I can't remember what thread this came up in, so I made a new one. I just listened again, to that Wallflowers first record, specifically to "One Headlight." That was the first radio song, if anything will be heavily compressed, that's it.
First I listened to it by itself. The signature bass line that establishes to song is pretty punchy, but then when the organ and the guitar come in, they're at pretty much the same volume. Could be "loudness," or just the mix. It's a radio hit from 1996, so I can't imagine that it's not compressed. What tells me it's not severe is two things -- 1) the chorus kicks in at a noticably higher level (or at least a perceived one), and 2) when I switch back and forth between this song and songs I know are not victims of the loudness wars, it doesn't sound like I kicked up the volume knob with the transition. Does it have a lot of dynamics? Nothing dramatic, no, But overall, it is not noticeably "louder" than old, pre-loudness wars recordings.
Songs used for comparison -- original, non-remastered CDs (on my HD, of course) -- Dianna Krall "Deed I Do" from "Live in Paris. Steely Dan's "Show Biz Kids" from "Countdown to Ecstasy" and "Laughing" from David Crosby's "If I Could Only Remember My Name."
Give it another listen if you still like the music. There are no dramatic dynamics there - in that song anyway - but its not obnoxiously loud at all,
Tim
First I listened to it by itself. The signature bass line that establishes to song is pretty punchy, but then when the organ and the guitar come in, they're at pretty much the same volume. Could be "loudness," or just the mix. It's a radio hit from 1996, so I can't imagine that it's not compressed. What tells me it's not severe is two things -- 1) the chorus kicks in at a noticably higher level (or at least a perceived one), and 2) when I switch back and forth between this song and songs I know are not victims of the loudness wars, it doesn't sound like I kicked up the volume knob with the transition. Does it have a lot of dynamics? Nothing dramatic, no, But overall, it is not noticeably "louder" than old, pre-loudness wars recordings.
Songs used for comparison -- original, non-remastered CDs (on my HD, of course) -- Dianna Krall "Deed I Do" from "Live in Paris. Steely Dan's "Show Biz Kids" from "Countdown to Ecstasy" and "Laughing" from David Crosby's "If I Could Only Remember My Name."
Give it another listen if you still like the music. There are no dramatic dynamics there - in that song anyway - but its not obnoxiously loud at all,
Tim
