Liz Phair - new cd sound quality?

Ok, the following has almost gotten me to buy her new cd. I guess I'm drawn to her "rebelling against rebellion".

However, I'm worried that it will be maximized to the (uh) max.

Can anyone clue me in on the sound quality before I drop 13 bucks on this?

 

Her new song is still just a rewrite of Complicated!

 

If possible, I'd like this thread to concentrate on the sound quality of the cd instead of another "bash her career decision" thread.

thanks

 

Sorry......it's the heat!

 

Yeah, but it's a dry heat!

 

I think everything on the album is very good, except for the 4 Matrix songs, although the first Matrix track (which is the first track on the album) has a somewhat catchy hook in the chorus.

As for the sound - loud, compressed, limited, ear bleeding treble, though not to the extent of the recent Metallica and ZWAN cd's. Need I say more?

 

Yep, that's what I wanted to know. I have tinnitus already (too many Rush concerts), and I just can't handle the ear-bleed stuff any more.

thanks for the heads-up!

jeff

 

I still think you should buy the CD. I got it on its release day for $9.99 at Best Buy and have been enjoying it. Ear-bleed stuff won't make your ears bleed if you listen at low volume. I don't think the CD is as good as Exile in Guyville, but I enjoy it. I have had to stop giving my 12 and 14 year old daughters grief about Avril Lavigne, though!

 

Awe, go on, give them grief anyway. At least Liz Phair has proven that she is a valid musician, and if she want's to put 4 songs on an album of 14 that are done by 'The Matrix' (even the name sucks), well she earned it.

 

Thanks PM, but actually it does - I can't explain the science behind it, but my tinnitus can be "set off" by relatively low volume stuff (70db) if it's a wash of harsh compressed sound.

It's truly odd - really dynamic and "smooth" sounding recordings I can blast, but maximized/clipped sounds cause the tinnitus to increase in volume to the point of headache, and can take hours or days to come back down to normal. I wish I understood the physics of it.

Heres an example, we were listening to a cdr of Fleetwood Mac vinyl (S/T) in the car, and I could handle it at decent volumes. When that cd ended, my wife's Bare Naked Ladies cd came on. I knew from experience that it'll hurt my ears, so I turned it way down. Didn't help though, after a couple of songs my ears were fatigued.

 

Sorry to thread crap boys and girls, but it IS maximised ( I gave it a listen and had to stop because of it after 5 numbers) and it sucks. I have followed this woman since the first album and this is just embarrassing. Not totally embarassing in the lyric dept. but geesh - what happened? Maybe the responsiblity of motherhood has caused her to be more pragmatic than maverick...

Once again - I'm sorry...

 

I PROMISE that this will be the last time I EVER say this type of thing on the forum.

I certainly understand people trying to find the "best" sounding version of a recording when multiple editions exist. I will never understand someone totally ignoring a piece of music just because the recording quality isn't good (or is bad).

A painting by a master is still a work of art even if the canvas is dirty.

I'd rather listen to The Beatles Star Club recordings, as bad as they are, than a perfectly recorded piece of music that doesn't interest me or isn't to my liking.

End of rant.

 

Hi PM, don't sweat it - it's totally ok for you to have this opinion. It's just that I think you are assuming that this is a choice for me to enjoy it or not.

Unfortunatly, it's not a *decision* on my part. I have a hearing disorder, it is real, and certain kinds of sounds (distortions) trigger it. If you'd like me to point you to some tinnitus resources on the web to read about it (and other people's experiences), I'm happy to do so.

I have no doubt that if I wasn't so foolish as to screw my hearing up at a reletively young age, that I'd still be able to listen to and enjoy something that is maximized as you and most people are able to. Unfortunatly, it's just not the case with me. I'm not lying about this - it physically hurts.

 

One of my brothers has exactly the same problem. I just tell him if it bothers him, let's play a little and adjust the levels as best we can. It's not a problem for me, but only because I was lucky, more than anything else. He listens to a lot more *new* music than I do, so when he brings stuff over he usually knows what to expect, and we work from there. I haven't heard Liz' latest, but I do have EXILE on vinyl, and it sounds fine. Being a fan, I'm sure he'll bring it over eventually. If it bugs him, it takes more than reduced volume to make things right. Typically, we talk OVER the music, it seems to make him more comfortable.


ED

 

Jeff, instead of buying the new Liz Phair CD, you can simply go back and play some Johnny Cash.

 

Now those are words of wisdom, Bradley....

 

Yeah, just watch Rusty Cage...it gets pretty loud!

I feel your pain, HZ....went to see Billy Squier when I was 16...stood 3 feet from a stack of Marshalls......never been the same since! It's not the same as your problem...with me it just feels plugged all the time. Had a hearing test, above average! But I swear some days I wanna stick a knitting needle in my left ear!

 

Now I understand your medical condition. Do you have a similar problem with LPs that are cut "very hot?"

 

HZ,

I'm sorry to hear that. I myself worry now that I may have damaged my ears somewhere along the line and that they are just waiting to go haywire on me when I get a little bit older. Being only 31 now, perhaps I haven't run into trouble yet.

Have you ever tried, in addition to lowering the volume, perhaps applying some EQ to try to circumvent the problems?

 

Oh - absolutely. Actually, just rolling the treble control all the way down in my car can help a lot with things that aren't too shrill. Others though (such as the latest Rush album) doesn't seem to be "fixable".

At $15 a pop though, I tend to not experiment with much new music though, not unless I can either borrow it first to try it out, or get a good review from you all.

 

Yep, sure do. But luckily it seems that whatever compression they did back "in the day" wasn't anywhere near the extreme of what's happening today. It's only in the last couple of years that - through reading this site, I think - I put two and two together, that the releases that hurt my ears have been overly compressed and maximized, often to the point of clipping. Before that realization, it was just this horrid feeling of "crap, another new cd that I can't listen to. damn!". Now at least I know what seems to be going on.

 

It obviously has to have something to do with all of the frequencies coming at your ears all at once at nearly the same level of intensity, add to that the (usually) extremely boosted high end, and it's a bad, bad thing.

 

I gave it a listen last night. Bad songs, bad sound, freeze-dried 'performances' and 'playing'. Like dehydrated Avril Lavigne soup, just add water.

Nic pics though.

 

How the heck does one go from Liz Phair to Johnny Cash? If I'm in the mood for the former or something close to it, the latter wouldn't exactly spring to mind...

 

I know HZ wanted to stay out of comments on the aesthetics of this album within this thread. I will just say the reviews have been at both ends of the spectrum - no middle ground. The link below has three (!) reviews in this week's Village Voice. Personally, of the three, I fall nearest to the rave that Bob Christgau gives it.

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0327/phair.php