3 best sounding albums you own

Oh, this is a hard one...

one must be something by Arjen Lucassen, he’s a superb producer. I really like the downtuned seven string guitars and Hammond organs on Victims of the modern world, but his solo album Lost in the new real is probably his best produced album.
Also Devin Towsend band - Sychestra has a very unique, cool production. And also anything recorded in Abyss Studios sounds great, I pick Marduk - World funeral
 
On a first thought,

Iron Maiden - BNW/AMOLAD/Powerslave
Judas Priest - Firepower
U.D.O. - Steelfactory

One album that I think has a very good production (especially for 1990) is the debut album of FireHouse. Also, all of the HammerFall albums are with a great production/mixing.
 
Metallica - Load: Along with its tween album (which I don't own) this is easily the best produced metal record I've ever heard. Seven years after the same producer would be ruining an album that had some good ideas for the same band (alongside an idiot who thought replacing his snare drum for a steel pot would be super). So, curiously, Bob Rock also gets my vote for the worst production of all time... and tbh his 2000's works are utter crap (check The Cult's Beyond Good And Evil).

Iron Maiden - Live After Death: Martin makes everything sound so clear here and yet gives it so much edge and attack. Not a fan of TNOTB, POM and Powerslave's production but Killers, SIT, Seventh Son alongside this monster of a live recording are absolutely flawless, each one on its own way.

Fear Factory - Obsolete: Why? Rhys Fulber... that's why! From the sampling to each single instrument to the immaculate mixing this thing is a "how it's done" template. Not my favorite record from the band but surely my favorite production.

Honorable Mentions: The Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land, SYL - Alien, Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral & With Teeth, Control Denied - The Fragile Art Of Existence, Devin Townsend - Empath & Infinity, Fear Factory - Demanufacture & Digimortal, Sepultura - Chaos AD & Roots, Paradise Lost - One Second & Symbol Of Life, Pink Floyd: The Division Bell & Pulse, Slayer - Reign In Blood, Entombed - Wolverine Blues, Public Enemy - Apocalypse 91... , The Cult - Sonic Temple & The Cult, House Of Pain - Same As It Ever Was, RHCP - Blood Sugar Sex Magic among many others...
 
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We need more in this thread. I know I posted here earlier, but in the meantime I read a review in Analog Planet that said the following is “the best sounding digital release at any resolution I have ever heard of anything”:
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Axis: Bold As Love (Acoustic Sounds Hybrid SACD).

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold As Love

store.acousticsounds.com

So, I picked it up. It, um, sounds pretty good. I don’t know if it’s the best sounding thing I own, because the ‘60s production is rather dated, but it does sound amazing. If you are a Hendrix fan with a few extra bucks to burn, or if you want to experience what an audiophile remastering sounds like, I recommend it.
 
srfc said:
All the AC/DC albums mentioned sound great, but I prefer them with a bit more rawness a la Powerage.
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I find myself drawn to Let There Be Rock when I want raw power. It’s a very “hot” mix, with more guitar distortion than you typically hear on other AC/DC records, certainly than the Mutt Lange productions. Powerage is great too, maybe the strongest record top-to-bottom they ever did.
 
My picks:

• Nightwish - Once
• Judas Priest - Firepower
• Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding

My car has a great stereo system and Once is the CD that I think sounds better than the rest in it. From the chugging guitar that provides the extra oomph needed to bring in the power of the songs, to the orchestra that helps weave together a sonic tapestry for the listener, the production is fabulous and helps make this album an experience.

Meanwhile, Firepower sounds phenomenal when listening to it digitally. The sleek guitars mix with Halford’s glorious vocals and the drums fuel this rocket’s engine. On CD it still sounds great, but I think it’s best when heard through headphones.

And The Chemical Wedding wouldn’t be my favorite album of the production was shit. Roy Z really gave it an extra punch with the late ‘90s æsthetic, melding “new” sounds with old, as the whole alchemical idea is really sold through that production. The record doesn’t have a flaw whatsoever, and that extends to the production.
 
Diesel 11 said:
Meanwhile, Firepower sounds phenomenal when listening to it digitally. The sleek guitars mix with Halford’s glorious vocals and the drums fuel this rocket’s engine. On CD it still sounds great, but I think it’s best when heard through headphones.
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You should check it out on vinyl. Its master isn't brickwalled and multi band compressed to death like the CD version. It's effectively 10 dB more dynamic than the CD. It sounds huge on vinyl. Things get to breathe and it's very nice to hear how it's supposed to sound. It's basically just the mix transferred to vinyl rather than the loudness-war CD master.
 
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Diesel’s Geometro with the subwoofers in the trunk is probably the best stereo on the forum.
 
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