Dear Rick-
I received my copy of Adele’s new album “21” a few days ago. I bought the CD, wanting higher sound quality than the usual Mp3, to allow me to better hear all the nuances of Adele’s majestic voice in a relatively pristine audio format. After putting the CD in my computer and firing up my studio speakers I relaxed and prepared to spend an hour doing nothing but listening. I took in the first few tracks but track four stuck out. “Don’t You Remember,” as it’s called, seemed to have audible distortion laced throughout the song. I played it again just to make sure I wasn’t mistaken. No, it was there, clear as day. My mind immediately raced through the potential causes, but upon hearing a crescendo I knew the answer. Overcompression. Damn, some jackass hammered down on the compression ratio and steamrolled the dynamics to the point of fuzz. I was dismayed, certainly, but willing to accept someone’s mixing error. I settled back into listening, but by the time “He Won’t Go” hit my ears there was definitely a slight distortion lacing the more instrument heavy portions of the track. At this point I started to get flustered. Why would someone use such an aggressive mixing style on what are essentially pop ballads? I couldn’t think of any sensible reason behind it, but I wasn’t happy. Pissed off, but not letting the obnoxious grit distract from my listening experience, I continued letting Adele sign her sorrows at high volume. Three tracks later, more distortion. ‘What the fuck,’ I thought to myself, ‘this has to be some kind of mistake.’ Annoyed enough at this point, I pulled out the liner notes for the CD—I had to know what was going on. When I found the line for production credit on “Don’t You Remember” I realized that the overcompression on these tracks wasn’t an accident, it was your signature.
Look Rick, you are responsible for discovering and producing some of the best music ever made. Your track record speaks for itself. However, Adele is not Jay-Z, nor The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Those artists and styles lend themselves well to your steamroller compression tactics, but I find it hard to justify using the same production methods on “21.” In my opinion, you shit on greatness.
You left your sonic fingerprints all over this record, and honestly, I find it inappropriate. The role of a producer is to guide the music toward the pinnacle of whatever it is that the song is written to express. This includes help writing and arranging, but also employing recording and mixing techniques that complement the musical direction. When you mix tracks (or supervise the mixing of tracks) the expression of the song should reign as creative director, not you. Your job is merely to interpret the vision and make it real. You took mellow pop songs and applied your signature aggressive mix to all of them, effectively tagging each with the graffiti of your style.
Luckily for you, most people won’t notice what you’ve done to these tracks. Those of us who love audio, have. We aren’t happy, Rick.
Respectfully,
Kyle Fisher
therealkfish 