for quality reasons i always liked it that Axl was goin for the lowest compressed version out of the 3 given to him.
but "Bob Ludwig" from "Gateway Mastering & DVD" is not telling the truth at all because the official released CD still doesnt have full dynamics. here are the frequencies:
as you can see many frequencies "cut" above 0db. its still much much better than some current Judas Priest (live) or Metallica (DM) releases, but it still CUTS FREQUENCIES leading to loosing the full dynamics Bob L. is claming to have on CD.
for further info on the "loudness war" check this short but informative clip here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ