Produce your own fate

What goes into a great band? The obvious is a great front-man with a creative and talented crew of musicainas to back him up. But what makes a great album?

Producers are the unsung hero of the music community. They are the driving force that we never see on stage, hear about in lyrics, or in a beat that make a great band put out with a great album.  What really is their role; here is a brief description provided by wikipedia.

A Record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the production of an artist's CD. The Producer, has many roles that include, but are not limited to, coaching the musicians, controlling the recording sessions, gathering the ideas of the product, and supervising the final production through mixing and mastering. Over the latter half of the 20th Century, producers have also taken on a wider entrepreneurial role.

Notice they mentioned coaching the musicians. This is key into really getting a band to put out their best in a recording session. Their are many greats in the producing arena, however when it comes to the hard rock  &  the metal community there is one man that really stands out in my mind as the best in coaching. That man is Bob Rock. I am probably showing a little bit of favoritism because of his work with Motley Crue and Metallica; however Bob Rock has proven to be able to work with the most difficult situations, and the most difficult rock bands, and he does it when they are at their worst.

By no means no means am I saying that he is the best at all of his job duties as a producer. Mutt Lange deserves major credit for all the work he did with two bands after major tragedies.  Mutt was able to put AC/DC back together after the death of Bon Scott and make the integration of Brian Johnson seem effortless on Back in Black. His work on Hysteria for Def Leppard after Rick Allen lost his arm is a feat as well. However, Bob Rock still stands out in my mind because Bob was dealing more with personalities than the loss of a member from a death or accident. And when I say personalities i mean, sex drugs and rock and roll. The situations that Mutt dealt with were bands that were trying to heal; not destroy.

Hands down though if we had to look at the best producer out there; across all genre's of music; across all disciplines;  I think that most of us would agree that it is Rick Rubin. How could you not?

The three producers that I have mentioned have put out some of the most infulential and greatest rock albums of the past 30 years. I think that they deserve a little time in the spotlight. Show em some love!