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Bands that released great albums that were self-produced

JBecker

By JBecker
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JBecker Newbie

JBecker

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So I've been listening to Ursa Major, Third Eye Blind's new album. The truth is, the songs on this album are actually pretty {censored}ing solid-- after a few very disappointed listens I found myself singing almost every song on the album three days after I last played it. However, there are so many poor choices that can only be traced back to, IMO, the fact that the lead singer produced the album. Poor song ordering, too much singing and no opportunity to hang back and let the music rock, {censored}ing awesome choruses if they were recorded with that thick crunch 3eb uses in some songs that are played clean and mellow...

 

I'm not sure I've ever listened to an album where the songs are so clearly well-constructed and potentially awesome but that last 5% is totally missing because the band didn't have an outsider guiding that last bit of the process. I bet live some of these songs will {censored}ing crush because they won't be over thought out and the kick ass parts will be heavy and rock and the mellow parts will be chill like they should be.

 

So here's my question-- which bands have self-produced successfully? Listening to this album I'm reminded of how {censored}ty The Mars Volta has been since Omar Rodriguez decided he was God's gift to man and they stopped using a legendary producer. So who's actually pulled it off? Should bands ever think that this is a good idea?

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telephant Newbie

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I'm really into this band from Dallas right now called The House Harkonnen. Their lead guitar player gave me a copy of their self produced album (it's still in post production, not mastered yet) and it's {censored}ing killer. Great guitar playing and tone too.

 

http://www.myspace.com/thehouseharkonnen

 

Listen to "Tough Luck, Tough {censored}ing News."

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JBecker

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Flemming Rasmussen co-produced Ride the Lightening.

 

Paul Northfield and Tim Palmer produced In Abstentia. Steve Wilson, best I can tell, only produced one of the albums on his own since the band became a band and not a solo act.

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telephant Newbie

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I'm really into this band from Dallas right now called The House Harkonnen. Their lead guitar player gave me a copy of their self produced album (it's still in post production, not mastered yet) and it's {censored}ing killer. Great guitar playing and tone too.




Listen to "Tough Luck, Tough {censored}ing News."

 

 

Here is the album if anyone is interested:

 

http://rapidshare.com/files/270781630/The_House_Harkonnen.zip

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I'll have to chech out that 3EB album. I saw it on itunes new release section and almost bought it on impulse since I was a fan of that band back in the day. I wasn't even aware they were still together until I saw this new album on tuesday.

 

 

This may be their best songs in a while but I have a lot of problems with the album. It's on sale on Amazon for $3.99 for the whole album as a digital download.

 

The Alchemy Index was amazing IMO, but there were definitely 3-4 songs of the 24 that should not have been there or could have been a ton better.

 

I'd be willing to toss up as a success. I'll have to check out that band Shea posted soon.

 

Beggars I haven't heard yet-- I'm waiting for the hard copy because I don't support iTunes.

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telephant Newbie

telephant

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Hey man, The House of Harkonnen is a Dune reference. I already think they're badass.


Plus, I don't remember getting a bad recommendation from you yet.

 

 

I've actually never seen them live either. The lead guitar player also plays in a band called Blood of The Sun that BCB plays with all the time and he gave me a copy of the HH album when I was up in Dallas last time.

 

And the rhythm guitar player from Blood of The Sun also plays in Speedealer. Another kickass old school Dallas band. We just played in Houston with them htis weekend and they were amazing...:

 

http://www.myspace.com/speedealerandreospeedealer

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Sheik_Yerbouti Newbie

Sheik_Yerbouti

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Paul Northfield and Tim Palmer produced In Abstentia. Steve Wilson, best I can tell, only produced one of the albums on his own since the band became a band and not a solo act.

 

You might want to re-check your facts on that one. I just happened to have a small sampling of my PT cd collection right here that I'm finally getting around to burning to my ipod, and so far, Fear of a Blank Planet, Nil Recurring, Deadwing, Stupid Dream, Coma Divine, Lightbulb Sun and Signify all list either "Porcupine Tree" or "Steven Wilson" as sole producers. :poke:

 

Ooops, wait... apparently we must also have different versions of In Absentia, as well, because on mine, there's only one name after the word "Producer"... Steven Wilson. Paul Northfield is listed as engineer, and Tim Palmer's name is after the word "Mix". :o

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JBecker

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Deadwing and In Abstentia have co-producers listed on Wikipedia-- I don't have my hard copies in front of me, they stay in the car.

 

That being said, PTree is one of my favorite bands for sure and I totally respect Steve Wilson's producing skills. They certainly have some great albums that are "self-produced". It's a bit hard for me to put them in the same category since Wilson has been just as successful as a producer as he has as a musician, by many accounts. It's not quite the same as the whole, "We've released one or two popular albums, {censored} bringing in someone else we know what we're doing!" thing that I'm really thinking about.

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Sheik_Yerbouti Newbie

Sheik_Yerbouti

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Deadwing and In Abstentia have co-producers listed on Wikipedia-- I don't have my hard copies in front of me, they stay in the car.


That being said, PTree is one of my favorite bands for sure and I totally respect Steve Wilson's producing skills. They certainly have some great albums that are "self-produced". It's a bit hard for me to put them in the same category since Wilson has been just as successful as a producer as he has as a musician, by many accounts. It's not quite the same as the whole, "We've released one or two popular albums, {censored} bringing in someone else we know what we're doing!" thing that I'm really thinking about.

 

Well we all know Wiki knows best! :lol:

 

I just consulted the actual cd credits. :p

 

I don't see how you could exclude PT simply because Steven's had success producing other projects, especially considering that he essentially IS Porcupine Tree. But if you're qualifying it as bands that didn't start out self-produced and then made the switch, I don't really suppose he'd make the cut being essentially 95% self-produced since day 1. Of course, that's not how you originally stated the question, either! :cop:

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JBecker Newbie

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Well we
all
know Wiki knows best!
:lol:

I just consulted the actual cd credits.
:p

I don't see how you could exclude PT simply because Steven's had success producing other projects, especially considering that he essentially IS Porcupine Tree. But if you're qualifying it as bands that didn't start out self-produced and then made the switch, I don't really suppose he'd make the cut being essentially 95% self-produced since day 1. Of course, that's not how you originally stated the question, either!
:cop:

 

But has been since my first response to you when I mentioned that the one-man project that is Steve Wilson's original PTree is a totally different animal. I didn't say Wiki knows best, just admitting it was the only source I had in front of me since my CD wallet stays in my car.

 

It's not that he's had success with other projects, it's that his level of success with other projects eclipsed his work with his own band initially. I actually think the earliest stuff is some of the best, but there is no denying that Steve Wilson is as much a producer as he is a musician. That's a combination bands don't really have when they go to self-produce, and that's really what I'm getting at.

 

Who has been a musician who has moved over to producing and actually produced their own music and made {censored} of the same caliber or better than they were able to with outside input? I guess it took a few posts for me to clarify what I really meant, but that's what I think I'm getting at.

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