Wall St. Journal article

In an email even the recording engineer says "it's something I'm not proud of." He had to backpeddle after it was posted to a forum but still said his sentiment is the same and that he could have said it better. If you take one look at the waveform on the new album you can tell it's going to sound bad. In the WSJ, they compare the waveform of the new album compared with one of their older tunes, Black I believe. The difference is amazing. St. Auger sounded terrible - that snare drum and compression - oh. So bad. Metallic haven't released anything that sounded decent since And Justice for All. I'm embarassed for them - one of quite a few once great bands when they feel they have resort to DSP to make their stuff sound ok. p.s. did you see the documentary on them - "Making a Monster" something like that? They're a pathetic bunch not to mention Dave Mustaine's whining was as painful as it gets for a "heavy" metaller.

Perhaps if more artists and record producers, engineers, ect were involved with the "Turn It Up" organization then perhaps the industry could come up with some standards that would allow recordings to have more more dynamic range to them. I also wouldn't mind if quality recording would get a "Turn It Up' certification. Anyway, here's a link for Turn It Up and what they're all about.

http://www.turnmeup.org/

I have it but haven't listened to it yet.....will come back with a report

I appreciate the comments. The www.turnmeup.org site is a great idea and resource Cleaneduphippy. The links listed were very interesting, particularly the Rolling Stone article from last year. This problem is significantly larger than I was aware. To the other responders, I was not questioning the quality of the new Metallica album as much as the recording technique. The compressed music is probably great for your convertible or in a bar, but not in the comfort of my home. The new software programs that can correct pitch and rhythm sometimes make recordings sound too homogenous. Keith Moon and John Bonham's distinctive styles were part of the successful formula for Zeppelin and the Who-- mistakes and all. Wouldn't it be great if Lars could have crescendos in a song and build to a climactic ending like they used to.

Maxnewid

I wish I could hear the disc at home but I do not have speakers at the moment.

I was listening to this on my iPod at work today through my Grado SR60 headphones. it sounded OK for the most part, but since this post, I started paying attention to the sonics of this disc. Anyway, on "Judas Kiss", I noticed the bass was very distorted, kick drums were too. It almost was too loud that I had to turn it down. I looked at the EQ setting on the iPod and confirmed it was set to "off". I couldn't believe it! I listened again and same thing. I guess I did not notice this before when listening to it in the car. Through the Grados though, it was apparent. Not on all songs but on some of them you do hear this distortion. it almost sounds like the iPod was overdriving the 'phones. but it is not. I know it for a fact.

I have been a Metallica fan for more than 20 years now. They never produced an "audiophile" recording. And that is OK. They do not cater to this crowd. St. Anger really was a mess music and sound wise. This album is better.

The only Metallica song that sounded real good tghrough my system and the one that actually had some audiophile attributes(sound stage, imaging, detail) was the "Outlaw Thorn" from the "Load" cd. I really can't name any other Metallica song that would qualify for a high-end system playback. I still enjoy Metallica for what it is. but mostly in the car or through the iPod.