The mics above/ under the snare gets the compression wave (the top soundwave) and the rarefaction wave (the bottom soundwave). There's two parts to a soundwave, and plus, that gets alot more of the snap of the drum. The bottom of the snare is where you get all the snap.
Some great sounding Albini records:
--Didjits' "Full Nelson Reilly". May be one of the top five drum sounds that i've heard on record. The mix is still....well, the vocals sound weird, but this is one of the toughest, rawest rock n' roll records that i've heard since the heyday of the Stooges. I figured this out on a hunch--"Reggie Stiggs" is Steve's alter ego on that record, he's not listed. I had a feeling that he did it, and asked Rick of the Didjits, and yeah, Steve did it. Steve also confirmed it here in a question that I asked awhile back. Not bad for going just off the sonic qualities of the album.
--Jesus Lizard, "Liar". I was listening to this again the other day, and man is that record spot on.
--Sadies, "Live In Concert Vol. 1"
--Sadies "Precious Moments"
-High On Fire, "Blessed Black Wings". Not sure if you guys are a fan of metal, but this record is insanely heavy. Albini's work on that record just makes a bludgeoning album heavier. Love it. Plus, John Golden mastered it, and the Albini/ Golden team is a top notch sound duo.
There's more, but that's just what I can think of off the top of my head. IMHO, he usually could need a mixing engineer, because his mixing levels are pretty inconsistent. In his own words, he's not a producer, and he chooses really to leave the original mix levels when tracking--so i'd say that he isn't really a mixing engineer, anyways. The new Stooges album sounds terrible (sorry Steve!).