Loudness War Albums List

[JuicySwoos]

I just recently snagged the new Alice in Chains LP.  I opened the package and out comes this beautiful clear non colored vinyl.  I was so excited to give it a spin.  I place it on the the turntable, dropped the needle, and out comes this narrow, high volume, noisy, and fatiguing sound with no dynamic range.

With Bob Ludwig's article on his mastering of Chinese Democracy, how he was excited that Axl chose the master with no loss of dynamic range, and his hope that the album would help put an end to the loudness war, I hate to say it seems to have yet accomplish that feat.  I know it only has been a little of a year since the release, but I was very dissapointed with the mastering of the new AIC record.

For those of you that care about this subject, here is a website that has a number of albums rated based on their dynamic range.  You will see Chinese Democracy gets acceptable scores, and albums like Death Magnetic are rated poor.  I plan on submitting additonal albums so the list becomes more comprehensive, and I encourage any other anti-loundness board members to do the same.

http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/

An interesting tid bit, is that Appetite is often considered one of the first albums to start the "loudness war". However it was not mastered to the point where dynamic range was lost, just to the maxium of that dynamic range.  You will see that the scores on this website are similar to Chinese Democracy.

I would like to get opinions from board members on recent releases that they consider mastered "too loud" and recent releases that are mastered with full dynamic range.

With that said, I understand modern music is mastered for I-tunes, and "louder" music can be better suited for how most people now listen to music...in their cars, on the bus, working out, etc...where music with less dynamic range can better block out other noise.  So for those of you who are dinasours like me, and mostly do critical listening in their living room with a glass scotch or other choice of adult beverage, let me know what you think are some good and bad recent masters.

[Jdog0830]

Looks intersting thanks!!!

 


Joe

[mrlee]

if i get the opportunity for a major album release.

Id definately take my time in picking the guys handling stuff.

Id like my album to be fairly loud, but not so compressed the dynamics turn into static!

[D]

Depends on the album

CD it would've sucked cause there are tons of different instruments going on


Metallica Death Magnetic, I love it and never got the big fuss.. I think it is just people who have to find something to bitch about and Metallica made one of their greatest albums ever, so something had to be found to bitch at, cause God forbid a band actually give people what they want and with excellent quality.


So, with music such as GNR, Prince etc, I don't like the Loud dynamic loss

Straight hard shit like Metallica, bring it on

[LunsJail]

^^^^Can't agree with you more D. Metallica put out their best album in about 20 years and people still bitch. What did they want? Another St. Anger? As for the new AIC, it sounds great to me. But I'm no audiophile either.

[AxlsMainMan]

..No. I think most people wanted an album that didn't literally turn to static and breakup because it was mixed so loud.

[CheapJon]

finally gonna download the guitar hero version and compare now

[JuicySwoos]

I agree with D in that is does depend on the album.  However for me that only goes so far as to whether or not the album is listenable.  Prince's new album is mastered very loud, it still sounds ok, but it would still sound much better if it wasn't.  

As for AIC, if you listen to the new record and Dirt back to back, you can tell the difference.  Dirt is already  "too loud", but there is at least enough room to get some dynamic range out of sounds like Rooster and Down in A Hole. The transition from the quieter parts of the song to the loud parts you still get that increase in volume that jumps out at you.

Death Magnetic...that is a valid complaint and not something you file under "finding something to bitch about".  There was a poll on the Metallica forum on which version people preferred, the album master, or the GH3 master. 90% voted for the GH3 master.  That is the reason this album created such a fuss, because people actually had an A/B comparison available, so they finally understood what this "too loud" thing was all about.  You will see that the GH3 version is rated on the website, and it gets good scores.

The heavy rock stuff is already inherently loud, dirty with a huge dynamic range, so it would be more important to master those records correctly, not the other way around.   I couldn't imagine what a song like "One" would sound like if it was the same volume the whole song.  The ups and downs, peaks and valleys, soft to loud, is one of the best features of that song.

And again, the caveat for much of this is how people listen to music.  Most don't have or don't want fancy ass stereo systems where the flaws in the master will be fully exposed.  The one album I wished would have started a trend is the White Stripes "Icky Thump".  The CD/downlad was mastered loud, the LP was mastered directly from the original analog recording with full dynamic range.  

Another case of record companies being their own worst enemy.

[D]

I think it depends on what u are listening on as well

I have a nice car system, so Death Magnetic kicks fucking ass

now if u are listening on shitty laptop or computer speakers.. thats another argument altogether.

[Alan]

death magnetic should be re-released with the guitar hero mix.

the songs are great, but i can't listen to the cd and enjoy it.

[AxlsMainMan]

I think it depends on what u are listening on as well

I have a nice car system, so Death Magnetic kicks fucking ass

now if u are listening on shitty laptop or computer speakers.. thats another argument altogether.

My Dad has a BOSE sound system in his Avalanche and Death Magnetic sounds absolutely embarassing.

[JuicySwoos]

I think it depends on what u are listening on as well

I have a nice car system, so Death Magnetic kicks fucking ass

now if u are listening on shitty laptop or computer speakers.. thats another argument altogether.

My Dad has a BOSE sound system in his Avalanche and Death Magnetic sounds absolutely embarassing.

Yes, the higher fidelity of the sound system, the crappier that album sounds.

[Jdog0830]

This probobly sounds good with the instrimentals from some Velvet Revolver songs

[Eazy E]

Californication is the worst offender of "loud" albums that I've heard.  I clearly need to check out Death Magnetic the way you guys are raving about the songs on there.