Album Rating: 5.0

production is great, idk what you expect from 80s maximalist pop pastiche

obligatory eyeroll @anyone who mentions production and immediately reaches for DR to crutch up their argument

Album Rating: 4.5

Production is perfect. Fuck you.

Album Rating: 4.5

“80s maximalist pop pastiche”



Incredible description. 10/10

Album Rating: 3.0

@sinternet



It's not the production. It's the mastering. 80s pop records generally aren't compressed like this is. I actually love 80s pop maximalism... actually maximalism in general. This sounds very contemporary though in how loud it is. If anything, it's kind of ironic because the expectations of an 80s sound would be far less compressed than this.



@johnnyofthewell not sure how DR isn't a valid complaint. I have to listen to it, don't I? It's no more valid than any other part of music. I'd also treat it as separate from production insofar as it belongs to the engineers. More of an eyeroll at the fact that you're all confusing the two.



I bought the CD version (of this and Dedicated). The DR is fairly bad. The album sounds flat and brick walled to me. https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/94133



That's quite significant in how it compares to records from the 80s. Take MJ's Bad for example. https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/185137



But I think the whole point is that Emotion is meant to be loud and ear grabbing. It's meant to stand out on the radio or when streaming. The context is different to the state of music in the 80s. A lot of pop engineers will do this now. Doesn't really suit me as much when listening with headphones on because the fidelity just isn't there. That said, the songs are so fun anyway that it's not a deal breaker in this case. Just a complaint.

okay my bad, appreciate you making the distinction between production and mastering/DR - have had my fill of people who reduce their grievances with the former to the latter, but you shall remained UNTARRED by that brush!!
as someone who generally cares not at all about (esp pop) music brickwalled tae fuck as long as it hits a hard enough rush, this has never bothered me with this record. ALTHOUGH maybe it is part of the reason why the intro/verse build of Run Away With Me has always struck me as underwhelming and the verses of All That never lounged out as hard as I felt they should hmmm

low dr makes actual dynamics in the music less effective yea

it also makes it physically hard to listen to for some people

high dr does make a lot of music a pain in the arse to jam with headphones and/or in a space with background noise
the volume gymnastics you have to play with any vintage albini album on a commute, dude :[

>high dr does make a lot of music a pain in the arse to jam with headphones and/or in a space with background noise


i feel this too ...

Album Rating: 3.0

It's all psychoacoustics and what you're expecting of your music. I jam to a lot of albums with bad dynamic range for the same reason. Other records can be absolutely exhausting to listen to for me because they're so brick-walled that I get fatigued. For example, 'Boy Problems' is a really flat sounding song that is a little loud for my ears but it's also super fun. Would I like the song more if it was a little fuller? Sure, but it's still a bop and a half.



As you said Johnny, there's certain expectations to have with contemporary pop music. Like, okay, comparatively, I think Janelle Monae's Electric Lady sounds a lot better than this record as does the plethora of 80s pop music that this album emulates but I also have different to temper that and say contemporary pop has different priorities. Same way I would expect a classical or jazz record, where engineering is typically very good regardless of the format, to sound better than a contemporary pop record. It doesn't sound as nice to me as the original releases of a lot of 80s music like MJ but the context in which Carly's music exists is different now than it was back then. Example of a contemporary 80's pop song with good dynamic range/shilling a song I love: https://youtu.be/3rcfxV-B-Ks



Also, my 3 rating for this record is thumbs up big time. I do actually like this album XD. Compare this to something like Kanye West's MBDTF or Wolf Alice's Blue Weekend where there's clipping issues on CD and so much noise that I have to turn it off? Emotion can be fatiguing for me when I'm listening with ear buds but it's also far more enjoyable than Twisted Fantasy...



I appreciate again that it's all context and psychoacoustics. It's something that concerns a particular listener in particular scenarios. Some of the music I jam to has an element where the fidelity and textural space of the music is very nice, even if it means the music are generally quieter and less danceable. Hell, in an ideal world, you'd have the choice. I guess we do for 80s records and their remasters, where the later releases tend to be louder and more compressed than their original releases. (https://youtu.be/85kXfZY0Yuo)



I still stand by it being a valid point of critique on the mastering as lyricism would to a songwriter. If it affects the listening experience of the music for a certain person, then I think it's reasonable so long as I can rationally explain myself. Not easy to do either because it's not so black and white. There's a lot of people who don't care or have different preferences. Not everyone writes about it. It's not as popular a topic as theme or production. Stuff like form or engineering is generally discussed under specific communities (musicians, audiophiles etc.)

i got to "psychoacoustics" and tapped out

gimme love gimme love gimme love gimme love gimme pleeeeeeeease cos i want what i want but with you it's what i need

Album Rating: 3.0

A band needs to call themselves psychoacoustics. There probably already is.

Album Rating: 4.0

Damn this shit rules

Album Rating: 5.0

its like everything you say is a sweet reval a hation

Album Rating: 5.0

all i wanna do is get into your head

Album Rating: 5.0

yeah we could stay alone you and me in this temptation

Album Rating: 5.0

sippin on your lips hanging on by a thread, baaybaay

Album Rating: 5.0

wutang5ever

Do you guys all share a single brain cell or

Album Rating: 5.0

yes