Ozzy,
Springsteen uses Bob Ludwig for Mastering - Bob uses Eggleston Ivy's (his own custom design) - might that explain it? ;-) Magic was particularly bad. Anyway if you use Egglestons for mastering...just kidding ....but it is true that Bob Ludwig has moved more to the dark side of the loudness wars recently (producers and artists demand it)
I think it is definitely intentional with Springsteen - I would guess he insists on it - it is always over compressed even Born to Run was bad long before compression became a terrible problem in the industry. It is probably because Bruce's mainstream audience are those who drive Ford pickups with huge towing capacity - noisy cabs on rough roads make compressed music the natural choice...
Springsteen uses Bob Ludwig for Mastering - Bob uses Eggleston Ivy's (his own custom design) - might that explain it? ;-) Magic was particularly bad. Anyway if you use Egglestons for mastering...just kidding ....but it is true that Bob Ludwig has moved more to the dark side of the loudness wars recently (producers and artists demand it)
I think it is definitely intentional with Springsteen - I would guess he insists on it - it is always over compressed even Born to Run was bad long before compression became a terrible problem in the industry. It is probably because Bruce's mainstream audience are those who drive Ford pickups with huge towing capacity - noisy cabs on rough roads make compressed music the natural choice...