Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication [2LP VINYL]

Product Information

I could lie with the shit sound, but I must have cleaned the record 10 times and my needle thinking I was crazy. Before I start, I want to note that there are 2014 “remasters” of every album by the group from Blood Sugar Sex Magik to Stadium Arcadium. I use “remaster” in quotation marks because nearly every one of these albums retains the same level of dynamics as their original digital 1 release. Only Blood Sugar Sex Magik has a significant difference, that being that it’s far more dynamically-compressed than before. These 2014 remasters sometimes contain different mixes of songs previously-released, however, and I will note when that’s the case.

Explaining and attempting to fix up the clipping and dynamic

You would be better off buying the Cd as it sounds much better and you receive a lyrical booklet which is not contained with the record. Throughout the loudness wars, vinyl releases often avert excessive dynamic range compression and clipping by featuring a different, more dynamic master. All versions of Californication officially released in 1999 (as well as the 2019 picture disc release and 2014 digital remaster), however, seem as though they have the same ridiculous clipping. Other released versions of Californication—some official, some unofficial—feature different masters and sometimes different mixes of songs.

Living Colour Time’s Up-I had the original CD and it sounded like a really good production with plenty of power. I recently bought a single album version Epic 466920 1 that is anaemic and limp compared to the CD.It also is very quiet perhaps because both sides are very long.I wonder if compression has contributed to make this vinyl sound so bad.There is a double album pressing that might be much better sounding. 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. While all previous Chili Peppers projects have been highly spirited, Californication dares to be spiritual and epiphanal..." - rollingstone.com, Greg Tate, June 24, 1999

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication (2022, Yellow, Vinyl

This LP is a bit better - the vocals are a little more natural, and Flea's bass is a tad bit deeper. It has a slightly more natural feel to it. That's about it really, aside from some light EQ improvement which just could be the difference between my analog rig and my digital rig. The LP just isn't on the same level as something like "Unlimited Love," which sounds truly incredible on vinyl. (Then again, it also sounds decent on CD, as it isn't clipped to death - compressed and limited yes, but listenable!) It’s important to note that the dynamics are not being restored with the “Perfect Declipper” program that I use, but rather, they are being approximated. While one may not be able to “declip” an album as one would be unable to “unbake a cake”, I find the results here to be a convincible attempt at doing so. Only in the most extreme examples have I heard the program produce odd artifacts that would appear unintended in the album’s mix. I think it’s also important to note that dynamic range compression is not an inherently bad thing. It can tighten up performances, add grit, and help remove dynamic outliers that would take you out of the mix. 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.This is the original 1999 US pressing. Please note there is a 2012 remaster which is externally quite similar to this. Universally Speaking”, by contrast, has an odd, clipping-like hiss over the top of its vocals, but features a waveform that looks like this:

Californication [2LP VINYL] Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication [2LP VINYL]

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. 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. Sadly, there are countless records out there (particularly from the late 90s and 2000s) that are the victim of poor quality mastering.One Hot Minute, mastered by Stephen Marcussen, is the first Red Hot Chili Peppers album that can be described as a participant of the loudness wars. For those not in the know, the “loudness war” is a phenomenon beginning in the mid-90s onward, in which music was mastered louder and louder, with the underlying reasoning being that louder music sounds better, and thus, sells better. As with any medium, however, there is a peak loudness a signal can reach, so dynamic range compression (which makes the louder parts of the signal quieter while keeping the quiet parts the same loudness) and sometimes even clipping (attempting to make a signal louder than maximum loudness) were used to make music as loud as possible. Anyone know anything about this pressing? https://www.discrepancy-records.com.au/red-hot-chili-peppers-californication-us-2020-issu Also, I've seen Elusive Disc list Bernie Grundman as the mastering engineer as recently as the One Hot Minute reissue and then it was pulled down. Oddly enough, yesterday Bernie wasn't mentioned and today he is. This is a zoomed-in version of the song “Parallel Universe” from the “Unmastered/Unsequenced” CD-R. Notice how the peaks are flattened, but not horizontal. Horizontal flattening would imply the signal was clipped.

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

Oddly enough, John Frusciante remixed “Can’t Stop” and “Universally Speaking” for their single releases to bring the guitars and bass more to the forefront, and the vocals of “Can’t Stop” sound even MORE compressed 3 than they were in the album mix. The single mix of “Universally Speaking”, which was also used for the band’s Greatest Hits album, still has the vocal distortion present on the album mix. The 2014 remaster of By the Way is pretty much identical to its original release, except it has a slightly different mix of “Universally Speaking” that is missing a few guitar lines and plays at a very slightly slower speed.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.