Members ashasha Posted August 8, 2011 Members Share Posted August 8, 2011 Just happened the other day while I was out running and an old AC/DC album came up on the playlist....High Voltage. Wow, what a frickin amazing tone. I suppose that back when I was really listening to it back in the day I was more into higher gain/distorted crap, but this is one of the best recorded tones I think I've ever heard. Of course Bon is just in rare form on this album as well. He was such a lovable creep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gas Hed Posted August 8, 2011 Members Share Posted August 8, 2011 Anything Tonic for me. When they were popular and on the radio, I payed no attention. When I was asked to cover a couple of their tunes, I picked up their CDs and listened - that's that tone I seek. Love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted August 8, 2011 Members Share Posted August 8, 2011 I can't think of any albums where I missed the tones the first time around and rediscovered greatness later. In fact, I'm discovering plenty of rock that I liked when I was young but can't get into anymore. Some of the tones are actually worse than I remember along with the playing. I won't mention any here as I have no desire to piss on this thread. I go through long stretches of not listening to old music because I overplayed much of it. When I go back to listening to Queen, for example, I'm often reminded of how much I like Brian May's tones. His chambered red special guitar, modified amps and playing (as well as the obvious guitar harmony parts) all make for some distinctive guitar sounds. 'A Night At The Opera' and 'The Game' have some great May guitar tones IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashasha Posted August 8, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 8, 2011 I'm not surprised one bit that you have a lot of the same tastes as me in terms of what we like in tone. I just couldn't believe how great the guitar sat in the mix and how the tone was just a little bit different then most of what I hear, including from the Young brothers. It just had some weird overtone that really got me going the other day. And I hear what you're saying about some tones that I thought were great and listening to them today I kind of cringe....hell songs in general that I really liked that are so goofy now. It's almost like watching the six million dollar man today; it was awesome when you were young, but now it's just kind of cheezy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 My current trip is the Brian Jonestown Massacre. And it is "trippy". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 ....I just couldn't believe how great the guitar sat in the mix and how the tone was just a little bit different then most of what I hear, including from the Young brothers. It just had some weird overtone that really got me going the other day..... High Voltage is a great album for amp/guitar tone and I'm a sucker for Bon's unique vocals. A lot of people like to bag on AC/DC because a lot of their songs sound the same...but that tends to happen when songs are in the same key. Many of the songs do sound similar but there are subtle differences. Anyway, I've noticed some of the harshest critics can't even play decent rhythm guitar...which is a shame since these songs can give anybody a solid foundation if they'd only take the time to play them with conviction. I wouldn't want to play nothing but AC/DC songs, yet I did cut my teeth on many of those tunes. I can do some justice to the rhythm parts in many of those songs. I still use many of the same guitar techniques that I learned from those songs to this day. I credit Malcolm and Angus for teaching me how to be a better rhythm player. Even if a player hates their music, they should at least take notice the conviction in the playing. There's a power in commitment to the song, no matter how basic. That authoritative attack from the pickhand on those cowboy chords is gold IMO. It might seem like a waste of time to those who've already dismissed the music as simple but there's a lot of great lessons on technique to be found on those albums. Their amps are often set cleaner than you might guess. I hear a lot of amp swirl in their recordings. That probably wouldn't be as obvious if the gain was set higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deadbeat Son Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 Anything Tonic for me. When they were popular and on the radio, I payed no attention. When I was asked to cover a couple of their tunes, I picked up their CDs and listened - that's that tone I seek. Love it. After reading your reply, I got out Lemon Parade and gave it a good listen. I bought the disc when it came out, but never really listened to it. You're correct; the tones on it are great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members straycat113 Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 Well I cant say I have but I agree that Angus has one of the greatest rock guitar tones in history,as well as it being pretty basic and straight forward =guitar into amp and not heavy on gain or distortion as many think. Brian May also mentioned in this thread is another of my all time favorite players, and the term one note and you know who it is never fit anyone better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members smorgdonkey Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 I always liked Damn The Torpedoes for the lyrics/vocals and I never realized until about a year ago that I really like the guitar tones on that record. I think the big element is that I was so used to hearing the songs on the radio back in the day and that's where the 'mono' song thrived for me - on a crap AM radio. In that medium, the guitar tones are just there but the texture seems to really come alive and the depth of the tone is more noticeable when I heard the songs on a stereo. The guitars in Petty's group are so good yet never flashy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Minnie The Moocher Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 About AC/DC, you have to give credit to their producers too, big brother Georges and Harry Vanda (of Easybeats fame, and future "Flash and the pan"). They recorded the band as it had to be recorded: live in studio, with nearly no overdub. Raw and incredibly alive, you're in the same room! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thop Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 I'm getting into the White Stripes lately. I never liked them because Meg White is such a joke, and because they were such critics' darlings. After watching It Might Get Loud, or whatever that doc was called, I learned a whole new respect for Jack White (and Meg, sorta). Never got over the bad taste that The Strokes put in my mouth though, but I guess they have a decent tone. Just can't seem to listen to them without getting angry, no idea why, but it's definitely immature whatever the reason, haha. The album that is the most memorable for me tone-wise though is Saves The Day's "Stay What You Are". I wonder if anyone here would even be that familiar with them. They'd had one or two disgustingly annoying pop-punk albums that my 15 year old girlfriend (I was 16, don't get any ideas) tried really hard to push on me. Then Stay What You Are came out and try as I might, I could not hate it. Rich, woody bass tones that remind me of later Beatles stuff for some reason. Tubey, crunchy, jangly guitars in beautiful layers. And a minimum of studio trickery. One thing I always liked about them ever since that album is that I feel like I'm listening to a GUITAR and DRUMS and a BASS, not a digital reproduction of one. They always sound really crisp and clear without getting into territory where it's just surreally crisp and clear and devoid of ambiance.Doesn't really make up for that irritating voice, and I can see why people would hate his songwriting, but they've been a guilty pleasure of mine ever since. [video=youtube;NwW0q65VIas] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashasha Posted August 9, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 Yep those are three right there that I love, Malcolm and Angus, Brian May and a lot of the stuff on the Petty and the Heartbreakers stuff is just amazing sounding. I wasn't a real big fan of the last two when I was younger because I was into the over the top distortion and while I liked AC/DC I never thought of their tone as being great. But damn if listening to all of that stuff on something other than a cassette player with one little speaker or over the radio and you really do hear it how it was actually captured. And those saturated tones, not overly distorted, but hairy with some chime to them...man they are great sounding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gas Hed Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 After reading your reply, I got out Lemon Parade and gave it a good listen. I bought the disc when it came out, but never really listened to it. You're correct; the tones on it are great. Right on bro! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thop Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 Seriously, is there a person alive who doesn't like Brian May's tone? It's like an entity in and of itself, I don't think he should be included in a discussion about tone, it's a given. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigtorquehemi Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 The Darkness...Permission to land Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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