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. With less audible distortion on this release compared to Californication, my ears were instead drawn to how much of a mess the band sounds when they have no dynamics to breathe with. The choruses especially sound like a band trying to fit both themselves and their instruments into a telephone booth. Interestingly enough, the vinyl release of this album was also mastered by Vlado Meller, but doesn’t seem to be subject to the clipping of the original release! 5 I could lie with the shit sound, but I must have cleaned the record 10 times and my needle thinking I was crazy.

Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers - Rate Your Music Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers - Rate Your Music

While the 2014 digital remaster of Californication has as much rampant clipping as the original release, it features a slightly different mix of “Savior”, one with “all in the hand” vocals during its outro. (I couldn’t find a posting of this mix on YouTube, so this is the passage in question on my “dynamic edit” of the release.) 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. 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. Describing these albums as “victims of the loudness war” is correct insofar that dynamic range compression and clipping have audibly distorted the sound of the band and made them fatiguing to listen to, but it doesn’t really seem as if this compression and clipping is for the purposes of “adhering to the loudness war”. Given that Rubin has used dirty-sounding compression for records other than By the Way, I find it likely that he just flat-out likes how that compression sounds, and his continued use of Vlado Meller as a mastering engineer makes me doubt that he isn’t acutely aware of Meller’s tendency to clip the recordings he works with. Left is before, right is after. Both versions are made the same loudness, so you can more easily see the differences.

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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. It suffers from the same inconsistency as all their albums do - nobody would have missed songs like "Purple Stain" or "Right On Time" - but this is the closest they've come to a solid, consistent listen. Growing up in America my only access to The Beatles were through the Capital Records releases. It wasn’t until later in life when I started also collecting the original Parlophone pressings that I realized just how poorly the Capital albums were mastered. While I don’t hear the clipping distortion on the vinyl sections of the video, an assumption the video presents, that higher DR values (as determined by a program) means that the vinyl IS more dynamic, is a bit erroneous. The imperfections of vinyl can create the illusion of higher dynamics when in fact it is derived from the same compressed master. This is a great detailing of that concept (made by the same video creator, funnily enough).

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication (2020, 180g

The mastering process of a vinyl record can make or break the overall sound quality. The mix engineer can get everything right, from the initial microphone technique to the final mix, but if the mastering quality is poor, the record will fall at the final hurdle.

Walmart Exclusive - Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication - 2LP (Yellow & Purple Vinyl)

Regardless, since I’m doing it for every one of these examples, I made the album more dynamic, bringing it from a dynamic range of 6 to 12! Finally, we have the picture disc. What you’ll notice right away is an increase in underlying surface noise. Picture discs are renowned for their added surface noise as a byproduct of how they’re made. In terms of the master, I’d say this was the same master as the original, sadly, as the distortion on the guitar solo is still very clear. Interestingly, though, the overall volume is lower than the original. What Does a LOUDNESS WAR Master Look Like? The rest all have significant mixing and clipping issues and are generally hard to listen to from a songwriting angle as well. Vinyl, as a format, has often provided some sanctuary from the loudness war over the last couple of decades. Music that’s overcompressed doesn’t translate well to vinyl. That, and it takes considerable time and skill to master and cut a vinyl record properly. By purchasing music on vinyl, you significantly increase your chances of someone with considerable skill being behind the mastering process.

Explaining and attempting to fix up the clipping and dynamic

While all previous Chili Peppers projects have been highly spirited, Californication dares to be spiritual and epiphanal..." - rollingstone.com, Greg Tate, June 24, 1999Vlado Meller mastered this album, and will continue to master all of the band’s digital releases until The Getaway, but returned again for the band’s upcoming album, Unlimited Love. Meller is rather infamous for his digital mastering work, often audibly clipping the albums he works with, and Californication is perhaps his worst example of that. There are certainly ways to make loud and dynamically-compressed masters while avoiding making it sound THIS distorted. The solution is generally to have a quieter master. Even one or two less decibels of loudness would lower the amount of distortion on this album significantly, and it would STILL be considered a loud master. I'm not sure if it's remastered, etc. At that price and if they are going to have it done at BGM, I'd assume it is a remaster but that is only an assumption. Honestly, it's not enough detail to draw too much conclusion.

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

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.

Video

summer, male vocalist, energetic, melodic, introspective, playful, bittersweet, rhythmic, drugs, warm, sexual, longing, melancholic, mellow, eclectic 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.) I edited this album to fix up its clipping, and I was able to get its dynamic range from 5 to 12! I also edited the b-sides from the “Dani California”, “Tell Me Baby”, and “Snow (Hey Oh)” singles! B2 Californication 5:21. D2 Purple Stain 4:13. A2 Parallel Universe 4:30. D1 Savior 4:52. C4 This Velvet Glove 3:45. C3 I Like Dirt 2:38. C2 Emit Remmus 4:00.