The best producers in rock history

One more to add to the list: Tom Allom

Engineer on the first 3 Sabbath albums, producer on 9 Judas Priest albums, Def Leppard's debut as well as an number of other hard rock or metal acts in the 80's.

Don't know if anyone put Simon Cowell.

Lynch said:

One more to add to the list: Tom Allom

Engineer on the first 3 Sabbath albums, producer on 9 Judas Priest albums, Def Leppard's debut as well as an number of other hard rock or metal acts in the 80's.

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Good one.

Mutt Lange is one of those producers who really puts his stamp all over the album. Maybe not every time, but you can tell which artists gave him more free reign than others just from looking at the song titles. You see, apart from being the King Of Unnecessary Punctuation, he also has a fondness for puns and "clever" titles.

Songs produced or co-written by Lange include:

- "Let me put my love into you", "For those about to rock (we salute you)" (AC/DC)

- "If you wanna leave me (can I come too)", "The only thing that looks good on me is you", "It ain't a party... if you can't come 'round" (Bryan Adams)

- "When the going gets tough (the tough get going)", "Get outta my dreams (get into my car)" (Billy Ocean)

- "Ain't got nothing if you ain't got love", "I said I loved you... but I lied" (Michael Bolton)

- "Without your love (I can't live)" (Stevie Vann)

- "Stand up (kick love into motion)", "Rock! Rock! Till you drop!", "Armageddon it" (Def Leppard)

- "Oops... I did it again" (Britney Spears)
He's not credited with writing or producing that song, but he did another one on the same album so I include it as a case of "secondary Lange".

Unsurprisingly, Shania Twain albums are a veritable treasure trove of Lange-isms. There is no way that actually listening to the songs could ever be as entertaining as just reading their titles:

"Home ain't where the heart is (anymore)"
"Whose bed have your boots been under?"
"(If you're not in it for love) I'm outta here!"
"The woman in me (needs the man in you)"
"Leaving is the only way out"
"Man! I feel like a woman"
"I'm holdin' on to love (to save my life)"
"Whatever you do! Don't!"
"If you wanna touch her, ask"
"It only hurts when I'm breathing"
"Thank you baby! (for makin' someday come so soon)"
"Waiter! Bring me water!"

... And many more, believe it or not.


But also sonically, an album produced by Mutt Lange unmistakenly sounds that way - to the point of transforming the artist's sound. Apart from the vocals, the songs on the 1984 Cars album sound like they would have fitted nicely on "Hysteria". That's the Cars, new-wavey powerpoppers with indie credibility.

Likewise, to anyone but their respective fans, album tracks on "Waking up the neighbours" (Canadian roots-rocker Bryan Adams) and "Adrenalize" (British NWOBHM pioneers Def Leppard) sound like they're by the same artist.

Heavy handed production. Not a fan.

George Clinton
Jerry Wexler
Daniel Lanois
Todd Rundgren
T Bone Burnett
Brian Eno
Rick Rubin
Nile Rodgers

Mike Stone (1951-2002)
Professionally active 1971-1997

A few of his notable credits include:
Whitesnake - "Whitesnake" (producer)
Queen - "A Day At The Races", "A Night At The Opera", "News Of The World", "Sheer Heart Attack" (engineer)
Journey - "Escape", "Frontiers", "Raised On Radio" (producer)
Asia - "Asia", "Alpha" (producer)

Mike Stone has been associated with so many successful albums, but I would include him in the top 5 solely for producing the first album by Asia.

With all the talent in that band, and egos filling the room, he somehow managed to forge a number one, multi-platinum album in a time when prog was all but dead.

But even more than that, there is a certain feel to the songs of that album that the various incarnations of the band (including the original) have consistently failed to convey live. Like when I listen to the first album, I get a forward head-nod feel. I listen to a live performance from ANY era, and I get a back-and-forth head sway feel. BTW, "Wheel In The Sky" by Journey feels the exact same way to me, and they can't come up with that feel live, either.

It is most frustrating, and in autumn 2005 when I saw the original band on tour in Niagara Falls, NY I finally gave up looking for that magical performance that "feels" like the original. Not sounds like it, but feels like it.

It is after that concert that I realized that the original Asia were a really good band with a strong musical heritage that will always draw sales and attendance at concerts, but the albums Asia and Alpha were the creations of Mike Stone.

Somehow, he used the most excellent tools he had to work with, and crafted something really amazing, that the four band members could never have come up with... "never in a million years."