Californication - Horrible Quality

[diggy_dude]

Even when the 14 year old grows up, he/she will find comfort in the sonic quality, or lack there of, of the music of his youth.

I guess I'm fortunate that the music of my youth was generally well-produced then.

The sound quality of an album has never really been a factor in album sales.

Perhaps not. But there are a lot of modern records I wouldn't buy, even though I like the songs, because the extreme compression grates on my nerves too much for me to listen to them often enough to get my money's worth.

I get what you're saying though. It doesn't make a difference to someone who doesn't know any better.

 

[AbuseTheMuses]

maybe i'm just having the hearing loss of years, but i thought the track was fine. the whole thing does seem very 'hot' sounding but isn't that what they were trying to do?

mixing, mastering, all that stuff... really is such a subjective listener-based thing. I personally don't like the album because I don't like much of the style of the songwriting/riffwriting but that's just me. I really don't see much problem with some sizzly cymbals and a vocal that sounds like it is pushing for loudiness, just so long as the other layers are equally 'stand-out' pimped. So everything in the song is standing out, including the synth bass, the cymbals, the kick, the trilliness of the wackachicka sounding backup guitar... even the frantic blast of the vocal flow (the frantic verse rhythm and the manic delivery) is just LOUD. Who's to say that isn't what they were going for?