Martin Birch - the master

[John Silver]

There are some extremely nerdy buddies on this forum here.

Agreed. An album doesn’t have to be timeless to be good. There are albums that are products of the time and have their own charm for that.

I’ll raise you 50 and say that Iron Maiden is timeless then.
Somewhere in Time on the other hand is the worst thing Martin had to work with. I mean the guys brought in synths.

 

[harrisdevot]

I've been listening to SIT since 87
While the original vinyl and old cd have the 'correct' mastering and sound way better than '98, the guitar sound itself is cheesy as hell (distortion, chorus and delay anyone? Reeks of corny '80s stuff). Martin saved it from disaster by being a genius

So, if I understand correctly, you hate the sound of the album, but you praise the producer for saving it ?

 

[frus]

you hate the sound of the album,

No, just the guitars
And I praise Martin for still making the best out of it, so it didn't turn out a complete disaster

 

[Formula409]

No, just the guitars
And I praise Martin for still making the best out of it, so it didn't turn out a complete disaster

SIT is "saved" by having a very healthy and dry drum sound, without the typical over-the-top 80's snare reverb, for example. So while the guitars have that chorusy sound, the rhythm section is actually very dry and natural sounding and tight as hell. Nicko's playing on that album is just out of this world.

 

[John Silver]

Just revisited Powerslave and Seventh Son the other day. For the first time in a while.

Man oh man, they sound like gold.

 

[Ruflux]

Eh, PoM and SiT sound better.

 

[MindlessPieces]

Well Powerslave is sublime.
POM is excellent
Seventhson has some moments but overall not great
SIT is OK but I hate the overall sound of it.

 

[John Silver]

Eh, PoM and SiT sound better.

Powerslave, buddy. That sound Martin achieved. Not Maiden. Martin!
May even be better than Killers Buddy forbid it.

 

[GhostofCain]

Powerslave, buddy. That sound Martin achieved. Not Maiden. Martin!
May even be better than Killers Buddy forbid it.

I think Powerslave might well be the zenith of the albums Maiden did with Martin Birch in terms of sound. Fantastic!

 

[Ruflux]

Powerslave, buddy. That sound Martin achieved. Not Maiden. Martin!
May even be better than Killers Buddy forbid it.

The drums have an awful ring to them and the guitars are heavy on the mids and kind of nasal sounding. Neither are issues on PoM or SiT. It sounds okay, but nothing particularly amazing in 2019.

 

[Formula409]

In a shocking revelation, it seems like everybody has their own favourites and not-so-favorites among Maiden albums when it comes to the production and sound.

But overall I think it’s great that every album has a distinct sound and sonic personality. It takes about two seconds of listening and you can pretty much tell which album is in question. I hate it when a band churns out records that sound exactly the same, like... well the first example I can think of is Megadeth post-2000.

 

[Jer]

I hate it when a band churns out records that sound exactly the same, like... well the first example I can think of is Megadeth post-2000.

Hmm, The World Needs A Hero, The System Has Failed, United Abominations, and Endgame all sound very different to my ears...

 

[John Silver]

Going through Martin’s work with Whitesnake, I must say some of them are stellar in terms of sound. Slide it in has some groovy sounds, Trouble just breathes with clarity, Saints n’ Sinners is smooth. Damn, Birch is almost always batting on a full wicket. Impressive.

 

[GhostofCain]

Going through Martin’s work with Whitesnake, I must say some of them are stellar in terms of sound. Slide it in has some groovy sounds, Trouble just breathes with clarity, Saints n’ Sinners is smooth. Damn, Birch is almost always batting on a full wicket. Impressive.

Shame he couldn't force David Coverdale to write better lyrics...

 

[John Silver]

Shame he couldn't force David Coverdale to write better lyrics...

Ah well, bro, I agree but can we establish it as a fact that that Birch was a master engineer of sounds, but many of the lyricists he worked with were kinda shabby.

 

[MindlessPieces]

Hmm, The World Needs A Hero, The System Has Failed, United Abominations, and Endgame all sound very different to my ears...

I agree with Formula409. I liked Megadeth better when they had Friedman, I find their later albums pretty generic now.

 

[The_7th_one]

Just revisited Powerslave and Seventh Son the other day. For the first time in a while.

Man oh man, they sound like gold.

I bought Powerslave album on vinyl then and all I can say is that it's the best sound album I have in my vinyl collection.

 

[The_7th_one]

I think Martin wanted to retire after Powerslave to follow with the martial arts in Japan, is this true? I've seen a couple of pics of him as a karate man…