I recently picked up Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' new album Mojo on LP. I was curious to see that unlike the Mudcrutch album and most of the other recent Warner Bros. LPs I have bought, Mojo did not come with a bonus CD. Instead it had a coupon for a free download.
What's that you say? "How dare Tom Petty only offer a crummy, lossy compressed MP3 download instead of a 'full resolution' CD?"
Not so fast there mister.
Yes, you can download lossy compressed (and dynamically compressed) 320kps MP3s, but Warners also gives you the option of downloading the album in the Apple Lossless (ALAC) format, and this gives you resolution that is identical to the commercially released CD.
Okay, I hear you now. "Oh great, so I can get the album in CD resolution, but it will still be dynamically compressed just like the commercial CD."
Just a second there Mr. Complainy Pants, I wasn't finished.
While the ALAC version is the same as the dynamically compressed CD, Warners has also made a 24 bit/48 kHz FLAC download available. The FLAC version not only features a higher bit and sampling rate than is possible with CD, it also contains the dynamically uncompressed master that was used to cut the LP (and the BluRay release). In effect, Tom Petty and Warner Bros. are allowing you to download the original album master so you can hear the music just the way the band did in the studio.
"Well that's all fine and well," you say "but why didn't they give us a higher resolution version recorded at 96 or 192 kHz?"
Okay, I have to say, you are really starting to get on my nerves, but the answer to your question is that the album was recorded (totally live in the studio) at 24 bit/48 kHz, so this is the highest resolution available (and it sounds amazing by the way).
I was able to download all three versions of the album (MP3, ALAC & FLAC). I compared the LP to the 24/48 digital files, and they sounded pretty near identical to my ears. I guess that means that my turntable is doing its job pretty well, since the LP was cut from those files. I listened to the MP3 version in my car, and it sounded very good in that environment. While the CD and MP3 versions have been dynamically compressed compared to the LP, BluRay and FLAC files, it should be pointed out that even in that state Mojo still has a large amount of dynamic range relative to other contemporary rock releases.
Of course sound quality wouldn't matter in the least if the album didn't deliver the goods musically, so the really good news is that the music on Mojo is terrific. Petty seems to have been energized by the Mudcrutch reunion, and Mojo was recorded completely live in the studio just as Mudcrutch's "debut" was. The songs lean heavily on the blues, and one track sounds just like prime Led Zeppelin (albeit with Petty, not Plant on vocals). I don't want to give a blow-by-blow account of the album, so suffice to say if you are a fan of Tom Petty, I doubt Mojo will disappoint you. If you are not a fan of Tom Petty, Mojo probably won't be the album to win you over either (for that, go pick up Wildflowers).
Once again, Tom Petty has put together a really nice LP package that shows that he is one of the few contemporary recording artists who both really cares about sound quality and has the clout to deliver great sounding recordings to his fans. So do I have any complaints? Just one. I wish Warner had made the hi-rez, uncompressed FLAC files available to those who purchase the CD as well so they can hear what they are missing out on.
Here are my ten favorite albums of 2008. As I mentioned before, I really have no business compiling a "Best of 2008" list considering how much I haven't heard (still haven't heard Fleet Foxes, although I at least have the album on order). So this is just a list of some stuff I happened to dig this year. 1. Teddy Thompson - A Piece of What You Need Last year I was the only blogger to list Teddy Thompson's Up Front And Down Low on their year-end "best of" list. So what does the usually non-prolific Teddy do? He releases an even better album in 2008. A Piece Of What You Need finds Teddy in about as upbeat a mood as you can imagine from the young man for whom "End Of The Rainbow" was written. Producer Marius de Vries (Bjork, Madonna) adds enough pop flourishes (handclaps!) to keep things bright, even if he can't stop Teddy from turning the gun on himself. A Piece Of What You Need is simply a brilliant album that takes Teddy out of his famous parents' shadows once and for all (Richard & Linda who?).
2. Duffy - Rockferry My wife likes to listen to our local pop music station in the mornings. Because I'm a good husband I only complain about this semi-incessantly. One morning something really weird happened. I actually liked a song they were playing. This was a good song. No, actually it was great. "Who is this?" I asked (they never say who they're playing on pop radio, you're just supposed to know). Soon enough I figured out it was a young British woman known as Duffy. I picked up the CD at Starbucks that very day (remember when Starbucks used to sell music?). Later I picked it up on LP too, not because the CD sounded bad, but because the music was so good I just wanted to own it on LP. As I noted in a previous post, Rockferry (on CD or LP) has lots of dynamic range relative to most contemporary productions, proving that an album can be massively successful in 2008 without having every last bit of life compressed out of it.
3. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend I don't think I need to say much about Vampire Weekend. This will be on every other blogger's list. This might be the most over-hyped album of the year, but that doesn't mean it isn't also good.
4. Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch Mudcrutch's debut album was already the subject of much discussion on this blog.
It's an iconic story. A rock band torn apart by external forces over thirty years ago reunites to see if they can recapture the old magic. Against all odds they do, and the now middle-aged rockers find their belated debut album on the bestseller charts. It's a story that would carry the force of Greek Mythology were it not for the inconvenient fact that one of the members (a guy named Tom Petty) has a day job as one of the world's most successful rock-stars, and two others (Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench) punch the clock as members of his long-running backing band the Heartbreakers. Guitarist Tom Leadon and drummer Randall Marsh haven't kept quite as high a profile over the past thirty odd years, but from the sounds of the album they have lost none of their considerable chops.
If you can still find a copy, it's worth the extra money to pick up the LP with bonus "uncompressed" CD.
5. Neil Diamond - Home Before Dark Neil Diamond has never made music to impress rock critics, and in return rock critics have never been very impressed by Neil Diamond. But Home Before Dark sounds like a different kind of Neil Diamond album. No, it doesn't sound like it was made with the approval of rock critics in mind (heaven forbid), but it does seem to be an attempt to make a "serious" album in the way that even his previous collaboration with super-producer Rick Rubin, 12 Songs, did not. It's a quiet album intended for intimate listening. I don't see how these songs reach the back rows at a Neil Diamond show. Nevertheless, the songs are full of the kind of drama and showmanship that characterizes Diamond's best work, it's just a quieter, more subtle kind of drama than we're used to from Neil. Unlike Rick Rubin's other big production this year, this album is emphatically not a victim of the "loudness wars." There's oodles of dynamic range on this album, and those shifts in dynamic range really are an essential ingredient in allowing the drama inherent in the songwriting to unfold. Congrats to Neil on the first number one album (and perhaps the best studio album) of his career.
6. Beck - Modern Guilt This is another album I wrote a bit about already. At the time I was more interested in writing about the novelty of the album being offered on LP with an MP3 download sourced from vinyl than the music itself. Now I'd like to say a few words about the music: it's terrific. (I realize that technically this statement only counts as a few words if you consider the contraction "it's" as two words, but I believe it is legitimate to do so.)
7. She & Him - Volume One I do not care that "She" is a pretty actress. I do not care that "Him" is M. Ward. This is very enjoyable classic pop music. If you've ever found yourself with a lump in your throat while listening to The Stone Poneys' "Different Drum" you need to add this album in your collection.
8. Orchestra Baobab - Made In Dakar Hey kids, are you interested in checking out the roots of Vampire Weekend's Afro-Pop influenced sounds? Well, you won't find them here (for that check out Paul Simon's Graceland). Senegal's Orchestra Baobab came roaring back to life in 2002 with the release of Specialist In All Styles, and Made In Dakar suggests they are back to stay. Orchestra Baobab present a potent mix of Afro-Pop and Afro-Cuban sounds. Honestly, I'm not knowledgeable about this kind of music to say anything intelligent about it (that never stopped me before), but I really enjoyed this skillfully played and passionate album.
9. Mudhoney - The Lucky Ones Twenty years into their career and Mudhoney are still the loudest thing going on. The secret to their longevity? Clean living. Mudhoney doesn't offer anything groundbreaking with their latest album; maybe their primal fuzz sounds a little wiser with age ("the lucky ones have already gone down"), but never sounds grown up. Mudhoney still offers retrograde, knuckle-dragging, loud fun. When Mudhoney debuted twenty years ago, few would have predicted they'd still be going strong in 2008. Even fewer would have predicted the long playing record album would still be going strong as well. But here it is 2008 and I bought Mudhoney's new album on LP with a code for a free MP3 download and a bonus 7" single that includes covers of Pere Ubu's "Street Waves" and The Troggs' "Gonna Make You." This is almost as much fun as collecting limited-edition, colored vinyl Sub-Pop 7" singles circa 1989.
10. R.E.M. - Accelerate R.E.M.'s most exciting music in years was definitely a victim of the "loudness wars." On CD Accelerate sounds like total crap. Eric Zimmerman at REMring diagnosed the problem with this album quite effectively. The expensive 45 RPM double LP sounds better than the CD, but the relative lack of dynamic range (while made worse by CD mastering) seems to have been a choice made at the recording and mixing stage of this production. Pity, because there are some really good songs here. Personally, I think they would have sounded better with a little more room to breathe.
It's an iconic story. A rock band torn apart by external forces over thirty years ago reunites to see if they can recapture the old magic. Against all odds they do, and the now middle-aged rockers find their belated debut album on the bestseller charts. It's a story that would carry the force of Greek Mythology were it not for the inconvenient fact that one of the members (a guy named Tom Petty) has a day job as one of the world's most successful rock-stars, and two others (Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench) punch the clock as members of his long-running backing band the Heartbreakers. Guitarist Tom Leadon and drummer Randall Marsh haven't kept quite as high a profile over the past thirty odd years, but from the sounds of the album they have lost none of their considerable chops.
I was intrigued when I heard that Mudcrutch planned to release a limited-edition double LP of their belated debut album accompanied by a special "Full Dynamic Range" Audiophile CD that would sound different from the standard, dynamically compressed, mass-market CD. I figured this would be the version of the album to get, so I special ordered it from my local brick-and-mortar retailer.
As with Elvis Costello's latest release, I suspect the decision to release the album in this way suggests what lurks behind the recent resurgence of interest in vinyl LPs; namely a widespread and growing dissatisfaction among both recording artists and consumers with the way CDs and digital downloads sound. It also suggests to me that major labels are exploring the viability of a bifurcated popular music market: one big one comprised of people who don't care much about sound quality (and are as likely to steal music as pay for it), and another smaller (older?) market of passionate music fans who do care about sound quality and are willing to pay a premium for it.
And let's be clear, if you want to hear the "uncompressed" Mudcrutch album you will pay a premium price: the LP/CD package retails for $30 with few discount opportunities. By contrast, the standard CD retails for $19, but can easily be purchased new for $10. A digital download will set you back between $8 and $14 (or nothing, I suppose, if you steal it). I don't know whether $30 LPs with special uncompressed CDs on the one hand, and sonically crippled CDs and lossy compressed downloads on the other is the best situation for music lovers, but it's the place we find ourselves at the moment.
The big story here, I think, is that the decision to create two sonically distinguishable CDs is a startling admission on the part of a major recording artist that something is rotten in the state of CD mastering, and it did not escape the notice of The New York Times and USA Today:
Mudcrutch engineer Ryan Ulyate says he and the musicians felt they had to compromise on the mass-market CD. That's because, in general, most popular music CDs are mixed to sound louder for use in cars and for conversion into MP3s. "That makes it really unsatisfying to listen to," Ulyate says. "We have this loudness war that has destroyed the way CDs sound, and we're trying to find a way to get off this spiral."
The original studio recording "has life and dynamics," Ulyate says, "but we are the only people getting to hear that now." He says the audiophile CD is "hands-down better" than the current CD for listening at home.
While it may sound like Ulyate is saying that the Mudcrutch CD most people are going to purchase is "really unsatisfying to listen to," I don't think that's what he means. I'm pretty sure his point is that current tendency to make CDs sound as "loud" as possible leads to unsatisfying recordings in general. Ulyate states elsewhere he thinks the standard Mudcrutch CD is a "good compromise" between the loudness level expected of a contemporary rock CD and an album that will sound best on a high-quality home stereo system. I highly recommend watching the three part interview (part 1, part 2, part 3) posted on Warner Brothers' Because Sound Matters website in which Ulyate discusses the thinking that led to the decision to release two distinct versions of the album. (If you're pressed for time, start with part 2, which is where he really starts discussing issues of sound quality.)
You might think that if the band is taking the extraordinary step of releasing a second CD version of the album for people who care about sound quality that the mass-market version must sound really bad. But this is not the case at all. Taking a look the version of "Scare Easy" from the standard Mudcrutch CD in Soundbooth, you can see that even the standard CD has considerably more dynamic range than the average pop or rock music CD released today. Notice how many more visibly distinct peaks there are on this track compared to "Living Well Is The Best Revenge" from R.E.M.'s 2008 release Accelerate. Compared to most of what's out there these days the standard version of "Scare Easy" sounds really good, and not just because it's apparent Petty has been inspired by working with his old band mates.
Mudcrutch - "Scare Easy" Standard CD (2008)
R.E.M. - "Living Well Is The Best Revenge" CD (2008)
But when you compare the standard "compressed" version of "Scare Easy" to the "uncompressed" CD version, and the version I ripped from the LP, it is clear that there is a lot of dynamic range that has been squeezed out of the standard version in order to make it sound louder (though still not as loud as current standards).
Mudcrutch - "Scare Easy" Uncompressed CD (2008)
Mudcrutch - "Scare Easy" LP (2008)
Mudcrutch - "Scare Easy" Standard CD (2008)
As you can see, the uncompressed versions have an organicform to them that represents the ebb and flow of the music as it naturally gets louder and softer throughout the song. Much of that is missing from the compressed version.
But what does this difference--clearly visible on these graphs--sound like in practice? Well, it's pretty much as Ulyate describes it. The uncompressed versions have a greater sense of punch and clarity. The drums especially have more impact in the uncompressed versions, especially when played back loud. There is also a greater sense of space and definition around the instruments and vocals. The overall effect is much as I described the difference between the two versions of Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run." I consistently had a more visceral reaction to the uncompressed versions of the recording. I found myself tapping my foot more often, and my pulse was more likely to quicken while listening to the uncompressed recordings. The uncompressed recordings were more likely to elicit a strong emotional response, and for me that is what music is all about.
One area where I disagree with Ulyate's assessment is that he claims the standard version of the CD will sound better on an iPod due to the limitations inherent in the electronics in the unit. That was not my experience. Listening on my iPod, it was clearly evident that the compressed version of the album lacked the clarity and impact of the uncompressed version. The compressed version didn't sound bad, and the difference wasn't as pronounced as on my stereo, but it was clearly audible. The uncompressed version of the album was simply more enjoyable no matter how or where I listened to it.
The music itself--compressed or otherwise--is fantastic. It sounds like a cross between late-period Tom Petty, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Clarence White era Byrds (Untitled's "Lover Of The Bayou" gets covered, and guitarist Tom Leadon's brother Bernie was a member of the Burritos). It would be tempting to say that Petty was newly inspired by reuniting with his old mates. Tempting, but overly facile considering his last album, Highway Companion, was also among the best of his career. Petty is one of the few mature recording artists who consistently releases music that is the equal of his hit-making period, and this album has many highlights (two of which you can watch being recorded live-in-the-studio below).
While I congratulate Petty, his band mates, Ulyate, Warner Bros. and all involved with this project for keeping good sound alive, I want to question the underlying rationale for two differently mastered releases. Tom Petty has never been afraid to buck the music industry and his own label on major issues, even at his own financial peril. So if Petty feels the need to release an admittedly sonically compromised CD for the mass market, I would assume the institutional and marketplace pressure to do so is enormous.
Obviously, someone (either Petty, his management or his label) believes a lot of money stands to be lost by releasing a CD that is not "loud" enough relative to other contemporary pop and rock releases. But I'm not sure that is the case. I strongly suspect Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Elvis Costello, Wilco, etc. are not fighting for the same part of the market that is buying super-compressed Mariah Carey and Timbaland albums. By and large the market for these established rock artists' albums is older. It's a group that may be young enough to own an iPod, but is old enough that they still have a dedicated stereo too. And generally speaking, they're not looking for a music experience that is, in essence, an all-out technological assault on the senses.
My sense is that there is a large group of music lovers in between the tiny group of audiophiles who buy $30 vinyl LPs and the kids who crank their tunes through Skullcandy headphones while skateboarding. These music lovers are not currently being well served by the music industry. I suspect a lot of people in this group have drastically curtailed their CD purchases (whether they realize it or not) due in part to the seriously compromised sound quality of the typical contemporary CD.
The over-compressed recordings the music industry has been releasing over the past several years are unsatisfying in the long run because they are fatiguing to listen to. The human auditory system craves dynamic contrasts in music. Relative change in volume is (along with pitch, rhythm, melody, harmony, tempo and meter) one of the fundamental building blocks of what the human brain recognizes as music, and CDs are currently delivering very little of it by design. After buying a certain amount of literally un-musical CDs that end up doing little more than collecting dust after a few listens, it's only natural that consumers would start to find other places to spend their disposable income.
Could falling music sales be partly a result of the "loudness wars" that have demonstrably disfigured popular music? I don't know. Probably I'm just hopelessly naive. I'm not a music industry insider and there are a lot of facts I'm not privy to--I admit that. But I am one of the music industry's most loyal (some would say most foolish) customers, and I know why I am buying fewer CDs these days, and it's not because I'm stealing them on file-sharing services.
I recently picked up Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' new album Mojo on LP. I was curious to see that unlike the Mudcrutch album and most of the other recent Warner Bros. LPs I have bought, Mojo did not come with a bonus CD. Instead it had a coupon for a free download.
