Prince's perfection often came in the form of him just getting the sounds he heard in his head out onto tape. His recording techniques, especially with the Revolution, were pretty straightforward, often having the instruments wired straight to the board. And while he finished a song in a day and felt it was right, not all tracks or albums were technically perfect. There are ticks (explained here before) in "U Got The Look", and a snare hiccup in "Purple Rain" - to name a few.

In contrast, Michael Jackson & Q set out to produce a technically perfect record on top of an album full of great songs (this was documented in Moonwalker). Bad was that album, and I do agree there is a technical perfection on that album.

PS: I am not pitting MJ against Prince. I'm using Bad as a business model only.

So the question here becomes this: does Prince really have a technically perfect album from a production standpoint? Is there a Prince album that you can hold up to Bad when it comes to production (read: not songwriting)? I think most would choose The Rainbow Children. or not?

TrivialPursuit said:

Prince's perfection often came in the form of him just getting the sounds he heard in his head out onto tape. His recording techniques, especially with the Revolution, were pretty straightforward, often having the instruments wired straight to the board. And while he finished a song in a day and felt it was right, not all tracks or albums were technically perfect. There are ticks (explained here before) in "U Got The Look", and a snare hiccup in "Purple Rain" - to name a few.

In contrast, Michael Jackson & Q set out to produce a technically perfect record on top of an album full of great songs (this was documented in Moonwalker). Bad was that album, and I do agree there is a technical perfection on that album.

PS: I am not pitting MJ against Prince. I'm using Bad as a business model only.

So the question here becomes this: does Prince really have a technically perfect album from a production standpoint? Is there a Prince album that you can hold up to Bad when it comes to production (read: not songwriting)? I think most would choose The Rainbow Children. or not?

"Technical Perfection" can sap out the soul and humanity of music. I love recorded music that's 'live' or minimally over-dubbed and isn't tinkered with via computers to within an inch of it's life. Music should have the feeling of spontaneity and passion in it.

I would way more listen to Dirty Mind, largely recorded in a suburban living room on 16 track by one dude than something off of Bad, where every sinle second of music was tortured by endless session musicians and Quincy Jones' manic knob-twisting in the recording booth.

a record like 1999 would lose half of its charm if it were 'technically perfect'.
Music doesn't have to be 'perfect'.

So far, y'all are missing the point. You're delving into "this is better". The point is which album(s) is technically comparable to Bad. Bad has a lot of soulfulness on it despite it being noted as a perfect album.

I also like music that is minimally overdubbed or has a live band feel to it. But I'm trying to examine the production side here, not compare which album is better than another. (We got folks doin' that weekly! hahaha)

Please. If you're going to list a Michael Jackson album as an exemplar of perfection, at least get the right one - which is Off the Wall.

Exactly! BAD SUCKS!

Genesia said:

Please. If you're going to list a Michael Jackson album as an exemplar of perfection, at least get the right one - which is Off the Wall.

I really dont know anything about production but I think Mr.Hayes did not like the production on trc.I will look for the source

I honestly have no idea what you're talking about but just for fun I'mma throw 2 albums out there and see what bounces back.


TRC, which has been mentioned just above.


annnnnddddd.....



Come.

Genesia said:

Please. If you're going to list a Michael Jackson album as an exemplar of perfection, at least get the right one - which is Off the Wall.

I think Trivial has a (hopefully) temporary knack
for the "Acusonic Recording Process D"® and "Mitsubishi Multi-track recorders".
Oh, and didn't Michael have custom-made microphones, to add insult to injury?
They had a special name, no kidding (fun trivia fact: Swieden often used the Shure SM57 with MJ,
which is one of the most popular and widespread microphones out there).
Who remembers the name of the microphone? My vinyl sleeves are nowhere to be seen...
The temptation of the sleek, pristine sound made more sinful recordings than hell could hold.
"Bad" is the sound of the eighties, heard from a first-class auditorium, in a comfy italian leather couch.
But it still shows its age, no matter how many Bang&Olufsen you throw at it.

Here's a treat for you.
Meanwhile, I'm gonna listen to "Bob George", urgently:
too much Bruce Swedien™ gives me the rash.

And yep, there's nothing thicker than The Wall, my friend.
Livin' crazy, that's the only way. What followed was for the most part
sucking from the platinum calf udder. Luckily, Michael's angst was still strong enough
to bring life and soul to any soon-to-become-out-of-fashion drum pattern (painfully conceived by at least 3 programmers,
2 arrangers, and a dozen engineers, taking a whole year of work).

These slapped basses! These early refs on the snares, making them sound like garage doors slammin'!
These electric pianos and rhythm guitars drowned in chorus, beyond recognition!
Kill me, kill me now.

But of course, this shitty, transparent, mastodontic sound
can soothe your ear after the dryness and brutality of, say, "New Position".
Yeah, it's good craftsmanship, I'll give you that.
But that's the problem: there's not a single sound on Bad which isn't calculated
to please the masses. It smells of charts greed.

I wonder if you listen to Prince's eighties albums on CD, Trivial.
To me, ATWIAD was already "technical perfection": on an analog media and a good audio system,
it can ridicule Bad. It takes flair and finesse to come up with the everlasting audio delicacies of Parade.
It takes a whole building full of drummers, bassists, Ocean Way Studio minions and all the Gregs Phillinganes of the world
to produce a loud, clanging, pyrotechnical ageing blockbuster.

And it's far from being technically perfect. "Just Good Friends" sounds awful, no matter the media.
Just a minute of this shit makes me wanna pierce my ear drums with a Screwdriver.

[Edited 8/21/18 18:58pm]

locking per OP