Quote:
Originally Posted by TurboPGT
I dunno, I feel blaming/crediting a producer is like doing the same to a baseball manager. They make a call here or there, and maybe change the direction that things go, but they aren't making the tunes in the end.
Dave either has something of quality left to write, or he doesn't. Personally, I believe he's done. I don't believe he will ever write and perform another song that I consider to be great.
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A producer -- a good producer -- is absolutely integral to an album. A good producer shapes the direction of the music.
Think about Ballard. He was a good producer, but not necessarily right for DMB. The ED songs were very much DMB lyrically and melodically, and even progression was straight up DMB. But Glenn pushed a different direction than what was DMB and the record suffered. I'm not going to defend some of the shakier songs on it, but had there been a Lillywhite behind them, it may have been more appropriate.
Then Batson convinced Dave to not be Dave on Stand Up ... to slow down and convinced him that the direction was right when Dave started questioning the quality of his own lyrics. Mark had good ideas on how to spark inspiration, but the execution was less than timeless.
Cavallo nurtured the band's direction that felt natural to them and pulled back some of the more ambitious, yet 'they're-too-close-to-see-it's-not-working' ideas. Some of the choices were still questionable, but the end result was better.
The producer absolutely does matter.