Widely considered to be the most influential producer of recent times, at least, Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin (born March 10, 1963) has risen to prominence for his great assessment of talent and his sharp ear for music. He is described by many artists as a positive influence on their music because he enhances, not converts, the artists' styles.
Ironically, Rubin was not a very popular musician in his early days because he could not play an instrument. He co-founded Def Jam Recordings with Russell Simmons (and plays himself in Krush Groove, a fictionalized retelling of Def Jam's founding), however, and produced records for various up-and-coming hip-hop and rap musicians such as LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy. Rubin left Def Jam to eventually create Def American Recordings (The 'def' later dropped when it started appearing in dictionaries), a company that signed many heavy metal acts like Slayer and Alternative Rock bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain. His big break came when he successfully staged a revival for Johnny Cash with his album American Recordings, and he has since signed a variety of big-label artists and up-and-coming debutantes.
In addition to his Genre Roulette, he is noted for his spare, straightforward recording style of directly, clearly recording the musicians he works with and using no audio trickery or effects like reverbnote . He has kind of moved on to a more elaborate style in recent years, which has come to include string sections and the like. He's even tried to expand outside of music, bankrolling "wrasslin" promotion Smoky Mountain Wrestling in the early to mid 90s.
The albums he produces nowadays are very likely to be squished, though that may be mostly the fault of his sound executives' inanity. One of the more egregious examples would be Red Hot Chili Peppers's Californication, an album that received many complaints from listeners because it was run through a dynamic digital processor after being processed for vinyl- in short, a disaster of epic proportions. In addition, bands such as Slipknot have criticized his hands-off approach to production, and some musicians and engineers have implied that the loudness war tendencies of Rubin's releases are actually his doing. note
Nevertheless, he remains a prolific and well-respected producer. Here is just a selection of the diverse array of artists he has worked with:
- AC/DC (Bailbreaker)
- Adele (21)
- Aerosmith (O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits)
- Audioslave (Audioslave, Out of Exile)
- Beastie Boys (Licensed to Ill)
- Black Sabbath (13)
- Johnny Cash (his American Recordings series)
- Vanessa Carlton (Heroes & Thieves)
- The Chicks (Taking the Long Way)
- Andrew "Dice" Clay (five of his albums, 1989-1993)
- Coheed and Cambria (Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow)
- Sheryl Crow (The Globe Sessions)
- The Cult (Electric)
- Danzig (Their first five albums)
- Neil Diamond (12 Songs, Home Before Dark)
- Donovan (Sutras)
- Eminem (The Marshall Mathers LP 2, he's in the video for "Berserk").
- Flipper (American Grafishy)
- Imagine Dragons (Mercury - Act 1)
- John Frusciante (Niandra Lades & Usually Just A T-Shirt)
- Geto Boys (The Geto Boys)
- God Dethroned (The Toxic Touch)
- Gogol Bordello (Trans-Continental Hustle)
- Josh Groban (Illuminations)
- Mick Jagger (Wandering Spirit)
- Jay-Z ("99 Problems" - he's also in the video).
- Joan Jett And The Blackhearts (Flashback)
- Kid Rock (Born Free)
- Lady Gaga (Artpop)
- Lana Del Rey (Paradise)
- Lil' Jon & the East Side Boyz (Crunk Juice)
- Limp Bizkit:
- Results May Vary (2003)
- Linkin Park (Minutes to Midnight, A Thousand Suns, Living Things, Recharged)
- LL Cool J (I Need A Beat, Radio, Jack the Ripper, Walking With a Panther, All World: Greatest Hits)
- Melanie C (Northern Star)
- Metallica (Death Magnetic, Beyond Magnetic)
- Nine Inch Nails (Further Down the Spiral)
- Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers (Greatest Hits, Wildflowers, She's the One, Echo)
- Poison (Poison'd!)
- Public Enemy ("Yo! Bum Rush The Show", "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back")
- Rage Against the Machine (Renegades)
- Red Hot Chili Peppers (from 1990-2011: produced six albums for them, including Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Californication, By the Way, and Stadium Arcadium)
- Damien Rice (My Favourite Faded Fantasy)
- Run–D.M.C. (Raising Hell)
- Shakira (Both Oral Fixation albums)
- Ed Sheeran (X)
- Sir Mix-A-Lot (Mack Daddy, Chief Boot Knocka, Return of the Bumpasaurus)
- Slayer (all their albums from Reign in Blood through World Painted Blood)
- Slipknot (Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses)
- The Smashing Pumpkins (Adore version of "Let Me Give The World To You" and their album Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun)
- System of a Down (all their albums, including Toxicity and Mezmerize/Hypnotize)
- Justin Timberlake (FutureSex/LoveSounds)
- U2 (U218 Singles)
- Weezer (Make Believe, The Red Album, Raditude)
- Kanye West (additional production on Yeezus)
- ZZTop (La Futura)
