Taking Sides: Phil Spector vs Timbaland

spector. spector v motown would be more interesting.

Maybe when there's a Timbaland box set it'll be easier to do a side by side comparison.

Until Timbaland kills someone, there's simply no contest. Oh, wait, you mean you're comparing them as producers? Then Spector.

(Though it is interesting how both rely on a team of invisible and/or less credited assistants/musicians/writers to get their trademark sounds.)

Personally, I'm comparing them only as producers, but I suppose that not everybody will.

um.. timbo. duh.

Duh is right, dude.

yeah that's why i said it.

Timbaland makes great records and all but Spector's credits read like a how-to manual of great pop.

Surely Phil Spector vs Joe Meek, is the more obvious poll. Eccentrics who redefined the way the studio could be used in popular music in the early 60s before going off the rails due to their keen interest in weaponry.

Spector would win that one obviously. Against Timbaland I don't know.

Joe Meek wasn't black, though.

Let's go Timbaland!! Wooo!

Timbaland produced so many of ILM's all-time faves ("One in a Million", "Work It", "Sexyback", ...) that I'll be a bit shocked if he doesn't win the poll. I'm also assuming that most lurkers will pick him too.

Spector vs Motown only makes sense if we restrict it to, say, mid-60's Motown vs mid-60's Spector (i.e. one style vs one style), but then again, Cave vs Jacko doesn't make much sense and this poll also doesn't have to make perfect sense if you don't want it to!

Timbaland, being that (a) I've liked more of his records, (b) he never killed anyone and (c) he never fucked up a Ramones album.

Spector would shoot Timbaland in the face.
(voted Timbaland, but with a heavy heart)

Spector. But Timbaland is no match for anyone from before 1990.

anyone

Ts: Phil Spector Vs. Charles Manson Vs. Gary Glitter

"sexy back" vs. "all things must pass" hmmmm

I like timbaland a lot but....'be my baby', 'unchained melody'? I mean really.

instant karma .. spector wins

five or six years of brilliance

More like 12 or 13..

The stretch between "Cry Me A River" and "Promiscuous Girl" was a long one.. Did he do anything significant between 2003 and 2005?

"sexy back" vs. "all things must pass" hmmmm

― matinee, Saturday, April 18, 2009 12:50 PM

I'm not sure this argument is working for you.

The stretch between "Cry Me A River" and "Promiscuous Girl" was a long one.. Did he do anything significant between 2003 and 2005?

― billstevejim, Saturday, April 18, 2009 3:51 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

yeah he was kinda quiet but still did some good shit imo - dirt off your shoulder, put you on the game, the jump off, the whole bubba sparxxx album, the whole missy album which had good singles

five or six years of brilliance

More like 12 or 13..

― billstevejim, Saturday, April 18, 2009 11:45 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

I was trying to force a symmetry between this and the stuff people were writing on the MJ/Cave, but even so, I think we can agree that Spector's reputation wouldn't have been any less secure if he had left the music business forever in 1966.

That's not to say that he didn't do great work later on ... I think about 2/3rds of "Death of a Ladies Man" is up there with the best of his 1960's work.

yeah he was kinda quiet but still did some good shit imo - dirt off your shoulder, put you on the game, the jump off, the whole bubba sparxxx album, the whole missy album which had good singles

I forgot he had some good stuff in 2003 which is listed there.. '04 and '05 he was on vacation or something.

2003 was the last time there was any kind of substantial Timbaland vs Neptunes debate.. Neptunes obviously were winning throughout 04 and 05, for the sole reason that Timbaland wasn't releasing anything (or nothing significant anyway).. and since then Neptunes have gone drastically downhill, so the winner is obvious at this point.

"The Jump Off" and the Bubba Sparxx record specifically are reminding me how great 2003 was..

"sexy back" vs. "all things must pass" hmmmm

― matinee, Saturday, April 18, 2009 12:50 PM

I'm not sure this argument is working for you.

― butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Saturday, 18 April 2009 22:08 (Yesterday)

doesn't have anything to do with me. the fleshed out argument would be that timbaland's sound only works one song at a time, whereas spector's can work for an entire album length. also "sexy back" has already lost its edge, sounds dated, and has not enough characteristic-charm or songwriting-merit to make it stick out from imitating peers. basically, it was cool for a little while and now it's remembered just for having had its time. a production like all things must pass still has an unmistakable sound and is in a better class for not being about what a timbaland song is, which is fleetingly capitalizing on a sound that just so happens to be ready for radio play again.

spector, by far.

That list of Spector productions is pretty astonishing - and then you get to Starsailor at the end.

I mean Timba is great and all but you can't fuck with the person who helped make River Deep Mountain High and Be My Baby.

xxxpost

except that "All Things Must Pass" isn't a good example with which to make that point ... Spector's productions with the ex-Beatles weren't all that distinctive.

and that there's nothing particularly "album-y" about Spector's best stuff (hi dere ronettes love u 4vr), and that the notion of lp genius > 45 genius is a priori rockist, and that there's nothing notably dated about sexyback, which crushes all things must pass on the basis of no bullshit sax alone

that there's nothing notably dated about sexyback, which crushes all things must pass on the basis of no bullshit sax alone

"sexy back" is dated because the very thing that gives that song its appeal, the fact that it sounds shitty and cheap, can't replace the fact that it's... shitty and cheap sounding, and since Timbaland doesn't really deal in that (he was just using it as a fashion statement) it's not an especially great track. just interesting.

Spector's productions with the ex-Beatles weren't all that distinctive.

i think our semantics are misaligned on that. i mean it's distinctive because spector's wall of sound is unmistakeable and, i think, brilliantly executed with most of the songs. it's not because he was trying to make a record that didn't sound like something he'd done before, but because it was an excellent expression of his very unique art of production.

i think you can say timbaland is a craftsman well above the level of a lot of other craftsmen, but i haven't heard any evidence that he has crafted a new form of art for himself

One In A Million alone crafted the sound of modern r'n'b, Timbaland definitly has crafted a new form of art imo.

Also, the suggestion upthread that Timbaland can't produce album length classics is ridiculous. He was responsible for 4 classic Missy albums in a row, The Bachelor, the two Aaliyah albums and the Brandy album (afrodisiac) he had creative control over are terrific imo, Loose & FS/LS, Deliverience and so on. If he weren't such a shit rapper (and could choose his guests wiser), his albums could be classic.

In my opinion, Spector may have produced stone cold classics but the list of perfect Timbaland songs I am constantly listening to is too long and can't be beaten.

And because it never gets talked about, possibly my favourite Timbaland jam:

thanks. good reasoning to revisit supa dupa fly ...

cone toaster

I'm gonna go with Spector as a producer and Timbo as a songwriter.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

five or six years of brilliance

this is wrong

supa dupa fly sucks

Phil Spector >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Timbaland <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< George Martin

new worst revive ever

Phil Spector is an unbelievable producer. He blows Timbaland straight out of the water.

If I had to pick, I'd want Tim's back catalogue more.

lotta weird opinions on this thread

pretty weird comparison to begin with -- tbh matos's chapter in "rock'n'roll cage match" posing this question drove me pretty nuts