well I don't agree with Jan 78 at all. Mack's production sounds very dated now, the detail was lost, the drums sounded horrible, the synths sounded awful at times. Mack has to accept part responsiblity for The Game and Hot Space, Queen's poorest albums. It's no conicidence that The Miracle and Innuendo were produced without him and thank goodness. The man had no understanding of what makes Queen's sound good.
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[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Asterik wrote: [/QUOTENAME]well I don't agree with Jan 78 at all. Mack's production sounds very dated now, the detail was lost, the drums sounded horrible, the synths sounded awful at times. Mack has to accept part responsiblity for The Game and Hot Space, Queen's poorest albums. It's no conicidence that The Miracle and Innuendo were produced without him and thank goodness. The man had no understanding of what makes Queen's sound good.[/QUOTE] The game sounds dated now?...according to who?...The game was one of their biggest and loved albums ever, so mack doesn't have to take responsibily for shit. I agree with everything jan78 said and disagree with everything asterik had to say.
I never cared for "Mack's" producing skills. His sound tended to be flat and condenced. I always wonder what they later albums would have sounded like if Roy Thomas Baker had been there producer all the way through like George Martin with "The Beatles".
The game sounds dated now?...according to who?...The game was one of their biggest and loved albums ever, so mack doesn't have to take responsibily for shit. I agree with everything jan78 said and disagree with everything asterik had to say.[/QUOTE]
Good for you! You're wrong of course. Rock It Prime Jive's synths sound like a microwave bleeping and the drum sound has a thin early eighties feel that lacks substance. All of the lovely nuances are gone, the vocal harmonies, the little percussion touches that you can hear on ANATO and Innuendo, replaced by unsubtle wide spaces. Just listen to Machines on The Works, horrible dated synth trash that Mack programmed may I add. What about the phone bleeps on Dancer, the weak percussion on body Language? Mack played his part in destroying the hallmarks of Queen's sound.
Good for you! You're wrong of course. Rock It Prime Jive's synths sound like a microwave bleeping and the drum sound has a thin early eighties feel that lacks substance. All of the lovely nuances are gone, the vocal harmonies, the little percussion touches that you can hear on ANATO and Innuendo, replaced by unsubtle wide spaces. Just listen to Machines on The Works, horrible dated synth trash that Mack programmed may I add. What about the phone bleeps on Dancer, the weak percussion on body Language? Mack played his part in destroying the hallmarks of Queen's sound.
I'm surprised to see Machines get a bad rap considering it's one of the best tracks on The Works album.
But what annoys me are the people that try to blame Mack saying he "played his part" in ruining Queen's sound. HUH! Fact is, if Queen didn't like what he did, then it's their fault because it comes down to whether they liked what Mack brought to their sonic table. Fact is, if you don't like Mack's style, then it's your opinion. But to say that HE played his part in ruining Queen's sound, no no no! It was up to Queen to do whatever they wanted and that means you can't blame anyone else.
My view would've been different a year ago before recording my friend's band. Queen chose to work with him. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean you can blame him for what Queen wanted.
And imo, The Game is a great sounding album. Lastly, Asterik, drop the "you're wrong" bit because, we're supposed to have opinions on things here. This is why you can dislike what Mack brings to the overall sound, while another person can like it. No one's wrong in what they personally think, which is why mike said that he doesn't "agree" with you.
Adam.
But what annoys me are the people that try to blame Mack saying he "played his part" in ruining Queen's sound. HUH! Fact is, if Queen didn't like what he did, then it's their fault because it comes down to whether they liked what Mack brought to their sonic table. Fact is, if you don't like Mack's style, then it's your opinion. But to say that HE played his part in ruining Queen's sound, no no no! It was up to Queen to do whatever they wanted and that means you can't blame anyone else.
My view would've been different a year ago before recording my friend's band. Queen chose to work with him. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean you can blame him for what Queen wanted.
And imo, The Game is a great sounding album. Lastly, Asterik, drop the "you're wrong" bit because, we're supposed to have opinions on things here. This is why you can dislike what Mack brings to the overall sound, while another person can like it. No one's wrong in what they personally think, which is why mike said that he doesn't "agree" with you.
Adam.
Queen's work in the Mack years varied from Flash Gordon -- where Freddie did little and Brian was the main composer -- to Hot Space, where Freddie basically had all of side A to himself. I'm so glad they didn't call it side 'Cool' and side 'Hot.' Agreed, the city played a role, and when Mack says they were "pensioners set in their ways," perhaps he means Queen knew to stick with what works. Mack's input seems to be try everything different, less is more, thus Los Angeles came along. The Works album tried to re-establish Queen's identity.
Although "Radio Gaga" doesn't sound specificaly like any of Queen's previous material, many fans have observed that several tunes on The Works are quite similar to earlier hits. "It's a Hard Life" and "Play the Game" for example, and "...Is This the World We Created?" with "Love of My Life." I wonder what role if any Mack played in the decision to drop the piano line from the track. Also, since they were writing songs like "Man on the Prowl" to reference "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," it makes sense that at least one track would have something to do with the infamous "No synthesizers" policy. This would be "Machines," one of the more original songs on the album imho, and Mack's production gives voice to the machine and human, especially because it was Queen's first album to be recorded digitally.
The Game imho is Queen's best studio success with Mack not just because of all the singles success but because Mack's input was right for the time. It still sounds fresh. Although A Kind of Magic drew heavily on the Highlander movie to propel the songwriting, Capitol strangely chose "Pain is So Close to Pleasure" as a single. I also wonder if Mack made any suggestions regarding the vocal. If Queen were attempting to re-establish their identity with the previous Mack-produced album, "Pain" is a sort of a surprise. It reminds me of Hot Space, side A, but that's me.
I like most of the albums Mack worked on through and through-- The Game is the first Queen album I bought-- but imho the early RTB and later DR seems to let loose the essential Queen trademarks like lush chorus vocals, orchestral guitar sound, and tight rythm section.
Although "Radio Gaga" doesn't sound specificaly like any of Queen's previous material, many fans have observed that several tunes on The Works are quite similar to earlier hits. "It's a Hard Life" and "Play the Game" for example, and "...Is This the World We Created?" with "Love of My Life." I wonder what role if any Mack played in the decision to drop the piano line from the track. Also, since they were writing songs like "Man on the Prowl" to reference "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," it makes sense that at least one track would have something to do with the infamous "No synthesizers" policy. This would be "Machines," one of the more original songs on the album imho, and Mack's production gives voice to the machine and human, especially because it was Queen's first album to be recorded digitally.
The Game imho is Queen's best studio success with Mack not just because of all the singles success but because Mack's input was right for the time. It still sounds fresh. Although A Kind of Magic drew heavily on the Highlander movie to propel the songwriting, Capitol strangely chose "Pain is So Close to Pleasure" as a single. I also wonder if Mack made any suggestions regarding the vocal. If Queen were attempting to re-establish their identity with the previous Mack-produced album, "Pain" is a sort of a surprise. It reminds me of Hot Space, side A, but that's me.
I like most of the albums Mack worked on through and through-- The Game is the first Queen album I bought-- but imho the early RTB and later DR seems to let loose the essential Queen trademarks like lush chorus vocals, orchestral guitar sound, and tight rythm section.
Everyone in Queen said that from the early days on, they weren't produced, but the producer was there as a sounding board and referee at times. The 4 of them knew their way around a studio, and Mack was brought in as fresh ears and for fresh sounds. I'm a huge fan of Queen's catalogue up to The Game, lesser of Hot Space and hated The Words, AKOM and The Miracle, but I'd have hated for them to sound in 1982 or 1989 like they did in 1974. It may not have succeeded, but they tried.