Reassuringly Expensive

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I want some records that sound expensive. They don't actually have to be expensive, they just have to sound it. You can define 'expensive' any way you want - I don't mean expensive as in wow-this-is-rare though.

― Tom, Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The question was conceived when listening to the extended mix of Grace Jones' "Slave To The Rhythm", incidentally.

― Tom, Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

George Michael's "Older" LP - sounds to me like they spent millions getting that silky smooth sound. Worth every penny, too.

― Jeff W, Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Whatever the next Guns'n'Roses car accident is going to be like, it's already cost more than a James Cameron flick

― dave q, Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Anything with orchestration sounds "expensive" to me.

― paul, Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Someone beat me to the punch re George Michael.

Just about any Gamble/Huff- or Thom Bell-produced stuff will fit the bill, too.

And though Tom will strangle me for saying it, (post-Syd) Pink Floyd is sorta the standard for this type of thing I think.

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I think Sgt. Pepper sounds expensive, but you've probably already heard of that one.

― felicity, Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Although modern computer technology has caught up to him, I always thought those big Trevor Horn produced songs sounded real high tech and expensive. This would include the big singles for Art of Noise, Seal, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, etc.

As for cheap production, that cLOUDDEAD sounds like it was recorded on a boom box with a radioshack mike.

― earlnash, Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I always thought the Orb's records sounded like they cost a lot more to make than they really did. FSOL's DEAD CITIES sounded $$ too.

PET SOUNDS/the SMILE dribbles. Culture Club. Legendary Pink Dots' MARIA DIMENSION. DC3's version of "Theme From an Imaginary western". St Ettiene's TIGER BAY. Spiritualized's last few.

Shit, everything sounds expensive except the Fall and early Residents, come to think of it. I'm joking, of course, but a lot of stuff really DOES sound mighty pricey.

― Matt Riedl (veal), Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Just thought of it: the Tiesto album In My Memory is also pretty near productional perfection. *Every* single little string or bleepy sound on that album feels like it's taken a year to mix it exactly like it is.

Apart from the productional perfection, the album's OK. Half of it is filler, and half of it is mindblowing anthems. So get the singles instead.

― Siegbran Hetteson, Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I see dollar signs when I listen to Paul's Boutique - you hear all those recognizable rock samples and say "could anybody afford to do this today?".

Stereolab feels expensive to me, as I imagine it being the soundtrack to a million parties in Soho.

― Dave M., Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The Associates always sounded very expensive to me. And Richard Harris' A Tramp Shining and The Yard Went on Forever, for that orchestral/classically trained richness. Also Fleetwood Mac's Mirage and the Stevie Nicks' solo albums, all of them.
But my first picks were already taken--Queen and any Trevor Horn production.
― Arthur, Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)