Infinite MonkeysIs there any producer in rock and roll with a more screwed up "sense of the appropriate" than Bob Ezrin? He should be buried alive under a pile of reverb units, tape loop machines, and a full symphony orchestra. Jeez.
Posted by RobbL at January 15, 2007 02:21 PMXenical can smooch mein tuchus.
Posted by: H.L. Monkey at January 15, 2007 11:02 PMAny specific album inspiring this, Robb?
Posted by: Monkey David at January 17, 2007 03:35 PMWell, as it happens, I was listening to Kiss's "Destroyer" album. Over 60 seconds of stupid sound effects before a straightforward rock and roll track, "Detroit Rock City." This got me thinking about Ezrin's knack for massively overproducing albums. I recalled the difference between his production on Peter Gabriel's first album and Robert Fripp's much more sensible production on Gabriel's second - and, even more telling, the two radically different versions of "Here Comes The Flood" the producers released.
By the time I got to "Great Expectations," I thought he was joking. Kiss may not be The White Stripes, but they're still just a Detroit rock 'n' roll band. A symphony orchestra and choir doing their imitation of the intro to "You Can't Always Get What You Want" was SO not warranted.
Now, imagine the same Kiss album produced by Rick Rubin. Much better, no?
Now, it may be argued that a producer like Ezrin does have a place. Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is certainly a highly regarded album. But how many rock operas does this world need? Outside of that album, I think his work on the two post-Roger Waters albums was typically ham-fisted - I would much rather listen to Floyd's live work from that period.
Now, if I were Jack Black and Kyle Gass, I would ABSOLUTELY hire Ezrin to produce the next Tenacious D album.
Posted by: Monkey RobbL at January 18, 2007 08:29 AM