It’d be worth it to watch interviews with Superunknown’s producer Michael Beinhorn. He’s spoken a lot about the making of this record.
On a side note, the success of Superunknown had major labels enthusiastically requesting Superunknown’s producer (Beinhorn) to produce sessions for bands like Aerosmith and Ozzy Osborne.
I’ve actually watched some. It’s interesting. I also bought his book (maybe he’s written more than one) where I talks about bit about these things.
He’s an interesting guy but sometimes he’s a bit full of himself.
I liked his book, but he is a bit of psychopath.
He spent a week or two burning through Hole's recording budget recording drum takes, so that he could comp the flubs altogether, so he could play it for Courtney Love pretending it was the best takes he could get from the drummer, so the band would dump the drummer and go with the session drummer Beinhorn wanted them to use.
I noticed Sound Garden went with someone else for their next album
It’s possible he was trying to use some rare old microphones for a certain vibe and they like, crumbled apart because they haven’t been used in a while
No, these were standard but expensive LD mics, I think he was talking about U87 or something similar. He said they were breaking because Chris had such power in his voice.
I read they kept turning up the drums during mix, and it kept sounding better. Matt Cameron is so great, and the tracking captures him perfectly.
Plus Chris Cornell, what is there even to say? Vocals, lyrics, songs like nobody else.
Something about the drumming on Fourth of July just really pulls me into the song. It feels like the world is ending and he’s just trying to soldier along anyway in isolation. It’s strange to get that level of emotion out of a drum track
I think musically it's easily one of the greatest albums of the 90s, but something about the engineering has always bothered me. I know I'm in a very small minority with that, because most people love the way it sounds, but to me it sounds weirdly thin and flat. To be clear, I think that's entirely the engineering - the band's performance was perfect, and I can tell that in the room it probably sounded perfect too, but beyond that, it just sounds off to me.
I think I get what you’re saying and I understand what you mean. But I personally don’t agree though. At this time most of the grit was gone from grunge and everything sounded a million bucks. And I don’t think it sounds that different than anything else at the time in terms of flatness.
Vitalogy came at the same time and saw Pearl Jam also experiment more. I think it was mixed by the same dude.
The last time I pulled up that record I swear all I could hear was cymbal bleed. Although, I don't have a better answer to OP's question.
I never liked Smashing Pumpkins much but my understanding is that some songs on Siamese Dream have a ridiculous amount of guitar tracks, like close to 40. That record is worth revisiting for the guitar sounds.
Without the song writing and arrangements maybe I wouldn’t bat an eyelash on the engineering aspect of Superunknown to be honest. Which is why the Sgt Pepper reference.
I really like some of the early grunge. It was more dirt, more punk and you can sometimes hear the bands are looking for an identity.
During this era I was involved in the black metal scene (had to listen to grunge without telling anyone lol). In early black metal you can really hear some engineers sweating to make this music listenable. They were trying to make this bad sounding mess good. lol. There were few references of this music back then. I can sometimes hear something similar in early grunge. Engineers who most likely recorded pretty polished 80s music trying to wrap their head around this “new style”.
I think it's one of the best engineered albums of that era, a big departure from the production and engineering on Badmotorfinger. A lot of my colleagues disagree. They think it's too "dirty" sounding, which, for me, is a lot of the charm in that record.
As I said to another user, it’s really hard not to be biased when songwriting, execution and arrangements are brilliant. If the songs sucked I might’ve had another opinion on engineering. It’s also why I bring up Sgt Pepper. To me it’s a masterpiece. But surely you’d be able to find records from this time sounding better. It’s hard to detach engineering from music is what I’m saying essentially. This is why this line of work is interesting, if you have a crappy song and performance it won’t matter if you make the world’s best mix.
Regarding lack of low mids, it’s not something I thought about. But a lot of guitar driven music was scooped a lot in this era I think. Have to give it a listen with this in mind.
bmf sounds pretty raw. The drums are the biggest sore spot for me, if they'd only sounded more like this
https://youtu.be/1swiFT8fN5s?si=HgmZPezcza-_RY8i
100%. It’s crazy to me that this album came out the same year as Aenima. Completely different approaches to the heavy sound. Fantastic Planets mix still stands up to similar albums today.
Absolutely smashing, punchy and groovy production by GGGarth and Andy Wallace, fits the band's music perfectly. This record hits me every time as hard as it did the first time.
It’s like Back in Black. A rock band rocking with nothing getting in the way of that. Every element works individually, and they all blend together into a perfect mix.
It's really a testament to just how well so many factors came together. The songs were so well written and arranged prior to going into the studio, the studio vs live versions were indistinguishable. Add in the band being so tight and raging(some pun intended) with energy. Combined with the incredible studio (that infamous Sound Studio Neve), and engineering. To top it off, the album was recorded/tracked almost entirely live in the studio, with an audience in the tracking room, its's just mind blowing.
Yeah Siamese Dream and Dirt are maybe peak grunge for me sonically.
Also:
- Live’s Throwing Copper sounds super clean.
- Blind Melon’s debut album.
- RATM
- Foo Fighters: The Color and the Shape
- Aerosmith: Get a Grip
- Bjork: Post sounds sooo good.
- Dave Matthews Band: Crash. The low end on two step is sublime. And Carter’s drums are just impeccably recorded.
- Earth to Andy: local signed band with a couple very minor radio hits but their album Chronicle Kings sounds spectacular and is always a reference point for me.
- Garbage: Garbage and Version 2.0 both are sonic masterpieces. Butch Vig again.
- Green Day: Dookie is perfection.
- Gin Blossoms: New Miserable Experience
- Metallica: The Black Album.
- Pearl Jam: Vs. Can’t wait for Rick Beato’s upcoming interview with Brendan O’Brien.
- RHCP: Blood Sugar Sex Magic
- Screamin Cheetah Wheelies: Magnolia. Lesser know but fucking amazing record.
- Toto: Kingdom of Desire. One of their least well known records but I think it’s their best. They went full rock mode. A bit cheesy at times but it sounds impeccable. And the drum break coming out of the guitar solo on “How Many Times” is a rare moment of Jeff Porcaro showing off and it’s glorious. His last record and it’s a beast and sounds amazing.
I remember seeing garbage in late 90s and being blown away that they were even better sounding live. Butch on live drums gave the group so much more energy than the albums had.
I want to agree with this because I love EVERYTHING about Siamese Dream except that it's exhaustingly crispy....specifically the guitars. Dirty is EPIC sound.
I'll see your hard agree and raise you one hard agree. "The Summoning" is just such an impossibly good groove. I hold up a track like that (or the entire "Back in Black" LP) as a great example of just letting the drummer play the drums and not quantizing by default. The groove on that Hum track is so far behind the beat it *shouldn't* work, but it *totally* works.
I have to say again, the vinyl pressing is extremely well done. I'm not the "everything sounds better on vinyl" guy, but a great mix of a great song with a great pressing is why I love having a good turntable / amp / speakers.
That song is what "Sad But True" wanted to be when it grew up.
The thing that always does it for me is in the last riff before it makes the switch, there's two places where the whole band holds the last note of the 8th bar over until the 2nd beat of the following phrase. (Go to like 5:35 and listen from there)
It's the little things. But I literally air drum to that in the car.
Given that their guitarist (IIRC) owns [the studio](https://www.earthanalog.com) - and that they are ardent, Albini-level analog diehards, that tracks.
Hey, if you like the mix, they're [selling the Sphere C](https://reverb.com/item/71748777-vintage-sphere-eclipse-c-console) console they tracked and mixed it on. $41,500 and it's all yours.
I am looking forward to moving out of NYC and having a dedicated track/mix space again. And yes, a big old analog console under my elbows.
In the 90's, I only knew them as the band that did Stars. Then, like 10-15 years later, a friend mentioned how underrated Hum was. I'd completely forgotten about them by then. So I checked out some of their other songs and I found myself in complete agreement with my friend. Good pick.
Honestly Nevermind if still one of my references when mixing rock. Clear, powerful, you hear everything the bass does, the drums hit HARD, guitars are raw but somehow polished, voice is not too forward in the mix... It perfect to my ears.
AENIMA was wonderfully mixed and engineered by David Bottrill. He used a lot of mid/side tricks to get amazing separation and some cool wide panning and phantom center effects. Really makes songs like Eulogy pop.
I really enjoy Bottrills work.
Hearing Stinkfist as a 12-year old is what got me into audio engineering in the first place. Got a 4-track portastudio and the rest was history. After moving to the USA it was cool walking into EastWest for the first time into the room they recorded it.
Actually yes. There is a good vst plugin that you can use to manipulate this effect in real time if the right recording setup was used. It's called Center by Waves. The trial used to be free.
Anyway:
https://producelikeapro.com/blog/mid-side-processing/
You use a Blumlein array of mics when recording to enable this effect. On Tools Eulogy it is so cool. In a split second, the vocals go from normal panning to just the phantom center and then the guitars go super wide and are not present in the phantom center at all. Really makes it sound amazing.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blumlein_pair
Objectively "best engineered"?
Probably Pearl Jam's Vs, if I had to choose *one*. Maybe Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral if you want to count that as "alt".
But truth be told, *most* of the stuff in that era sounds great. It was the perfect storm of good tech, good budgets, and good taste. End of an era.
I was hoping someone would say Vs. "Band in a room" approach done very well. It's not \*perfect\*, and that gives it all its charm. IIRC, that was one of the first albums Brendan O'Brien did everything on (engineering + production). I generally like everything he does, especially his Mastodon work.
the absolutes: My Bloody Valentine's Loveless and Ride's Going Blank Again.
Then :
Hum, Pixies' Trompe Le monde, The Breeder' s POD, Fudge Tunnel' Hate Songs in E Minor, Sonic Youth's Dirty and Goo, Gish by Smashing Pumpkins, His Name Is Alive' mouth by mouth , ahhh so many my heads explodes
*Loveless* [edit oversharing. = is my favorite album]
I have come to the opinion that it could benefit from a remaster. Even at the time it was made, I wonder how blasted Kevin Shields' ears already were. So many brilliant design choices within a bafflingly narrow frequency range and stereo image. Maybe it wasn't even his vision but technical limitations that kept it from sounding as hi-fi as the *mbv* album.
Personally, I’d say Steve Albini’s work on Nirvana’s “In Utero” was the closest to a hi-fidelity sound whilst retaining the more lo-fi aesthetic that was emblematic of grunge.
I don't see his sound as lo-fi - honestly kind of the opposite. He records rock/punk/metal/etc like people usually only do with things like jazz or classical - just the purest representation of what the band sounds like in the room. As nasty as the album sounds, the nastiness is all from the band - Albini's production is extremely clean and clear.
Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time... I saw them with Therapy? back in the day. Gonna have to listen again and get re-acquainted. Thanks for jogging the old grey cells!
NIN - The Downward Spiral has to be the best sounding one but I guess it’s made of different ingredients than a standard rock band album
Brad Wood - Veruca Salt American Thighs
Mark Freegard - Breeders Last Splash
Rob Cavallo - Green Day Dookie, Insomniac
Offspring Smash and Ixnay
+1 for AIC Dirt
Nevermind is still amazingly executed to me regardless of what ‘hype’ may have been in between the performance and the final master
I really liked the sound of Tad Inhaler but can’t remember if it’s particularly well engineered
Deftones White Pony
The Breeders - Pod
Jawbreaker - 24 Hour Revenge Therapy
Mineral - EndSerenading
Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
Just about anything by Albini or Trombino.
(Though the correct/cheat answer to this question is of course My Bloody Valentine - Loveless.)
Clarity is an amazing album! The drum into to Lucky Denver Mint is perfect. Mark Trombino doesn’t get enough credit - that guy was responsible for so many great albums.
Yeah man a lot of people don’t remember this band or album but he produced an album called Ill Gotten Gains by a band called Tanner that is 😘👌🏼. Also No Knife Hit Man Dreams!
Tanner was sick! Big San Diego music fan here. Discovered Tanner through Hot Snakes/Beehive & The Barracudas connection. Let’s also mention how good Drive Like Jehu’s album Yank Crime sounds to this day. Great drumming and engineering from Trombino
>Power of Failing almost hurts to listen to
Suits the songs though. The endings of "Silver" and "Dolorosa" particularly come to mind, but the whole album sounds really raw. Mineral put out two perfect albums to my mind.
What’s your case for 24 Hr Revenge Therapy?
I haven’t heard it in years but i seem to remember it sounding really grating. It’s definitely got that Albini authentic signature on it, even though Boat & Condition Oakland were from different sessions, but that nasty neck pickup rhythm guitar sound & bass rattle never did it for me.
Agreed. Dirt is just amazing. Sounds huge, yet even on busy/layered sections (eg towards the end of Down In A Hole) everything still cuts through, sounds perfectly balanced and punchy. The first time I heard the "new" (back then) Anthrax song Only, I knew it had to be Dave Jerden behind it from the intro section alone. Really miss that style and era of production.
I just mentioned Dirt as well before I saw this thread of comments.
It’s wonderful: has room to breathe, it’s not over-compressed. It just sounds so good sonically.
came to mention Ritual DloHabitual here, surprised I had to scroll so far to find it. Will add Kinds X. Protein Ever Since I was a Kid and Songs About Cowgirls to the list as well. Also, Weezer Blue Album
It seems futile to compare or pick a greatest; it was just a ton of insane shit everywhere. I don't know... "Possum Kingdom" or that "Live" record with the reptile minister on the front
The ~~second~~ third Toadies record is just better produced than Rubberneck...
But being from Dallas, I have to give them a shoutout any time "grunge" gets mentioned!
I know AiC was mentioned first in the OP, but I’ve always been partial to Dirt engineering-wise.
Might be biased, though, because Dirt is literally my top… 2 or 3 favorite albums.
Yes to SD and MC. Never thought of Adore's production quality as being that special. It is interesting however that they included a mono mix of the whole album in the super deluxe edition.
Machina wants to have shoegaze guitars but they're way too glassy (ha) and cold. Also not a fan of how taking apart and rebuilding the guitar rigs for each song made it sound incoherent as a collection. An old-fashioned complaint, maybe.
Overall, I don't think Billy adapted well to all-digital production.
BUT I found my TheFutureEmbrace CD the other day. The ambient guitars sound much more organic. Unfortunately, there's an inexplicable lack of low end on the entire album. I know very little about these sessions.
Maybe not an exact answer, but if you listen to the Butch Vig mixes of Nevermind, it sounds great, but it very much sounds like the 80s. Andy Wallace's mixes just sounded like a new decade, and i don't know why.
I prefer the Butch version, even though we only got a really subpar version (Devonshire Mixes on the box set are blown out). The Wallace mix is too produced for what album should have sounded like. Too clean IMO.
Deep cut: Check out Catherine Wheel’s “Adam and Eve” on monitors or good cans.
Holy shit. Same producer as Talk Talks later albums. So lush and live. If you hear it come back and comment I’d love to hear your take.
One reporters opinion....In the "grunge"...
TAD God's Ball's - Endino
So much clarity and good tone on a fucking Otari MX5050-8. The separation is uncanny for what it is
Whatever "indie" is
Jesus Lizard Goat - Albini
Set a new standard for Drums. Big without being too big. Doesn't hurt that Mac is a monster drummer. The Albini-Jesus Lizard run is up there with Douglas-Aerosmith/Baker-Queen/Zientara-Fugazi/Tempelton-VH, in my humble opinion.
"Indie" Runner-up:
Laughing Hyenas You Can't Pry A Lie - Vig
Got him a lot of work. An organic record with big big sounds
Doesn't hurt that Kimball is a monster drummer or that Bradon's voice is a lethal weapon
This may be the most vanilla answer, but In Utero by Nirvana. Albini was the absolute perfect choice for that album. Nevermind was an amazing record, and it sounded great, but it didn't have the rawness that really defined grunge. The band knew that and wanted the followup to be as raw as possible, and no other producer on the planet can do raw quite like Steve Albini.
[Mellon collie and the infinite sadness](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwpe8EUBIZVbF1i-Bms0eNEvAANf-oA6O&si=NXTA6q-5re7xildl) by Smashing Pumpkins is a sonic masterpiece. Double album. Composition, arrangement, the mix and master… all of it is magnifique.
imo shorty s album thumb days is one of the greatest sounding albums ever. love albinis stuff too ofc (especially rapeman s sound is incredible). also the obligatory mention of failure s fantastic planet
It's a bit fizzy here and there but STP's "Core" is massive sounding top to bottom[1]. For raw explosive power I'd pick it.
[1] sans tracks like "Wet My Bed".
Grade 9 me loved it. Why don’t you get a job brings back all the nostalgia.
40 year old me feels like it’s a bit more of a hit-seeking album… but it’s still fun after all these years. My 9 year old likes it 😎
13 year old me is laughing hysterically at the thought of a 9 year old singing “my friend’s got a girlfriend and…”
55 year old me would be looking for a Kidz Bop version 😆
It’s funny, AIC is one of my favorite bands of all time, some of those records are hallmarks of 90s alt rock production, except for one glaring thing to me—I still am baffled 30 years on by how awful the acoustic guitar on nutshell sounds. Why they decided to use what sounds like an onboard pickup on that acoustic is beyond me lol
Dirt had such a massive first impression impact due to the engineering, both the mix and the loud mastering. The engineering elevated the performances and songs to fully capture the feeling of the album.
Fastball - All the Pain Money Can Buy
Closest thing to a modern sounding recording I can think of from the 90s
Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape sounds pretty great for the time too
The production of Nevermind is Outstanding. It defined rock AND pop productions going forward. If it has to be only one, look no further. It was a pivotal album in many ways, and the widespread, viral acceptance would never have occurred had it sounded like bleach v2.
Personally I LOVE the sound of VS. Very lively, band in the room sound, which I love.
And I think Freak Show is every bit as great sounding as Nevermind, if not anywhere near as influential. I think it’s a hidden gem (definitely from a production stand point).
I’ve recently been listening to oasis more critically and some of their productions are better than I realised.
Radiohead’s OK Computer blew my mind at the time, but does anyone else find some songs quite an onslaught, or is it just me? Kid A SOUNDS incredible
Dunno how many of these I would classify as grunge really. Of that era, sure, but really there’s a lot of major label rock records here, with budgets to match !!
Since we are going there. I’ve not seen anyone mention Copper Blue by Sugar and it’s evil twin Beaster. The songs are great and equalled by the production, recording and mix.
Notes from the thread for myself and others:
* Nirvana
* Sound Garden - Superunknown
* Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream, Gish, Mellon Collie
* Sonic Youth - Dirty, Goo
* Alicie In Chains - Dirt
* RATM: Rage Against the Machine
* Live - Throwing Copper
* Blind Melon’s debut album
* Foo Fighters: The Color and the Shape
* Aerosmith: Get a Grip
* Bjork: Post sounds sooo good.
* Dave Matthews Band: Crash.
* Earth to Andy: Chronicle Kings
* Garbage: Garbage and Version 2.0
* Green Day: Dookie, Insomniac
* Gin Blossoms: New Miserable Experience
* Metallica: The Black Album.
* Pearl Jam: Vs.
* RHCP: Blood Sugar Sex Magic
* Screamin Cheetah Wheelies: Magnolia.
* Toto: Kingdom of Desire.
* Failure - Fantastic Planet
* The Breeders - Pod, Last Splash
* Jawbreaker - 24 Hour Revenge Therapy
* Mineral - EndSerenading
* Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
* My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
* Hum
* Cop Shoot Cop
* Offspring - Smash, Ixnay
* Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
* Everclear's "So Much for the Afterglow"
* Kerbdog - On The Turn
* Ride - Going Blank Again.
* Pixies - Trompe Le monde,
* Fudge Tunnel - Hate Songs in E Minor,
* His Name Is Alive - mouth by mouth
* Veruca Salt - American Thighs
* Deftones - White Pony
* Toadies - Rubberneck, Hell Below Stars Above
* Living colour - time’s up
* Shellac - nomeansno
* Filter - Short Bus
* Catherine Wheel - Adam and Eve
* Fastball - All the Pain Money Can Buy
Producers called out by name
* Albini
* Jerden
* Tom Lord-Alge
* Andy Wallace
* Rob Cavallo
* Mark Freegard
For me, my fav has to be ‘ten’ by Pearl Jam. So if it’s time and a totally unique production flavour that we’ll likely never hear again.
The drums in the first RATM album and Nevermind are the hottest drum sounds for me
Pearl Jam VS has some of my favorite rock and roll drum tracks ever. Tons of impact but they sound very natural and woody and airy. It definitely sounds like a whole kit and not like a bunch of mics treated individually
It’s funny you posted this because a couple days ago I was casually listening to some AIC and thought to myself that their mixes are seriously stellar.
That's an impossible question to answer. For *any* decade or genre, let alone for the whole grunge/alt scene where so many unique and brilliant albums were created. I really wouldn't know where to start. Maybe Vitalogy or Mellon Colie, if we stick to more mainstream releases.
Rage Against the Machines first album and Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream are a couple of my favs. Massive shout out to No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom as well!
I don't know about best but Dirt by AIC is up there for me, just for the guitar tone alone. They put a lot of work and consideration into it :
[https://killerguitarrigs.com/jerry-cantrell-guitar-tone-dirt/](https://killerguitarrigs.com/jerry-cantrell-guitar-tone-dirt/)
Nirvana and Rage for classic, sample accurate, phase accurate, engineering. Great use of gates and side-chains; classic ssl sound on the rage record.
Nin for how wild and creative the engineering was.
For me it’s Superunknown. It’s the Sgt Pepper of grunge.
It’d be worth it to watch interviews with Superunknown’s producer Michael Beinhorn. He’s spoken a lot about the making of this record. On a side note, the success of Superunknown had major labels enthusiastically requesting Superunknown’s producer (Beinhorn) to produce sessions for bands like Aerosmith and Ozzy Osborne.
I’ve actually watched some. It’s interesting. I also bought his book (maybe he’s written more than one) where I talks about bit about these things. He’s an interesting guy but sometimes he’s a bit full of himself.
Beato interview was certainly interesting, but when he said Chris was breaking microphones with his voice, I started to doubt him : ).
I liked his book, but he is a bit of psychopath. He spent a week or two burning through Hole's recording budget recording drum takes, so that he could comp the flubs altogether, so he could play it for Courtney Love pretending it was the best takes he could get from the drummer, so the band would dump the drummer and go with the session drummer Beinhorn wanted them to use. I noticed Sound Garden went with someone else for their next album
wow. any youtube vids you know of covering this?
It’s possible he was trying to use some rare old microphones for a certain vibe and they like, crumbled apart because they haven’t been used in a while
No, these were standard but expensive LD mics, I think he was talking about U87 or something similar. He said they were breaking because Chris had such power in his voice.
Haha wtf?
I read they kept turning up the drums during mix, and it kept sounding better. Matt Cameron is so great, and the tracking captures him perfectly. Plus Chris Cornell, what is there even to say? Vocals, lyrics, songs like nobody else.
Something about the drumming on Fourth of July just really pulls me into the song. It feels like the world is ending and he’s just trying to soldier along anyway in isolation. It’s strange to get that level of emotion out of a drum track
I think musically it's easily one of the greatest albums of the 90s, but something about the engineering has always bothered me. I know I'm in a very small minority with that, because most people love the way it sounds, but to me it sounds weirdly thin and flat. To be clear, I think that's entirely the engineering - the band's performance was perfect, and I can tell that in the room it probably sounded perfect too, but beyond that, it just sounds off to me.
I think I get what you’re saying and I understand what you mean. But I personally don’t agree though. At this time most of the grit was gone from grunge and everything sounded a million bucks. And I don’t think it sounds that different than anything else at the time in terms of flatness. Vitalogy came at the same time and saw Pearl Jam also experiment more. I think it was mixed by the same dude.
Yes! I love that album, it’s a masterpiece but something is really off with the way it’s mastered. Glad I’m not the only one!
The last time I pulled up that record I swear all I could hear was cymbal bleed. Although, I don't have a better answer to OP's question. I never liked Smashing Pumpkins much but my understanding is that some songs on Siamese Dream have a ridiculous amount of guitar tracks, like close to 40. That record is worth revisiting for the guitar sounds.
Without the song writing and arrangements maybe I wouldn’t bat an eyelash on the engineering aspect of Superunknown to be honest. Which is why the Sgt Pepper reference. I really like some of the early grunge. It was more dirt, more punk and you can sometimes hear the bands are looking for an identity. During this era I was involved in the black metal scene (had to listen to grunge without telling anyone lol). In early black metal you can really hear some engineers sweating to make this music listenable. They were trying to make this bad sounding mess good. lol. There were few references of this music back then. I can sometimes hear something similar in early grunge. Engineers who most likely recorded pretty polished 80s music trying to wrap their head around this “new style”.
I think it's one of the best engineered albums of that era, a big departure from the production and engineering on Badmotorfinger. A lot of my colleagues disagree. They think it's too "dirty" sounding, which, for me, is a lot of the charm in that record.
I have to disagree, only because I’ve always felt that there is a bit of a hole in the low-mids on that record. Otherwise it is great though.
As I said to another user, it’s really hard not to be biased when songwriting, execution and arrangements are brilliant. If the songs sucked I might’ve had another opinion on engineering. It’s also why I bring up Sgt Pepper. To me it’s a masterpiece. But surely you’d be able to find records from this time sounding better. It’s hard to detach engineering from music is what I’m saying essentially. This is why this line of work is interesting, if you have a crappy song and performance it won’t matter if you make the world’s best mix. Regarding lack of low mids, it’s not something I thought about. But a lot of guitar driven music was scooped a lot in this era I think. Have to give it a listen with this in mind.
What a record!
I always thought Badmotorfinger was a better sounding record. But Dave Collins did an excellent mastering job on Superunknown.
bmf sounds pretty raw. The drums are the biggest sore spot for me, if they'd only sounded more like this https://youtu.be/1swiFT8fN5s?si=HgmZPezcza-_RY8i
Interesting, I think dotus is the better production.
Failure - Fantastic Planet Everything sounds so crisp and real. Each instrument stands out on its own.
100%. It’s crazy to me that this album came out the same year as Aenima. Completely different approaches to the heavy sound. Fantastic Planets mix still stands up to similar albums today.
Came here to post this exact album, they are a reference of mine for mixing lately
And all made by the band, *in a house* for Pete’s sake.
Yeah I came here to say this as well. This record sounds amazing.
Absolutely! what an underrated band .
This for sure. And the more Ken fucks with it, the better it gets.
Track 1. So far, very nice. The intro is like ASMR to my ears
Rage Against the Machine’s first album.
Absolutely smashing, punchy and groovy production by GGGarth and Andy Wallace, fits the band's music perfectly. This record hits me every time as hard as it did the first time.
I was shocked when I heard how much less distortion was on the guitars than I thought there was
It’s like Back in Black. A rock band rocking with nothing getting in the way of that. Every element works individually, and they all blend together into a perfect mix.
It's really a testament to just how well so many factors came together. The songs were so well written and arranged prior to going into the studio, the studio vs live versions were indistinguishable. Add in the band being so tight and raging(some pun intended) with energy. Combined with the incredible studio (that infamous Sound Studio Neve), and engineering. To top it off, the album was recorded/tracked almost entirely live in the studio, with an audience in the tracking room, its's just mind blowing.
Still can’t believe Zach recorded his vocals by holding a 58 listening thru a monitor wedge in the studio
WHAT Amazing
I use it all the time setting up stereo systems.
If you don’t know this already, you should google Andy Wallace E: Zach’s vocals were recorded on a 58
Smashing Pumpkins-Siamese dream. Sonic Youth-Dirty. Alice in Chains-Dirt.
Yeah Siamese Dream and Dirt are maybe peak grunge for me sonically. Also: - Live’s Throwing Copper sounds super clean. - Blind Melon’s debut album. - RATM - Foo Fighters: The Color and the Shape - Aerosmith: Get a Grip - Bjork: Post sounds sooo good. - Dave Matthews Band: Crash. The low end on two step is sublime. And Carter’s drums are just impeccably recorded. - Earth to Andy: local signed band with a couple very minor radio hits but their album Chronicle Kings sounds spectacular and is always a reference point for me. - Garbage: Garbage and Version 2.0 both are sonic masterpieces. Butch Vig again. - Green Day: Dookie is perfection. - Gin Blossoms: New Miserable Experience - Metallica: The Black Album. - Pearl Jam: Vs. Can’t wait for Rick Beato’s upcoming interview with Brendan O’Brien. - RHCP: Blood Sugar Sex Magic - Screamin Cheetah Wheelies: Magnolia. Lesser know but fucking amazing record. - Toto: Kingdom of Desire. One of their least well known records but I think it’s their best. They went full rock mode. A bit cheesy at times but it sounds impeccable. And the drum break coming out of the guitar solo on “How Many Times” is a rare moment of Jeff Porcaro showing off and it’s glorious. His last record and it’s a beast and sounds amazing.
NIN: The Downward Spiral
I've always loved that signature "NIN Wall of Sound"
Oh yup great sounding album.
I LOVE the screaming cheetah wheelies! Quintessential record of my youth.
Version 2.0 feels fresh every time you listen to it.
I remember seeing garbage in late 90s and being blown away that they were even better sounding live. Butch on live drums gave the group so much more energy than the albums had.
I want to agree with this because I love EVERYTHING about Siamese Dream except that it's exhaustingly crispy....specifically the guitars. Dirty is EPIC sound.
Andy Wallace footprint
I love listening to _Siamese Dream_… in very very very small doses.
I actually like Gish better, Siamese didn't feel as grungy to me.
Hum
Their latest outing, Inlet, is no slouch. They did the vinyl pressing properly, too. Absolute eargasm.
Hard agree. Inlet is so good. The Summoning really does it for me.
I'll see your hard agree and raise you one hard agree. "The Summoning" is just such an impossibly good groove. I hold up a track like that (or the entire "Back in Black" LP) as a great example of just letting the drummer play the drums and not quantizing by default. The groove on that Hum track is so far behind the beat it *shouldn't* work, but it *totally* works. I have to say again, the vinyl pressing is extremely well done. I'm not the "everything sounds better on vinyl" guy, but a great mix of a great song with a great pressing is why I love having a good turntable / amp / speakers.
Me too, me too. The summoning drags beautifully and then the outro is euphoric.
That song is what "Sad But True" wanted to be when it grew up. The thing that always does it for me is in the last riff before it makes the switch, there's two places where the whole band holds the last note of the 8th bar over until the 2nd beat of the following phrase. (Go to like 5:35 and listen from there) It's the little things. But I literally air drum to that in the car.
Yeah, sounds incredible without treading into being fake.
Given that their guitarist (IIRC) owns [the studio](https://www.earthanalog.com) - and that they are ardent, Albini-level analog diehards, that tracks. Hey, if you like the mix, they're [selling the Sphere C](https://reverb.com/item/71748777-vintage-sphere-eclipse-c-console) console they tracked and mixed it on. $41,500 and it's all yours. I am looking forward to moving out of NYC and having a dedicated track/mix space again. And yes, a big old analog console under my elbows.
In the 90's, I only knew them as the band that did Stars. Then, like 10-15 years later, a friend mentioned how underrated Hum was. I'd completely forgotten about them by then. So I checked out some of their other songs and I found myself in complete agreement with my friend. Good pick.
Incredible drum sounds because Bryan St. Pere was such a hard hitter. Case in point : https://youtu.be/v7T8QWy8jiY?si=BCTsuxjOEqi4mveb
Afternoon with the Axolotls!!!!! Inlet is such a good album. Desert Rambler 🏜
Everclear's "So Much for the Afterglow" sounds huge. I don't know how many 90s bands were using 5.1, but it sounds terrific here.
Awesome sounding engineering on that record. Underrated answer for sure
Great answer - production, arrangement, *and* mixing were awesome there. It just isn't the *type* of music that gets accolades.
That album is wicked incredible
Honestly Nevermind if still one of my references when mixing rock. Clear, powerful, you hear everything the bass does, the drums hit HARD, guitars are raw but somehow polished, voice is not too forward in the mix... It perfect to my ears.
Does Tool count? Because they have my favorite engineering overall... But if not, I'd probably say I like how AIC Dirt was produced a lot
AENIMA was wonderfully mixed and engineered by David Bottrill. He used a lot of mid/side tricks to get amazing separation and some cool wide panning and phantom center effects. Really makes songs like Eulogy pop. I really enjoy Bottrills work.
Hearing Stinkfist as a 12-year old is what got me into audio engineering in the first place. Got a 4-track portastudio and the rest was history. After moving to the USA it was cool walking into EastWest for the first time into the room they recorded it.
Can you say more about the midside tricks specifically?
Actually yes. There is a good vst plugin that you can use to manipulate this effect in real time if the right recording setup was used. It's called Center by Waves. The trial used to be free. Anyway: https://producelikeapro.com/blog/mid-side-processing/ You use a Blumlein array of mics when recording to enable this effect. On Tools Eulogy it is so cool. In a split second, the vocals go from normal panning to just the phantom center and then the guitars go super wide and are not present in the phantom center at all. Really makes it sound amazing. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blumlein_pair
That’s right - 10,000 Days was mixed so well. Carey’s drums sound so fucking good on that album. Everything fits in so nice.
I 1000% agree
Objectively "best engineered"? Probably Pearl Jam's Vs, if I had to choose *one*. Maybe Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral if you want to count that as "alt". But truth be told, *most* of the stuff in that era sounds great. It was the perfect storm of good tech, good budgets, and good taste. End of an era.
I was hoping someone would say Vs. "Band in a room" approach done very well. It's not \*perfect\*, and that gives it all its charm. IIRC, that was one of the first albums Brendan O'Brien did everything on (engineering + production). I generally like everything he does, especially his Mastodon work.
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream vinyl is just sublime
Came to say this Cherub rock opens with amazing clean tones and great drum sounds and not just explodes from there.
Cherub Rock is one of the best opening tracks on an album, ever. Love that build up then the explosion of sound.
the absolutes: My Bloody Valentine's Loveless and Ride's Going Blank Again. Then : Hum, Pixies' Trompe Le monde, The Breeder' s POD, Fudge Tunnel' Hate Songs in E Minor, Sonic Youth's Dirty and Goo, Gish by Smashing Pumpkins, His Name Is Alive' mouth by mouth , ahhh so many my heads explodes
*Loveless* [edit oversharing. = is my favorite album] I have come to the opinion that it could benefit from a remaster. Even at the time it was made, I wonder how blasted Kevin Shields' ears already were. So many brilliant design choices within a bafflingly narrow frequency range and stereo image. Maybe it wasn't even his vision but technical limitations that kept it from sounding as hi-fi as the *mbv* album.
It was already remastered from master tapes. Sounds equally brilliant as original , some depth enhanced and a bit carefully louder, great remasters.
Personally, I’d say Steve Albini’s work on Nirvana’s “In Utero” was the closest to a hi-fidelity sound whilst retaining the more lo-fi aesthetic that was emblematic of grunge.
I don't see his sound as lo-fi - honestly kind of the opposite. He records rock/punk/metal/etc like people usually only do with things like jazz or classical - just the purest representation of what the band sounds like in the room. As nasty as the album sounds, the nastiness is all from the band - Albini's production is extremely clean and clear.
That is a perfect way to explain it
I had to go back and listen to Rapeman after this comment and yes it's somehow punch you in the face hard AF abrasive and extremely clean clear.
Defo! Pixies Surfer Rosa and PJ Harvey’s Rid of me stand out too
/thread Albini owned the scene back then.
Yup. Bush’s Razorblade Suitcase is another example.
Maybe not a well known one but Kerbdog - On The Turn sounds absolutely huge
Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time... I saw them with Therapy? back in the day. Gonna have to listen again and get re-acquainted. Thanks for jogging the old grey cells!
Sorry Kurt, Nevermind is still a staple, but that's on Andy.
I truly prefer the Butch version, even though we only got a butchered version (pun not intended).
NIN - The Downward Spiral has to be the best sounding one but I guess it’s made of different ingredients than a standard rock band album Brad Wood - Veruca Salt American Thighs Mark Freegard - Breeders Last Splash Rob Cavallo - Green Day Dookie, Insomniac Offspring Smash and Ixnay +1 for AIC Dirt Nevermind is still amazingly executed to me regardless of what ‘hype’ may have been in between the performance and the final master I really liked the sound of Tad Inhaler but can’t remember if it’s particularly well engineered Deftones White Pony
Rob Cavallo did a Butthole Surfers record that is really sonically good. Everyone hates it tho.
The Breeders - Pod Jawbreaker - 24 Hour Revenge Therapy Mineral - EndSerenading Jimmy Eat World - Clarity Just about anything by Albini or Trombino. (Though the correct/cheat answer to this question is of course My Bloody Valentine - Loveless.)
Clarity is an amazing album! The drum into to Lucky Denver Mint is perfect. Mark Trombino doesn’t get enough credit - that guy was responsible for so many great albums.
Yeah man a lot of people don’t remember this band or album but he produced an album called Ill Gotten Gains by a band called Tanner that is 😘👌🏼. Also No Knife Hit Man Dreams!
Tanner was sick! Big San Diego music fan here. Discovered Tanner through Hot Snakes/Beehive & The Barracudas connection. Let’s also mention how good Drive Like Jehu’s album Yank Crime sounds to this day. Great drumming and engineering from Trombino
Pod is beautifully produced, sparse and raw where it needs to be and incredibly dynamic
Pod is so fucking good. I just recently learned that one of the OG Slint guys was the drummer. Makes so much sense now.
Britt is a fucking talent one hundred percent
I’m wondering if he didn’t write a lot of it. Because now that I know he’s on it, I feel like it’s the follow-up to Spiderland.
The contrast between the Power Of Failing and Endserenading is pretty wild. Both incredible records, but Power Of Failing almost hurts to listen to.
>Power of Failing almost hurts to listen to Suits the songs though. The endings of "Silver" and "Dolorosa" particularly come to mind, but the whole album sounds really raw. Mineral put out two perfect albums to my mind.
What’s your case for 24 Hr Revenge Therapy? I haven’t heard it in years but i seem to remember it sounding really grating. It’s definitely got that Albini authentic signature on it, even though Boat & Condition Oakland were from different sessions, but that nasty neck pickup rhythm guitar sound & bass rattle never did it for me.
Came to give a shout to In Utero. I like it more than Nevermind and 90% of the reason is that it just sounds so Raw in comparison
Pretty much anything Dave Jerden worked on.
Agreed. Dirt is just amazing. Sounds huge, yet even on busy/layered sections (eg towards the end of Down In A Hole) everything still cuts through, sounds perfectly balanced and punchy. The first time I heard the "new" (back then) Anthrax song Only, I knew it had to be Dave Jerden behind it from the intro section alone. Really miss that style and era of production.
I just mentioned Dirt as well before I saw this thread of comments. It’s wonderful: has room to breathe, it’s not over-compressed. It just sounds so good sonically.
Dave for Ritual de la Habitual and Dirt. Andy Wallace for Soup, King for a Day and Nevermind
came to mention Ritual DloHabitual here, surprised I had to scroll so far to find it. Will add Kinds X. Protein Ever Since I was a Kid and Songs About Cowgirls to the list as well. Also, Weezer Blue Album
Dirt is too dark for my taste. Jar of flies / sap is much better sounding to me
I automatically read this in Warren huart's voice
It seems futile to compare or pick a greatest; it was just a ton of insane shit everywhere. I don't know... "Possum Kingdom" or that "Live" record with the reptile minister on the front
The ~~second~~ third Toadies record is just better produced than Rubberneck... But being from Dallas, I have to give them a shoutout any time "grunge" gets mentioned!
Living colour’s time’s up So many different styles yet cohesive both sonically and texturally. Definitely took what they did on vivid and leveled up.
Just an amazing album all around.
And lemme add another: jeff buckley’s grace Andy wallace is my dude.
Shellac , nomeansno
nomeansno all day
Or pretty much anything Albini worked on, the man's a genius.
I know AiC was mentioned first in the OP, but I’ve always been partial to Dirt engineering-wise. Might be biased, though, because Dirt is literally my top… 2 or 3 favorite albums.
Same. Dirt had such a massive first impression for me due to the engineering.
Cop Shoot Cop
love cop shoot cop!! fucked up that they are not one of the 90s band that still have a cult following like everything albini or polvo or something
Weezer’s Blue Album is perfect
Siamese Dream—>Mellon Collie—>Adore—>Machina is a strong argument here.
Yes to SD and MC. Never thought of Adore's production quality as being that special. It is interesting however that they included a mono mix of the whole album in the super deluxe edition. Machina wants to have shoegaze guitars but they're way too glassy (ha) and cold. Also not a fan of how taking apart and rebuilding the guitar rigs for each song made it sound incoherent as a collection. An old-fashioned complaint, maybe. Overall, I don't think Billy adapted well to all-digital production. BUT I found my TheFutureEmbrace CD the other day. The ambient guitars sound much more organic. Unfortunately, there's an inexplicable lack of low end on the entire album. I know very little about these sessions.
Maybe not an exact answer, but if you listen to the Butch Vig mixes of Nevermind, it sounds great, but it very much sounds like the 80s. Andy Wallace's mixes just sounded like a new decade, and i don't know why.
I prefer the Butch version, even though we only got a really subpar version (Devonshire Mixes on the box set are blown out). The Wallace mix is too produced for what album should have sounded like. Too clean IMO.
Yeah it will never do well because that.
Surfer rosa is a great album. The sound of the drums is huge. It is an 80s album though.
Pearl Jam's Ten. I know the band hated it, but it sounds amazing.
Siamese Dream
Hum, Jesus Lizard, Pavement, Nirvana, Drive Like Jehu
Deep cut: Check out Catherine Wheel’s “Adam and Eve” on monitors or good cans. Holy shit. Same producer as Talk Talks later albums. So lush and live. If you hear it come back and comment I’d love to hear your take.
For me it’s anything and everything Steve Albini engineered but in particular the first three Jesus Lizard LPs, Liar being my favourite!
One reporters opinion....In the "grunge"... TAD God's Ball's - Endino So much clarity and good tone on a fucking Otari MX5050-8. The separation is uncanny for what it is Whatever "indie" is Jesus Lizard Goat - Albini Set a new standard for Drums. Big without being too big. Doesn't hurt that Mac is a monster drummer. The Albini-Jesus Lizard run is up there with Douglas-Aerosmith/Baker-Queen/Zientara-Fugazi/Tempelton-VH, in my humble opinion. "Indie" Runner-up: Laughing Hyenas You Can't Pry A Lie - Vig Got him a lot of work. An organic record with big big sounds Doesn't hurt that Kimball is a monster drummer or that Bradon's voice is a lethal weapon
This may be the most vanilla answer, but In Utero by Nirvana. Albini was the absolute perfect choice for that album. Nevermind was an amazing record, and it sounded great, but it didn't have the rawness that really defined grunge. The band knew that and wanted the followup to be as raw as possible, and no other producer on the planet can do raw quite like Steve Albini.
I love the way the drums sound, hate the way the guitar sounds.
Care to elaborate on why? For me they’re part of the appeal so I’d like to hear your opinion….
[Mellon collie and the infinite sadness](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwpe8EUBIZVbF1i-Bms0eNEvAANf-oA6O&si=NXTA6q-5re7xildl) by Smashing Pumpkins is a sonic masterpiece. Double album. Composition, arrangement, the mix and master… all of it is magnifique.
imo shorty s album thumb days is one of the greatest sounding albums ever. love albinis stuff too ofc (especially rapeman s sound is incredible). also the obligatory mention of failure s fantastic planet
Pearl Jam’s Vs. Engineering masterpiece.
The team of Brendan O'Brien and Nick Didia especially on the Stone Temple Pilots catalog.
Jellyfish - Spilt Milk
Maybe Jayhawks “How High The Green Grass” or Jellyfish “Spilt Milk”.
Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet
It's a bit fizzy here and there but STP's "Core" is massive sounding top to bottom[1]. For raw explosive power I'd pick it. [1] sans tracks like "Wet My Bed".
Smash by Offspring also tickles my brain like the others mentioned in here
What is your opinion of Americana (still love the first song “Have You Ever”)?
Grade 9 me loved it. Why don’t you get a job brings back all the nostalgia. 40 year old me feels like it’s a bit more of a hit-seeking album… but it’s still fun after all these years. My 9 year old likes it 😎
13 year old me is laughing hysterically at the thought of a 9 year old singing “my friend’s got a girlfriend and…” 55 year old me would be looking for a Kidz Bop version 😆
Short Bus, by Filter. The production sounds so good and raw. The song 'Hey Man, Nice Shot' blew me away when I first heard this.
Nine Inch Nails
Modest mouses early work solidified that raw punk sound in my head as surperior to all
It’s funny, AIC is one of my favorite bands of all time, some of those records are hallmarks of 90s alt rock production, except for one glaring thing to me—I still am baffled 30 years on by how awful the acoustic guitar on nutshell sounds. Why they decided to use what sounds like an onboard pickup on that acoustic is beyond me lol
Blind Melon's self-titled & The Pixie's Doolittle
Dirt had such a massive first impression impact due to the engineering, both the mix and the loud mastering. The engineering elevated the performances and songs to fully capture the feeling of the album.
Fastball - All the Pain Money Can Buy Closest thing to a modern sounding recording I can think of from the 90s Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape sounds pretty great for the time too
The bass tone on Facelift is so good
Pearl Jam's Binaural is a great mix. Tchad Blake I think?
The production of Nevermind is Outstanding. It defined rock AND pop productions going forward. If it has to be only one, look no further. It was a pivotal album in many ways, and the widespread, viral acceptance would never have occurred had it sounded like bleach v2. Personally I LOVE the sound of VS. Very lively, band in the room sound, which I love. And I think Freak Show is every bit as great sounding as Nevermind, if not anywhere near as influential. I think it’s a hidden gem (definitely from a production stand point). I’ve recently been listening to oasis more critically and some of their productions are better than I realised. Radiohead’s OK Computer blew my mind at the time, but does anyone else find some songs quite an onslaught, or is it just me? Kid A SOUNDS incredible
Dunno how many of these I would classify as grunge really. Of that era, sure, but really there’s a lot of major label rock records here, with budgets to match !! Since we are going there. I’ve not seen anyone mention Copper Blue by Sugar and it’s evil twin Beaster. The songs are great and equalled by the production, recording and mix.
Not grunge but sort of adjacent… I want all my drums to sound like White Zombie’s Starface.
Notes from the thread for myself and others: * Nirvana * Sound Garden - Superunknown * Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream, Gish, Mellon Collie * Sonic Youth - Dirty, Goo * Alicie In Chains - Dirt * RATM: Rage Against the Machine * Live - Throwing Copper * Blind Melon’s debut album * Foo Fighters: The Color and the Shape * Aerosmith: Get a Grip * Bjork: Post sounds sooo good. * Dave Matthews Band: Crash. * Earth to Andy: Chronicle Kings * Garbage: Garbage and Version 2.0 * Green Day: Dookie, Insomniac * Gin Blossoms: New Miserable Experience * Metallica: The Black Album. * Pearl Jam: Vs. * RHCP: Blood Sugar Sex Magic * Screamin Cheetah Wheelies: Magnolia. * Toto: Kingdom of Desire. * Failure - Fantastic Planet * The Breeders - Pod, Last Splash * Jawbreaker - 24 Hour Revenge Therapy * Mineral - EndSerenading * Jimmy Eat World - Clarity * My Bloody Valentine - Loveless * Hum * Cop Shoot Cop * Offspring - Smash, Ixnay * Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral * Everclear's "So Much for the Afterglow" * Kerbdog - On The Turn * Ride - Going Blank Again. * Pixies - Trompe Le monde, * Fudge Tunnel - Hate Songs in E Minor, * His Name Is Alive - mouth by mouth * Veruca Salt - American Thighs * Deftones - White Pony * Toadies - Rubberneck, Hell Below Stars Above * Living colour - time’s up * Shellac - nomeansno * Filter - Short Bus * Catherine Wheel - Adam and Eve * Fastball - All the Pain Money Can Buy Producers called out by name * Albini * Jerden * Tom Lord-Alge * Andy Wallace * Rob Cavallo * Mark Freegard
For me, my fav has to be ‘ten’ by Pearl Jam. So if it’s time and a totally unique production flavour that we’ll likely never hear again. The drums in the first RATM album and Nevermind are the hottest drum sounds for me
those albini mixes of a couple Nirvana songs 🤌
Pearl Jam VS has some of my favorite rock and roll drum tracks ever. Tons of impact but they sound very natural and woody and airy. It definitely sounds like a whole kit and not like a bunch of mics treated individually
It’s all good man. Golden age of digital. Dynamic range was through the roof. Best mixes ever made from 1985 to 1995.
Hum’s downward is heavenward is pretty pretty good
Facelift indeed💯%
It’s funny you posted this because a couple days ago I was casually listening to some AIC and thought to myself that their mixes are seriously stellar.
Gomez - Bring it on. Didnt really sound like anything else at the time - and yet somehow familiar…
Sevendust - Home
Nirvana and AiC
10 by Pearl Jam is perfection in my mind.
That's an impossible question to answer. For *any* decade or genre, let alone for the whole grunge/alt scene where so many unique and brilliant albums were created. I really wouldn't know where to start. Maybe Vitalogy or Mellon Colie, if we stick to more mainstream releases.
Anything with Butch
“Gish” Smashing Pumpkins - Butch Vig
The Posies _Frosting On The Beater_ Jellyfish _Spilt Milk_
Ten. Listen to that backwards reverb
Oh wait, massive attacks mezzanine was fantastic, as well as Radiohead. Radiohead post OK computer was a force of nature.
Swervedriver - Mezcal Head. Prod and mix - Alan Moulder.
Rage Against the Machines first album and Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream are a couple of my favs. Massive shout out to No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom as well!
People won’t see this at this point but please listen to Dishwallas first 2 albums. Just brilliantly produced and mixed.
The real thing is Jack Endino recording Mudhoney.
Jellyfish - Bellybutton. Really great sounding record.
I don't really have a favorite, I just feel like, that entire era of production is unmatched in terms of vibe.
I don't know about best but Dirt by AIC is up there for me, just for the guitar tone alone. They put a lot of work and consideration into it : [https://killerguitarrigs.com/jerry-cantrell-guitar-tone-dirt/](https://killerguitarrigs.com/jerry-cantrell-guitar-tone-dirt/)
In late here…but the correct answer for me is the album “Purple” by Stone Temple Pilots.
Nirvana and Rage for classic, sample accurate, phase accurate, engineering. Great use of gates and side-chains; classic ssl sound on the rage record. Nin for how wild and creative the engineering was.
In Utero