mp3 player. Doh!

You also have to remember that back in the 80's it was not common to have an audio system with speakers that produced a ton of bass. It became more common in the late 80's and into the 90's, and I think a lot mixes began to adapt to take advantage of that.