Reference track recommendations (loud rock)

[Mixedup]

Just looking for some recommendations for reference tracks for a couple of mixes I'm working on.

For musical style, think early Bon Jovi meets Guns N Roses. But I'm looking for a more contemporary sound. Screeching male vox and wide-panned distorted rhythm guitars. Full-on choruses. Usual rock band instruments - male lead + backing vox, drums, bass, rhythm + lead guitars and a couple of synth bits here and there.

My record collection is a little lacking in this... plenty of good music, but it's the sonic balance I'm looking for. Nearest I've got is something like ramming some old Smashing Pumpkins through a limiter, used alongside Greenday, Kasabian and the like.

All recommendations welcome - just remember, it's sonics I'm thinking of, not just great tunes!

Cheers in advance...

[Phil O]

Linkin Park's Rick Ruben produced "Minutes To Midnight" would be worth a listen.

[Billum]

The flavour of the month (several years, in fact) is rock mixes done by Chris Lord-Alge, of course. Anything of his should serve as an excellent contemporary reference. He is known for using a lot of sample replacement of drums, masses of compression, and so on, to achieve a highly polished and stimulating modern rock sound.

So take your pick of:
My Chemical Romance (especially The Black Parade - and see SOS's feature on this mix), Paramore, Rise Against, Flyleaf, Green Day, Nickelback, Slipknot, Sum 41,

[Jack Ruston]

The last Slash record is like that and sounds really good.

J

[. . . Delete This User . . .]

FooFighters..... usually sound great..... (as well as being great tunes)

QOTSA "songs for the deaf"

there's only one Nickleback track i ever use for anything, and that's "never again" off their Silver side up album , the bass line is a good rule of thumb test for listening system low end definition....

AC/DC's "back in black" album is always worth referring to as to how rock SHOULD be done.....

also check out anything produced/engineered by Romesh Dodangoda , he does a load of rock stuff, and he's a bit of a golden eared wunderchild IMHO, definitely a name to watch for the future..... and already with some impressive credits.....

(and not just coz he's based in Wales either.... )

[Mixedup]

Thanks All,

Useful suggestions.

For some reason, I've never got on with most CLA mixes. Kinda a weird sound to my ears. Don't get me wrong, he does it very well, all very controlled... but it just seems to leave me a bit cold. Am I alone in that?!

Will check out the Rubin and Slash stuff and the other suggestions. Already have older/classic stuff like Back In Black on the playlist... all of which is excellent, but not plugging this particular gap.

[The Elf]

For some reason, I've never got on with most CLA mixes. Kinda a weird sound to my ears. Don't get me wrong, he does it very well, all very controlled... but it just seems to leave me a bit cold. Am I alone in that?!

Nope, I'm of the same mind. Nothing wrong with his stuff, but it doesn't sound anything special to me beyond his contemporaries. Run! Here come the witch-fynder and his mob!!

My suggestion (not quite contemporary) would be anything involving Paul Northfield. That guy really knows how to make a record! Porcupine Tree's 'In Absentia' is never far away when I'm working on a difficult mix.

Oh, and I echo Jack's comment about the Slash album - very impressive mixes.

[Jack Ruston]

Yeah, CLA is weird for me too. I really like his stuff in one way...it's forward and it slams hard in the right places. He knows how to bring the song out. But to my ears it never sounds 'expensive' if that's the right word. There's always a lot of 2-3k energy which I find fatiguing. That probably doesn't matter and the number of hits he's mixed are certainly a testament to that, but personally I aspire more to the Eric Valentine, Michael Brauer type of thing where it's all a little more posh. But you do need to tailor the mixing somewhat to the tracking. For example the Eric Valentine stuff seems tracked with his mixing in mind, and vice versa. So while you're referencing that Eric Valentine stuff, you may also find that the tracking requires an approach that's at odds with that sound.

J

[EnlightenedHand]

A few beastly albums of the "rawk" genre that I like to reference:

-Rage Against the Machine (first, self titled album)
Clean, straightforward, dynamic hard rock played and produced well.

-System of A Down, Mezmerize
Metal done very well, hard hitting and full.

-Muse, Black Holes and Revelations
One of the better "alternative" rock albums I've heard for it's blend of old school-ish guitar distortions in some of the heavier records meets modern mixing.

-Biffy Clyro, Puzzle
Hard hitting, full and interesting.

-Foo Fighters, Wasting Light
Very polished modern rock with vibe and dynamics and attitude and clean, absolutely beautiful guitar and drum sounds.

[dubbmann]

hi,

it's funny, most of the 'recent' band-type stuff i've discovered in the last decade have been through songs showing up on tv shows, movies, etc, so this all might be old hat but the 'new' stuff in the rock vain that's impressed me most have been:

1) black keys. simply amazing that two people can make such a great rock vibe. i never really got into the white stripes but these guys amaze me. i think the drummer is particularly deserving of a shout out cause he's understated, plays a small kit, but just pounds out rhythm like a jaki liebzeit.

2) brian jonestown massacre. never really noticed them before 'boardwalk empire' used their song for its theme.

3) elbow. being in the states and not a radio listener to boot, i completely missed these guys despite an occasional mention of them in sos. then i heard 'cocktail for divorce' or whatever it's called and was blown away. i think they have an immaculate sound and they seem like nice guys from the sos profile of them.

4) oasis. i know, they were lager louts, and for years i refused to check them out on general principle. then i heard noel's song 'tehuacan' on the x-files' soundtrack and went back to find what i've been missing. i particularly love the dvd of them at wembley stadium. the band att that time was just unbelievably tight, the bass and drummer were worthy of john paul jones and bonham, and liam's voice wasn't blown out yet. i'm curious what noel's new band sounds like, i hope it's good so he can get shut of liam once and for all. if my brother had smashed my guitars just before a gig, the coroner would have found him hanging him in a closet posed like david carradine =:-O

cheers,

d

ps: two more bands still current that i can't get enough of are death in vegas and primal scream, both are electronica more than rock but their touring uses full bands, and DIV's band is too good for words. good thing they're an instrumental outfit

[Mixedup]

Yeah, CLA is weird for me too. I really like his stuff in one way...it's forward and it slams hard in the right places. He knows how to bring the song out. But to my ears it never sounds 'expensive' if that's the right word. There's always a lot of 2-3k energy which I find fatiguing. That probably doesn't matter and the number of hits he's mixed are certainly a testament to that,

Yeah. Bizarrely, I do seem to end up with a lot going on in that region. It's initially exciting... but after a while sounds fatiguing; almost brittle. Hence the need for good reference mixes!

but personally I aspire more to the Eric Valentine, Michael Brauer type of thing where it's all a little more posh. But you do need to tailor the mixing somewhat to the tracking. For example the Eric Valentine stuff seems tracked with his mixing in mind, and vice versa. So while you're referencing that Eric Valentine stuff, you may also find that the tracking requires an approach that's at odds with that sound.

Yeah, I'm with you on that, in aspiration if not talent & results Good point about the tracking/mixing thing. I do seem to get closer when I have a role in playing/tracking tunes. Always a bit different when I'm mixing some stuff someone's already written and tracked. Still, the reference mixes help to hit as near target as possible.

Actually, maybe I should be looking at CLA, as a kind of 'if it gets that brittle change things or take a break' kind of threshold!

[Mixedup]

ps maybe brittle is the wrong word, but you know what I mean.

Thanks to all the other guys for some excellent suggestions, including lots of stuff I've never really listened to critically. Now That's What I Call Rock will be in a shop near you soon

...as for Death In Vegas, there are some great tunes, but not the sort of thing I'm looking for. Ditto Elbow. Love them to pieces. Ribcage is one of my favourite tunes... but it's a different kind of thing. Ditto Primal Scream. Ditto Oasis, Blur, RATM and many many more. Plenty of that sort of stuff in my collection, but it's wide of target here.

Anyhoo, thanks again. Plenty here to get my teeth into.

[Dave B]

I've with Liz on this one : +1 for Biffy (especially Puzzle) and Muse. And the Foos ... obviously...

[Billum]

I've with Liz on this one : +1 for Biffy (especially Puzzle) and Muse. And the Foos ... obviously...

Yep - despite my advocacy of CLA earlier, those albums are definitely in the list of ones I'd listen to for the *pleasure* of the sound!

[Mixedup]

Hehehehehe... I don't know if I can get past my dislike of the music with Biffy, and experiences of hugely disappointing festival appearances! But I'll try top keep an open mind and give it another listen.

Muse and the Foos I really should have thought of.

[DaleSmith]

If it's Biffy, I'd go for the early stuff. Everything from Puzzle onwards I think is a bit weak. I think Vertigo of Bliss sounds the best out of them all.. ( Big up Chris Sheldon ).

[sambrox]

Audioslave's first album usually gets a spin here.

[Mixedup]

The last Slash record is like that and sounds really good.

J

You weren't joking, were you? The CD dropped through my letterbox this morning. Some very, very nice mixes on there.

[jaminem]

Gun: Taking on the World
Audioslave
Foo Fighters: Wasting Light

...and...

every time I go to Max's

AC/DC: Hells Bells

[Red Mastering]

CLA- not for my taste...
The Racounters - Vince Powell -great great mix and recording
both albums, aslo Dead Wetaher - same V. Powell - fantastic job;
Them Crooked Vultures, and mos of stuff mixed by Andy Wallace,
Nirvana included
just my 2 pennies