1980's Music Production

[Aero]

I know a lot of people don't like the overproduced sound of that decade. I've heard it called "plastic" and "soulless" amongst other things.

Some though will say it worked great for a lot of bands of that time.

What do you think is the best and worst examples of this type of production from the 1980s? (Try to include the video or audio link with your answer.)

 

[Squidbilly]

Awful lot of diversity in that era there Aero,
Just depends what u wanted to hear at the time.
Plastic--Bands like Oingo Boingo,Payolas,Frankie goes to hollywood had the same type sound,Worked in favor for these guys.
Oingo Boingo- Dead Man's Party
-Back to school was a great movie

 

[AboutAGirl]

I wouldn't even call it overproduced, per se'... what confuses the heck out of me about 80s production is it just sounds... distant. Compare it to material from the 70s or 90s which sounds quantifiably more crisp, more up-front. Material from the 80s sounds like it was recorded from the back of a concert hall, it has very much a live feel to it but it rarely sounds like the mics were anywhere near the band. It often sounds like they used Zeppelin's trick for When the Levee Breaks -- where they put Bonzo & his drum set way out in the hall, and recorded what it sounded like from all the way over there. Except in the 80s they did it for the entire band, and for every song on the album.

I suppose it was just an aesthetic choice, but it sure gripped much of the decade. I'm not saying it's good or bad, I think it worked spectacularly for some acts. But it is very noticeably different not just from the decades preceding and following it, but for any other era in music history.

At best I find it to be spectacularly dynamic and unique attribute, it kind of gives me flashbacks to going to concerts in the winter when you're walking up to the venue and you can hear the muffled sounds of the band from behind big, heavy church doors. Muddled, muffled, those would be perfect words to describe 80s production.

One song where it worked well was for Foolin'. It's a song with a kind of creeping riff and the distant 80s sound makes it sound almost hypnotic and adds to the atmosphere of being lost & alone.



Interestingly, there's one song with a classic 80s production sound that does predate the 80s by a couple short years, Patti Smith's Because the Night.

 

[Zombeels]

For some reasons most artists in the 80's took off the snare in their drums. Also don't get me started on the electronic drums.

 

[JimJam]

A good example is Aerosmith. On their early albums in the '70s they sound like a real group of musicians playing real instruments in the studio (never mind that they sucked in concert). In the '80s, with that over-bloated sound, the musicians became inter-changeably anonymous in the production. They had plenty of good songs during this period and they would've gone over better with a rougher, streamlined sound rather than the bloat.

 

[Aero]

One song where it worked well was for Foolin'. It's a song with a kind of creeping riff and the distant 80s sound makes it sound almost hypnotic and adds to the atmosphere of being lost & alone.



Interestingly, there's one song with a classic 80s production sound that does predate the 80s by a couple short years, Patti Smith's Because the Night.

I completely agree about the Def Leopard song. Works great in that instance.

As for the Patti Smith song, you're right...you can definitely here that kind of production going on in that song. IMO, it doesn't do the song any justice. I think a more raw, unproduced sound would work much better here.

 

[Johnny-Too-Good]

For me the '80s was all about 'Pop'. The advances in technology lent themselves perfectly to the production of high quality pop music. I thought the '80s was a fairly barren period for rock music, with a few exceptions (I know there are many on here who will disagree with that - maybe it's an age thing ). The 'Go To' Producer in the UK at that time was Trevor Horn (He was briefly a member of Yes and also co-produced two of their albums). That guy could almost guarantee a virtually unknown act a Top Ten Single, and they were queuing up for his services. This is the one that launched him-

The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

 

[Squidbilly]

A good example is Aerosmith. On their early albums in the '70s they sound like a real group of musicians playing real instruments in the studio (never mind that they sucked in concert). In the '80s, with that over-bloated sound, the musicians became inter-changeably anonymous in the production. They had plenty of good songs during this period and they would've gone over better with a rougher, streamlined sound rather than the bloat.

Agree with what your sayin,
But theres's the underbloated Done With Mirrors lp that everyone seems to want to forget about,
As if it's a end to an era for them& the begining of the Chakkacow start for Steve Tyler
Aerosmith - Done With Mirrors (1985)