BOC: A "dizzying excursion into Pearlman's world"

[Carl Edlund Anderson]

Ted Jackson wrote:
> Some fans would argue that the band was never the same after
>  Secret Treaties.  Not sure I agree with it.  I'd put the the turning
> point after Spectres, even though the band still recorded some great
> stuff after that.  the hallmark of the Pearlman era was consistency.
> The early discs were uniformly perfect, wheras the later stuff often
> included songs that might not have appeared on the earlier albums.

Well, I think the writing was most interesting up through Secret
Treaties, but that the production became much better thereafter.

I wouldn't dub the sound on the early albums "perfect" by any means :)
Obviously, album production is subjective and the winds of fashion can
change unexpectedly ... but the really thin kinda MC5-style sound like
on those early albums has never worked for my ears.  Great songs that
sound wimpier than they should/could, IMO.

Weird studio and mastering problems aside, the stuff sounds much cleaner
and fuller from _AoF_ on, at least to my ears.  I mean, even today
_FoOU_ sounds really quite good -- sure, crispy and radio-friendly, but
good.  I think I'll go listen to "Vengeance" now, actually ...

 > Once Al was fired, the quality dropped even more.  You do the math!

Even I can manage that level of math ;)

Cheers,
Carl

ObCDoftheMoment: _Iommi_.  Yeah, I know it came out a coupla years back,
but I only just managed to pick up a cheap used copy.  Nothing
life-changing, but surprisingly solid, I think. Riffs to die for, as one
might expect :)  Actually, IMO, its rather better than anything actually
done under the "Sabbath" moniker since .... ooo, _Sabotage_ probably.

--
Carl Edlund Anderson
http://www.carlaz.com/