Fashionista Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 We always talk about how important Izzy/Steven/etc are to the GN'R sound but one person whom I never see discussed is Mike Clink. Mike produced every GN'R record from AFD to the Sympathy for the Devil single. How much of the classic GN'R sound would you say was a credit to him as their producer? Could they recapture that sound/feel etc without him? Consider for example how important George Martin was to The Beatles' sound or how integral Jimmy Miller was to the Stones' sound from 1968 to 1973. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sosso Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 He was the George Young of GN'R, wasn't he? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMG Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 Anyone know the extent of his efforts with Chinese Democracy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fashionista Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 1 minute ago, SMG said: Anyone know the extent of his efforts with Chinese Democracy? From my understanding he was involved only very briefly in early 1997, maybe a few weeks at best but Axl rapidly moved on to Moby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMG Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 Just now, Fashionista said: From my understanding he was involved only very briefly in early 1997, maybe a few weeks at best but Axl rapidly moved on to Moby. Shit....I wonder why the guy who did all the other albums walked away like that.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post metallex78 Posted April 20, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted April 20, 2018 Mike Clink was great. He truly captured Guns classic sound. And it only got better with each release too. TSI still sounds great for a 1993 release, and even the first Snakepit has some great guitar tones captured well. If anyone should be in the producers chair for a potential new GNR album, it should be him 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appetite4illusions Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 Isn't it interesting that Mike Clink was super successful with GnR and then went on to do nothing of particular importance? I think, if I may make the argument, that Clink isn't as responsible for the fantastic sound we got out of AFD. I have come to believe over the years that it was Thompson and Barbiero's role as mixers that gives that album its dynamic and throaty punch. Why do I think that? Because if you look at the output of the people involved, it's clear that Steve Thompson especially has gone on to do the best work and his stuff has consistently sounded amazing. Mike Clink? He was hot after AFD. Definitely hot. He was hired by Metallica to do And Justice For All... As much as James Hetfield has liked to shit on Guns N' Roses and bands of that ilk, he seems to put a lot of stock into the quality that producers du jour get. So Metallica hires Clink, presumably to help them capture some amazing sounds in the way he did for GnR. They also line up Thompson and Barbiero to mix the album down the line (as you can see, Lars must have been super into the record). But for reasons that have never adequately been explained, Mike Clink was fired. Down the line, Motley Crue were trying to come back after their last two comebacks failed. They hired Mike Clink, presumably to help them capture some amazing sounds in the way he did for GnR. Anybody who has heard New Tattoo, or even remembers it, would know it is probably Motley's worst record and the sound on it is pretty disgusting. A band like Motley, which is as close to GnR as you can get in Clink's wheelhouse, got none of that AFD sound on their record. It sounded flat and one-dimensional. I think Mike did good work on AFD but I think Steve Thompson and Mike Barbiero did better work and it's just a matter of looking at what the people have done on the records since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metallex78 Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 I don’t care that Mike Clink hasn’t done for other bands what he did for GN’R, but when it comes down to what he did do with GN’R, it sounds fuckin great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metallex78 Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 I haven’t checked the liner notes, but were Steve Thompson and Mike Barbiero involved in the mixing of TSI? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangerInThisTown Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 (edited) I think it's more on the band than him. He just captures their sound, and if their sound isn't great thats exactly what you'll end up with. Edited April 20, 2018 by StrangerInThisTown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Order of Nine Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 12 minutes ago, StrangerInThisTown said: I think it's more on the band than him. He just captures their sound, and if their sound isn't great thats exactly what you'll end up with. I wish it was that easy! It's a very technical job and even with a great ear the experience is needed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotsfired cro Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 an producer can only work on the songs that are that good...he can not make the shit song good. however, the produce can add a certain quality to each album with details. In terms of GNR, I wouldn't want anyone else produce them shall there ever be new music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverburst80 Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 9 minutes ago, StrangerInThisTown said: I think it's more on the band than him. He just captures their sound, and if their sound isn't great thats exactly what you'll end up with. I agree, those albums sound great but GNR seemed to know exactly what they wanted and anyone who tried putting too much input in would have been kicked to the curb fairly quickish. I mean how much did he have to do with Slash's iconic guitar tone?, i'd argue not alot seeing it was Niven who tracked down the Derrig and rumour has it Adam Day got hold of the mysterious Marshall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangerInThisTown Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Order of Nine said: I wish it was that easy! It's a very technical job and even with a great ear the experience is needed I mean he is not the type of producer to modify the bands sound / steer it in a different direction than they intended, someone like Bob Ezrin. That's what made GNR choose him in the first place. The technicality of the job is a different thing entirely and was not my point at all. Edited April 21, 2018 by StrangerInThisTown 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
31illusions Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 Mike was most important to AFD. According to Steven's book (page 116, chapter "Clink stinks") at Mike's suggestion, several songs were rearranged during recording. Listen to demos of Rocket Queen, Jungle and Anything Goes. Some tempos, verses and endings were changed with Mike's help. It was his idea to add a Moog synthesizer to Paradise city. So he had a lot of input in making the songs sound better. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey96 Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 I think clink is an important figure out when talking about the success of the band. Better choice than Paul Stanley. Sucks he never really had big success outside of guns with the exception of Megadeths rust in peace. To think about it though, appetite for destruction and rust in peace is on your resume, that’s good enough for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvanG Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 I once read that Clink was the best producer for GnR because he knew when to shut up and basically let the band do their thing. Sounds about right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_0013 Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 Would be cool if in a parallel universe they could go into a studio with the exact same recording equipment as AFD, with Clink, and record an album with that same sound. I don’t really care for new technology and things sounding ‘modern’. Some sounds just don’t date and are timeless - AFD is one of them. It even made pretty average filler songs like You’re Crazy and Anything Goes sound better than most moder rock songs I’ve heard in the last 5 years 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangerInThisTown Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 9 hours ago, LA_0013 said: Would be cool if in a parallel universe they could go into a studio with the exact same recording equipment as AFD, with Clink, and record an album with that same sound. I don’t really care for new technology and things sounding ‘modern’. Some sounds just don’t date and are timeless - AFD is one of them. It even made pretty average filler songs like You’re Crazy and Anything Goes sound better than most moder rock songs I’ve heard in the last 5 years What sort of modern rock have you been listening to? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigpoop Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 Mike Clink also worked on some great UFO albums. As engineer not producer...but still. He's got some cool non-Guns stuff in his discography. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadSlash Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 Was Mike Clink behind everything having it's tempo upped? Those cool demos of AFD being played really slowly were cool, especially the slow version of WTTJ, but I don't think GnR is a thing if AFD came out like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_0013 Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 On 4/21/2018 at 7:45 PM, tremolo said: Are you kidding me? AFD sounds pretty dated, it just screams late 80s cockrock. It is a great album and has many positive qualities that everyone has raved about in the last 30 years, but sounding timeless is not one of them. Bullshit. Are you telling me if they re-recorded it today it would sound better than the original??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_0013 Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 On 4/22/2018 at 4:52 AM, StrangerInThisTown said: What sort of modern rock have you been listening to? lol Chinese Democracy - to name just one (Not being biased - could easily add both S&MC albums to the list too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_0013 Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, tremolo said: I never said that. You just pulled that statement out of your ass and it makes no sense whatsoever. Does AFD sound dated? Absolutely. The lyrics represent a specific time in the life of the guys that today sound very dated, out of touch and full of cliches. The recording itself, the tone and mixing is typical of the times, and it sounds great, but it’s pretty far from being timeless. Where the fuck does dated, cliched and out of touch lyrics come into a discussion on Mike Clink and production?? Check the thread title, genius Edited April 23, 2018 by LA_0013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Dog Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 I'd say he's pretty important. He did a great job of capturing their sound on AFD. Even though it was well produced and had a radio ready feel, it still had some rawness to it. Sometimes that's not easy to pull off, it actually can be very tricky, many bands and producers have missed at this. They pulled it off great. The acoustic songs on Lies are very well produced. They all sound great. UYI had good production. I have some thoughts on the drums and I know Izzy has questioned the guitars on it, but I think that was more of a band preference. Sound wise, it was good. TSI, even if you hate it, has a very nice sound to it. It's one of the best produced of the bunch. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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