Portal:Record production

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The Record Production Portal

Noted audio engineer Roger Nichols at a vintage Neve recording console

P:RECORD

This portal is focused on music production within the era of written records through sound recordings, digital downloads, and beyond. Its scope includes articles that document the considerations and mechanisms used by, and consistent with, the purview of the production element. As an art form, music predates transcription and simultaneously transcends descriptive limitations. As an industry, music has demonstrated consistent viability over time. The record producer conjoins these potential, and serves as a broker to bridge the demand (spawned by their aspirations) with supply and satisfaction. The results are measurable and attributable, derived from effort and skillful application of craft, to a manifestation of the art in its melodic form. (Read more)

The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, represent and supply music creators. Among the many individuals and organizations that operate in the industry are: the songwriters and composers who write songs and musical compositions; the singers, musicians, conductors, and bandleaders who perform the music; the record labels, music publishers, recording studios, music producers, audio engineers, retail and digital music stores, and performance rights organizations who create and sell recorded music and sheet music; and the booking agents, promoters, music venues, road crew, and audio engineers who help organize and sell concerts. (Read more)

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Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

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Pod is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band the Breeders, released by 4AD records on May 29, 1990. Engineered by Steve Albini, the album features band leader Kim Deal on vocals and guitar, Josephine Wiggs on bass, Britt Walford on drums, and Tanya Donelly on guitar. Albini's production prioritized sound over technical accomplishment; the final takes favor the band's spontaneous live "in studio" performances.

The Breeders formed in 1988 when Deal, bass player for Pixies, befriended Donelly of Throwing Muses during a European tour. They recorded a country-infused demo in 1989, leading to 4AD co-founder Ivo Watts-Russell funding an album, Pod, recorded that year at the Palladium studio in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Full article...)
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Santiago performing in 2017

Joseph Alberto Santiago (born June 10, 1965) is a Filipino-American guitarist and composer. Active since 1986, Santiago is best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the alternative rock band Pixies. After the band's breakup in 1993, Santiago produced musical scores for film and television documentaries, and he formed The Martinis with his ex-wife, Linda Mallari. He also contributed to albums by Charles Douglas and former Pixies band-mate Frank Black. Santiago resumed his role as the Pixies' lead guitarist when they reunited in 2004.

Santiago has described his guitar technique as "angular and bent", and he cites Les Paul, George Harrison, Chet Atkins, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and Jimi Hendrix as major influences on his style. His guitar playing, as part of the Pixies' sound, was held in high regard by critics: MTV's Laurel Bowman commented that Santiago's "sonic plow was the key element in the Pixies' monstrous presence". (Full article...)
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Frusciante performing in 2023

John Anthony Frusciante (/fruːˈʃɑːnteɪ/ ; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician and the guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic guitar to electronic music. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2012. Rolling Stone named Frusciante among the greatest guitarists of all time.

Frusciante joined the Chili Peppers at the age of 18 after the death of guitarist Hillel Slovak, and first appeared on their album Mother's Milk (1989). His second album with the band, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), was their breakthrough success. Overwhelmed by the band's newfound popularity, he quit in 1992. He became a recluse and entered a period of heroin addiction, during which he released his first solo recordings: Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt (1994) and Smile from the Streets You Hold (1997). In 1998, he completed drug rehabilitation and rejoined the Chili Peppers, taking them to major success with their albums Californication (1999), By the Way (2002) and Stadium Arcadium (2006). (Full article...)
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Jackson in 1988

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Known as the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. During his four-decade career, his contributions to music, dance, and fashion, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture. Jackson influenced artists across many music genres. Through stage and video performances, he popularized complicated street dance moves such as the moonwalk, which he named, as well as the robot.

The eighth child of the Jackson family, Jackson made his public debut in 1964 with his older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5 (later known as the Jacksons). Jackson began his solo career in 1971 while at Motown Records. He became a solo star with his 1979 album Off the Wall. His music videos, including those for "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller" from his 1982 album Thriller, are credited with breaking racial barriers and transforming the medium into an art form and promotional tool. He helped propel the success of MTV and continued to innovate with the videos for his subsequent albums: Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995), and Invincible (2001). Thriller became the best-selling album of all time, while Bad was the first album to produce five US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles. (Full article...)
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Fauré in 1907

Gabriel Urbain Fauré (French: [ɡabʁi.ɛl yʁbɛ̃ foʁe]; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. Among his best-known works are his Pavane, Requiem, Sicilienne, nocturnes for piano and the songs "Après un rêve" and "Clair de lune". Although his best-known and most accessible compositions are generally his earlier ones, Fauré composed many of his most highly regarded works in his later years, in a more harmonically and melodically complex style.

Fauré was born into a cultured but not especially musical family. His talent became clear when he was a young boy. At the age of nine, he was sent to the École Niedermeyer music college in Paris, where he was trained to be a church organist and choirmaster. Among his teachers was Camille Saint-Saëns, who became a lifelong friend. After graduating from the college in 1865, Fauré earned a modest living as an organist and teacher, leaving him little time for composition. When he became successful in his middle age, holding the important posts of organist of the Église de la Madeleine and director of the Paris Conservatoire, he still lacked time for composing; he retreated to the countryside in the summer holidays to concentrate on composition. By his last years, he was recognised in France as the leading French composer of his day. An unprecedented national musical tribute was held for him in Paris in 1922, headed by the president of the French Republic. Outside France, Fauré's music took decades to become widely accepted, except in Britain, where he had many admirers during his lifetime. (Full article...)
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Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 (English: Oral Fixation, Vol. 1) is the sixth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It was released on 3 June 2005 by Epic Records. After attaining international success in 2001 with her fifth studio album and first English-language record, Laundry Service, Shakira wanted to release a fifth Spanish-language project as a follow-up. In the vein of her earlier work, Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 is a Latin pop album. Shakira enlisted Rick Rubin as executive producer, also working with Gustavo Cerati, Lester Mendez, Luis Fernando Ochoa and Jose "Gocho" Torres.

At its release Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who complimented Shakira's evolution from her earlier work. The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 157,000 copies. It set the record for the highest debut for a full-length Spanish-language album in the country. Internationally, the album topped the charts in Argentina, Germany, Mexico and Spain. Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 was the Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards, and the Album of the Year and the Best Female Pop Vocal Album at the Latin Grammy Awards. Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 became the highest selling Latin pop album of the decade in the United States and the second highest selling Latin album overall. As of May 2013, over five million copies of the album were sold worldwide and it is the eighth best-selling Latin album in the United States. (Full article...)
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Melodifestivalen (Swedish pronunciation: [mɛlʊˈdîːfɛstɪˌvɑːlɛn]; lit. 'the Melody Festival') is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959. In the early 2000s, the competition was the most popular television program in Sweden; it is also broadcast on radio and the Internet. In 2012, the heats averaged 3.3 million viewers, and over an estimated four million people in Sweden watched the final, almost half of the Swedish population.

The festival has produced seven Eurovision winners and 26 top-five placings for Sweden in the contest. The winner of Melodifestivalen has been chosen by panels of jurors since its inception. Since 1999, the juries have been joined by a public telephone vote which has an equal influence over the outcome. The competition makes a considerable impact on the music charts in Sweden. (Full article...)
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Lennon in 1974

John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter and musician. He gained worldwide fame as the founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. His work included music, writing, drawings and film. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history.

Born in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager. In 1956, he formed the Quarrymen, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Sometimes called "the smart Beatle", Lennon initially was the group's de facto leader, a role he gradually seemed to cede to McCartney. Through his songwriting in the Beatles, he embraced myriad musical influences, initially writing and co-writing rock and pop-oriented hit songs in the band's early years, then later incorporating experimental elements into his compositions in the latter half of the Beatles' career as his songs became known for their increasing innovation. Lennon soon expanded his work into other media by participating in numerous films, including How I Won the War, and authoring In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works, both collections of nonsense writings and line drawings. Starting with "All You Need Is Love", his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement and the larger counterculture of the 1960s. In 1969, he started the Plastic Ono Band with his second wife, multimedia artist Yoko Ono, held the two-week-long anti-war demonstration Bed-ins for Peace and left the Beatles to embark on a solo career. (Full article...)
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Wish You Were Here is the ninth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 12 September 1975 through Harvest Records in the UK and Columbia Records in the US, their first for the label. Based on material Pink Floyd composed while performing in Europe, Wish You Were Here was recorded over numerous sessions throughout 1975 at EMI Studios in London.

The lyrics express alienation and criticism of the music business. The bulk of the album is taken up by "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", a nine-part tribute to the Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett, who had left seven years earlier due to his deteriorating mental health. Barrett coincidentally visited during the recording. As with their previous release, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Pink Floyd employed studio effects and synthesisers. Guest singers included Roy Harper, who provided the lead vocals on "Have a Cigar", and Venetta Fields, who added backing vocals to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". To promote the album, Pink Floyd released the double A-side single "Have a Cigar" / "Welcome to the Machine". (Full article...)
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Me and Juliet is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, and lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II. The sixth stage collaboration by Rodgers & Hammerstein, it tells a story of romance backstage at a long-running musical: assistant stage manager Larry woos chorus girl Jeanie behind the back of her electrician boyfriend, Bob. Me and Juliet premiered in 1953 and was considered a modest success — it ran for much of a year on Broadway and had a limited run in Chicago (altogether nearly 500 performances), and returned a small profit to its backers.

Rodgers had long wanted to write a musical comedy about the cast and crew backstage at a theatre. After Rodgers and Hammerstein had another hit with The King and I in 1951, Rodgers proposed the backstage project to his partner. Hammerstein was unenthusiastic, thinking the subject matter trivial, but agreed to do the project. The play required complex machinery, designed by Jo Mielziner, so that the audience could view action not only on the stage of the theatre where the show-within-the-show (also named Me and Juliet) takes place, but in the wings and on the light bridge (high above the stage, from which the lighting technicians train spotlights) as well. (Full article...)
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The Symphony No. 3, Op. 36, also known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (Polish: Symfonia pieśni żałosnych), is a symphony in three movements composed by Henryk Górecki in Katowice, Poland, between October and December 1976. The work is indicative of the transition between Górecki's earlier dissonant style and his later more tonal style and "represented a stylistic breakthrough: austerely plaintive, emotionally direct and steeped in medieval modes". It was premièred on 4 April 1977, at the Royan International Festival, with Stefania Woytowicz as soprano and Ernest Bour as conductor.

A solo soprano sings Polish texts in each of the three movements. The first is a 15th-century Polish lament of Mary, mother of Jesus; the second a message written on the wall of a Gestapo cell during World War II; and the third a Silesian folk song of a mother searching for her son killed by the Germans in the Silesian uprisings. The first and third movements are written from the perspective of a parent who has lost a child, and the second movement from that of a child separated from a parent. The dominant themes of the symphony are motherhood, despair and suffering. (Full article...)
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Madonna in 2023

Madonna Louise Ciccone (/tʃɪˈkoʊni/; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Commonly known as the "Queen of Pop", she has been widely recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting and visual presentation. Madonna's works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both controversy and critical acclaim. A prominent cultural figure spanning both the 20th and 21st centuries, she remains one of the most "well-documented figures of the modern age", with a broad array of scholarly reviews, literature, and art works about her, as well as an academic mini subdiscipline devoted to her called Madonna studies.

Madonna moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist in the rock bands Breakfast Club and Emmy, she rose to solo stardom with her 1983 eponymous debut studio album. Madonna followed it with a series of successful albums, including all-time bestsellers Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), and The Immaculate Collection (1990), as well as Grammy Award winners Ray of Light (1998) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005). Throughout her career, she has amassed many chart-topping singles, including "Like a Virgin", "La Isla Bonita", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Take a Bow", "Frozen", "Music", "Hung Up" and "4 Minutes". (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... that according to Billboard magazine, Laufey created a blueprint for jazz music in the modern music industry and helped push it back into the mainstream?
... that until the release of the documentary Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop, sexual abuse claims involving record producer Johnny Kitagawa went widely unreported in Japanese media?
... that when Divine's song "Lately" topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1998, it became the first number-one single for the performers, the songwriters, the producers, and the record labels?
... that the Guns N' Roses debut studio album Appetite for Destruction was recorded at a recording studio founded by 1970s pop duo Captain & Tennille?
... that Castle Recording Laboratory, Nashville's first commercial recording studio, was established in a repurposed hotel banquet room?
... that to promote the Buffalo Club, Rising Tide Records sent packages of plastic buffalo to music industry executives in Nashville?

Born this day

Birthdays in Music: April 29

Willie Nelson, American singer/songwriter and icon, turns 91.
Sammy Rimington, Brit clarinetist, turns 82.
Duane Allen, American vocalist of Oak Ridge Boys fame, turns 81.
Tommy James, (born Thomas Gregory Jackson) American singer and record producer, turns 77.
Dave Valentin, American flautist, turns 70.
Ira Coleman, American bass player, turns 68.
Carnie Wilson, American pop music singer of Wilson Phillips fame, turns 56.
Master P, (born Percy Robert Miller) American rapper and founder of the No Limit Records imprint, turns 54.
Mike Hogan, Irish bassist for The Cranberries, turns 51.
Kian Egan, Irish singer and songwriter from the pop group Westlife, turns 44.

Tammi Terrell (Record production, 1945 –March 16, 1970), American Soul- and R&B-singer, would have turned 79 this year.
George Rufus Adams (Record production, 1940 –November 14, 1992), American flautist, tenor saxophonist, and vocalist, would have turned 84 this year.
Jack Reardon (Record production, 1934 –December 03, 2013), American lyricist and songwriter, would have turned 90 this year.
Andy Simpkins (Record production, 1932 –June 02, 1999), (born Andrew Simpkins) American bass player, would have turned 92 this year.
Lonnie Donegan (Record production, 1931 –November 03, 2002), Scottish skiffle guitarist and vocalist, would have turned 93 this year.
Claus Ogerman (Record production, 1930 –March 08, 2016), German composer, conductor, and pianist, would have turned 94 this year.
April Stevens (1929 –2023 April 17), American singer, both solo and in collaborations with brother Nino Tempo, would have turned 95.
Ray Barretto (Record production, 1929 –February 17, 2006), American bandleader and conga player, would have turned 95 this year.
Errol Leslie Buddle (Record production, 1928 –February 22, 2018), Australian tenor saxophonist, would have turned 96 this year.
Big Jay McNeely (Record production, 1927–September 16, 2018), American tenor saxophonist, would have turned 97 this year.
Toots Thielemans (Record production, 1922 –August 22, 2016), (born Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor Thielemans) Belgian composer, guitarist, and harmonica player, would have turned 102 this year.
Donald Mills (Record production, 1915 –November 15, 1999), American vocalist with The Mills Brothers, would have turned 109 this year.
Norma Teagarden (Record production, 1911 –June 05, 1996), American jazz pianist, would have turned 113 this year.
Jacques Butler (1909 –1996), American trumpeter, would have turned 115.
Philippe Brun (Record production, 1908 –January 14, 1994), French trumpeter, would have turned 116 this year.
Ward Pinkett (Record production, 1906 –March 15, 1937), American trumpeter, would have turned 118 this year.
Duke Ellington (Record production, 1899 –May 24, 1974), (born Edward Kennedy Ellington) American bandleader, composer, and pianst, would have turned 125 this year.

List of musical events • Anniversaries • More birthdays...

Selected albums - load new batch

These are all Good articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

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The Donda album art, a plain black square

Donda is the tenth studio album by the American rapper Kanye West, released through GOOD Music on August 29, 2021, with distribution handled by Def Jam Recordings, as his final release with the label. The album features a wide range of guest performances from artists including the Weeknd, Jay-Z, Marilyn Manson, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Lil Yachty, Baby Keem, Playboi Carti, Jay Electronica, Lil Baby, DaBaby, Roddy Ricch, Ty Dolla Sign, Fivio Foreign, Lil Durk, Pop Smoke and Young Thug, among others; vocals from Chris Brown were also included prior to the album being updated. A deluxe edition was released on November 14, 2021 and featured guest vocals from André 3000, Tyler, the Creator, and KayCyy. West himself, as well as BoozDaBeast, Dem Jointz, Mike Dean, and Ojivolta primarily helmed the albums production. West recorded much of the material at multiple locations in the summer of 2021, including Bighorn Mountain Ranch in Wyoming and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The initial version of Donda was initially set for release on July 24, 2020, under the title of God's Country, but experienced multiple delays and continuous alterations to its songs and tracklist prior to its final release. The album's style has been described variously as hip hop, gospel, progressive rap, and pop, and incorporates elements of trap and drill. It is both minimalist and maximalist, with darker lyrical content and production in comparison to West's prior efforts, in addition to a reduced use of drums and complete absence of profanity. Themes explored include the convergence of West's Christian faith, righteousness, West's estrangement from his then-wife Kim Kardashian, and his late mother Donda West, the album's namesake whom its release is dedicated to. (Full article...)
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Washing Machine is the ninth studio album by the American experimental rock band Sonic Youth, released on September 26, 1995, by DGC Records. It was recorded at Easley Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, and produced by the band and John Siket, who also engineered the band's previous two albums. The album features more open-ended pieces than its predecessors and contains some of the band's longest songs, including the 20-minute ballad "The Diamond Sea", which is the lengthiest track to feature on any of Sonic Youth's studio albums.

Released shortly after the band concluded their stint headlining the 1995 Lollapalooza music festival, Washing Machine reached No. 58 on the US Billboard 200 chart and No. 39 on the UK Albums Chart. Two songs from the album, "The Diamond Sea" and "Little Trouble Girl", were released as singles. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the band for exploring new challenges as well as the guitar playing of band members Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo. It was ranked No. 18 in The Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. (Full article...)
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Burning at Both Ends is the third studio album by American pop punk band Set Your Goals. Recording for the album began in October and November 2010 with producer Brian McTernan in Baltimore, Maryland. The group took a break to support You Me at Six on their UK tour in December; they were unable to fly back until the end of the month due to bad weather to finish the album. The sessions resumed and ran in to mid-January when the band ran out of studio time. They briefly tracked with second producer Mike Green in Los Angeles, California. Following recording, the band embarked on two US tours, one supporting Parkway Drive and the other alongside August Burns Red.

Leading up to the album's release announcement, "Start the Reactor" and "Exit Summer" were made available for streaming, and "Certain" served as the first single. Burning at Both Ends was released through independent label Epitaph Records in June 2011. A stint on the Warped Tour and performances at the Australian Soundwave Counter-Revolution festival followed. The band continued touring the US until the end of the year with two supporting slots for New Found Glory and Four Year Strong, and a separate headlining tour soon after. Shows in South America and festival appearances preceded a 2012 co-headlining US tour with Cartel and a UK tour. Following this, "Product of the 80's" was released as a single in June. (Full article...)
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Alapalooza is the eighth studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1993. By the completion of his previous album, Off the Deep End, Yankovic had already written all of the original songs that he planned to use on his next release. This new album, which would eventually be titled Alapalooza in reference to the music festival Lollapalooza, consisted of seven original songs and five parodies. It produced three parody singles: "Jurassic Park", "Bedrock Anthem", and "Achy Breaky Song". "Jurassic Park" was a top five hit on the Canadian magazine The Record's single chart.

Among the album's original creations were "Talk Soup", a tune originally intended to replace the theme song of the television show of the same name, and "Harvey the Wonder Hamster", an oft-requested jingle from one of Yankovic's Al TV specials. A music video compilation, entitled Alapalooza: the Videos, was released the following year and contained four videos, only two of which were from its eponymous album. One of the videos, the one for "Jurassic Park", was animated entirely in the style of claymation and received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video at the 37th Grammy Awards, losing to "Love Is Strong" from the Rolling Stones. (Full article...)
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Black Holes and Revelations is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Muse, first released on 3 July 2006 through Warner Bros. Records and Muse's Helium-3 imprint. It was produced by Rich Costey over four months in New York City, London, Milan and southern France.

The album saw a change in style for Muse, with influences including Depeche Mode, Millionaire, Lightning Bolt, Sly and the Family Stone, and music from southern Italy. Like their previous albums, it features political and dystopian undertones, with lyrics covering topics such as political corruption, alien invasion, revolution and New World Order conspiracies, as well as more conventional love songs. (Full article...)
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Open Here is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Field Music. Released by Memphis Industries on 2 February 2018, the album combines elements of alternative rock and chamber pop, and includes a wider range of musical instruments than previous Field Music albums, predominantly featuring flutes, horns, and string instruments. The band attempted to create a unique instrumental combination for each song; Field Music's David and Peter Brewis felt more confident about expanding the range of instruments on the album, after having made a film soundtrack with an orchestra just before the recording of Open Here began.

Open Here is more overtly political in its themes than Field Music's previous albums, with many of the songs inspired by David and Peter Brewis' frustration with the result of the Brexit referendum vote. Songs like "Goodbye to the Country" and "Count It Up", the latter of which focuses on societal privileges enjoyed by white members of the middle- and upper-class, directly address Brexit; David Brewis described them as "definitely the angriest songs I have ever written". Other songs were inspired by David and Peter Brewis' children and the responsibilities of parenting, including "No King No Princess", which speaks out against social conceptions of femininity and masculinity. (Full article...)
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Pretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 17, 1991, in the United States on Caroline Records. Produced by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, and Gumball frontman Don Fleming, the album was Hole's first major label release after the band's formation in 1989 by vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson.

Blending elements of punk rock and sludge metal, the album features distorted and alternating guitar compositions, screaming vocals from Love, and "sloppy punk ethics", a style which the band would later distance themselves from, opting for a less abrasive sound on subsequent releases. Love's lyrics on the album are often presented in an abstract narrative form, and describe disparate scenes of graphic violence, death, and female sexuality. The record was dedicated to Rob Ritter of the Los Angeles punk rock acts the Bags and The Gun Club. (Full article...)
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Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is the debut album by American R&B singer-songwriter Maxwell. It was recorded in 1994 and 1995, then released on April 2, 1996, by Columbia Records.

Maxwell largely wrote and produced the album himself, recording in sessions at Electric Lady Studios, RPM, Sorcerer, and Chung King Studios in New York City, and CRC recording studios in Chicago. The resulting music features a mellow, groove-based sound with elements of funk, jazz, smooth soul, and quiet storm. A concept album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was composed as a song cycle that focuses on an adult romance, based in part on Maxwell's personal experiences. (Full article...)
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Endgame (sometimes stylised as ENDGAME) is the twelfth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was produced by Dave Mustaine and Andy Sneap and released through Roadrunner Records on September 15, 2009. Endgame was the first album to feature guitarist Chris Broderick, following Glen Drover's departure in 2008, and was the band's last studio album with bassist James LoMenzo until he rejoined after 2022's The Sick, The Dying, and The Dead, as original bassist David Ellefson rejoined the band several months after Endgame was released.

There are eleven tracks on the album, with lyrics inspired by subjects ranging from The Lord of the Rings and the Great Recession of 2008, to insanity, torture and crime. Two singles were released from the album: "Head Crusher" and "The Right to Go Insane"; the former was nominated for "Best Metal Performance" at the 2010 Grammy Awards. Endgame entered the Billboard 200 at number nine, and reached number one on the U.S. Top Hard Rock Albums chart. As of April 2011 it has sold about 150,000 copies in the U.S. The album received positive reviews from music critics, and was thought to continue the success of the band's previous album, United Abominations (2007). In 2009, it won two Metal Storm Awards: Best Thrash Metal Album and Biggest Surprise. It was also awarded Best Album in Burrn! magazine's 2009 Readers' Poll. (Full article...)
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The Chronic is the debut studio album by the American hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre. It was released on December 15, 1992, by his record label Death Row Records and distributed by Interscope Records. Recording sessions took place in Death Row Studios in Los Angeles and at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood.

The Chronic was Dr. Dre's first solo album after he departed the West Coast hip hop group N.W.A and its label Ruthless Records over a financial dispute. It includes insults towards Ruthless Records and its owner, former N.W.A member and assembler Eazy-E. It features many appearances by then-emerging American rapper Snoop Dogg, who used the album as a launch pad for boosting his solo career. The album's title derives from a slang term for high-grade cannabis, and its cover is an homage to Zig-Zag rolling papers. In 2023, to celebrate its 30th anniversary, the album was reissued by Dr. Dre's current label Aftermath Entertainment, Death Row Records, and Interscope Records. (Full article...)
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This England is a classical music album by the Oregon Symphony under the artistic direction of Carlos Kalmar, released by Dutch record label PentaTone Classics in November 2012. The album was recorded at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon, at five performances in February and May 2012. It contains works by three English 20th-century composers: Edward Elgar's Cockaigne (In London Town), Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 5, and "Four Sea Interludes" and "Passacaglia" from Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes. The recording was the orchestra's second under Kalmar's leadership, following Music for a Time of War (2011), which also included works by Britten and Vaughan Williams. This England received positive critical reception but failed to chart. (Full article...)
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Reasonable Doubt is the debut studio album by American rapper Jay-Z. It was released on June 25, 1996, by his own record label Roc-A-Fella Records and distributed by Priority Records. The album features production provided by DJ Premier, Ski, Knobody and Clark Kent, and also includes guest appearances from Memphis Bleek, Mary J. Blige, Jaz-O, and the Notorious B.I.G., among others. The album features mafioso rap themes and gritty lyrics about the "hustler" lifestyle and material obsessions.

Reasonable Doubt debuted at number 23 on the US Billboard 200, on which it charted for 18 weeks. It was promoted with four singles; including "Ain't No Nigga" and "Can't Knock the Hustle". Reasonable Doubt was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and, as of 2006, has sold 1.5 million copies in the United States. A critical success, it has been ranked on several publications' lists of hip-hop's greatest albums, while many hip hop fans have viewed it as Jay-Z's best work. (Full article...)

More selected albums

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various record production-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The studio at Ridge Radio in Caterham, England (from Recording studio)
Image 2Engineers and producers watch a trumpet player from a window in the control room during a recording session. (from Recording studio)
Image 3Scully 280 eight-track recorder at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music (from Multitrack recording)
Image 4Allen & Heath GS3000 analog mixing console in a home studio (from Recording studio)
Image 5Digital audio interface for the Pro Tools computer-based hard disk multitrack recording system. Digital audio quality is measured in data resolution per channel. (from Multitrack recording)
Image 6Control room at the Tec de Monterrey, Mexico City Campus (from Recording studio)
Image 7The TEAC 2340, a popular early (1973) home multitrack recorder, four tracks on ¼ inch tape (from Multitrack recording)
Image 8The Siemens Studio for Electronic Music c. 1956. (from Recording studio)
Image 9A selection of instruments at a music studio, including a grand piano (from Recording studio)
Image 10Danny Knicely records with Furnace Mountain Band in Virginia (2012) (from Recording studio)
Image 11Mixing desk with twenty inputs and eight outputs (from Multitrack recording)
Image 12Neve VR60, a multitrack mixing console. Above the console are a range of studio monitor speakers. (from Recording studio)
Image 13An audio production facility at An-Najah National University (from Recording studio)
Image 14Donna Summer wearing headphones during a recording session in 1977 (from Recording studio)
Image 15The TASCAM 85 16B analog tape multitrack recorder can record 16 tracks of audio on 1-inch (2.54cm) magnetic tape. Professional analog units of 24 tracks on 2-inch tape were common, with specialty tape heads providing 16 or even 8 tracks on the same tape width, for greater fidelity. (from Multitrack recording)
Image 16A Mexican son jarocho singer recording tracks at the Tec de Monterrey studios (from Recording studio)
Image 17Korg D888 eight-track digital recorder (from Multitrack recording)
Image 18Hip hop producer and rapper RZA in a music studio with two collaborators. Pictured in the foreground is a synthesizer keyboard and a number of vinyl records; both of these items are key tools that producers and DJs use to create hip hop beats. (from Hip hop production)

Featured lists - load new batch

Featured lists have been determined by the Wikipedia community to be the best lists on English Wikipedia.

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Husband and wife duo Thompson Square topped the chart for the first time.

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 2011, 34 different songs topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weekly airplay data from country music radio stations compiled by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

In the issue dated January 1, Reba McEntire (credited for this release simply as Reba), moved to number one with "Turn On the Radio", replacing "Why Wait" by Rascal Flatts, which had held the top spot since the issue of Billboard dated December 18, 2010. It was the 25th number-one country single of McEntire's career, tying the record for the highest number of chart-toppers by a female artist held by Dolly Parton. Blake Shelton spent the most weeks in the top spot in 2011, with eight, and his song "Honey Bee" had the longest run at the top by an individual song, spending four weeks in the top spot. Shelton was one of two acts to reach the top spot with three different songs, the other being Zac Brown Band. Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley and Chris Young each had two number ones. Paisley's two chart-toppers were both collaborations, one with Carrie Underwood and one with the band Alabama. Their appearance on the song "Old Alabama" gave the namesake band their first number one for 18 years. Sara Evans gained her first number one single since 2005 with "A Little Bit Stronger", and was the only female solo artist to have a multi-week number one single during the year. (Full article...)
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Justin Timberlake scored his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single with "SexyBack", which stayed at the top spot for seven straight weeks.

The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart that ranks the best-performing singles of the United States. Published by Billboard magazine, the data are compiled by Nielsen SoundScan based collectively on each single's weekly physical and digital sales, and airplay. In 2006, 18 singles reached the top of the chart, the most number-ones in a chart year since 1991. A 19th single, Mariah Carey's "Don't Forget About Us", started its run at number one in 2005.

In 2006, 20 acts achieved their first U.S. number-one single, either as a lead artist or featured guest, including D4L, Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp, Slim Thug, James Blunt, Ne-Yo, Daniel Powter, Rihanna, Chamillionaire, Shakira, Wyclef Jean, Taylor Hicks, Nelly Furtado, Timbaland, Fergie, T.I., and Akon. Krayzie Bone and Justin Timberlake, despite having hit number one with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and NSYNC respectively, earns their first number one songs as solo acts. Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé each had two number-one singles in this year. During the year, eight collaboration singles topped the chart, breaking the record set in 2003 and 2004, both of which had seven. (Full article...)
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The Judds (pictured performing in 2008) were among a number of acts with three number ones in 1989.

Hot Country Songs is a record chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1989, 50 songs topped the chart, then published under the title Hot Country Singles, in 52 issues of the magazine. Only "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" by Keith Whitley and "The Church on Cumberland Road" by Shenandoah, consecutive chart-toppers in April, spent more than a single week at number one.

This was the final complete year in which Billboard used its longstanding methodology of compiling the chart based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores. In January of the following year, the magazine would begin basing the chart on weekly airplay data from radio stations compiled by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, which would lead to an increase in the length of time songs spent in the top spot. In November 1989, Billboard began compiling unpublished prototype charts using the new methodology ahead of the official launch, which produced very different results to the published charts using the existing process. Ronnie Milsap's "A Woman in Love" spent five weeks atop the prototype charts as opposed to the single week which it achieved on the published listing. It was the 35th and final number one of Milsap's career. (Full article...)
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Luis Enrique was the first artist to reach number one on the Tropical Airplay chart in 1994.

In October 1994, Billboard magazine established Tropical Airplay, a chart that ranks the top-performing songs played on tropical radio stations in the United States based on weekly airplay data compiled by Nielsen's Broadcast Data Systems (BDS). It is a subchart of Hot Latin Songs, which lists the best-performing Spanish-language songs in the country. According to an 1985 article by Billboard, tropical music is the "sound of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean – though it extends beyond it". It usually encompasses dance genres such as salsa, merengue, bachata, vallenato, and the Colombian cumbia and tropical music in Mexico. Five songs topped the chart in 1994 and 12 tracks did the same in 1995. Until November 5, 1994, BDS ran test charts which only listed the number one song of the week on Billboard's electronic database.

The first song to reach number one on the Tropical Airplay chart was "Quién Eres Tú" by Luis Enrique which remained in the top spot for three weeks. It was replaced by La India's cover of "Nunca Voy a Olvidarte", making her the first female artist to reach the top of the chart. Both artists were the only acts to have more than one chart-topper in 1994. La India had the final number one song of the year with her rendition of "Ese Hombre" which was also the first at the start of 1995. La India and Gloria Estefan were the only female acts to reach number one in 1995. (Full article...)
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Lynn Anderson (pictured in 2011) had three number ones in 1971.

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1971, 21 different singles topped the chart, at the time published under the title Hot Country Singles, in 52 issues of the magazine, based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports supplied by stores.

The first number one of the year was Lynn Anderson's "Rose Garden", which was in its second week at number one in the issue of Billboard dated January 2, and remained at the top for three further weeks before being displaced by "Flesh and Blood" by Johnny Cash. Charley Pride had the highest total number of weeks at number one in 1971, topping the chart for 11 weeks with "I'd Rather Love You", "I'm Just Me" and "Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'". Lynn Anderson and Sonny James also each had three number ones during the year, as did Conway Twitty, who reached the top of the chart with one solo single and two duets with Loretta Lynn. The two singers would go on to achieve a string of duet hits in the 1970s and 1980s. The longest unbroken run at number one in 1971 was achieved by Jerry Reed with "When You're Hot, You're Hot", which spent five consecutive weeks at number one during the summer. (Full article...)
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Wynonna spent eight weeks at number one in 1992.

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1992, 25 different songs topped the chart, then published under the title Hot Country Singles & Tracks, in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weekly airplay data from country music radio stations compiled by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

In early 1992, after performing with her mother in the duo The Judds since the early 1980s, Wynonna Judd, now known mononymously as Wynonna, launched her solo career and achieved immediate success. She topped the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart with her debut single "She Is His Only Need" and followed it up before the end of the year with two more chart-toppers with "I Saw the Light" and "No One Else on Earth". The three songs spent a total of eight weeks at number one, the most by any act in 1992. Alan Jackson was the only other artist to achieve three number ones during the year, but his three chart-toppers, "Dallas", "Love's Got a Hold on You" and "She's Got the Rhythm (And I Got the Blues)", spent only four weeks in total at the top of the chart. Brooks & Dunn, Collin Raye, Garth Brooks and Vince Gill each reached number one with two songs. (Full article...)
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The UK Singles Chart is the official record chart in the United Kingdom. Prior to 1969 there was no official singles chart; however, The Official Charts Company and Guinness' British Hit Singles & Albums regard the canonical sources as New Musical Express (NME) before 10 March 1960 and Record Retailer from then until 15 February 1969 when Retailer and the BBC jointly commissioned the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) to compile the charts. The choice to use Record Retailer as the canonical source for the 1960s has been contentious because NME (which continued compiling charts beyond March 1960) had the biggest circulation of periodicals in the decade and was more widely followed.

As well as the chart compilers mentioned previously, Melody Maker, Disc and Record Mirror all compiled their own charts during the decade. Due to the lack of any official chart the BBC aggregated results from all these charts to announce its own Pick of the Pops chart. One source explains that the reason for using the Record Retailer chart for the 1960s was that it was "the only chart to have as many as 50 positions for almost the entire decade". The sample size of Record Retailer in the early 1960s was around 30 stores whereas NME and Melody Maker were sampling over 100 stores. In 1969, the first BMRB chart was compiled using postal returns of sales logs from 250 record shops. (Full article...)
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Connie Smith (pictured in 2007) ended an eight-week run at number one in January. This would remain the longest run in the top spot by a female vocalist for nearly 50 years.

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1965, 19 different singles topped the chart, which was published at the time under the title Hot Country Singles, in 52 issues of the magazine. Chart placings were based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.

At the start of the year, Connie Smith was at number one with "Once a Day", the song's sixth week atop the chart, and remained at number one until the issue dated January 23, 1965, when it was displaced by "You're the Only World I Know" by Sonny James. "Once a Day"'s total of eight consecutive weeks at number one set a new record for the longest unbroken run by a solo female singer atop the Hot Country chart which stood until 2012 when Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" remained atop the chart for nine consecutive weeks. Smith was the only solo female vocalist to appear at number one on the country listing in 1965; the only other female artist to reach the top spot during the year was Priscilla Mitchell, who topped the chart with "Yes, Mr. Peters", a duet with Roy Drusky. (Full article...)
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Hank Snow had lengthy runs at the top of all three charts with "I'm Movin' On".

In 1950, Billboard magazine published three charts covering the best-performing country music songs in the United States: Most-Played Juke Box (Country & Western) Records, Best-Selling Retail Folk (Country & Western) Records and Country & Western Records Most Played By Folk Disk Jockeys. The juke box chart was compiled based on a "weekly survey among a selected group of jukebox operators whose locations require country and western records", the best sellers chart based on a "survey among a selected group of retail stores, the majority of whose customers purchase country and western records", and the jockeys chart based on a "weekly survey among a select list of over 400 disk jockeys specializing in country and western tunes". All three charts are considered part of the lineage of the current Hot Country Songs chart, which was first published in 1958.

In the first issue of Billboard of 1950, Christmas songs were at number one on two charts, with "Blue Christmas" by Ernest Tubb in the top spot on the juke box chart and Gene Autry's recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" atop the jockeys chart. The number one on the best sellers chart was "Slipping Around" by Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely, which had held the top spot since the previous October. The longest-running number one of 1950 on all three charts was "I'm Movin' On" by Canadian singer Hank Snow, which spent 14 weeks in the top spot on the juke box chart, 18 on the best sellers listing, and 17 on the jockeys chart. The song would spend three further weeks at number one on the best sellers chart in 1951, tying the record set in 1948 by Eddy Arnold's "I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)" for the highest number of weeks spent at number one on any one of Billboard's country singles charts. Red Foley spent the highest total number of weeks at number one on both the juke box and best sellers charts in 1950, topping each for 19 weeks. He also had the highest number of individual chart-toppers on each of the two listings, with four and three respectively. On the jockeys chart, Hank Williams was the only artist with more than one number one hit, and he also spent the most weeks at number one, totalling 19 weeks in the top spot with his three chart-toppers. (Full article...)
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Big & Rich topped the chart for the first time in 2007.

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 2007, 25 different songs topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weekly airplay data from country music radio stations compiled by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

In the first issue of the new year, Brad Paisley reached number one with "She's Everything", replacing "Want To" by Sugarland, which had been number one in the issue dated December 30, 2006. This was the first of three number ones for Paisley in 2007, a feat only matched by Kenny Chesney. Paisley, however, spent significantly less time at number one in 2007, occupying the top spot for five weeks compared to Chesney's twelve. Chesney's song "Never Wanted Nothing More" was the longest-running number one of the year, with five weeks at the top. Acts who achieved their first number ones in 2007 included Canadian band Emerson Drive, whose song "Moments", which topped the chart in June, was the first ever Hot Country Songs number one by a band from Canada. Big & Rich also reached number one for the first and only time, topping the chart with the wedding ballad "Lost in This Moment" in July. (Full article...)