How to destroy great songs, and how to do it correctly.

[SVTDarin]

Haha yeah right. You must have wooden ears. Death Magnetic was one of the worst sounding recordings of this century. If you don't believe me, Google it. It's ear piercingly poorly recorded.

I did and they say you are wrong too.

Rolling Stone: Death Magnetic is the musical equivalent of Russia's invasion of Georgia — a sudden act of aggression from a sleeping giant.

Loudwire: This was Metallica as they were meant to be, barreling in full-on progressive thrash mode in a way they hadn’t since 1988’s …And Justice for All. Not only was the band firing on all cylinders creatively on their ninth studio album, they were vibing in a way they hadn’t since the death of Cliff Burton

Consequence of Sound: They did the unthinkable and came out on top of the mountain with one of the heaviest albums in years.

Metal Archives was the only mediocre review out of all the reviews on page 1 of the search: As a whole, the songs are good and even for the most skeptical, there are some truly brilliant moments. This is a good sign with regard to the health of the band and also the proof that they still have a small spark able to remind reminiscences of ancient times.

I stopped reading there and didn't post the other 2 or 3 great reviews.

 

[apex svt]

Florida Georgia lines version of -Stay. Is ass compared to Black Stone Cherry.
I’m anti modern country, can’t stand any of it.

 

[98 svt]

I did and they say you are wrong too.

Rolling Stone: Death Magnetic is the musical equivalent of Russia's invasion of Georgia — a sudden act of aggression from a sleeping giant.

Loudwire: This was Metallica as they were meant to be, barreling in full-on progressive thrash mode in a way they hadn’t since 1988’s …And Justice for All. Not only was the band firing on all cylinders creatively on their ninth studio album, they were vibing in a way they hadn’t since the death of Cliff Burton

Consequence of Sound: They did the unthinkable and came out on top of the mountain with one of the heaviest albums in years.

Metal Archives was the only mediocre review out of all the reviews on page 1 of the search: As a whole, the songs are good and even for the most skeptical, there are some truly brilliant moments. This is a good sign with regard to the health of the band and also the proof that they still have a small spark able to remind reminiscences of ancient times.

I stopped reading there and didn't post the other 2 or 3 great reviews.

Well first off, you are giving me album reviews, not actual sound reviews. Rolling Stone and Livewire are a joke these days anyway, really cant trust their opinion.
As far as the sound goes it is one of the worst sounding albums of the "loudness wars". There is almost no Dynamic Range (DR). Once the music starts, it's pretty much pegged at 0db (not a good thing). I know you are probably not an audiophile, but I am and I can tell you that album wants to make my ears bleed. Much the way some people can listen to MP3s all day, and some get fatigued.
Here is the DR rating for one of the more popular tracks. The blue is the CD, the Green is the "Guitar Hero" mastering, see the difference?

And here's is the DR value for all of the different masters. Not good.

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=Metallica&album=Death+magnetic

I mean, if you like it, and think it sounds good, then that's great. Seriously, I envy you. Every time I try to get through the full album I get bad ear fatigue and need to stop the album. That is with me playing it on vinyl, which is known to have better DR values than CD in most cases.

 

[Never_Enough]

Haha yeah right. You must have wooden ears. Death Magnetic was one of the worst sounding recordings of this century. If you don't believe me, Google it. It's ear piercingly poorly recorded.

Why would they record it so poorly is the real question

 

[98 svt]

Why would they record it so poorly is the real question

Ever hear of the "Loudness War"?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

Read up on it on Wikipedia, it's rather interesting.
Oh, and make sure you check out the "2000s" section...

"In 2008, loud mastering practices received mainstream media attention with the release of Metallica's Death Magnetic album. The CD version of the album has a high average loudness that pushes peaks beyond the point of digital clipping, causing distortion. This was reported by customers and music industry professionals, and covered in multiple international publications, including Rolling Stone,[10] The Wall Street Journal,[11] BBC Radio,[12] Wired,[13] and The Guardian.[14] Ted Jensen, a mastering engineer involved in the Death Magnetic recordings, criticized the approach employed during the production process.[15] A version of the album without dynamic range compression was included in the downloadable content for the video game Guitar Hero III.[16]"

 

[SVTDarin]

Gotcha, you're looking at the nuts and bolts of the recording and I am looking at whether or not the music makes me want to get up and punch someone in the throat.

Well first off, you are giving me album reviews, not actual sound reviews. Rolling Stone and Livewire are a joke these days anyway, really cant trust their opinion.
As far as the sound goes it is one of the worst sounding albums of the "loudness wars". There is almost no Dynamic Range (DR). Once the music starts, it's pretty much pegged at 0db (not a good thing). I know you are probably not an audiophile, but I am and I can tell you that album wants to make my ears bleed. Much the way some people can listen to MP3s all day, and some get fatigued.
Here is the DR rating for one of the more popular tracks. The blue is the CD, the Green is the "Guitar Hero" mastering, see the difference?
View attachment 1449724

And here's is the DR value for all of the different masters. Not good.

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=Metallica&album=Death+magnetic

I mean, if you like it, and think it sounds good, then that's great. Seriously, I envy you. Every time I try to get through the full album I get bad ear fatigue and need to stop the album. That is with me playing it on vinyl, which is known to have better DR values than CD in most cases.

 

[98 svt]

Gotcha, you're looking at the nuts and bolts of the recording and I am looking at whether or not the music makes me want to get up and punch someone in the throat.

Well yes and no. My ears hear the clipping/low DR value, and that ruins it for me. I can't enjoy the music. Some people don't pick it up when listening, and I envy them.
Therefore, listening to Death Magnetic makes me want to punch someone in the throat also, we just have different reasons.

 

[_Satch_]

Nice remake of Phil Collins "in the Air Tonight" -Satch

 

[mr2cam]

My favorite cover

 

[svtfocus2cobra]

My favorite cover

Hell yes!

Sent from my SM-G935P using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[Never_Enough]

Gotcha, you're looking at the nuts and bolts of the recording and I am looking at whether or not the music makes me want to get up and punch someone in the throat.

I don't need music to want to punch certain folks in the throat. Does that mean I should trash my iPod?

 

[ssj4sadie]

I don't need music to want to punch certain folks in the throat. Does that mean I should trash my iPod?

Yes. Good thing you won’t lose your phone over this.

 

[96 cobra]

Ahh, the no headache version...

Although not a full-band cover, still a damn good one:

 

[98 svt]

Ahh, the no headache version...

Although not a full-band cover, still a damn good one:

Haha, does it give you listening fatigue as well?

 

[tones_RS3]

I LOVE this album, but with the original line-up.

 

[96 cobra]

Haha, does it give you listening fatigue as well?

Definitely... some people in the vid comments pointed out how the original has a ton of compression, but then again so does certain pink floyd albums and they sound great, it's all about those extra/unneeded 1-2db's.

 

[bb83]

Damn. There isn't much Corey Taylor can't do.

 

[bb83]

Yes I love that cover by Spineshank.

Diamond Eyes is good. But yeah other than DE the other albums have made me question calling myself a fan of theirs.

Came in here to post this...

I love Deftones but probably one of the most successful bands with a lead singer who cant sing lol

 

[96 cobra]

 

[Revvv]

I'm destroying about 5 hours worth of music right now. I have a birthday party to DJ this weekend (I don't DJ much, but it's fun from time to time). So for the next few days I will be locked in the control room putting together remixes. Yes, EDM, Pop, Hip Hop, and Country dance music. Extra bass please.

At least I get to program lighting and atmospheric effects for the party.

Sent from my [device_name] using the svtperformance.com mobile app