History Music / RickRubin

Ironically, Rubin was not a very popular musician in his early days because he could not play an instrument. He co-founded Creator/DefJamRecordings with Russell Simmons (and [[AutobiographicalRole plays himself]] in ''Film/KrushGroove'', a [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory fictionalized retelling]] of Def Jam's founding), however, and produced records for various up-and-coming hip-hop and rap musicians such as Music/LLCoolJ, the Music/BeastieBoys, and Music/PublicEnemy. 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 Music/{{Slayer}} and AlternativeRock bands like Music/TheJesusAndMaryChain. His big break came when he successfully staged a revival for Music/JohnnyCash with his album ''American Recordings'', and he has since signed a variety of big-label artists and up-and-coming debutantes.

* Music/TheSmashingPumpkins (Music/{{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'')

* Music/LinkinPark (''Minutes to Midnight'', ''A Thousand Suns'', ''Living Things'', ''Recharged'')

In addition to his GenreRoulette, [[SignatureStyle he is noted for]] [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth his spare, straightforward recording style]] of directly, clearly recording the musicians he works with and using no audio trickery or effects like reverb[[note]]A stylistic choice that was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] on LL Cool J's ''Radio'' (an album consisting mainly of a drum machine, a sample or two and LL), with the credit "Reduced by Rick Rubin"[[/note]]. He has kind of moved on to a more elaborate style in recent years, which has come to include string sections and the like.

The albums he produces nowadays are very likely to be [[LoudnessWar squished]], though that may be mostly the fault of his sound executives' inanity. One of the more JustForFun/{{egregious}} examples would be Music/RedHotChiliPeppers's ''Music/{{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 [[TroubledProduction disaster of epic proportions]]. In addition, bands such as Music/{{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]]Amongst the supporting evidence for this would be that when Music/{{Metallica}} remastered ''Death Magnetic'' in 2016, their version wasn't nearly as badly clipped as the 2008 version he produced, which became a notorious example of the LoudnessWar; additionally, the 2008 version's mastering engineer, Ted Jensen, said that the mix came to him already clipped, and there was nothing he could do to fix it - indeed, zooming in on the CD waveform suggests that Jensen may have run the album through a high pass filter in an attempt to make the clipping distortion slightly less headache-inducing, meaning that the version sent to him may have been ''even worse''.[[/note]]

* Music/{{Metallica}} (''Death Magnetic'', ''Beyond Magnetic'')

* Music/GogolBordello (''Trans-Continental Hustle'')

[[caption-width-right:350:[[BadassBeard Yeah, you know what you're thinking about.]]]]

* Music/AndrewDiceClay (five of his albums, 1989-1993)

* Music/TheChicks (''Taking the Long Way'')

-->"[[ThrowItIn You're crazy for this one, Rick!]] [[Music/{{JayZ}} It's your boy!]]"

Ironically, Rubin was not a very popular musician in his early days because he could not play an instrument. He co-founded Creator/DefJamRecordings with Russell Simmons (and [[AutobiographicalRole plays himself]] in ''Film/KrushGroove'', a [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory fictionalized retelling]] of Def Jam's founding), however, and produced records for various up-and-coming hip-hop and rap musicians such as Music/LLCoolJ, the Music/BeastieBoys, and Music/PublicEnemy. Rubin left Def Jam to eventually create American Recordings, a company that signed many heavy metal acts like Music/{{Slayer}} and AlternativeRock bands like Music/TheJesusAndMaryChain. His big break came when he successfully staged a revival for Music/JohnnyCash with his album ''American Recordings'', and he has since signed a variety of big-label artists and up-and-coming debutantes.

* Music/DixieChicks (''Taking the Long Way'')

Ironically, Rubin was not a very popular musician in his early days because he could not play an instrument. He co-founded Creator/DefJamRecordings with Russell Simmons, however, and produced records for various up-and-coming hip-hop and rap musicians such as Music/LLCoolJ, the Music/BeastieBoys, and Music/PublicEnemy. Rubin left Def Jam to eventually create American Recordings, a company that signed many heavy metal acts like Music/{{Slayer}} and AlternativeRock bands like Music/TheJesusAndMaryChain. His big break came when he successfully staged a revival for Music/JohnnyCash with his album ''American Recordings'', and he has since signed a variety of big-label artists and up-and-coming debutantes.

* Music/LimpBizkit (''Results May Vary'', ''Greatest Hitz'')

Ironically, Rubin was not a very popular musician in his early days because he could not play an instrument. He co-founded Def Jam records with Russell Simmons, however, and produced records for various up-and-coming hip-hop and rap musicians such as Music/LLCoolJ, the Music/BeastieBoys, and Music/PublicEnemy. Rubin left Def Jam to eventually create American Recordings, a company that signed many heavy metal acts like Music/{{Slayer}} and AlternativeRock bands like Music/TheJesusAndMaryChain. His big break came when he successfully staged a revival for Music/JohnnyCash with his album ''American Recordings'', and he has since signed a variety of big-label artists and up-and-coming debutantes.

The albums he produces nowadays are very likely to be [[LoudnessWar squished]], though that may be mostly the fault of his sound executives' inanity. One of the more {{egregious}} examples would be Music/RedHotChiliPeppers's ''Music/{{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 [[TroubledProduction disaster of epic proportions]]. In addition, bands such as Music/{{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]]Amongst the supporting evidence for this would be that when Music/{{Metallica}} remastered ''Death Magnetic'' in 2016, their version wasn't nearly as badly clipped as the 2008 version he produced, which became a notorious example of the LoudnessWar; additionally, the 2008 version's mastering engineer, Ted Jensen, said that the mix came to him already clipped, and there was nothing he could do to fix it - indeed, zooming in on the CD waveform suggests that Jensen may have run the album through a high pass filter in an attempt to make the clipping distortion slightly less headache-inducing, meaning that the version sent to him may have been ''even worse''.[[/note]]

The albums he produces nowadays are very likely to be [[LoudnessWar squished]], though that is mostly the fault of his sound executives' inanity. One of the more {{egregious}} examples would be Music/RedHotChiliPeppers's ''Music/{{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 [[TroubledProduction disaster of epic proportions]]. In addition, bands such as Music/{{Slipknot}} have criticized his hands-off approach to production.

In addition to his GenreRoulette, [[SignatureStyle he is noted for]] [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth his spare, straightforward recording style]] of directly, clearly recording the musicians he works with and using no audio trickery or effects like reverb[[note]]A stylistic choice that was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] on LL Cool J's ''Radio'' (an album consisting mainly of a drum machine, a sample or two and LL), with the credit "Reduced by Rick Rubin"[[/note]], although he has kind of moved on to a more elaborate one in recent years, which has come to include string sections and the like. This can be seen in Music/LinkinPark's {{New Sound Album}}s, ''Music/MinutesToMidnight'' and ''A Thousand Suns'', which he co-produced with co-frontman Mike Shinoda (Both albums were in complete contrast to the band's previous NuMetal albums, a shift in musical genre the band now embraces.)

* Music/LinkinPark (''Minutes to Midnight'', ''A Thousand Suns'', ''Living Things'' and ''Recharged'').

Widely considered to be the most influential producer of recent times, at least, Rick Rubin 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.

* Music/RedHotChiliPeppers (from 1990-2011: produced six albums for them, including ''Music/BloodSugarSexMagik'', ''Music/{{Californication}}'', and ''Music/StadiumArcadium'')

In addition to his GenreRoulette, [[SignatureStyle he is noted for]] [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth his spare, straightforward recording style]] of directly, clearly recording the musicians he works with and using no audio trickery or effects like reverb[[note]]A stylistic choice that was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] on LL Cool J's ''Radio'' (an album consisting mainly of a drum machine, a sample or two and LL), with the credit "Reduced by Rick Rubin"[[/note]], although he has kind of moved on to a more elaborate one in recent years, which has come to include string sections and the like. This can be seen in Music/LinkinPark's {{New Sound Album}}s, ''Minutes to Midnight'' and ''A Thousand Suns'', which he co-produced with co-frontman Mike Shinoda (Both albums were in complete contrast to the band's previous NuMetal albums, a shift in musical genre the band now embraces.)

The albums he produces nowadays are very likely to be [[LoudnessWar squished]], though that is mostly the fault of his sound executives' inanity. One of the more egregious examples would be Music/RedHotChiliPeppers's ''Music/{{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 [[TroubledProduction disaster of epic proportions]]. In addition, bands such as Music/{{Slipknot}} have criticized his hands-off approach to production.

* Music/{{Slayer}} (all their albums since ''Reign in Blood'')

* Music/RedHotChiliPeppers (from 1990-2011: produced six albums for them, including ''Music/BloodSugarSexMagik'' and ''Music/{{Californication}}'')

* Music/SystemOfADown (all their albums)

* Music/PublicEnemy (their first two albums)

The albums he produces nowadays are very likely to be [[LoudnessWar squished]], though that is mostly the fault of his sound executives' inanity. One of the more egregious examples would be Music/RedHotChiliPeppers'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 [[TroubledProduction disaster of epic proportions]]. In addition, bands such as {{Slipknot}} have criticized his hands-off approach to production.

* Music/BeastieBoys (''Licensed to Ill'')

* Music/RedHotChiliPeppers (from 1990-2011: produced six albums for them)