why are some cd's so bright sounding


I just purchased Jewel's and Chris Isaac's newest releases and can't believe how bright they sound compared to their older stuff. What is up with that? I love the songs but can't stand to listen to the harsh sounds on my setup.
bigwavedave
Not all companies who process recordings these days are as concerned about "musicality" and studio "rightness" of sound. "Get that product out there" seems to be 95% of the marketplace, but lets not forget, 95% of the marketplace owns cheap hi-fi. Producers often add their own "soundglazing" or overproduce to compensate for todays mass-market playback equipment. Let's not always blame the producers either!.... Most recordings sound thin, bright,hard and equalized, simply because that little extra effort was not spent in the mixdown process. Recording engineers know what sounds right, for the most part, but they are always limited by budgets, time and direction. This could also be the way the artist wanted it, and lastly, let's not forget, digital will NEVER equal good analogue although they are getting closer over the yrs.