Why do mass marketed CD's sound so crappy?

Speaking of this, my girlfriend received the latest release from a band called "The Darkness". This disc sounds SO bad it is insane. I'm not just talking about the recording quality either : ) Sean
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The use of compression is an extremely MAJOR problem. This not only alters the dynamics of the recording, but can also introduce major amounts of smearing with a lack of definition.

Another problem is the fact that some studios are using speakers with very poor frequency response linearity as their point of reference. When mixing down, the engineers have to factor in what they hear in terms of the sonic presentation that they are trying to achieve. The non-linear tonal balance of the speakers definitely alters their perception of the original recording, affecting the end results and presentation of what we hear in our systems. Recordings that were made and mixed down using reference speakers that lack bass end up getting too much bass to compensate for what they heard in the studio. Recordings that were made and mixed down using reference speakers that are bloated end up getting thinned out and lack impact and warmth. Same goes for speakers that are excessively bright or dull, etc...

As far as recordings sounding good on a car stereo, that is the method that Ric Ocasek of the Cars used when mixing. He would listen to the recording through various "beat to death" car speakers and adjust the sound accordingly to what he heard there. Anyone that has heard Ric's work knows that it is actually better than most of what is being reproduced today ( or even back then ), so we can't blame the bad sound on even the low quality of most car speakers. Sean
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I received a few emails commenting on the "great accuracy" of many "studio" type monitors. While some of these monitors "may" measure well, they do so under very specific conditions. That is, they are like ANY other speaker. As such, their placement, room acoustics, spl levels, nearfield reflections, listening distance, etc... all effect their performance and what those doing the mixing tend to hear. Once again, what they hear is what determines how the disc sounds to us. Sean
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PS... even many of the engineers that are doing the recording / mixing, etc... are complaining about the demands that the record companies are putting on them in terms of sound quality. They want HIGH average listening levels, which means more smearing, less dynamic range and a loss of low level resolution. Isn't that what you're hearing with most modern recordings?