Post by JHi all!
I have the RCHP album Californication in my record collection.
I really like the music, but it sounds awful due to
over use of dynamic compression.
Last year I saw a new album in the record shops by RHCP.
But just as I held the album in my hand, I remebered how
awful Californication sounds. So I put it back in the shelf!
I didn't want to pay full price for a new album and later
discover it is made of distortion.
Is it just the album Californication that is so badly produced,
or are the other RHCP albums better sounding, or even worse?
Regards
/J
the day after i bought Californication and was going nuts trying to
figure out why it sounded distorted on the studio monitors (thinking
surely it couldn't be the disc itself...i'm so naive) there was an A&R
from warner at the studio and i overheard her talking about the record
with one of her colleagues on the phone in the lounge. after she hung
up, she told us that the album was being quietly recalled and
re-mastered because the audio was clipped on the first run.
apparently, the band was able to push it through past the normal
channels in the company because they needed to get the record out and
by that time had some pull at the label. apparently someone in their
camp wanted it hot as all fucking hell and went a step too far.
i never did re-buy the album, so i never heard the "corrected"
version. maybe you should go to a used CD store or record store that
let's you listen to stuff before you buy and see if you can't find one
of the "fixed" copies.
i bought the new RHCP album with the best of hopes that after one
warm-up album (californication) that seemed to be headed in the right
direction, with the old line-up they might recapture their
BloodSugarSexMagik glory, but the new record made me wince all over
the place in embarrasment for the band...mostly for anthony kiedis.
there are spots on the record where he suddenly gets a british accent
and the lyrics sound very contrived in many places...like they're an
afterthought to the song. i read, after listening to the album, that
he and rick rubin holed up and did the vocals sometime over a year
after the initial tracks were layed down, so there's probably
something to that.
apparently the Mars Volta album was recorded in the same house as
BloodSugarSexMagik and flea and john frusciante play on it. maybe the
peppers should rent the place again and actually make a record
together in one place at one time. just a thought.