Is it weird that I don't think the albums he produced sound anywhere near as good as Bob Rock's? The songs are better, but that's also the band at the time.
Bob's stuff brought the bass front and center and gave all the instruments space to breathe and be huge.
The bass is buried in the mix, and even Call of Ktulu's bass solo is lost. Master of Puppets barely features any truly audible bass other than during Orion, leper Messiah and damage inc, and that's only because the bass being front and centre is part of the riff.
All I can say is it's an acquired taste.
Yes, their Load, Reload, and the newly recorded disk of Garage Inc. has way more range, more bass, etc. But the way Metallica and studios recorded music has a very different character (80s vs 90s). Not just the riffs or lyrics.
What I'm talking about is the process of recording, sampling, etc. Theoretically, you could re-record Load's riffs, basslines (and so on) and put it through the recording/mastering process of the 80s. What you'd end up with doesn't have the breathing space of the original Load but the character of the 80s.
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u/Seiryth 4d ago
Is it weird that I don't think the albums he produced sound anywhere near as good as Bob Rock's? The songs are better, but that's also the band at the time.
Bob's stuff brought the bass front and center and gave all the instruments space to breathe and be huge.
The bass is buried in the mix, and even Call of Ktulu's bass solo is lost. Master of Puppets barely features any truly audible bass other than during Orion, leper Messiah and damage inc, and that's only because the bass being front and centre is part of the riff.