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from the some-art,-some-science,-and-a-whole-lotta-black-magic dept.
According to many Metallica devotees, the official version of the band's 2008 record Death Magnetic is not the one worth listening to. Upon the album's release, fan forums exploded in disgust, choked with complaints that the songs sounded shrill, distorted, ear-splitting. These listeners liked the music and the songwriting, but everything was so loud they couldn't really hear anything. There was no nuance. Their ears hurt. And these are Metallica fans—people ostensibly undeterred by extremity. But this was too much.
The consensus seemed to be that Death Magnetic was a good record that sounded like shit. That the whole thing was drastically over-compressed, eliminating any sort of dynamic range. That it had been ruined in mastering. Eventually, more than 12,000 fans signed a petition in protest of the "unlistenable" product, and a mass mail-back-a-thon of CDs commenced. The whole episode provoked a series of questions, not just about what had gone wrong with Death Magnetic but about the craft in question: What is mastering, exactly? How does it work? Beyond the engineers themselves, almost no one seems to know.
An article on sound engineering, but the real question is, people listened to Metallica after 2000?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Rich on Wednesday May 25 2016, @12:19AM
Wow, another Fates Warning fan.
Heh. Where did I say so? I just mentioned that I think many people who scientifically care about the dynamic range of their music will probably appreciate Fates Warning, too ;). I think at times they can be a bit difficult to listen to, but they have that side project, O.S.I., which I find super chilly.
Myself, apart from classic and new Metal, Punk, Oi, Industrial, Electro, and Space stuff, I'm lately interested in some far east approaches to these genres; Tengger Cavalry, Shonen Knife, Mad Capsule Markets. Oh, and Babymetal. Their live band hammered like Marduk fearing to miss the last tank to Poland (...to join Behemoth for a concert of course ;) when I saw them around here.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday May 25 2016, @08:55PM
With advances in sound systems in vehicles and headphones with actual dynamic range, I find myself listening to Prog much more in the car or at work when I cannot use a proper sound system. I still feel that something like A Pleasant Shade of Gray is difficult to properly appreciate in these circumstances. But even then it is my favorite piece of music of all time.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh