I worked in a London recording studio in the early 90s. One thing many people may not be aware of is how slow the process of recording and mixing is in a studio

I worked in a London recording studio in the early 90s. One thing many people may not be aware of is how slow the process of recording and mixing is in a studio setting (we didn't do mastering). There was unfortunately a lot of down time for people who might be needed in the studio for a certain task but had to wait around for other people to finish their tasks. This was also a transition period from the analog to the digital era. Analog gear was still used (such as the tape decks) but sequencers, compressors, electronic gates and other tools were also filling up the racks in the back of the studio. I have to say that they took away a lot of the spontaneity of recording music. Everything had to be matched to a click track and many takes and overdubs were required to get things "perfect". For dance music or songs with a heavy electronic component, this doesn't surprise me, but for rock it seems a little ... fake. IMHO some of the best studio recordings were the ones that were done "live" with minimal overdubs, such as Husker Du's Zen Arcade and stuff from the early days of rock and roll. And good live performances can really show the soul of a band that may not be apparent in complex, layered studio recordings. I am thinking of The Who's Live at Leeds or that DVD/CD of Queen performing in Montreal in 1981. I saw Soundgarden put on an amazing performance once that really moved me in a way that was different than listening to their great studio records.