Honestly...Is The MOP Tone Really That Amazing?

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Techdeth said:
I’m going extra here . Once the main riff of battery (the gallop ) comes in its double in the left snd just perfect . But whether the triple and quad comes in the tone is knowhere as good . Drives me nuts and the entire album does that too me
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I love the mix on the intro melody on my headphones.
The main Battery acoustic motif plays, then the first melody comes in mixed up the centre, the next harmony in at hard left, the last higher harmony in at hard right, then all three for the last repetition.
Sanitarium has it's intro/verse riff straight up centre mono for first two passes then the L&R tracks come in stereo
I've tried to nail down the Puppets intro mix in my head.
The intro descending riff that runs 4 times.
First pass is a guitar track mixed hard (90 deg/9&3 o'clock) left and right for the first run down.
Second pass is then another stereo guitar track, with a slight eq difference, which comes in mixed at about 45deg left and right for the first 8 notes, then the three power chords (D-Eb-C) come in it goes back to the guitars mixed hard L and R for the rest of the riff.
Third pass is the same as previous I think.
The last pass I think is all tracks in; hard L&R, tracks at 45deg and tracks up the centre.
Then into the songs main riff which has all it's LH tracks, 90, 45 and centre for the first two passes then the RH tracks come in to fill it out full stereo.

I'm sure there are many more instances on the album and better ears than mine and experienced with mixing that can tell me I'm on crack or not.
 
I still think MOP tone is the G.O.A.T. For metal. It’s so unique that nobody (at least, that I’ve ever heard) ever tried to cop it on a professional record. It was so impactful it was just understood that tone was there’s and not for you…lol
It’s the most metal tone that ever metalled.
 
My go to for testing any car stereo and /or speakers is Back In Black. Lets me know how guitars will sound and midrange in general. Not in to the boom and sizzle of modern stereo, usually set up for hip hop.
 
its unique and interesting, maybe not the best tone in the world. Its not exactly an easy tone to get either. the parametric eq changes everything.
I prefer the black album tones as well, as they were more hi-fi and modern sounding. I'm a fan of bob rock as a producer, and i hate when people act like he changed metallicas musical direction just because he got them making better SOUNDING records that sold better.
 
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Philhouse said:
I love the mix on the intro melody on my headphones.
The main Battery acoustic motif plays, then the first melody comes in mixed up the centre, the next harmony in at hard left, the last higher harmony in at hard right, then all three for the last repetition.
Sanitarium has it's intro/verse riff straight up centre mono for first two passes then the L&R tracks come in stereo
I've tried to nail down the Puppets intro mix in my head.
The intro descending riff that runs 4 times.
First pass is a guitar track mixed hard (90 deg/9&3 o'clock) left and right for the first run down.
Second pass is then another stereo guitar track, with a slight eq difference, which comes in mixed at about 45deg left and right for the first 8 notes, then the three power chords (D-Eb-C) come in it goes back to the guitars mixed hard L and R for the rest of the riff.
Third pass is the same as previous I think.
The last pass I think is all tracks in; hard L&R, tracks at 45deg and tracks up the centre.
Then into the songs main riff which has all it's LH tracks, 90, 45 and centre for the first two passes then the RH tracks come in to fill it out full stereo.

I'm sure there are many more instances on the album and better ears than mine and experienced with mixing that can tell me I'm on crack or not.
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Ya you’re right . But basically all tracks together was too much . The time that first comes in sounds perfect
 
It’s a great tone, nothing else really sounds like it and it works so well for that material and in that mix. I forget his name but that one guy on Youtube has done some stuff off MOP as if it were on AJFA instead and it sounds all wrong and empty, especially because MOP actually has a full sounding mix with bass in it and everything. The drum sound is “dated” but who fucking cares, most things are eventually “dated” including what you think of as modern now - does it sound good or not?
 
It's the best metal album ever imo and the tone is absolutely crushing. I took the studio notes and dialed in my C+ it was fucking unreal to have that coming from your amp.
 
I like RTL tone and mix the best. MOP is the creative pinnacle of songwriting and arranging in that band IMO. Nothing after was as good. I often wonder what Cliff's contributions to the songs and arranging were. Justice was an antiseptic and sterile record for me and quite frankly a major downer. MOP has a timeless feel to it - almost like the guys knew they were writing an all time classic. I am totally burnt on the MOP song, but the rest of the record I could listen to any time. I know the Black album sounded great etc but it was dumbed down Metallica to me and sell out (when it came out). I remember watching them debut Sandman on MTV live music awards - I was so disappointed. But no bands stay the same forever and crossing over has its appeals ha.
 
I love RTL, MOP and Black all for different reasons. They each have their own thing as you guys know. The crunch and compression on the guitars in MOP is simply insane. Like @legend71 just said, you could FEEL that they knew this was going to be an iconic album. Sanitarium has to be my favorite.

I think they knew the Black album was going to be iconic too but for different reasons. It is definitely not the most metal of metal albums. By today's standards - it is just hard rock. But back then, it was ushering in modern metal right in front of us. Like it or hate it it is what it is. Also, Bob Rock had more of an influence on that album than just mixing. I think collectively, they wanted to reach a broader range of fans and that's how they did it.

RTL - is. Well. RTL. It also stands by itself. Also a masterpiece. I didn't care for the rest of thier catalog though (except for a minor fetish with Re/Load).
 
stanbog said:
Consider returning your car.


On a serious note, imo car audio systems have a factory layout that is not really amendable by eq (the eq is quite limited anyway). Their defaut setting nowadays is probably best suited for Beyonce, not for MOP.
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Try getting a bass boost/EQ phone app, it’ll give you far more tone shaping capabilities than the stereo EQ alone. The difference is game changing.
 
RaceU4her said:
I mean I’d still probably take RTL at any given moment but then again I don’t know
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If my memory serves me, RTL was a little "brighter" in tone?
I feel like I remember it being a little faster and heavier than MOP too...

I'm going to have to go back and listen.
 
legend71 said:
I like RTL tone and mix the best. MOP is the creative pinnacle of songwriting and arranging in that band IMO. Nothing after was as good. I often wonder what Cliff's contributions to the songs and arranging were. Justice was an antiseptic and sterile record for me and quite frankly a major downer. MOP has a timeless feel to it - almost like the guys knew they were writing an all time classic. I am totally burnt on the MOP song, but the rest of the record I could listen to any time. I know the Black album sounded great etc but it was dumbed down Metallica to me and sell out (when it came out). I remember watching them debut Sandman on MTV live music awards - I was so disappointed. But no bands stay the same forever and crossing over has its appeals ha.
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I like AJFA quite a lot but I agree MOP is their pinnacle songwriting wise. One of the biggest things that the band has lost that sticks out especially with the more recent material is just the depth and layers to the old riffs. For a bunch of spotty faced punks playing heavy guitar music, there really is a lot of intricacy and depth to the material on MOP and even AJFA.

You can tell they had the inspiration and took the time to really flesh out and explore the melodic and harmonic themes that came out of their riffs. Sometimes you could even feel they get a little longwinded, but never that they failed to realize the potential. Nowadays coming up with something that has unrealized potential is about the best you can hope for from them.
 
I'll never forget the first time I heard the guitars on that album .....
10th grade Spanish Class in 1986 ...... Guy in class had it on cassette in a Walkman !!!!! lol
anyway ..... the following weekend I bought all the albums they had out ... The garage days 5.98 Ep was just released if I remember right ...
 
B
dcburn said:
If my memory serves me, RTL was a little "brighter" in tone?
I feel like I remember it being a little faster and heavier than MOP too...

I'm going to have to go back and listen.
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Brighter and faster for sure IMO.

Heavier I think is subjective or at least has some subjectivity.
 
I'm going to chime in, my fav 'Tallica tone is RTL with Marshall boosted sound, but MOP is ok. Disposable heroes is the song that I think of when i think of MOP tones. Very brutal chest hitting aggressive sound, tight gritty distortion in a way only a Boogie can do. It is a classic metal sound, but I really don't think it is that magical to the point where we have to sell 2c+ for 5 figures. You can get the same damn tone with MkIII/IV/V/JP2C/VII etc, it is not this elusive unicorn...
 
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