Michael Wagener is the German-born producer/engineer who taught heavy guitars to sound huge without turning into soup. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s he helped shape Accept's steel-plate punch, then in the 1980s Los Angeles grind he became a go-to set of ears for Dokken—tight, glossy, and still mean. By the late 1980s he was guiding arena-sized hard rock for Skid Row and White Lion, and in the 1990s he kept that balance of bite and clarity alive for bands like Extreme. I can spot his signature fast: drums snapping, guitars spread wide, and reverb kept on a short leash. From his WireWorld room in Tennessee, he mixes like a craftsman: edges sharp, low end disciplined, vocals sitting just forward enough to start trouble.

Michael Wagener Wiki