"Great" Albums That Sound Dated - Pre 1978

[pcutt]

The thread on Jack Bruce/Led Zeppelin had a comment on how dated Disraeli Gears sounded, which got me thinking about albums sounding dated in general. So rather than "disrael" that thread, I'll start another.

Let's allow a reasonable amount of time pass, say 30 years. What so-called great or influential albums pre-1978 sound dated to you?

Stones - Exile on Main Street
Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's

[JazzHessian]

Great albums never sound dated. They sound exactly like they're supposed to.

[CharAznable]

I don't think Sgt. Pepper sounds dated.

If anything, the technological limitations of the time make it easy to place the album in its era, but there's nothing about the music that sounds dated.

What sounds really dated is lots of 70's albums that totally overused the Moog.

[daddyo]

Exiles dated? Then why do bands like the Black crowes totally cop that vibe?

Most of the over-produced hair metal sounds dated to me as do bands like Saga, Europe, etc. Yet bands like the Scorpions and Journey (pre Raised on Radio) still sound great.

[duckbunny]

As much as I love 'em, some ELP sounds dated to me now.




-db

[Suproman77]

If by 'dated' you mean that they don't sound anything like the crap they're pumping out these days then....well, I guess being dated is a good thing.

:D

[Bryan T]

King Crimson - "In the Court of the Crimson King"

I like the music a lot, but the fidelity/sounds are pretty dated to my 21st century (schizoid?) ears.

[takakat]

Pink Floyd "Ummagumma"
Its a Beautiful Day

[Hootad Binky]

"Exile on Main Street"! That's sort of the Stones roots-rock lp.

I would say:

Blood, Sweat and Tears
Bob Seger
Aldo Nova
Helen Reddy
The Carpenters
Billy Squire

[harryjmic]

Pretty much any jazz fusion stuff

Here's a couple - Jeff Beck "wired and blow by blow" many others I could list. I still love them but I turn into "Mr. 70's" as soon as I put them on.

[takakat]

Pretty much any jazz fusion stuff

Here's a couple - Jeff Beck "wired and blow by blow" many others I could list. I still love them but I turn into "Mr. 70's" as soon as I put them on.

Good point!

Stanley Clark.
Weather Report.
Mahavishinu Orchestra.

[cugel]

eagles. just sounds 70s with overgated compressed snare
songs like "the long run" simply blow IMHO
yep same for carpenters

[takakat]

eagles. just sounds 70s with overgated compressed snare
songs like "the long run" simply blow IMHO
yep same for carpenters
Doobie Brothers also.

[Bryan T]

Do you folks think the 'classic' jazz albums sound dated?

[chrisr777]

Dated does not have to mean bad. Almost any of the San Francisco bands on the early albums like the Dead, Airplane and Big Brother. You hear it and within a few seconds you know that was an album recorded by one of those bands in the 60's. Still great, but it has the sound of the era.

[cugel]

Do you folks think the 'classic' jazz albums sound dated?


no not at all for me.
there is nothing lacking on beach boys recordings like california girls etc. and the beatles and zepplelin well...tha tgoes w/o saying
i think at issue is really trends in production/engineering at the time not recording technology or live band settings/multitracking etc
ie what radio/companies wanted so many albums adpated a similar set of sounds to my ears esp. snare drums.

for example take some of sabbaths stuff which simply kills for the most part (95% of the time )and then you have this god awful stero panning solo which just is stupid and an attempt to sound trippy etc.
on the other hand page recorded bonzo's drums in such a huge amazing way that is miles different than what you would hear on the aforementioned albums/songs
again compare the production/engineering on "the long run" vs. "one of these nights" to any LZ track from 75 to 76. its very easy to see what sounds "dated" for lack of a better term. maybe cheesy is better
and yes i am aware that the eagles have sold 10e9 albums
opiate for the masses

[The Golden Boy]

Maybe it's because I'm so used to listening to Beatles records, but most other 60s recordings sound so primitive in comparison.

[Lance]

80's new wave are unmistakable. The crummy keyboard sounds. Also, that horrible sounding clap snare from the early electronic drums. Ugh! Granted, pretty much none are 30 years old, but almost.

[The Golden Boy]

80's new wave are unmistakable. The crummy keyboard sounds. Also, that horrible sounding clap snare from the early electronic drums. Ugh!

The Linn drums!!

And the Fairlight!!!

[franksguitar]

Dating music is just history of both the technology of the day and the social era it was recorded. Some of the musicians were much younger in those days and sure compared to today's pro tools, digital boards plugs ins etc. where every mistake can be made perfect vs analog tape, punch ins and splicing warts and all along with songwriting of the day.

[roomservice]

Oh it has to be Come Taste The Band by Deep Purple....rock funk with Stevie Wonder wailings.....what on earth was going on back then???

BTW - bought it on CD a year ago and still love it - Tommy Bolin rocks!!

lol


dated doesnt mean bad!

[BMF Effects]

Love the album but there's no mistaking when this was recorded.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y208/skiraly017/grape2.jpg

[DemonOfTheFall]

I vote for something more recent that sounds very dated:
Nine Inch Nails: Pretty Hate Machine

The songs are fantastic live, but the drum machine sounds very weak on the original.

[CharAznable]

Any sort of album that depends on then-current technology is going to sound dated at some point.

[Echo Are]

Elvin Bishop's Struttin' My Stuff(includes his hit "Fooled Around And Fell In Love"). Cool album. Very 1975, though, especially the guitar parts going through a phaser.

[Echo Are]

Also, that horrible sounding clap snare from the early electronic drums. Ugh! Granted, pretty much none are 30 years old, but almost.

Aye!:jo I can't stand those Lynn drums either. Think the title track from John Fogerty's "Centerfield" album. Clap clap clap-clap-clap. LOL

[violetlove]

Get yer Ya Ya's Out !
It's a great album, but the sound is nothing like today, but mostly, it's the daggy "is every body ready ??" at the beginning.
I never look down on stuff for being dated, cos everything was contemporary in it's time. Too much stuff was crap from the beginning though.
Older recording styles used to be really noticeable to me, but I have too much old stuff to really notice now. Hendrix too used to sound really odd but now it sounds normal.
The Robert Johnson stuff is about as raw as anything can get, so I'm used to bare and bony sounds.
The 80's always sounded grossly over-produced to me and I prefer a more stripped sound.

[greeny]

Got to completely disagree with Exile on Mainstreet being Dated. I think this raw, loose sound is still used extensively, and in fact many producers try to acheive this even now.

I think the most dated sounding records are probaly from the 80s rather than 60s/70s. A lot of that over produced, hair metal stuff really sounds naff IMO. In fact I was listening to the first Mr BIG album just a few days ago for the first time in years and the overuse of the pinched harmonics really made me cringe. VH has a lot to answer for :-)

[Lightningrt]

Montrose and Todd Rungren sound dated to me, but I must live in my mind in the '60's and '70s cos I really aspire to most of it - more the loose stuff like Exile actually. I agree with greeny about the '80's. I remember it well, new technology that everyone had to have - chorus, gated echo/reverb, bucket drum sounds, sequenced drums, pinched harmonics, pointy guitars, and saturated distortion.

[rongtr]

great albums never sound dated. They sound exactly like they're supposed to.

+1,000!

[Snottyboy]

Great albums never sound dated. They sound exactly like they're supposed to.

All great albums simply hold a place in their own time. It would be fun to travel ahead 30-40 years in time and look back from there...or maybe not.