Dear .Org,

If you were to choose your favourite album specifically in terms of PRODUCTION QUALITY only, which album would be yours?

For example, whilst I don't really think the songs entirely marry upto be the strongest Prince album per se, Graffiti Bridge's production quality, to me, is sublime. I love the overall feel of the sound, it's forceful enough without being overpowering and overall I feel it enhances what is effectively a major Vault album from Prince. By contract, whilst Emancipation contains many great songs, I feel my appreciation of them, as well as the album as a whole, is tainted by the sound of the production quality. Even The Rainbow Children, whilst superior to both albums I've just mentioned in terms of sheer musicanship and sequencing, suffers from a slightly harsh quality in terms of its production.

To a layperson, which I am (as I am no sound engineer), I am sure the issue is a complex one with the advent of newer technologies in music, but I am simply commenting on how the overall 'feel' of an album can enhance/detract from the album, irrespective sometimes of the quality of the songs. Bootlegs, I suspect, are a slightly different issue. I always found something quite enticing about discovering a gem of a song, even with the poorer quality sound oftentimes than its eventual release with perfect sound (e.g. The Black Album. I guess in this latter case it's more about getting a sneak preview into The Vault (that we were clearly not meant to).

Anyway, what's your favourite album in terms of the feel of the sound and the production quality (not necessarily related to the quality of the songs/album, although even this distinction is sometimes difficult to qualify e.g. Sign O The Times; the greatness of the songs from that era elevates one's appreciation of the sound quality).

I appreciate Questlove's perspectives to further what he feels is the cause, but I do sometimes wonder whether Remastered Editions will help or hinder our enjoyment of the music, especially given our different tastes when it comes to sound quality.

love,

Spirit

Signs 'O' The Times, if for the strength of "Dorothy Parker" alone. Don't even get me started on its b-sides and side projects.

Susan Rogers should be proud as well.

1999. It's been out for almost 30 years and its sound is STILL being copied to this day.

It's just little bitty things with that album that you don't notice until years later and when you finally do, it blows your fucking mind!