This gets a big meh from me. It's how the sound has evolved, and it's what is in demand with the current generation of listeners and many artists. The comparison between Nora Jones and RHCP or Fallout Boy is really unfair on RS' part. One is by its very nature a spare and airy arrangement, the other tunes are more slamming straight ahead rock, and are going to be loud by nature. Rock musicians have been putting compressors in their pedal chains long, long before engineers were digitally compressing in the studio. Hell, every distorted guitar out there is basically just an overdriven amp, which is by its very nature undergoing compression in the tubes.
In fact, the more I think about this article, the more I think it doesn't even make sense except to stroke the ego of self proclaimed audiophiles. They are basically pointing out that some artists have lots of dynamic range, and other *gasp* modern rock acts don't. Imagine that - a straight ahead faux-punk band has mostly the same dynamic range on their records. I BET THEY DO LIVE TOO!
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-Scott
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