Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication [2LP VINYL]

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The mastering process can enhance the quality and consistency of a recording or completely destroy it. There are many cases where heavy-handed compression was applied to classic records, where they were then resold as remastered and “improved” CDs. This process is, was, in my view, one of the greatest swindles the music industry has ever seen. Thankfully, thanks to normalized levels, we’re hopefully seeing an end to the days of louder is always better.

Californication - Reissue - Cut by Bernie Grundman | Steve Californication - Reissue - Cut by Bernie Grundman | Steve

i removed "get on top" and "emmit remmus"....and i added under the bridge,aeroplane,and my friends... The practice of applying excess compression to boost the overall perceived volume artificially progressed exponentially throughout the 90s. By the time we reached the decade’s end, there were several notable examples where even non-audiophile listeners began to notice quality issues. Perhaps most famously, Red Hot Chili Peppers “Californication” and Metallica’s “Death Magnetic Magnetic” were among some of the worst offenders.The band’s Greatest Hits album contains a number of songs from Californication, (specifically “Parallel Universe”, “Scar Tissue”, “Otherside”, “Californication”, and “Road Trippin’”) and they have a bit higher dynamic range than their retail counterparts, and notably less distortion. Even “Californication”, which is 0.7dB quieter on Greatest Hits, has a lot less hiss than its previous release. (It should be noted though, that the Greatest Hits mix of “Californication” has organ in its first verse and runs through the first chorus twice.) Another unofficial version of the album was an “Unmastered/Unsequenced” version that was leaked in 2011. Despite what its title may imply, this release faced a ton of compression on its signal, resulting in distortion comparable to the original retail release.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (Vinyl Remaster Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (Vinyl Remaster

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are a particularly good example, as their 1991 classic Blood Sugar Sex Magik stands in stark comparison. Here, the dynamics are superb, the mastering compression is mild, and in my opinion, it’s one of the best recordings to come out of the 90s. I just finished a comparison among this, the CD (and streaming version), and the famed "Unmastered" version of this album. As others have noted, there are some differences in the mixes between this LP and the CD. The "Unmastered" version is even more different. However, my goal was to find the best sounding version to my ears, regardless of mix elements.This differs from a later pressing that shows two pressing rings and some differences in lacquer cut etchings in runout as Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication and also a pressing without noticeable rings here: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication (1999, CD) - Discogs Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication (1999, CD) - Discogs

As you can hear, the original master is squashed and compressed to a level of unacceptable distortion. The snare is reduced to a hard crunch rather than a crisp snap, and the symbols take on an aggressive edge that is fatiguing on the ear. Worst of all, the slide guitar solo is audibly distorted.While all previous Chili Peppers projects have been highly spirited, Californication dares to be spiritual and epiphanal..." - rollingstone.com, Greg Tate, June 24, 1999 When music is dynamic, it sounds punchy and exciting. There are moments of calm and moments of crescendo. These changes in intensity and texture create the natural light and shade that makes music sound exciting. Dynamics are human, and too much consistency sounds robotic and lifeless. I think this release has been bastardized over the years and that originally was a first pressing but manufactured at a different facility. My copy has the double rings like so many Warner Bros pressings of the time but has these matrices: Some consumers turned to the vinyl copy in the hope of salvation but were sorely disappointed to find it was the same “squashed” mix as the original CD, just pressed to vinyl. It wasn’t until 2012 that the record finally received a proper remaster, specifically for vinyl, when Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering was tasked with cutting the record for a 180g re-pressing. Californication” and “Universally Speaking” also feature different mixes than their album counterparts on Greatest Hits, but I already noted and edited them in their respective album sections.