1234 is probably my favorite Stones solo album, but it's constantly criticized for bad production. I never see anything specific written about it though, just that the mix is bad. I think it sounds great, but then Ronnie's my man, so maybe I'm biased. Those of you who dislike the production, what specific problems do you have with it?

I don't see much wrong either.

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MrBobMartini
1234 is probably my favorite Stones solo album, but it's constantly criticized for bad production. I never see anything specific written about it though, just that the mix is bad. I think it sounds great, but then Ronnie's my man, so maybe I'm biased. Those of you who dislike the production, what specific problems do you have with it?

Nothing wrong with the production on that one, it's Gimme Some Neck that has the worst production (by any artist) ever, imo.

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DandelionPowderman

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MrBobMartini
1234 is probably my favorite Stones solo album, but it's constantly criticized for bad production. I never see anything specific written about it though, just that the mix is bad. I think it sounds great, but then Ronnie's my man, so maybe I'm biased. Those of you who dislike the production, what specific problems do you have with it?

Nothing wrong with the production on that one, it's Gimme Some Neck that has the worst production (by any artist) ever, imo.

Yeah Gimme Some Neck was a mess, though I still like it. But I've definitely read complaints about this one too, which sounds very well put together to me (other than maybe the title track).

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MrBobMartini

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DandelionPowderman

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MrBobMartini
1234 is probably my favorite Stones solo album, but it's constantly criticized for bad production. I never see anything specific written about it though, just that the mix is bad. I think it sounds great, but then Ronnie's my man, so maybe I'm biased. Those of you who dislike the production, what specific problems do you have with it?

Nothing wrong with the production on that one, it's Gimme Some Neck that has the worst production (by any artist) ever, imo.

Yeah Gimme Some Neck was a mess, though I still like it. But I've definitely read complaints about this one too, which sounds very well put together to me (other than maybe the title track).

The songs on GSN are quite good, imo. They worked really well live with the New Barbarians.

Yeah, the title track is a bit of a mess, but that's more due to the playing and arranging, perhaps?

Tracks like Outlaws, Fountain Of Love and Priceless sound really good, imo

Really love all Ronnies solo albums, except for some lyrics on his latest one.
Hope he will record and release a new solo album soon, if he gets some time off from the Stones and his wife and dog.

Jeroen

no great album 1234..!! my favorite Stones solo album is Thalk is cheap..!! my great album Wood I've Got My Own Album to Do...not bad Slide on This, y I Feel Like Playing..!!

I have never notices any problem in production of 1234, the only problem I have with the album is a rather mediocre and boring song material,

But, like noted here, a messy GIMME SOME NECK has real problems in prodution, among other things, the worst being the quality of so called 'songs'. That so much talent as there was in the studio can produce such pointless noise is beyond my comprehension. It must have been a helluva party out there, but unfortunately nothing emerging from there to the joy of us listeners. One track is a stand-out though, written by some other maestro...

- Doxa

I don't agree on the songs on GSN being poor. They worked splendidly in the New Barbarians-setlist. In fact, they even over-shadowed some of the best songs from IGMOATD and NL, imo.

Buried Alive, Come To Realise, Seven Days and Infekshun are all very good songs, but unfortunately they sound very, very poor on the studio album

Maybe too much freebasing in the studio ...

Breathe On Me is as good if not better than anything KR or MJ have written solo...

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MrBobMartini
1234 is probably my favorite Stones solo album, but it's constantly criticized for bad production. I never see anything specific written about it though, just that the mix is bad. I think it sounds great, but then Ronnie's my man, so maybe I'm biased. Those of you who dislike the production, what specific problems do you have with it?

Apparently I am the only poster who fits your description! 1234 and I've Got My Own Album To Do are my favorite solo records. Ronnie is, in my opinion, the most underrated guitarist in rocknroll history. I just love the way he plays and the notes he chooses. At many points he provides the inspired 'glimmer' to contrast well with Keith! Here are my critiques of the production on 1234. Note, if I had any connection to Ronnie I would offer to redo the entire mix at no cost. Unfortunately I am simply a fan, although I do own a production company!

Tone: Almost nothing about 3khz. Very little clarity on anything. Dynamic range is crushed like the Apple label back in the 70s (see The Raspberries).

Vocals: Mid-heavy and mushy. She Was Out There, 1234 and Outlaws are the standout tracks for me. Unfortunately the production team has no clue what to do with Ronnie's vocals. Instead of going for a solid lead take, they just had him double/triple/quadruple the vocals and then mush them together. Instead I would mix n match between the takes as needed, run the lead vocal through an oldschool analog preamp, warm up the vocal, then EQ and compress for consistency. His vocals can punch through if they'd let em! Dylan doesn't need this type of mess in order to sound competent! OUTLAWS SHOULD SLAY!

Guitars: The tones themselves are not terrible, they just sound like the engineer did nothing. To my ears, it sounds like the engineer just threw an SM57 on the cab, hit record, and then never bothered to EQ it at all. Ronnie rules at rhythm too... They should've double-tracked rhythm, spaced the guitars out alot.

Organ & Piano: Piano sounds cleaner than anything else on this record. Still muddy/dry but not terrible. Organ is fine but the frequencies again are thin and mid-heavy, which conflicts with guitars, piano and vocals. There is no space provided for these instruments or vocals to sit nicely in the mix.

Drums: TERRIBLE. It is amazing that an engineer managed to make a perfectly good kit SOUND like a fake kit from the 80s, without the clarity. The snare sound is terrible. Kick is just a thud. Highhat messy. Cymbals/crash way too low in the mix.

Bass: With everything else going wrong in the mix, can you even pay attention to the bass? To me bass and kick drum should lock together in the mix. We can't hear the pocket, let alone get into it. Even if we could hear it, it would likely be in the mids instead of full spectrum!

Levels & compression: Completely a mess. Amateur hour on the levels. Every instrument is fighting itself and the vocals for space. The pisspoor snare sound makes otherwise wonderful tracks sound terrible. 1234 really sounds like it uses a fake drum kit. Awful. Compression, when applied, sucks life away from the recording. Nothing pops.

It is still one of my favorite records, but I have to apply heavy EQ to get it to a point where I can tolerate it. Wish so much I could take a turn at mixing Outlaws. Just one track and I am certain Ronnie would approve having the whole album redone! The material is there!

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DandelionPowderman
I don't agree on the songs on GSN being poor. They worked splendidly in the New Barbarians-setlist. In fact, they even over-shadowed some of the best songs from IGMOATD and NL, imo.

Buried Alive, Come To Realise, Seven Days and Infekshun are all very good songs, but unfortunately they sound very, very poor on the studio album

I agree that "Seven Days" over-shadows anything else Ronnie Wood has ever come up with - it is one of my favourite songs ever - but the rest 'songs' are shapeless mess to my ears, just some random not much thought riffs and chord runs put together by not much thought. To me it sounds like that anyone who can play guitar some little bit can accomplish 'compositions' like that, and teh only reason the album was relaesed, was because the author was an established 'rock star' having even some bigger rock star names helping him. There is some great musicianship which saves something, but not much. As Faces material and, say, I'VE GOT MY OWN ALBUM TO DO show, Ronnie can - thankfully - do much, much better. Even write songs.

I admit that I haven't listened much to New Barbarians live stuff - and when I do, I tend to skip the GIMME SOME NECK material.

- Doxa

Buried Alive, one of my all time favourites, "a shapeless mess"?

Well, well...

Outlaws and Priceless would be in my top 5 Ronnie songs. Unfortunately the rest of the work on the album is mediocre.

I like Fountain Of Love as well.

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flacnvinyl

Guitars: The tones themselves are not terrible, they just sound like the engineer did nothing. To my ears, it sounds like the engineer just threw an SM57 on the cab, hit record, and then never bothered to EQ it at all. Ronnie rules at rhythm too... They should've double-tracked rhythm, spaced the guitars out alot.

I absolutely love Woody's tone on this LP, especially on Fountain of Love, Outlaws, Redeyes, and She Never Told Me. As far as I can tell from credits, he played all electric guitars on the album.

>I agree that "Seven Days" over-shadows anything else Ronnie Wood has ever come up with


Ronnie didn't come up with it, Bob Dylan did.

(I'm sure you knew that).

BTW Has anyone actually *seen* the movie MAHONEY'S LAST STAND?

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Glam Descendant
>I agree that "Seven Days" over-shadows anything else Ronnie Wood has ever come up with


Ronnie didn't come up with it, Bob Dylan did.

(I'm sure you knew that).

BTW Has anyone actually *seen* the movie MAHONEY'S LAST STAND?

That's why he wrote it

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MrBobMartini
1234 is probably my favorite Stones solo album, but it's constantly criticized for bad production. I never see anything specific written about it though, just that the mix is bad. I think it sounds great, but then Ronnie's my man, so maybe I'm biased. Those of you who dislike the production, what specific problems do you have with it?

No problem at all, and I wish not to change the text for books which I don't happen to like how they ends.

2 1 2 0

Breathe on me, the best solo Stone song of all

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varilla
Breathe on me, the best solo Stone song of all

Yep, together with Apache Woman...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-01-20 14:38 by Come On.

Make No Mistake is by far the best solo Stones track, imo. Evening Gown holds a strong second place. For me, I Got Lost When I Found You is Ronnie's best solo track.

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Glam Descendant
>I agree that "Seven Days" over-shadows anything else Ronnie Wood has ever come up with


Ronnie didn't come up with it, Bob Dylan did.

(I'm sure you knew that).

BTW Has anyone actually *seen* the movie MAHONEY'S LAST STAND?

Sadly yes I admit to having seen this film, but apart from the great soundtrack DO NOT waste your time to watch this movie unless you are looking for an insomnia cure. Ned Kelly was also pretty brutal and qualifies for the DO NOT WATCH list.

Proud to have the MLS LP though. Laney and Mac gone, so very sad. Music lives on though.

A lot of 1234 was recorded in Woody's garage, before they took it to the studio to polish it.