Hey Ben...unfortunately, over-compression is unbelievably common thse days. The artists don't really (usually) have much say in the matter. The lables want their releases to be as loud as possible to make them "stand out" from other releases (and to make matters worse, most radio stations also overcompress). I've read many articles where all of the main mastering engineers say that it's gotten out of hand. THey realize that they're technically degrading the sound, but they won't get any business if they don't make it sound as "loud" as the labels prefer. It doesn't necessarily make a recording sound "bad" (not if it's engineered well), but it will make it sound flat and they quickly become fatiguing to listen to.
Rock and Roll Snobbery
Can anyone explain why otherwise high end, musical systems might "not be good for rock and roll?" Or why a system that sounds fine for pop and rock might not do justice to classical and jazz? It seems to me that a great system should sound good with all types of music and that a good for classical system might be deficient in bass which is not exactly state of the art.