[NightStalker]

Haha this reminds me of when I first got into quality audio. I went from owning the cheapest logitech speakers available to some CD-3000's, Meir Audio amp and a NAD CD player. First thing I did was put on my favorite CD at the time.. Californication. I almost cried, I actually couldn't listen to the whole CD and thought I had just wasted about a year of pocket money... Funnily enough I haven't bought a Chilli's album since

 

[tongson]

Get Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991). Sounds better than Californication. You may also find it musically better.

 

[scytheavatar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tongson /img/forum/go_quote.gif Get Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991). Sounds better than Californication. You may also find it musically better.

Exactly. The music in Californication is weaksauce and no amount of production could have saved it. Blood Sugar Sex Magik is the only RHCP album I have respected them for.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Does anyone know if the Californication LP is any better? I love the music, but the CD is unlistenable from the compression. If the LP is better, I might invest in a copy.

What a shame - Californication is up there with the Flaming Lips' At War With the Mystics as music I love but can't listen to due to horrible mastering.

 

[LFF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Does anyone know if the Californication LP is any better? I love the music, but the CD is unlistenable from the compression. If the LP is better, I might invest in a copy. What a shame - Californication is up there with the Flaming Lips' At War With the Mystics as music I love but can't listen to due to horrible mastering.

Stay away from the LP. It's sourced from the CD. The CD is as good as it is going to get unless you know how to remaster it.

 

[tongson]

MoFi of Californication please

 

[fatgh0st]

It's incredibly frustrating. Anymore, just about anything released by the mainstream labels is over-mastered garbage. Some worse than others (as displayed by the few mentioned in this thread), but almost everything sounds terrible when you play it through a reference system. The most recent one for me was the album '19' by Adele. I heard her on Saturday Night Live a few weeks back and liked the tune. Bought the CD and was utterly disgusted when listening to how badly it had been butchered and compressed. It will not get another listen becuase it actually hurt my ears on some of the tracks.

On the brightside, this has driven me to more of the 'audiophile-centric' lables where I have discovered an incredible amount of new artists and broadened my genre-base while continuing to enjoy properly recorded and properly mastered music.

 

[Gollie]

I was extremely disappointed with this album also. Coldplay was also a big disappointment.

 

[fixt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gollie /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was extremely disappointed with this album also. Coldplay was also a big disappointment.

I agree with your observations on the Coldplay album, musically and conceptually I think it's wonderful, but it could be so much better if the range wasn't so jumbled. I really think that if it hadn't been mastered in this manner I could have really felt he songs emotionally. Granted, it's by far not the worst offender in this respect and I suppose if you're looking to make money with an album you cater to the mainstream crowd who generally aren't interesting in listening to the subtleties within music.

I suppose that loudness is one of the reasons that I've almost stop listening to mainstream music and have taken solace in, air quotes, "Indie" recordings, which I generally find to be better dynamically.

 

[SeabeeRob213]

I wish I read this 20 minutes ago before buying it on hdtracks