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Re: Keith's Drum sound



> The other day I was listening to John Bonham's drums on Led Zeppelin's II album. 
> I was wondering why his drums sounded so good on the recording. Most of the 
> albums that Keith played on had bad sound until almost the very end when he died. 

That's not wholly true.  Keith's drums sound fine on eveything from WHO'S NEXT
onward.  Maybe Bonham was recorded louder, or mixed louder, I don't know.  
Moon's drums sound fine on QUAD - nice & loud & clear.  Same with WBN. No
problems there.  And *I* feel his drum sound took a step *down* on WAY (not con-
sidering his performance, only the recording).

Now, The Who's sound *up to* WHO'S NEXT is another matter.  I used to wonder
why The Door's first album from 1967 sounded like it was recorded so much better
than The Who's album from that same year (SELL OUT).  I always put it down to
money - or perhaps the record label's willingness to *spend* the money.

So The Who's late-sixties output sounds quaint & sometimes rough in spots while
many of their contemporaries were releasing albums with a much more modern &
clean sound.  I'm not upset about this.  I still love The Who's early, raw studio stuff.
Who doesn't?

But getting back to Bonham - I think he was just cranked way up in the mix because
that's the sound they (the band & producer) were going for, I guess.  Whereas, The
Who seemed to strive for more of a less-individualistic (?) sound -  more of a sonic,
ball of noise, all-inclusive sound.  A "band comes first" approach maybe.


- SCHRADE in Akron