Tough call. People are (a) lemmings and (b) not particularly inclined to take chances when the economy isn't what it used to be, even less so when targeting as wide an audience as possible.
There's plenty of great-sounding material from about the mid-'90s and earlier out there. With modern-day stuff it's more a matter of finding out where compression wasn't cranked up to eleven. Quite commonly you'll also find much better mastering with better dynamics on the
vinyl editions (poor ol' CD
). Aforementioned Lady Gaga
is one such case, in fact.