Bands that set the bar higher for album/CD engineering / production ....

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

Off the top of my head I was thinking that Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon was mind blowing in depth and clarity of sound .... still sounds great today!!

A few other random albums that stepped it up through the years are:
The Beatles Abby Road
Van Halen
Aerosmith Pump.

Name some others!

 

[shg]

Bitch Slap.

 

[clintmartin]

Steely Dan Aja

 

[tnvol]

Tool - 10,000 Days

 

[andybaylor]

Pyromania!!!

 

[rob2001]

The Beach Boys

 

[Voodoo Blues]

I thought Joe Bonamassa's Ballad Of John Henry was a fine bit of engineering/production. It really opened my eyes as to what can be done in the studio vs live.

 

[zorak]

Steely Dan's Aja and Gaucho. They both still sound incredibly fresh after 30+ years.

 

[Andrew Spindler]

Roxy Music - Avalon

 

[TimSt.L]

I can definitely agree with the beach boys. And Pink Floyd's DSOTM. as a metalhead I have to say the black album by Metallica. and astrocreep by white zombie.

 

[Not Through Yet]

Moving Pictures?

Back in Black sounds familiar now, but it might have been a bit more of a landmark than seems obvious.

Deep Purple 'In Rock'? Had anybody else released such a relatively hard and clear record at that point?

 

[mjm59]

Jimi Hendrix was clearly doing more than merely documenting songs to vinyl with the first two albums, but Electric Ladyland definitely breaks pioneering sonic ground from the outset with, And The Gods Made Love, and never lets up (designed for headphones).

 

[Crowbar]

Winwood's "Arc Of A Diver" was kind of different, its like a showcase for the new synthesizer of the day. I think its a Prophet 5, the first polyphonic synth. Also he plays all the instruments on the record but thats been done before.

Those records Phil Collins was making in the 80's also were like demos of all the lastest digital gear. Sequencers, drum machines, reverbs etc. And the new Yamaha DX7, the leading synth for a while. {I hated those records and ran the other way, Phil Collins is what made a blues fan out of me LOL!}

 

[tnvol]

I can definitely agree with the beach boys. And Pink Floyd's DSOTM. as a metalhead I have to say the black album by Metallica. and astrocreep by white zombie.

I agree. Can you imagine what MOP would sound like with that kind of production. Or AJFA for that matter.

 

[Schroedinger]

Queen's Night at the Opera.

 

[rob2001]

Jimi Hendrix was clearly doing more than merely documenting songs to vinyl with the first two albums, but Electric Ladyland definitely breaks pioneering sonic ground from the outset with, And The Gods Made Love, and never lets up (designed for headphones).

I've always thought "Cry of Love" was way ahead of it's time as far as production and arrangement.

 

[ddeand]

The first one that popped into my mind was "Aja" by Steely Dan, as others have mentioned.

 

[dangerine49]

"The Nightfly" - Donald Fagen

 

[pete100ca]

Name some others!

Steve Wilson - "Grace for Drowning". Little to no compression (according to him) - incredible compositions, sonic bliss.

 

[GrungeMan]

Wow, no ones mentioned Sgt Pepper's!

Grungy