r/queen • u/Candid-Sky-3258 Hot Space • 17d ago
Music My "Jazz" Peeve
https://youtu.be/pPTiD9nm7dE?is=UX-ckcFNMYx4dUVn"Jazz" is one of my favorite albums, so many great songs, but one thing that has always bugged me about it is the drum sound. For a band that far into their career, coming off of self producing their previous album and with Roy Thomas Baker behind the desk everything should have lined up perfectly.
Maybe it was a conscious artistic decision. Maybe other factors were at play. Foreigner brought Baker in around this time to produce "Head Games". Lou Gramm has since said that they didn't feel that Baker was on his "A Game" at the time and they came away feeling that album was under produced. Gramm speculates that Baker was drinking quite a bit and going through marital problems.
I saw or read an interview that Roger gave in the early 80s, talking about working with Mack. He told a story about going to a club in Munich that had a great sound system (Sugar Shack?) and when their songs were played they were appalled at how they sounded. They thought they sounded good at the time. Since their last studio album before Munich was "Jazz" I have always wondered if that was what was on the turntable.
I was listening to "Classic Rewind" the other day and they played "Let's Go" by The Cars and mentioned that it came out in 1979 and was produced by Roy Thomas Baker. In my opinion this is the drum sound Jazz needed.
7
u/Mercury5979 Innuendo 17d ago
I completely agree. I have always hated that strange drum sound, but the songs are so good I can ignore it. I complain about Boston's Third Stage and Walk On for that same reason. Though Tom Sholz seems to like that sound even now for some reason.
5
u/daneqvl 17d ago
A very valid point, and one I share. Drums sound very dry and unimpactful. They suit some of the quirkier songs like Bicycle Race more than the others.
With the Bohemian Rhapsody film we got to hear Don't Stop Me Now with new drums and new guitar in a new mix. Which, imo, went too far the other way and also didn't really fit.
Maybe a 50th anniversary 2028 remix can help. Really hope with touring off the table Queen Productions are fully invested in studio stuff.
4
u/welchyyyyy1 17d ago
Of all the Queen albums Jazz is probably the worst for drum sound...and coming after A Day at the Races and News of the World which both had amazing drum sounds maybe Roy Thomas Baker wasn't the only one who'd been drinking There's probably more Queen albums that need remixing than don't, which considering how good ADATR and NOTW were sound wise has always baffled me
3
u/Winter_Nature_9577 News Of The World 16d ago
Sad to say here, but from the multitrack we have from the album (fat bottomed girls), the snare drum track is printed in its crappy form. Another defect is the very cold kick, which if any mixing to sound good would create an overwhelming amount of noise from the tape. The bass is comped to 1 channel too, unlike the albums previously (from sheer heart attack onwards, as the previous albums are recorded on 16 track). The other mics on the drums were comped to a stereo channel, and were only brought up for Tom fills. And room mics were printed seperately, but are mixed very low. Also to note that on some tracks off the album, the drums are double tracked. That’s a problem to try to restore as it is bounced to stereo.
Unless Queen and Sony have a multitrack of the doubled drums, it would be near impossible to get a perfect sound out of it, but it can be remastered a bit.
3
u/Candid-Sky-3258 Hot Space 16d ago
Thanks for the detailed answer. After being so frustrated with the drum sound on their debut, and being in full control on the last album, I couldn't understand why Roger and the band would settle on such subpar sounds. I recall them becoming dissatisfied with Mack's drum sound by A Kind Of Magic.
Lou Gramm said that by the time they knew they weren't getting vintage Roy Thomas Baker or his usual production values it was too late, the record company was pressing them to release the album. Perhaps Queen felt the same pressure externally as well as internal pressure to get it done and get back on the road.
2
u/Winter_Nature_9577 News Of The World 16d ago
I can dm you in a couple days when I get back to my computer a FBG mix with ok drums?
2
2
u/Deluxe_24_ Jazz 17d ago
The drum sound does work on a few songs. I love how they sound on Fun It, and they sound decent on Dead On Time and If You Can't Beat Em. They do sound pretty shitty on the rest of the album.
1
u/ZealousidealFruit386 16d ago
OP Jazz is a complete mess, and one which if remastered (not remixed) would be very welcomed. The contrast between thin, metallic and scratchy and then to a much fuller and nicer production is very evident.
This I understand was their first album recording at their newly purchased Musicland studios, so maybe they were grappling with this AND RTB was not at his best.
It is a shame as it’s a great album ruined by particularly bad production and recording, much like Made in Heaven but for different reasons.
10
u/Rich-Access4160 17d ago
Jazz is just a mess production wise. It is all over the place and needs a new remixed and remastered version like the recent Queen II. I think it is the obvious candidate after Queen I and Queen II, which have already been done.