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Just how bright were the 80s?

#101
One thing that frustrated me about the 80's.... was not the tones, but the mix in the recordings across all genres. Yes, there was plenty of good mixes on recordings where the bass was loud and clear... like Pretenders, Talking Heads, etc. But in many genres like Metal.... the bass was often buried in the background. Look no further than comparing Master of Puppets/Justice for All vs. Black album of Metallica.... wall of sound/overdubbed guitars. Then again, Bad Brains "I Against I" bass tones were so brilliant and equal to the guitar and drums.... pure genius.
 
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#102
ElectricBass72 said:
One thing that frustrated me about the 80's.... was not the tones, but the mix in the recordings across all genres. Yes, there was plenty of good mixes on recordings where the bass was loud and clear... like Pretenders, Talking Heads, etc. But in many genres like Metal.... the bass was often buried in the background. Look no further than comparing Master of Puppets/Justice for All vs. Black album of Metallica.... wall of sound/overdubbed guitars. Then again, Bad Brains "I Against I" bass tones were so brilliant and equal to the guitar and drums.... pure genius.
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Mostly a Metallica thing, Lars is a tool.....
 
#104
ElectricBass72 said:
Yeah... but other metal bands were also guilty of burying the bass. Suicidal Tendencies "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow, When I Can't Even Smile Today" is a good example. Megadeth "Rust in Peace".... another one.
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Ellefson is quite present in the mix on that, or any other Megadeth album, one of the things I liked about that band, way better sound compared to Metallica's crappy mixes.
 
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#107
in the 80's the bass was often super bright, scooped or hi-middy, in particular the british bands.

I think about The Cure (the 80's albums, not the late 70's), The Smiths, The Lover Speaks, OMD, Level 42, Duran Duran...

even a P bass was equalized to sound super bright.

another great example, to move on the other side of the Atlantic, it's the album Reckless by Bryan Adams, and similar 80's rock/hard rock albums.

in that album, the bass was a Stingray with Rotosound RS66 strings, scooped in the mids, through an Ampeg SVT also scooped (I had a message from the bass player 10/15 years ago on facebook :D he told me that he couldn't believe that he remembered those details after 30 years), all played with a pick.

in most pop music the basses started to "shine" with treble and bass, and few mids, making them hard to be heard without a good hi-fi stereo :D
 
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#109
LennyJ said:
My old saying that is why there were at least 5 buttons on the old car radios and that is the good part of streaming music - I can pick 50's, 60's and 70's music and leave the rest alone. And that is the neat thinks about "likes" not everyone has the same and that is what makes life interesting.

That is what TB is supposed to be about the young, old and the older - I just happened to be on the "older side"
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How old is old? I got guys in my band in their 70’s who love a lot of the 80s music. (Probably the most varied decade of music).

What 70s stuff did you like (another great decade)?
 
#112
Snert said:
What dictatorship is this? If you don't like the tone of a bass, you can change electronics, quite simply usually. Or not buy that bass.
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Even changing my electronics is dictated by what is available or not available in the marketplace...****edited*** just like the music and tones that have existed and changed over the decades. The marketplace rules supreme.
 
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#113
'
dougjwray said:
But he did say a couple of times that he had knowledge of it-- he heard a lot of it... and didn't like it. And enough with the "OK, Boomer" nonsense. I'm one, myself, and while aging can bring the "mired in the past" thing, it can also bring perspective and wisdom.
As for me, I remember being excited at the dawn of the '80s, because I felt that the '70s merely smoothed off the edges of the wild, revolutionary '60s music and made it more arena-friendly. $$$$ The '70s also introduced the glam, punk and disco stuff which I felt had much more to do with fashion and artifice than music. I'll take Joe Cocker over Freddie Mercury any day. But I was eventually disappointed by the '80s because most of the music sounded cold and too immaculate for me. I thought Prince was absolutely brilliant at exploiting and expressing this feel-- his stuff was kind of ruthlessly airtight, especially contrasted with, say, the warm, organic Stevie Wonder music a decade earlier. But he was a creative genius with the '60s experimental spirit, which I'd missed in most '70s music.
There are some other '80s people who I liked, for example Tears for Fears, the Bangles, Billy Idol (I thought the "Rebel Yell" album sounded great and balanced the sterile '80s production and recording with something visceral). Stevie Ray Vaughan was the #1 antidote to the '80s sterility, but he was ultimately a little too derivative for me. A sensational player, but he basically just revisited Albert King, Hendrix and Albert Collins. In my opinion, of course.
I've always felt that the great leaps forward in the '80s were in technology, while the '60s ones were in songwriting (Dylan, the Beatles) and playing (Hendrix, Cream). And the importance of visuals leaped forward immensely in the '80s with MTV, which was huge, but not my thing.
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Stevies best stuff was from the 80s 😉
 
#115
Interesting topic, and I think there's a few things at play here. To be clear, I wasn't alive yet, so this is all secondhand on my part.

I do think a lot of mixes and sounds are definitely bumped in that high range. Part of that could be the development of the first run of digital effects as well as mixing for CD. A lot of the records I'm thinking of had some bright-sounding chorus effects and reverbs on both guitar and bass. You had some folks using the bass in a different role-- I think of stuff like The Cure or Joy Division/New Order where the bass was sometimes playing the lead.

I have a couple Guitar World magazines from the mid-late 80s, and they had a ton of ads for some early digital effects from Ibanez, Rocktron, and some others.

The culture was reflected in the sounds, and vice versa
 
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#119
I was told several times that I was off topic on the original idea of the thread, so I am staying out of the conversation.

So if you want to talk (PM me) - do not keep my off topic parts going forward. But do not contact me to explain why I do not prefer a certain music - everyone has their opinions.

Thank you
 
#120
ElectricBass72 said:
I graduated HS in 1990, GenX born in 72 and I adore 80's music. In my opinion and in hindsight, it was the most diverse decade of music of my lifetime. The dawn of MTV and it's first few years were a mix of alternative rock/pop that wasn't on top 40 radio. Amazing to witness as young kid from 1981-1985... the golden years when MTV played music videos only. Metal... the rise of Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, ST, etc. College Alt Rock... REM, Smithereens, Smiths, etc. R&B funk/top 40... Cameo, Kool & the Gang, New Edition, Prince and Minneapolis groups and artists, etc. Punk... Bad Brains, Black Flag, Ramones, etc. Hard rock.... Van Halen, Def Leppard, Ratt, Motley Crue, etc. Post punk/new wave.... Cure, Depeche Mode, Siouxie and Banshees, etc.

The bass tones were just as diverse as the music. I fart in the general direction of boomers who disrespect my favorite decade of music. 😁
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Class of '91, but also born in '72. Totally with you.
 
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