Why is no one else doing any studio wizardry anymore?

Back in the 70's you had bands like Queen, Boston, Rush, etc that put out some very elaborate studio work which I have enjoyed very much. Now here we are in the 21st century and the studio technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, yet the recordings of today are very simple and basic. Why is no one putting together and creating any "Bo-Raps" of today?

Most bands these days are a bunch of lazy slags who are uncreative. Music is going in a sad direction.....

I'll say 1 band...THE KILLERS!

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]DavidRFuller wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Most bands these days are a bunch of lazy slags who are uncreative. Music is going in a sad direction.....[/QUOTE]


Thats just bullshit. There's a lot of great musical production out there, but the studio is used in a different way now. It's not worse or something, it's just different.

For example a lot of (good) rap music (like, for example Dr Dre's stuff) is produced really great. Don't forget it's not just a bunch of loops put together to make a song. It's actually choosing a sample, modifying, making new sounds et cetera.

It's not fair to say this is uninspired just because you don't like it.

You've got it all wrong. Songs are being made on laptops these days, not instruments. And with that, down goes creativity. Modifying and sampling, yes sheer genius. Moron.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]reeddr wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Back in the 70's you had bands like Queen, Boston, Rush, etc that put out some very elaborate studio work which I have enjoyed very much. Now here we are in the 21st century and the studio technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, yet the recordings of today are very simple and basic. Why is no one putting together and creating any "Bo-Raps" of today?[/QUOTE]

Wow, you took the words right out of my mouth! I really wish a current band/artist would realease an album that was made with much effort.

My personal point of view is that to produce (write music, put text, perform music, edit, record) something valuable, which does not have value only to you but also for other people requires intelligence. Oasis were just a school grades, so is Robbie Williams. I will not comment on rappers because most of them are practically illiterate. Freddie is brilliant because God kissed him on the brow with tallent but it was his sole responsibility to take care of this talent and he undertook it, moreso he undertook it in an intelligent way. That's the bitter truth - mediocrity rules the world nowadays, even within music!

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]reeddr wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Back in the 70's you had bands like Queen, Boston, Rush, etc that put out some very elaborate studio work which I have enjoyed very much. Now here we are in the 21st century and the studio technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, yet the recordings of today are very simple and basic. Why is no one putting together and creating any "Bo-Raps" of today?[/QUOTE]

I used to hate My Chemical Romance but their song 'Welcome To The Black Parade' is like a newer Bohemian Rhapsody. Gerard Way even said his influences are Queen. Next thing we know, he'll have a mustache!

Really though, I think of Welcome To The Black Parade as The Show Must Go On, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Innuendo all in one

I think a lot of Queens music would have been better without the overproduction. I know it was their trademark, but often it was over done.

Do we really need Studio wizardy? In my opinion, sometimes less is more!
Can you imagine QOTSA's "Songs for the Deaf" with a Roy-Thomas Baker like production? Believe it or not, even as a Queen Fan, the producers i like most are people like Kevin Shirley and Chris Goss. Especially Kevin Shirley, who let Led Zeppelin's "How the west was won" sound like it was recorded yesterday. Bonzo's Drums sound like REAL drums, not over-the-top effect loaded like Metallica's black album. To give a band a big sound, tons of effects and so on, is not a big deal. To let them sound like they are playin' in your living room, as natural as possible, that's real wizardy for me :-)

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]DavidRFuller wrote: [/QUOTENAME]You've got it all wrong. Songs are being made on laptops these days, not instruments. And with that, down goes creativity. Modifying and sampling, yes sheer genius. Moron. [/QUOTE]

You're ignorant

I don't see whats so hard about overdubbing 'thunderbold and lighting' 30 times, either. I don't see whats so genius about reversing the tape or using varispeed.

I agree that rap, hip-hop and the like takes much less effort in the studio. Most of those genre is loops, samples and other auto-repetitive functions. I know a few in the recording business and they have told me that the ones who run the company love rap and hip hop because it's the least expensive style to produce which gives them the biggest profits. I also know a few older black studio musicians who lament that very few of black artists use real instruments anymore and the only time they get to play is on other genres. One stated "Look at the average hip-hop or R&B cd. You just see credits to 'programming' and like, almost never to folks playing real instruments. We don't have any new bands the likes of Earth Wind & Fire, Prince, etc making any serious dent in the music industry today"

Everything takes less effort these days, and it winds up sounding shitty and computerized. Did they have these types of things in the 70's? No.

I'm sure people in the 70's were also complaining that there wasn't enough brass in popular music. It's the time, everything changes. Move along or stop complaining.