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Topic: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium (Read 42129 times) previous topic - next topic
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Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

The official RHCP website has revealed the covert art for the new album, Stadium Arcadium, which will be released on May 9. The new single is Dani California (which is available for prelisten in the official site).



For the people who already listen to Dani California: what's your opinion on the new single?
[ Commodore 64 Forever...! ]

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #2 –
i didnt really like it when i heard it the first time but its grown on my a bit. Not sure about how the album will be baced on that song.

My fav song is still Cant Stop by a long way.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #3 –
I liked it very much, and the video with the impersonations (Kurt Cobain) was good, right up when they do themselves is the best. Great sound; the whole band are masters!
 

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #4 –
The album will be here soon, and sadly, as with the previous two RHCP albums, the mastering has been done by Vlado Meller. He has gone the hyper-compression route again, although the album sounds better to me than By The Way and Californication, in the case of the later, how can't it sound better?

Today I bought the Australian Dani California CD single, and it shows the same hyper-compression mastering style that non-fans of Vlado Meller do not love. I have created a petition regarding having RHCP's Warner CDs remastered, the petition is here.



It obviously includes a heap of clipping, and a clipping related glitch so noticeable even non-audio geek (is that the right term?) fans are complaining about it. See:

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #5 –
Quote from: ShowsOn on
It obviously includes a heap of clipping, and a clipping related glitch so noticeable even non-audio geek (is that the right term?) fans are complaining about it.


Yes, it's sad that this is the on-going trend in music industry. This problem has been discussed for years now between broadcasters, but no apparent solution. IMHO, it would only help if major broadcsaters (as well as buyers) would simply reject buying and playing hyper compressed CDs.

The sad truth is that this trend actually came from radio. People abused (and still do) improvements that were made in FM audio processing. Instead of having cleaner audio, the mentality of "louder is better" somehow set in and some PDs demanded the processors to be cranked to the max (or very near). Then others followed and then suddenly we had record producers wanting CDs to "sound like radio". The mastering engineers are pretty much helpless here. They can only make recommendations to not go the loud route and preserve quality and dynamics, but it's ultimately the decision of the one with the money in hand - producers...

Bob Orban and other processing designers are also helplessly watching their boxes being abused.

Whenever this topic comes around, I recommend the following two articles - maybe education will ultimately help?  Fingers crossed 

The first article (Over the limit) is by Rip Rowan from www.prorec.com:
http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/...6256C2E005DAF1C

The second article is co-authored by Bob Orban (from Orban) and Frank Foti (from Omnia) called "What Happens to My Recording When it’s Played on the Radio?"
http://www.orban.com/orban/support/optimod...e_Truth_1.3.pdf

Lastly, it's worth reading these comments taken from Mastering forum:
http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodule_id=11...dder_page_id=51


Regards,
Goran Tomas

P.S.

Btw, also like the new single! 

Hopefully the CD is filled with more good stuff like that!

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Goran Tomas on
Whenever this topic comes around, I recommend the following two articles - maybe education will ultimately help?  Fingers crossed 
I find that if I am able to explain the issues to people on the RHCP fan forums, that many of them will understand what I'm saying, and support my position. I think this is a case of the major record companies under rating their fans. It really annoys me because I love this music, but the last 3 RHCP albums have sounded like varying degrees of bad.

The Rip Rowan Over the Limit article is one I direct a lot of RHCP fans to in order to understand the issue. I wasn't familiar with the other two articles so thanks for those.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #7 –
Some good news regarding Stadium Arcadium, the vinyl version is going to be mastered by Steve Hoffman straight from the 30 IPS master tapes. Warner will be releasing two versions, a 4 LP 150 gram set, and a 4 LP 180 gram limited edition deluxe set.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #8 –
Quote from: ShowsOn on
The album will be here soon, and sadly, as with the previous two RHCP albums, the mastering has been done by Vlado Meller. He has gone the hyper-compression route again, although the album sounds better to me than By The Way and Californication, in the case of the later, how can't it sound better?
[...]
[ Commodore 64 Forever...! ]

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #9 –
So the album came out yesterday, the 9th.  Any further analyzations or thoughts on the mastering or otherwise regarding the quality of the cd?  I've only listened to a small portion of the cd and I like how it contains a lot of the funky elements that made BSSM so great, but also the musical maturity of BTW. Plus a lot of extra heart and love me sensi.  I'm not sure what to be listening for regarding the quality of the mixing (and/or) mastering of the album.  any pointers or examples?
erstwhileintruder.blogspot.com | last.fm/user/exhorbus

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #10 –
I was just discussing the LOUDER IS BETTER thing with a friend on IRC last night (Thursday), so I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered this thread a few minutes ago. That Rip Rowan article was fantastic, although I have to say I'm disappointed in what happened to Vapor Trails and that yes, I noticed the quashed sound and ruined dynamics when that album was released - Rush is my favorite band of all time.

Oh well, we're all going deaf it seems, so the recording industry is just helping us out.

I use Replay Gain on all my encodings to a level of 92dB, just up from the "industry standard" of 89dB because I don't consider it that severe and, for most of the CDs that I have encoded to FLAC, they're too damned loud anyway, with consistent levels above 96dB. The 92dB I chose helps with the older stuff that barely peaked at 89dB also, like Genesis - Genesis which I encoded to FLAC earlier tonight. At the default levels, it was just weak compared to anything current, but at 92dB with the others, I never have to touch the volume at all.

I miss the truly dynamic stuff, really. Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms is still at the top of most peoples "best sounding CD/best recorded CD" lists, mine included. It's my definitive CD for any and all listening tests that I do because it really is that well done considering it's been out for 20 years plus now. Simply amazing piece of work which will stand the test of time.

bb
The difference between genius and stupidity?

Genius has limits.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #11 –
I encourage anyone who wants to hear a good version of Stadium Arcadium to buy the vinyl LP version.

It was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray straight from the 30 ips analog master tapes. And has been mastered to preserve the dynamic range on those tapes (it is being presented on 4 LPs, so only about 15 minutes per side).

It will obviously be a much better version of the album than the hyper-compressed CDs. So I think we should buy the vinyl edition to show Warner Bros. that we care about sound quality. Sell your CD edition if need be, and have the LP version transfered to CD if you want to hear Stadium Arcadium wtihout the hyper-compression.

Even Warner Bros. executives have called the vinyl test pressings "The definitive version of Stadium Arcadium"

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #12 –
I'm not sure if it's funny or not that the vinyl gets the high quality release. It's certainly annoying. 
daefeatures.co.uk

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #13 –
I have had Stadium Arcadium about a month now and is a bit dissappointing IMO. Some tracks are OK but the production quality is poor. Could have made an OK single album. Not recommended!

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #14 –
Quote from: evereux on
I'm not sure if it's funny or not that the vinyl gets the high quality release. It's certainly annoying. 
I completely agree with you. But I am at least happy that it is receiving a proper mastering treatment. I am happy that if a person wants to they will be able to go into a store and hand over money for a well mastered version. The same can't be said other recent RHCP albums like the Warner Bros. Greatest Hits, By The Way and Californication.
Quote from: andi on
I have had Stadium Arcadium about a month now and is a bit dissappointing IMO. Some tracks are OK but the production quality is poor. Could have made an OK single album. Not recommended!
I really like the music, I don't think it is fair for us to analyse the sound quality so much at this stage. My reasoning for that is simple, the hyper-compression has ruined the mix of some songs.

I am going to hold final judgement on sound quality until after I've heard the vinyl version.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #15 –
Quote from: ShowsOn on
I really like the music, I don't think it is fair for us to analyse the sound quality so much at this stage. My reasoning for that is simple, the hyper-compression has ruined the mix of some songs.

I am going to hold final judgement on sound quality until after I've heard the vinyl version.

I think its entirely fair to criticise the quality considering this is marketed and sold as a CD. I paid something like £12 for mine and it was the first Chilli's album that i have bought. If there is a better mastered version then this compressed stuff should never be released IMO. Suppose its all about the money but this smacks of a sell out. If the producers/artist's don't care about the quality then I for one will not be buying any other Chilli's material. Will just do a download as the quality won't matter  Yes i agree that music is first but surely you have can both

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #16 –
Quote from: andi on
I think its entirely fair to criticise the quality considering this is marketed and sold as a CD. I paid something like £12 for mine and it was the first Chilli's album that i have bought. If there is a better mastered version then this compressed stuff should never be released IMO. Suppose its all about the money but this smacks of a sell out. If the producers/artist's don't care about the quality then I for one will not be buying any other Chilli's material. Will just do a download as the quality won't matter  Yes i agree that music is first but surely you have can both

Oh I certainly think it is fine to criticise recent RHCP CDs, I do that more than most people!

But I don't think it makes much sense to make aesthetic judgements about the sound mix based on a badly mastered CD.

I agree that that is currently the only available form the music is in, but when the LPs come out there will be a different story to tell.

I  wish the mass released CD version offered the best quality as well. But the whole industry seems to think that the CD release is the lowest common denominator version. That is obviously terribly sad from my perspective, but I'm just glad to have the opportunity to buy a properly mastered version, the same can't be said for the previous two RHCP albums.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #17 –
"For people to steal a poor sound quality version because some asshole put it on the internet is sad to me." Flea, RHCP.

Well Mr Flea, you didn't hear the CDs final mix then did you? Garbage in, garbage out.
daefeatures.co.uk

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #18 –
Quote from: evereux on
"For people to steal a poor sound quality version because some asshole put it on the internet is sad to me." Flea, RHCP.

Well Mr Flea, you didn't hear the CDs final mix then did you? Garbage in, garbage out.


The recording / mastering quality is a bit of a red herring here.  The real problem with Stadium Arcadium is that the Chili's have forgotten how to write a decent song and have churned out a load of banal "dad rock" instead.

I'm glad I stole this off the net instead of buying it. 

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #19 –
Quote from: evereux on
"For people to steal a poor sound quality version because some asshole put it on the internet is sad to me." Flea, RHCP.

Well Mr Flea, you didn't hear the CDs final mix then did you? Garbage in, garbage out.

Yeah, I pointed out the irony of Flea lamenting lossy compressed files, when the mastering is so bad.

I'd point out though that the mix seems to be fine. In fact the vinyl mastering engineer was amazed at how good it was.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #20 –
Here is an image comparing the vinyl mastering (top) to the CD mastering (bottom) of three songs on Stadium Arcadium.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #21 –
A picture paints a thousand words.

I've bought the CD (the week it came out actually and barely listened to it) but I'll certainly try and find the vinyl version via p2p. What a crazy situation. 
daefeatures.co.uk

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #22 –
Quote from: evereux on
A picture paints a thousand words.

I've bought the CD (the week it came out actually and barely listened to it) but I'll certainly try and find the vinyl version via p2p. What a crazy situation. 

That capture was created by the mastering engineer. They played back a test pressing on the lathe that was used to cut the master, then fed the signal through their (very expensive) analog to digital converters, then fed into the computer...

What I am going to do is buy the vinyl, then complain to Warner Bros. that the CD sound quality sucks. At least they are giving us a properly mastered copy which will just show up the CD for how bad it is.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #23 –
Sorry to hijack but are there any Mars Volta fans here?  They're touring with RHCP this fall.  Also I hope that Vlado Meller guy doesn't touch TMV's new album they're working on with some RHCP members.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium

Reply #24 –
just wanting to breathe a small amount of life in this thread--

so apparently the vinyl has been released; has anyone else made their conclusions of the sound quality?  Possibly found a digitized version of the vinyl? that's probably an illegal question, I will gladly buy the vinyl, unfortunately its not as portable as cd/dm. You would think that the absolute best quality would be found on the latest medium, but such is the irony of our age progression and capitalism. wah

to Estimated Prophet: I am a mars volta fan, can't wait to see this duo this fall...probably albany or quebec city......also a dead phan
erstwhileintruder.blogspot.com | last.fm/user/exhorbus