History LoudnessWar / TheWorstOffenders

** Luckily, this was released on vinyl with a different master. The vinyl is [=DR10=].

** Ironically, their live albums are often surprising aversions by modern standards; Ted Jensen did a good job keeping the dynamics mostly intact. The Blu-Ray version of ''Live at Budokan'' comes out to roughly [=DR8=] for ''Red Night'' and [=DR9=] for ''Black Night'' and the [=CDs=] are apparently similar. The second studio album ''Metal Resistance'' sadly also plays the trope straight, however.

** Of course, that's not to say that the Curtis-less incarnation of the band fared any better. The 2005 ''Singles'' compilation utterly destroyed the dynamic range of its songs, such as the original version of "Blue Monday", which can only be purchased digitally via this release. Thankfully, the 2016 re-release of the album addresses these complaints, undoing the disgusting levels of compression and offering a ''much'' more listenable experience at a passable [=DR8=]. The albums ''Get Ready'', ''Waiting for the Siren's Call'', and ''Music Complete'' didn't make it out of the War unscathed, either.

** See also: ''In Time: The Best of R.E.M.'' Limiting all over the damn place, giving formerly lively songs a much duller feeling. Good luck trying to find an authentic, pre-digital fuckery version of "Bad Day" (unless you count "It's the End of the World as We Know It".....)

* Aside from their debut, Music/{{Weezer}}'s records have various degrees of clipping - even ''Pinkerton'', which has a good dynamic range, still has some clipped peaks. (A good example is found on "Tired of Sex": when the song kicks into gear after the first verse, Patrick's drum fill right before the second verse - just after Rivers' second scream and immediately before the lyric "I'm beat, beet red" - noticeably pushes into clipped territory.) ''The Green Album'' is infamous for having a completely flat, claustrophobic mix except for "Island in the Sun" (the only song on the album with some sense of space!), ''Maladroit'' is similarly brickwalled, ''Make Believe'', ''The Red Album'' and ''Raditude'' suffer from Music/RickRubin being involved, and it seems that their move to an indie label with ''Hurley'' hasn't weaned them off loudness warring their albums.

* Music/DepecheMode's album ''Playing the Angel''. [[http://img411.imageshack.us/my.php?image=depecheprecious0032kk.jpg This is just one track.]] [[http://brianstagg.co.uk/p_t_a_clipressed/ And side by side with previous releases.]]
** Thankfully, this was also released on vinyl.
** This trope covers most DM releases starting with Ultra and its singles, unfortunately. Besides the new releases (albums, singles, and [=LiveHereNow=] releases of shows from the ''Touring the Angel'' and ''Tour of the Universe'' tours), this also includes the two singles compilations, Singles Boxes 4-6 (1-3 were straight-up re-releases of the 1991 boxes, thankfully. If you need the singles from ''Strangelove'' through ''In Your Room'', get the individual versions released in '92-'93 as they're properly mastered. You can see a comparison of the waveforms of the two different versions of the ''Strangelove'' single [[http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/7051/strangeloveloudness.jpg here]].), ''Remixes 81...04'' in its various forms, ''The Best of Vol. 1'', and the '87-'94 DVD-only bonus tracks accompanying the remastered albums (Sourced from the 2004 boxed set versions instead of being re-done with the albums). The remastered versions of ''Ultra'' and ''Exciter'' weren't fixed.

*** Speaking of ''Sounds of the Universe'', it thankfully appears to mark the end of this trend for DM. It's certainly more compressed than early DM releases, but even tracks like the intentionally overdriven "Wrong" have a pretty wide dynamic range.
*** Except the disc is almost as loud as their previous release, with a [=ReplayGain=] value of −10.20 dB (Par for the course for rock, but outright fucked up for synthpop).

* Many tracks on Thompson Square's two albums are so loud that they're fuzzy and distorted. The sound is likely due to their being produced by neophytes (namely, Music/JasonAldean's road band). [[http://www.countryuniverse.net/2013/10/29/single-review-thompson-square-everything-i-shouldnt-be-thinking-about/ This]] review of "Everything I Shouldn't Be Thinking About" even name-drops the trope.
* Ditto for Music/TheBandPerry's first album. It's not as noticeable since they tended to play more subdued ballads, but on the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eiZIL_KYyU "Double Heart,"]] they just let 'er rip, and it always sounds like it's being listened to on a radio in another room. The second album was produced by Dann Huff, who is mentioned above.

* Many of Music/ChrisYoung's songs since "I'm Comin' Over" have had clipping issues, most notably "Think of You".

* The 20th anniversary remaster of Music/{{Nirvana}}'s ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' is the ultimate disgrace to fans. Kurt Cobain is rolling in his grave... [[http://cdn.head-fi.org/d/d2/d29d05cb_Nirvana-HDTracks.jpeg Witness the carnage here]].

* All of Music/{{CHVRCHES}}' [[http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=CHVRCHES albums]] suffer from this; while they don't have much clipping, they are very peak-limited and can be fatiguing to listen to, having an average DR of 6 and a low DR of 4. Though all of them have vinyl editions, in the case of ''Screen Violence'', even that version is brickwalled.

* All three of Music/{{CHVRCHES}}' [[http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=CHVRCHES albums]] suffer from this; while they don't have much clipping, they are very peak-limited and can be fatiguing to listen to, having an average DR of 6 and a low DR of 4. Fortunately, the first two have vinyl editions with [=DR11=].

* Music/DreamTheater's self-titled. Actually, all of their albums [[http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/index.php?search_artist=Dream+Theater&sort=year&order=desc Falling into Infinity onwards]] are offenders. (In fact, even ''Awake'' and ''A Change of Seasons'' clip quite a lot; they just look better in comparison because the mastering got ''even worse'' with Dream Theater's later albums.)

* Most {{Shoegazing}} bands that released an album after Music/MyVitriol's ''Finelines'' suffered from excessive loudness. This is why a lot of the albums get acclaimed for the songwriting but dodge perfect / near-perfect scores because of the quality of the poor production. {{Shoegazing}} used to use loudness as a means to make all the effects pedals in the music more audible, but a lot of the more recent producers are CompletelyMissingThePoint and wind up brickwalling '''everything'''.

* Edguys latest album Tinnitus Sanctus gets this one badly. "Holy Ringing Ears" indeed.

* [[ProgressiveMetal Progressive]] BlackMetal band Music/{{Enslaved}} have this problem on nearly every CD they've released, with most of them being audibly clipped, although there are still dynamics on some tracks on most of the recent ones. The recent vinyl releases of ''Riitiir'' and ''In Times'' avert this, being separately (and sensibly) mastered. As a comparison, the CD of ''Riitiir'' has a DR value of [=DR5=]; the rip of the vinyl version currently circulating the 'net has a DR of [=DR11=]. Many of their older albums still have clipped LP masters, unfortunately, as there are several passages with obvious clipping on albums like ''Isa'' and ''Vertebrae'' (although these versions still frequently have dramatically higher dynamic range scores than the CD versions - we're talking a five- or six-decibel difference here). Their latest album, ''ᛖ'' (also known as ''Ehwaz'' or ''E'' since many computers/phones don't have the Elder Futhark runes available), also has obvious clipping on the vinyl master.

* Music/{{Sigh}} have released a number of albums that qualify as victims of this trope, going back to 1995's ''Infidel Art'' at [=DR7=], which isn't terrible in and of itself, but there was quite a lot of clipping of the waveform. Of their original album releases since, ''Gallows Gallery'' and the international release of the band's most recent album ''Graveward'' are the only ones not to have any clipping, at [=DR9=] and [=DR6=] respectively (the latter was still obviously heavily compressed, but the mastering engineer took care not to clip the peaks. Note, however, that the Japanese version of ''Graveward'' comes in at [=DR3=] and is heavily clipped, but also features some bonus tracks not available elsewhere. Strangely, both versions of the album were mastered by the same person, the band's guitarist). ''Ghastly Funeral Theatre'' and ''Scenario IV: Dread Dreams'' seem like they would be better, at [=DR10=], but there is still some clipping, though it probably won't be something casual listeners would notice. As for the band's remasters, many of them are brickwalled and clipped as well. Blood Music's 2012 remaster of ''Gallows Gallery'' is an exception (The End's 2007 remaster is not), and Hammerheart Records' 2CD remaster of ''Scorn Defeat'' from 2011 isn't bad either, coming in at [=DR9=], albeit with some clipping on the original album (the bonus tracks are free from it, however. Enucleation's 2009 remaster, once again, is heavily brickwalled at [=DR5=], though at least this one isn't badly clipped). ''Scenes from Hell'', the band's worst offender at [=DR4=] (before the Japanese ''Graveward'', anyway), was re-released in a 2CD version with an alternate, slightly quieter master (which also benefits from having much better instrument separation, making it sound way clearer). And several of the band's albums have gotten vinyl releases, which are usually quieter. The lesson we can all draw from this is that it pays to do your research on the mastering of various releases of an album before purchasing it.

* The majority of Music/DeathspellOmega's work, unfortunately, falls into this, but the worst has to be ''Manifestations 2000-2001'', at [=DR2=]. ''Manifestations 2002'' is close behind at [=DR3=], and ''Paracletus'' and ''The Synarchy of Molten Bones'' are [=DR4=]. Their releases from before 2007 usually aren't as bad about this, though (the ''Manifestations'' albums, while recorded in 2000-2002, were released in 2008); ''Infernal Battles'' is actually pretty dynamic by 2000's standards, let alone today's (though the second side, consisting of their demo ''Disciples of the Ultimate Void'', is also ''extremely'' lo-fi). Their latest album ''Music/TheFurnacesOfPalingenesia'' is also less extreme on this count than most of their recent work, coming in at [=DR7=] and being significantly less clipped. It was recorded and mixed on analogue gear; the band and/or their producer appear to have decided to alter their approach to mastering as a consequence.

** Speaking of Magma, a few of their releases fall into this trope as well. ''K.A.'' and ''Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré'' got this treatment pretty badly, as did their live DVD release ''Mythes et Legendes Epok I''. Their usage of this trope has dropped off over time, though -- ''Félicité Thösz'' and the later ''Mythes et Legendes'' [=DVDs=] are still clipped, but just barely (and probably not audibly to all but the most obsessive audiophiles), and their latest release ''Rïah Sahïltaahk'' comes in at a very respectable [=DR10=].

* Modern death metal has a serious problem with this in general, but Hour of Penance's releases have been ridiculous even by those standards. While all of their Unique Leader releases have had major issues with this, ''Sedition'', their most recent, takes this to truly extraordinary levels. The loudest track is at ''-3.04'', which is truly absurd and hurts the music so much that the album would have been unlistenable if it weren't for the underlying strength of the compositions themselves. This is not unique to [=HoP=], either; the album's producer, Stefano Morabito, does this shit ''all the time'' and is arguably even worse than Jason Suecof or Erik Rutan, two other very major offenders in the death metal loudness wars.

* ''VideoGame/Haven2020'''s OST by Danger (of ''VideoGame/{{Furi}}'' fame) is massively clipped on nearly every track, e.g. the BattleThemeMusic pieces "Ready When You Are" and "Now Or Never" are more or less solid brick walls. Especially egregious with the soundtrack being mainly atmospheric electro-synthwave.

* Against All Logic's two albums are both a DR4, which is a shame since the production is otherwise incredible. It's quite baffling considering that Nicolas Jaar's albums under his own name generally avert the loudness war.

* Even happy hardcore has been affected. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERrAJs_LHBw This]] is pure SensoryAbuse. In fact, Blumchen exhibited this trope way back in 1996 with ''Herzfrequenz'', which has an overall range of −5 dbfs.

* ''VideoGame/Haven2020'''s OST by Danger (of ''VideoGame/{{Furi}}'' fame) is massively clipped on nearly every track, e.g. "Ready When You Are" and "Now Or Never" are more or less solid brick walls. Especially egregious with the soundtrack being mainly atmospheric electro-synthwave.

** ''VideoGame/Haven2020'''s OST by Danger (of ''VideoGame/{{Furi}}'' fame) is massively clipped on nearly every track, e.g. "Ready When You Are" and "Now Or Never" are more or less solid brick walls. Especially egregious with the soundtrack being mainly atmospheric electro-synthwave.

* Considering it was produced by Rick Rubin, it's probably not too surprising that Music/BlackSabbath was a casualty of this trope with their reunion album "13".

* Music/{{Kavinsky}}'s debut album, ''Outrun'', is extremely, extremely compressed. This is probably intentional, considering his fondness for cars, and the fact that a song on this very album was used as [[Film/{{Drive}} the theme song to a film about them]], making the album perfect for car speakers. Once again, this is averted with the fantastic vinyl version, which has a DR of 11 compared to the CD and [=MP3=] versions' DR of 5.

* Brazilian psychadelic rockers Os Mutantes had this trope unfortunately applied to the recent remasters of their classics. Considering how layered and unique the music is, it's an absolute shame that the average DR is 6. The effect is that the more abrasive and experimental production (e.g. "Bat Macumba" from their debut) becomes almost unlistenable. The debut album was recorded in mono, making the problem even worse--at least mastering engineer Luigi Hoffer had the courtesy to destroy both ears. Even the subdued tracks "Baby" and "Ando Meio Desligado" are completely sapped of space--why did this even happen? The 2015 remasters are better...but not by much.
* This unfortunately affects many remasters of albums by Brazilian artists--Jorge Ben, Novos Baianos, and Tom Ze have all suffered by having their stellar catalogues absolutely destroyed by poor mastering.

* The critically acclaimed album ''Deathconsciousness'' by Music/HaveANiceLife zigzags this. The first half (subtitled ''The Plow that Broke the Plains'') features quite a few tracks with a good dynamic range, while a couple others are very loud, sometimes going up to a DR3. The second disc, ''The Future'', is loud all the way through. All of this is likely intentional.

* [[OneBookAuthor One-album wonder]] Gearwhore's ''Drive'', at least the CD version, is brickwalled beyond belief for 1998, e.g. constant clipping of percussion on "Accelerator" and "11:11", and "Train" is almost a perfect rectangle.

* The entirety of the ''[[VideoGame/TouhouProject Toho]] {{Eurobeat}}'' series is guilty to some extent, but ''Vol. 9'' and ''Vol. 10'' are by far the worst offenders. All of the songs on these two are sheer brick walls with near-zero dynamic range and constant audible clipping. Even the songs by Odyssey, who normally avoids this trope, as mentioned on the "Aversions" page.

* While a fair portion of ''[[VideoGame/SonicForces Sonic Forces']]'' soundtrack has clipping issues, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDHUjKQ7Sho Mortar Canyon]] in particular is appallingly mastered.
** On a side note, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62N_RRb2xw8 option screen music for Sonic Spinball is often criticized for it's extreme loudness.]]