I appreciate the comments. The www.turnmeup.org site is a great idea and resource Cleaneduphippy. The links listed were very interesting, particularly the Rolling Stone article from last year. This problem is significantly larger than I was aware. To the other responders, I was not questioning the quality of the new Metallica album as much as the recording technique. The compressed music is probably great for your convertible or in a bar, but not in the comfort of my home. The new software programs that can correct pitch and rhythm sometimes make recordings sound too homogenous. Keith Moon and John Bonham's distinctive styles were part of the successful formula for Zeppelin and the Who-- mistakes and all. Wouldn't it be great if Lars could have crescendos in a song and build to a climactic ending like they used to.
Wall St. Journal article
Anyone see the WSJ Thursday 9/25 about Metallica's latest cd "Death Magnetic" and how it was mastered for ipod's and was the loudest recording ever? The band wanted it to sound loud through earbuds. The mastering engineer was embarrassed to be associated with the project because we all know that by compressing levels at the mastering stage, the dynamics are completely lost. No subtle cymbals, no strumming guitars. No surprising nuances for audiophiles.Now I realize that Metallica is not exactly marketing to the audiophile set. However, Springsteen's latest cd "Magic" used the same strategy and I thought it sounded like crap.The recordings are designed for low end reproduction and not bringing out the best performance by the artist. If I want a wall of sound, I will crank up my maggies. Comments?