KISS Is the Latest Band to Record Analog: Do You Prefer Analog or Digital Recording?

by Fergie Posted 2012/10/09 23:00:00

Related Topics: Music, Kiss, Analog, Digital

156 votes
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	Analog	105 votes	67%
	Digital	51 votes	33%

KISS' 20th studio album titled Monster was released today on Universal and is already garnering rave reviews. In an interview for Rolling Stone, singer Paul Stanley opened up about the making of the album and what makes it so special. One defining factor is the way the album was recorded: analog (recording to tape) instead of digital.

Stanley explains, "Gear that looks like Star Trek isn't what any of our heroes played on. If you can't get a great sound with your guitar plugged into an amp, you need a new guitar or a new amp."

The Foo Fighters, Band of Horses and now KISS are just a couple examples of bands moving away from digital recording and opting for analog, which results in a more raw, authentic sound and includes mistakes that aren't digitally corrected. There is an ongoing debate in the music industry about this, but what do you think? Do you prefer digital or analog recording?

ROLLINGSTONE.COM reports:
Nearly four decades on, Kiss remain an ongoing and unlikely rock roll success story, standing high on platform heels and painted in kabuki black-and-white, unloading fireballs and grinding hard-rock hooks around the world.

roll success story standing high platform heels painted kabuki black-and-

+12

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Kronan_1 2012/10/10 02:44:23

Analog

+7
With digital you miis the nuances that make the music pure. Anyone who says it's song that important and not the music, is an idiot and has a tin ear.
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More polls by Fergie

andrew 2012/10/17 02:05:06

Digital

Clearer sound

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Derbyhat 2012/10/12 05:20:43

Analog

Digital and digital HD is fabulous, until it pixelates and the sound breaks up and freezes, then you use language you tell your kids not to use! Analog we at least were used to and hobbles along a bit.

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dSavanna 2012/10/11 04:08:12

Analog

I was soooooo sad when my car didn't come with a cassette player :( Now I can't listen to "Only a Lad" the way I used to...

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davidson5270 2012/10/11 03:44:24

Digital

Right now digital offers the highest quality of any format. Everything is recorded digitally these days, so just converting it back to analog as a hipster gimmick is just stupid. But I'll agree that if something was produced in analog would be better if released in analog, but that never happens anymore.

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LucidLoon 2012/10/10 23:04:50

Analog

You get a warmer sound. Digital recordings essentially cut out parts of the sound wave, so you are losing some of the sound of whatever instrument is being recorded.

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John Wa... to LucidLoon 2012/10/12 23:12:24

Digital, if done right, is suppose to cut out those extremes that people can't normally hear so there should be no difference in quality.

"if done right" and "should be" are the operative words. It really depends on who does the mastering and how well.

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Patty T 2012/10/10 22:20:38

Analog

THAT is such a GREAT shot of Paul Stanley~! I had such a crush on him when I was in my teens ;) High school~! ;) Boo Ya~!

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NeutronBomb 2012/10/10 20:49:03

Analog

I prefer analog for sound always but for storage and convenience digital has its place

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Amasaman 2012/10/10 19:32:55

Analog

Analog can be reproduced live much easier. It is in fact, what is payed in the studio. Many times bands hide their talent behind the digital recording process and can't play live.

I've seen a few bands like this. They have a great sounding studio album, but live, the singer can't carry a tune in a bucket, the guitarist can't play the same solo twice in a row, and the drummer can't keep a beat if his life depended on it. Sad to see, and I've seen it.

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Cat 2012/10/10 19:00:30

Analog

I'd rather have a physical copy, but I do like having digital for my iPod.

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nightcrawler2005 2012/10/10 18:24:07

Analog

+1
I don't care what anyone says the sound is far superior on analog. Besides I love my Vinyl.

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john brenni 2012/10/10 15:20:49

Analog

Althogh i stopped buying kiss albums when the originals split again in 2000, i say good for you paul. we have to stop being bamboozled by polished up guitars that cant possibly sound the same live[polish= studio..digital magic].

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Asa Core 2012/10/10 14:44:51

Analog

i like em both though.

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thє вluє wαndєrєr 2012/10/10 13:51:07
glen 2012/10/10 13:45:09

Analog

Digital limits the sound quality by filtering it ! Pure crisp music is analog,any audiophile will tell you that.digital recording can make anyone sound good ,it's not a true medium for recording .

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Chris - The Rowdy One! #187 2012/10/10 13:43:32 (edited)

Analog

+1
Much cleaner (linear) sound.

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Jim 2012/10/10 10:44:50

Analog

+1
There's no doubt that analog is superior for audio quality. The advantage of digital is portability i.e. iPods.

Yeah, I still have my old Sony Walkman cassette player but, cassette tapes never tracked consistently and you waste battery power fast forwarding or rewinding.

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Playerazzi 2012/10/10 07:11:00

Digital

When there is some degradation in transferring the data from one location to another, analog data suffers irreversably. Digital does too, but because the information is in digital format and it doesn't matter if the "1" is this high or a little lower - it's still a "1" - the information still comes through clearly.

It takes several generations of recording and transferring for the effect to be heard in an analog recording. The first generation always sounds pristine.

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WWZ Captain 2012/10/10 05:06:24

Analog

+1
Both have their purposes. For pop bands, digital is the way to go, everything has to be so crisp and precise, but for rock bands, especially the harder bands, like KISS, or Metallica, or my band, analog is the better option, it's supposed to be a little muddy, that's what rock n roll is all about, or as the living legend Paul Stanley says, that's how our heroes did it. Now for editing, yeah, PRO TOOLS ALL THE WAY !! LOL !

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Raithere 2012/10/10 04:41:40

Analog

Analog is definitely better, if you have the right system and are listening to a masterpiece performance. And it's certainly a good idea to record the master in analog, you can always convert to digital.

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M A 2012/10/10 03:58:42

Analog

"Gear that looks like Star Trek"

Thats all your going to get from the top 100

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freakoutnow... cuz mom's here 2012/10/10 03:54:35

Digital

Digital is clearer, cleaner, and more versatile. You can do a lot of effects with digital that you can't do with analog. Analog is limited but more real because it's harder to fix mistakes/hide them which is okay sometimes. You can record in both and then mix the two versions to get the best of both worlds.

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Amasaman to freakou... 2012/10/10 19:22:32

Effects? You missed what Paul said. If you can't get a great sound with your guitar and amp, get a new one. My take is to practice more and learn the nuances of your instrument, not how to push buttons on a digital recorder and make it do things that you can't do with your fingers on a fretboard.

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luke 2012/10/10 03:38:12

Digital

They probably recorded analog because they're all too old to figure out how to do digital.

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Chris -... to luke 2012/10/10 13:45:34

4th grade treating you pretty well?

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luke to Chris -... 2012/10/10 16:12:21
Chris -... to luke 2012/10/10 22:20:27

I have a hell of a sense of humor.

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JCLadybug 2012/10/10 02:52:36

Digital

Digital sounds better. It is more "true" sound. The analog sound is attributed to how it is recorded, and it is not as crisp. I believe most conductors prefer digital, I'm inclined to side with them over popular music.

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Kronan_1 2012/10/10 02:44:23

Analog

+7
With digital you miis the nuances that make the music pure. Anyone who says it's song that important and not the music, is an idiot and has a tin ear.

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✞Knight of Honor 2012/10/10 01:28:16

Analog

+7
I'm glad someone still gets it.

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~HopelessRomanticM17~ 2012/10/10 01:22:20

Digital

It's the song that matters...not the way it was recorded.

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ladyvoldemort 2012/10/10 00:36:37

Digital

Vinyl and cassette tapes look cool, but they take up too much space.

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jc 2012/10/10 00:36:34 (edited)

Analog

+4
All digital recordings have to be converted to analog with in order to be heard.Digital is the way music is stored.A built in dac(digital to audio converter)converts it to analog.It loses fidelity in the process.Digital is just compact and convenient.You can store 20000 songs on a small mp3 player.Pure analog like a record sounds better.(edited for spelling)

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King of Gummy Bears 2012/10/10 00:32:13

Analog

+4
you get that more "classical" sound when you record in analog

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Cain 2012/10/10 00:26:33

Digital

+3
I really don't know, but I do know that I lost all interest in Kiss when they stopped being Kiss, now they are Gene & Paul & a few others, but without Ace & Peter, in my mind they are not Kiss.

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Spidey59 to Cain 2012/10/10 02:27:58

Motorhead went on changing it's line-up so has Deep Purple, Metallica, Aerosmith,Black Sabbath, point is Bands do it all the Time even The Beatles when they were told that Pete Best wasn't good for the Band they got rid of Pete and got Ringo, Look Great music is great music,it' s Ace & Peter's fault that Drugs and booze screw them over, not Gene & Paul, it just being narrow minded to think others wise, KISS still puts on one of the shows around. I Just got Monster this morning in the Mail and been listening to all day, The last 2 album KISS has put out have been really Great, both are better than Psycho Circus was, so what does that tell you. Best get over this childish BS that it ain't what you want so it can't be right. PLEASE. they are still selling out concert and still selling Albums. and more than likely without your support, But I don't it matters to them.

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Cain to Spidey59 2012/10/10 03:03:36

+1
Who are you Gene Simmons, Paul or one of the others? maybe if I did take a listen I might change my mind, but I rather not.....Maybe to you they are just as good or even better, maybe so but I think Ace & Peter got a bad deal & it was obviously all about what Gene & Paul wanted & not the fans. If the original line up were still there intact, I would still listen to them, but not now......I am sure they appreciate your attempt, but I will pass!

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Spidey59 to Cain 2012/10/10 03:35:13 (edited)

Ya you're right Ace & Peter did get the Bad Deal, Drugs & Alcohol will do that, ask Steve Adler or C.C. DeVille But facts are facts and no I'm not Gene nor Paul, I'm a typical Music Lover have been since my first concert in 65, ya I was 6 yrs old but I had a cool Uncle, but some folks would rather look at the Music, they choose to live in the past, But wait here's a little tidbit for ya, don't get mad, but you can check out the facts, But with the Last reunion they had Tommy Had to teach Ace most of the riffs to the old songs again. ya I bet that gets under your skin don't it.

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Cain to Spidey59 2012/10/10 03:41:43

No not really. I could care less about that...So Ace had a problem with drugs & alcohol, OK I will buy that, but what about Peter? I grew up listening to Kiss, that is Kiss with Ace & Peter.....Say what you will, I don't care, as I stated wthout Ace & Peter is not Kiss as bad as Gene & Paul would like it to be it is not! What was the deal with Peter? I know Ace had his problems, but why did Peter leave?

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Spidey59 to Cain 2012/10/10 12:37:28

+1
By the end of the Dynasty tour in December 1979, tensions between Criss and the rest of the band were at an all-time high. His drumming skills had noticeably eroded, and he even intentionally slowed down or stopped playing altogether during some concerts. The final show of the tour 1979 was the last time Criss performed with the group until the original foursome reunited in 1996. On the eve of the Japanese and Australian leg of the Farewell Tour on January 31, 2001, Criss suddenly left the band once again, due to the fact that he and the band could not come to agreement with his contract salary. Taking his place was previous Kiss drummer Eric Singer who, in a move that was controversial among longtime fans, assumed Criss's Cat Man persona as the Farewell Tour continued.

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