[direwolf74]

I need to give IBE a fair, all-the-way-through listen. It's always (and still is) at the bottom of my Hip collection. When I've listened to it in the past, I've always thought, what would've been like with a more demanding producer. I think the guys got away with too much "lets not fix that" on IBE. Too many out of tune guitars, too many vocals off key and melodies that just don't jive for me. Possibly the lyrical content and the sheer power (I do dig JF's drums on IBE) of the tunes can outweigh such things....gonna try.

I'm also not a huge fan of this album. There are a few moments and songs I really like (Vaccination Scar, Heart of the Melt, Gus, Josephine, Johnny's drumming). But it's far from my favorite Hip album. I also agree the production is way too lax. And don't get me wrong. I'm all for the raw live-off-the-floor approach, but I too have noticed a few mistakes and some off-key singing from Gord. The whole album just feels rushed. If you compare Adam Kasper's production on IBE to some of his other work (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters) it's not even close.

Different strokes...that's my favourite sounding Hip album by far. There's one spot (in verse 3 iirc) in Nashville where there is some microphone feedback, and I love it. It's something that everyone would fix, but they left it in and it adds a little something to the song. If I were to make an album myself, IBE would be at the top of the list of references for my sound.

Nobody records albums that sound this way anymore; the use of triggers/drum replacement, auto tune, heavy editing from pro tools, etc..and this album avoids all of that.

I agree, producers use way too much of that stuff these days. World Container and We Are the Same suffered the most from that approach. Bob Rock's production is way too polished and excessive, and those albums sound like they were pieced together from multiple takes as opposed to the band playing together in a room. My favorite sounding Hip album by far is still Road Apples, followed closely by Phantom Power. In my opinion they've never been able to capture that sound in the studio since then. IBE and NFPA probably come the closest, but I'm not a big fan of the mixes on those albums. For me, the new Gord/Sadies album has absolutely perfect sound. It's got that raw edge to it that we all love, but it also has just enough polish to give it a nice warm and inviting sound.