3 Famous Classic Rock Albums With Awful Production

These three classic rock albums are quite loved by fans today, but one can’t ignore that their production techniques were as close to awful as it gets.

Please keep in mind that this list is solely a matter of opinion. And even if these albums’ poor production techniques are universally agreed on, that doesn’t necessarily mean that these are bad albums. Let’s take a look!

1. ‘And Justice For All’ by Metallica

In 1988, Metallica was ready to capitalize on the success of Master Of Puppets, even in the wake of the tragic death of their bassist, Cliff Burton. The band recruited Jason Newsted for their next album, though he might as well have not joined at all. 

On And Justice For All, Newsted’s bass track is dropped so low that you can’t even hear it. “Blackened” and “One” are great pieces of work, but the decision to make Newsted disappear from the album was an odd one. And to many audiophiles, the almost complete lack of low-end on the album is pretty bad.

2. ‘Just Push Play’ by Aerosmith

A list of classic rock albums with awful production would be nothing without the inclusion of Just Push Play by Aerosmith. Don’t get us wrong, Aerosmith is an incredible classic rock band. But their desperation to capitalize on the success of “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” resulted in an overproduced, kind of anxious, and very much chart-desperate mess with this album. 

All it is, really, is a collection of sounds that Aerosmith had already done before, just with sickening pop production techniques that disappointed their hard rock fans. “Jaded” is a bop, though.

3. ‘Rock And Roll’ by John Lennon

Adding John Lennon to this list might ruffle a few feathers, but I just can’t leave it out. And honestly, it makes sense why Lennon struggled with some of his solo work. Coming out of The Beatles must have been a stressful experience. Sometimes, when the whole world’s your oyster and you’re known for being experimental, it’s impossible to avoid making creative mistakes.

Rock And Roll was Lennon’s final album before his death, and it does have a few incredible songs. However, the recording cycle for this album was far from smooth. The resulting record is a wall of sound that just doesn’t suit his voice, and it sounds overproduced. Lennon sounded his best when the production techniques used were a little rough around the edges. Rock And Roll, though, sounds way too clean.

Photo by Rowland Scherman/Getty Images

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