2 eras of classic westcoast

[Johnathan Rodriguez]

Which era do you like better, the analog era (Steely Dan Aja, Pages Pages, etc) or the digital era (Kenny Loggins Vox Humana, Peter Cetera Solitude/Solitaire)?

Personally, I prefer the early westcoast albums because of the live drums and the warm sounds of the Fender Rhodes. The digital era of westcoast occured around 1983 and you can hear the comparison in sounds when you listen to Melissa Manchester's Hey Ricky and Emergency back to back. A lot of the westcoast albums between 1985 and 1986 were completely digital and now sound slightly dated. Any opinions on the subject?

[Thomas]

Yup, kinda agree, even though some later albums also are good.

Today I rather listen to e.g Pablo Cruise from -79 instead of - as You mentioned - Manchester from -83.
The same goes for Kenny Loggins who really took a step after the - in my opinion - excellent "High Adventure" album compared to "Back to Avalon" which I never really liked actually, and maybe the "digitalizing" had something to do with that.

[Piarres Mendizabal Hansen]

I for sure prefer the analog era. Some of the stuff from the digital era is OK, but I personally dislike drum machines and overproduced full-of-effects records. And I think you're right, when you say they can sound dated, even though they actually are the newer ones.

Drum machines can be OK if correctly putted together with real drums, for ejample in Jay Grsuka's "Which one of us is me". Anyway, my favourite records are on the early era of westcoast, I'm actually much more into r&b, blue-eyed soul, smooth jazz... than into hard rock or AOR. I should actually get to listen to more stuff from the digital era to form a more accurate point of view. I think I'll begin with David Pack's "Anywhere I go". Any other album you could recomend me?

[Johnathan Rodriguez]

I have heard a lot of the "digital" westcoast albums and have only a few favorites. My favorite of all of them is Planet 3 "Gems Unearthed". You can find it easily on amazon.com. It sounds like Chicago, Def Leppard, and strangely enough 80s dance reminiscent of Bobby Brown, Prince, etc. "Make My Day" is my top song from the album. Others recommended are:
Sergio Mendes-Confetti
Amy Grant-Unguarded
Cats Can Fly-s/t
Ben Orr-The Lace
Steve Camp-One on One


Piarres Mendizabal Hansen said:

I for sure prefer the analog era. Some of the stuff from the digital era is OK, but I personally dislike drum machines and overproduced full-of-effects records. And I think you're right, when you say they can sound dated, even though they actually are the newer ones.

Drum machines can be OK if correctly putted together with real drums, for ejample in Jay Grsuka's "Which one of us is me". Anyway, my favourite records are on the early era of westcoast, I'm actually much more into r&b, blue-eyed soul, smooth jazz... than into hard rock or AOR. I should actually get to listen to more stuff from the digital era to form a more accurate point of view. I think I'll begin with David Pack's "Anywhere I go". Any other album you could recomend me?

[AORRADOR]

I prefer mid 80's/early 90's sound, when westcoast was more "AOR oriented": AMY GRANT - Unguarded, STEPHEN BISHOP - Bowling in Paris, PLANET 3 - Music for the planet, CHRIS EATON - Vision, TOYS OF JOY - One of these days...