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

[Doug Pearson]

On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 12:44:21 +0100, Carl Edlund Anderson <cea at CARLAZ.COM>
wrote:
>
>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 ...

I was noticing this shift in the Pearlman/Krugman "production quality" the
other week when I was at a friend's house, and he put 'Manifest Destiny'
(the second Dictators album, which I don't own) on the turntable.  It
definitely has that radio-friendly, big-70s-rock quality that the first
one ('Dictators Go Girl Crazy') doesn't.  (Said friend loves the album
cover, but was surprised to hear that it's more-or-less the same
picture/concept as on the inside gatefold of OYFoOYK.)

And, of course, the guitars on the Clash's 'Give 'Em Enough Rope' (done
without Murray) are simply monstrous.  Imagine if they'd been able to get
that sound on "ME 262" or "The Red And The Black"!

Seriously, does anyone know what happened between, say, 74/75 and 77/78?
Did they go to "producer school"?  Did they hire skilled engineers?  Or
was it just a case of improving through practice?

    -Doug
     jasret at mindspring.com