If only.

(tip o’ the hat to Andrew Sullivan’s blog for posting for picking up on this article).

So I don’t know how many people that read this will be familiar with the controversy going on regarding Metallica’s new record “Death Magnetic”, and drummer Lars Ulrich’s typically douchey response to the criticism.

(Long story short, for years now record companies have been mastering albums to sound uniformally loud, with no dynamics, in an effort to make them stand out on the radio, because traditionally the human ear perceives “loudness” as aesthetically pleasing. This has been getting out of hand for years now, to the point where records not only don’t sound that good — they’re actually harder to listen to, as they fatigue the ear. Metallica’s recent release is the worst example of this in recent memory, with the album being cranked so much in the mastering stage that it actually distorts. And not good guitar crunch distortion either, but hard to listen to, digital distortion in places you don’t want it — like on the drums.)

So, what that in mind, I wanted to pass along this video that my friend Danny Angyl gave me a heads up on. It’s sorta the best thing ever if you’re into any of this stuff. If not… at least you can remember how shitty some of the songs on Metallica’s “Black Album” were.