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The first three Stranglers albums were recorded at TW Studios in Fulham and produced by Martin Rushent, and he was present at a session in December 1978 that predated the main recording of The Raven where 'Fools Rush Out' and 'Yellowcake UF6' – eventual B-side songs – were recorded. Yet when he heard a demo of a new track, 'The Meninblack', he decided that he no longer wanted to work with them. He told journalist Gary Kent, 'I went out the door. I'd just had enough of The Stranglers. They were losing it'.

Alan Winstanley, who had engineered those earlier albums, stepped in and co-produced The Raven with the band. 'I declared to the world that I was a producer', he told Sound On Sound. The group also changed location, recording at EMI's Pathé Marconi facility in Paris and enjoying both the change of scene and the studio. Burnel has described Pathé Marconi as 'old fashioned', having vintage equipment that included a 'valved mixing desk'.

The production of The Raven has more colour than Black And White's 'slickly produced gloominess', as it was described by critic Gary Sperrazza of US magazine Trouser Press. Rushent had been particularly keen on highlighting Burnel's aggressive bass sound, which was dominant on that album. This had caused some tensions with Hugh Cornwell, as it made Burnel stand out from the rest of the group.

Once the tracks had been recorded, operations were moved to Air Studios in London, where Winstanley mixed the album with the assistance of Steve Churchyard, who went on to engineer a number of subsequent Stranglers releases.