A little different than what we usually report on, I still felt like this was pretty important stuff. The album, in spite of it's horrible mastering, is the #1 album worldwide. It begs the question of whether Metallica should even care about how their album is mixed, and furthermore, why a video game version of the album would be less compressed than, y'know, the actual CD.

I don't really mind the sound of the album, althought I guess a lot of people do. There is another version of this album floating around the internets that has all the songs edited in length and makes them punchier.

It has to do with shitty sound compression and clipping, not length. It's unacceptable the way they've mastered the album. It isn't even mixed, it's like they just turned the volume all the way up.

I think you're right, this should be the farthest thing from Metallica's minds right now; they did a good job with this one and that shouldn't be taken away from them. Seems like there's always gotta be some kind of controversy with them since their fall from grace.
It's a good album, the mastering didn't have much effect on that for me

I have no complaints about the sound, to be honest.

The mastering doesn't even have anything to do with Metallica as far as I'm concerned. I doubt they told Sterling Sound to make it sound like shit.

I don't care about the terrible mastering, the album will probably sound really good live anyways.

true dat,^ stop nit-picking.

It's not nit-picking. Some people have standards about what they listen to and while it doesnt ruin the album it certainly impedes enjoyment for a lot of people. And even if it doesn't, the clipping is very noticeable and frankly that's totally unacceptable.

I pretty much agree with BOTB (in that the album sounds fine to me), although it's amusing that the Guitar Hero version would sound better.

It has to do with shitty sound compression and clipping, not length.

I mostly just think it's amusing that the Guitar Here version is the less-compressed one. It's like they mixed it up and pressed the wrong mix or something.

I first really noticed it when they released My Apocalypse. It bothers me a fair amount, mainly because the album is actually good and would be even better if it sounded like it should.

the mastering on this really bugs me too, there's clipping all over the place, the drums and rhythm guitar especially. not taking anything away from metallica themselves - this is an awesome album - but the record label should suck it up and have it remastered ASAP before even more people buy it and get ripped off by low-quality sound.

seriously, there's moments where i've thought "oh fuck, my speakers have finally took a shit and died!" and it's just been the distortion resulting from all the compression and volume-boosting.

the same thing happened on the chili peppers' "californication," but since most of that album featured some pretty sparse instrumentation, the full on nasty-distortion moments were few and far between, and they pretty much got away with it. for a thrash metal album like DM, there's little in the way of sparseness, and the clipping is everywhere :S

Best part is, Californication and Death Magnetic are both Rick Rubin produced.

Stuff like this really tires me. Metallica finally do something good, even great, for a change and Universal decide to basically give fuck all, basically destroying the full experience of the album. I really hope that they man up and replace every single copy of the record that has been purchased already. Only fair, if you ask me.

clipping-thats when they take two separately recorded parts and sew them together, right?

Honestly, I don't mind the sound on the album, it has a vintage feel to it.

The loudness wars is an unethical thing IMO. You know what though, most people who listen to DM won't be listening to it on sensitive audiophile equipment which will reveal just how sloppy it really is, Walmart stereos and the like will mask a lot of it.

[quote=grimbo]the same thing happened on the chili peppers' "californication," but since most of that album featured some pretty sparse instrumentation, the full on nasty-distortion moments were few and far between, and they pretty much got away with it. for a thrash metal album like DM, there's little in the way of sparseness, and the clipping is everywhere :S[/quote]

I was actually going to mention this, Californication is truly shocking through a decent hi-end pair of headphones.

i thought the mastering was pretty chill when i thought my ipod was on full volume. then realized i was only 3/4 of the way there. no biggie though.

D/L'ed a torrent that I thought just had bad production, so I bought the album and was the same. Doesnt really bother me anymore. Plus the shitty mastering just adds to the "Kill em all" garage feel they managed to pull off.

Own the album now, have no compaints about the sound.

^^ you wouldn't say that if you heard the GH3 rips going around. So many subtleties and dynamics were lost in the mastering to CD/MP3.

I really like how the album sounds. the pre black albums are all too quiet and you have to turn it up loud to appreciate the music, at least with DM you don't have to adjust. also, why are people complaining now, when years ago 'californication' was released, and its the WORST mastered CD i ever heard, i cant even listen to it, which is unfortunate because it was good.

uh, dude, having to turn it up is better than it being maxed out. Turning it up on quality equipment lets you still hear things clearly, when they louden it for you, it's just a bunch of noise .

I am madly in anger with the production quality of this album...seriously though how did it end up like this when they have gajillions of dollars at their disposal?

^ Really good point, there's almost no excuse for being the way it is. That being said, I still think it's a good album. The music is good. But that's only part of the album, as I think Cocaine said. I count production as a massive part of the overall experience, as I'm sure many others do.
This really needs a remastered re-release already.

I am madly in anger with the production quality of this album...seriously though how did it end up like this when they have gajillions of dollars at their disposal?

Added some more, including a link to a stupid "remaster or remix" petition and another quote from the mastering dude.

I've always thought the production in both Death Magnetic and St Anger were both appalling.

Suppose it turns out a lot of people agree!

yeah but in chili peppers case it was all loud and sounded fuzzy and bad. death magnetic may be loud, but its all crisp and clear to me, so i cant see a problem :S metal is sposed to be loud

It's not that it's loud so much as overdriven. It gives me a headache no matter how low (or high) I play it because of the ridiculous mixing.

And I can't see how Californication was badly mastered, apart from Around The World (which I hate- Not just the mastering, the song itself). Death Magnetic really isn't that good one way or the other. A 2.5 maybe, though that's probably influenced by the production.

Well i got to get my hands on the GH songs as the CD version sounds like ass

"It's not that it's loud so much as overdriven. It gives me a headache no matter how low (or high) I play it because of the ridiculous mixing."

Precisely the same for me. Terrible mixing ruined it a hell of a lot for me. For those people who think the blatantly attrocious mixing is "fine", there's something wrong with you if you are ok with such things.

It is like buying something half-complete/half-broken. I like to get what I pay for personally.

"yeah but in chili peppers case it was all loud and sounded fuzzy and bad. death magnetic may be loud, but its all crisp and clear to me, so i cant see a problem :S metal is sposed to be loud"

So i'm guessing your sound system doesn't have volume control?This Message Edited On 09.20.08

^^^I recommend getting the GH3 rip, it is leaps and bounds better. You can hear the dynamics, the snare takes more of a backseat and Rob's bass really shines through as well. There's also some vocal doubling on "The End of the Line" and "The Judas Kiss", and the clean guitars on UIII really come out. This is how the album should have sounded. Much, much better and no headaches.This Message Edited On 09.20.08

I have no major complaints against the mastering of the album, it sounds fine on my stereo, pretty shitty on my laptop speakers, but that's to be expected.
It doesn't change the fact that this is the band's best work in more than a decade and that it's currently my favourite album and the mastering problem doesn't overly affect my enjoyment of it.This Message Edited On 09.20.08

There's no way I can listen to this record all the way through. By the end of the second song I feel like someone is trying to saw through my head.

So like everything else it is way too loud?

People who don't mind the mastering, need to have their ears fixed, seriously.

haha Yeah even the makers of Guitar Hero knew it didnt sound that great so they polished it up themselves. They should remix it the way Nevermore did with Enemies of Reality. But then the people with the original version would be a little pissed so Idk

Now THAT was a good album, especially after the remixing!

Regardless, album is still great.

I remember buying day that never comes on itunes and putting it on my ipod. I tried listening to it in my car but the volume wasn't right. if I tried to turn it up,(either the ipod or the stereo) it would sound distorted. I figure it was the itunes quality but buying the album had the same sound.
mystery solved.

I remember reading about this issue over a year ago. once again showing the music industries quick reaction to issues...

A little different than what we usually report on, I still felt like this was pretty important stuff. The album, in spite of it's horrible mastering, is the #1 album worldwide. It begs the question of whether Metallica should even care about how their album is mixed, and furthermore, why a video game version of the album would be less compressed than, y'know, the actual CD.

How do they screw up the mastering that bad?

I downloaded the GH rips (FLAC) and converted them into MP3 320kbps and it sounds so much better then the CD

Metallica have NEVER had good production. The first two albums were alright, as was
MOP but by now it sounds kind of dated (like those reverberated drums). ...AJFA
sounds like shit. Load/Reload sound hollow and lifeless. St. Anger was an atrocity.
Lars Ulrich's drums have always sounded bad. He just makes weird choices.

In that respect, overcompression might be the least of their problems, what with its
overlong songs. Death Magnetic's overall production is dry and lean enough so that it
kind of gets away with it. The band sounds energetic and like its actually playing in a
room together. The guitars and the bass drum get the worst of the compression,
though.This Message Edited On 09.20.08

God, you guys are still talking about this album. Dudes, that was so last week hahahaha. Album was alright, sounded thin in many areas, thats all I have to input.

I posted this nearly a week ago but the news mod didn't approve it.
Nice job douchebag.

...except the article I posted had far more detail.

somd kid brought this in to show as an example for my guitar class and it blew up the stereo because it was already too loud and yeah.

Get the sand out of your vagina AP07373. Yours wasn't approved that means I didnt know you tried to post it. Secondly, news reports arent about detail. Thirdly, you probably didnt write yours. Fourthly, get the sand out of your vagina. This Message Edited On 09.20.08

...yea why would a music site be concerned with getting the news as soon as possible and with as much detail as possible? It's people with attitudes like yours that keep this site from being as credible and efficient as it could be...as much as I like this site some of the "staff" (I put this in quotations because ironically they are often times the least professional people here) are so pompous it gets in the way of the music and music news itself. Get over yourself.
Funny thing is...the site still doesn't have an article that talks about exactly why the Guitar Hero version is better and why it happened in the first place.
But according to you sputnik news articles "aren't about detail". Great philosophy...making the site proud aren't we?
You telling me to "get the sand out of my vagina" not only makes you look like a complete moron, but it shames the site because since you are a "staff" member (which in itself is becoming more of a laughing matter daily) your attitude towards some of these stories is beyond childish.
Well done...well done.This Message Edited On 09.20.08

Yeah, it's really bad sounding. People who can't hear it either have no standards, or are completely deaf. I had a feeling they were going for a deliberate distortion thing, being (like most big bands) as pretentious as they are.
So yeah. Surprised though that poor ol' Jensen got the flack of trying to master overly loud mixes. That's just something you're never meant to do. You always leave a little head room, and this has none.
And to that ass clown who was carrying on about older albums being quieter, that's basically because the technology back then lacked the capabilities to compress and amplify without getting unwanted noise. Look at a release from each decade beginning from the 20's, and you'll see how every few years or so, the technology allows for louder, more compressed music.

i like the production on this album.

"So yeah. Surprised though that poor ol' Jensen got the flack of trying to master overly loud mixes."
Well since this article doesn't include all of the details, it doesn't talk about how Metallica was on tour in Europe and basically left Warner Bros. to handle the majority of the mixing and mastering...so they weren't even a part of the compression processing. Too bad the more detailed article wasn't posted...then people would know this...

The album is great, but I mean, the mastering is pretty poor. Rick Rubin should be shot, as well as who did the mastering. It could be worse-it could have been St. Anger. I get the distorted, visceral sound they wanted, but OBVIOUSLY you can do it without the Loudness War (MoP, for example.)

I feel for Metallica. They finally made a good album, and people are complaining over the mastering...=(

Album is great. Such a sense of relief throughout by all band members, Kirk especially. Production is awful however. Hi-end frequencies just distort and it really pisses me off cause i have tried this album through like 5 sets of speakers and it appears it wasnt down to my equipment.

waited 5 years for the album. Great music, poor sound. disappointing

I would say it's classic Rick production. Yes distortion is a bit annoying at times but i don't really mind, my audio teacher back in school would go apeshit over this though.

I wish I were badass enough to be able to say I wasn't proud to be associated with Metallica.

Once again, you don't include details in a news post. It's a news post, not an essay. You include as much as you can while keeping it as underwritten, objective and general as possible. You have to write news posts geared at the lowest common denominator.

Funny thing is...the site still doesn't have an article that talks about exactly why the Guitar Hero version is better and why it happened in the first place.

Well since this article doesn't include all of the details, it doesn't talk about how Metallica was on tour in Europe and basically left Warner Bros. to handle the majority of the mixing and mastering...so they weren't even a part of the compression processing. Too bad the more detailed article wasn't posted...then people would know this...

"You're out of your league. "
This news post was actually longer than the one I posted, just less detailed. Again you make yourself look like a moron. ...and you're out of my league...based on what? I've read your reviews...read your posts...needless to say, I think you're a joke. So you can quit whining and embarrassing the site that you unfortunately represent...or you can make another false post in which I can correct you again; your choice.

The details are important, because as we can see after reading this article people are still ill-informed on what actually happened...but apparently you don't really think that's the point of news articles, which is why you come off looking like such a fool. But hey keep it up, just remember that you are the "staff" member making an ass out of himself. I was simply trying to deliver accurate news, which you don't think is important.

And Mr. "Out of my league", when did you get your BA in journalism? I got mine in '06, which I know is recent, but I'd like to see your resume you pompous piece of crap.This Message Edited On 09.21.08This Message Edited On 09.21.08

FYI: The Rubin signing off while the band was touring through Europe is a rumour. I mean, he signed it off, yeah. But it's a rumour and an assumption when you write it in making the implication that he lazily brushed it off and under-examined it because the band wasn't around to give their input. A key component in journalistic objectivity (which is far more realistic in News than it is Reviews) is to keep it as factual and attributed as possible. This is why I didnt add it in.

I don't have my full BA yet. Im working in a double program that grants me both a BA in Media Studies (since, y'know, a BA of Journalism doesn't really exist) and a Journalism diploma. Since I didn't go to post-secondary school right away, I'm still working towards it. Get the stick out of your butt.

Just so you know, I am not a news mod. I did not disapprove your news post. It was added to a queue that our mods have, sadly, misplaced. So take your misplaced anger elsewhere and stop acting like a child. This wasn't posted to cover all the controversies surrounding the Loudness wars, this wasn't posted to be an over-analytic or even entirely comprehensive explanation of the situation. It was posted, in passing, to just let people know that the mastering conditions are acknowledged both professionally and by listeners and that there are alternative solutions (such as a "petition" and the GH tracks) available. Your posting having more detail than mine but never being approved are two completely unrelated occurrences. This Message Edited On 09.21.08

Spat out - Thank you for the reasonable and professional reply.

I would have been less hostile initially had you not come out and called me a douchebag and taken me calling you a sandy vagina so literally. I can be a sandy vagina too. It just happens.

"I would have been less hostile initially had you not come out and called me a douchebag "
I didn't say that to you. I said it to the news mod, or whoever is supposed to be approving stories. I didn't even know that you posted this story. Granted it was ignorant for me to say it in the first place, it wasn't directed towards you.

As I've said many times, including responses to you, I thinks it's a great site and I enjoy using it. You'll notice that any time you think I'm being a douche, troll, jerk, etc...it's invariably while interacting with one of the staff members. I just think that sometimes, not always, a select few of the staff members act as though they have the green light to be pompous about their opinions and comments. This site, for the most part, is one of the few places I've found on the net that I can get opinions from many like-minded music fans almost instantly upon album releases.

Just because you've seen two instances where I've had an altercation with a staff member, once being with yourself, does not in any way mean that I don't like the site. I love this site and will continue to use it; and will continue to voice my opinion when I think people are abusing their "title". I mean let's be honest, for a staff member to tell the users of a site with no knowledge of said user that they are "out of their league" is a little ridiculous, and very unprofessional.

I have nothing against you or cocaine personally, I don't know anything about you, but I'm certainly not going to just take some lame verbal abuse from someone because they have "staff" written next to their name.

That being said, when I read reviews in the future written by yourself or cocaine and I think it's well written, I will certainly say so...just as I would if I think it's pretentious/unprofessional/poorly written/etc. As I said, I've been using the site for about a year now and have only had two altercations in that year...to be honest I think that's pretty good, especially considering that after we had our disagreement on your dragonforce review I thought your next review was pretty good and even made note of it, all the while joking about the disagreement we had.

Yea yea wall of text.This Message Edited On 09.21.08This Message Edited On 09.21.08

u do no no1 is gonna read that right?

fuck i jsut didThis Message Edited On 09.21.08

"I never see you post but to bitch about a staff member really"
Well that's just not true...so not much I can say about that.