>>"That might be a result of the recording and mixing, seeing as there were similar problems on Songs for the Deaf. Josh Homme just really really likes his compression and doesn't like giving the drums much breathing room."

Maybe you're right. Songs for the Deaf is even more squashed, but in that case it works incredibly well, it all sounds so loud (which is great on SFTD), which also adds to the album's concept (the album's concept of listening to the radio during a car trip, the radio stations usually compress the songs more). It is the result of mixing and mastering. It's fine if it's an artistic choice. It's just that (too) many times it looks like it isn't the choice of the artist, as almost all today's mainstream albums are too squashed. There are some exceptions luckilly.

I don't know wether the band chose their songs t be as compressed as they are or was it the label managers who are afraid that if the songs are quieter than another artist's they'll loose money. I still enjoy the album a lot.

>>"It's yet another victim of the loudness war (like so many releases from the past few years). It sounds great, not as distorted as Death Magnetic, but because of the overcompression the dynamic range is very small, and the biggest victim of this are the drums. They are overpowered by guitars for far too many times on the album. Why would you want the drums to be pushed into the background when you have Dave ****ing GROHL behind them?"

That might be a result of the recording and mixing, seeing as there were similar problems on Songs for the Deaf. Josh Homme just really really likes his compression and doesn't like giving the drums much breathing room.

And as an engineer you should know that good mastering doesn't mean almost entirely robbing the song of its dynamic range. Seriously, Reptiles has even smaller dynamic range than That Was Just Your Life, and we all know how horrible Death Magnetic sounds. Examples of the recent good mastering? Nirvana's Live At Reading, the songs have dynamic range of 9db or more (but not less than 9). Them Crooked Vultures songs have (in average) dynamic range of 5 db, sometimes even less.

True, the sound of instruments is great, but somehow it all sounds boring because the loudness is almost constantly on the same level. Just zoom in the waveforms and see how much clipped they are, for christ's sake.

Mastering is great FOR TODAY'S TIME, where all records are brickwalled and there is demand for everything to sound as loud as possible. But comparing today's mastering to actual proper mastering (which luckilly still exists) like mastering on the records from early ninties is like comparing a lake on a windless day with an ocean during the storm (ninties' records being the ocean).

Just do some research, and you'll be surprised how many people are discussing this matter, not just for TCV or Metallica. If you're really an engineer then you really should do some research, maybe you could help the record companies managers to pull their heads out of their asses and see that loudness war leads to nowhere. Smart mastering engineers have already realised this and know that something is seriously wrong.

Also, notice how i didn't tell you to jump of a cliff. Some people can actually keep conversation in a polite manner, even when they disagree with others.

i don't think i'm listening to the same album. as an engineer this album is amazingly mixed and mastered. and the compression is just the system you listen on and the distortion is for effect. jump off a cliff

For some reason I keep getting Spin newsletters in my inbox, so I feel compelled to mention their top 40 or so bands of 2009 is complete s***, with one to two exceptions, this album being one of them.
God, I don't know if Spin's to blame, or the people claiming to be musicians.
It just keeps getting a little worse every year.

Well, you gotta admit that the songs are compressed quite a lot, and while you can clearly hear everything you sometimes wish that the drums wouldn't be overpowered by guitars (happens mostly during the "loud" parts of the songs), that's all. By todays' standards the mastering isn't that bad, when you compare it to Death Magnetic, TCV has been mastered million times better, as you can't hear digital distortion on the album (or maybe you can, if your hearing can compare to the hearing of a bat). But it could have been done better, just look at the waveforms - they look like solid rectangles. Waveforms should look like, you know, waves. Otherwise we would call them brickforms. That happens when you overuse the brickwall limiter (if you know what that is). Anybody could just amplify the mix of a song by 10 db and just let the hard limiter to clip off the waveform peaks, you don't even have to be an engineer to know how to do it. And i'm not the only one who noticed this problem.

You don't have to be stone deaf to realise that making the songs as loud as possible leads to nowhere but to reduction in the sound quality. Unless the volume knob on your stereo fell off when you turned it down to 1, so now you want songs to be compressed and made as loud as possible. This is more the fault of the record label managers, if they want the record to sound so loud you can hear it even when you turn the volume to 0, then there is only so much that a mastering engineer can do.

I completely agree with you in all the other points you made. This album is one of the best albums of this decade, deffinitely in top 3.

Right first and foremost this is a steaming **** hot album. Not 3 1/2 or 4 its a 5 so just grow some balls and have the bottle to say it. I live in the UK and I cannot believe how much indie crap comes out of the likes of Manchester and London. Its a sad state of music we live in. Where has the rock and roll element gone from British and American music??? TCV are technically and musically gifted in their execution of this album. Did the reviewer actually take into account it was produced by them with help from Alan Moulder (probably an acquaintance of JPJ) and recording plus additional writing and was done by Alain Johannes of the Band Eleven??? Nope! Was there any mention of the sounds involved on this album??? You know like the diversity of the Kick drum sounds as you listen to each song! (credit to the drum tech!) This took 8 months to complete which just shows the time and effort put into this project.

I think this album is the best of the last 2 years when it comes to hard rock/alternative music. Its diverse enough to blow new bands out of the water and to show big bands the likes of ACDC how to write a decent fresh new attention grabbing album. I think you take for granted that its a difficult task to deliver an album that keeps your attention all the way through without fear of experimenting at the same time.

This review is a disgrace and Im not saying that because Im a fan Im saying it because like the general consensus from these comments, no effort or actual research went into this review at all.

Oh and the guy who wrote about over compression and that the drums are not loud enough is talking absolute ****!!! Yes over compression exists (Nirvana Nevermind is about 5db quieter than whats coming out today) but Bob Gardner (Mastering Engineer) knows what hes doing and play it on what you like, where you like and unless your stone deaf then you will hear all that needs to be heard.

TCV we salute you and all that you stand for so **** em and keep doing what your doing.

Manchester England!!!

Interesting album, grabs you at the start and doesn't let you go until the finish. It's not the kind of an album that would really keep the masses entertained, it's just let's say "too experimental" for that. Tempo changes, complex song structures, production,... I guess that's the it could flow under the radar, it wouldn't sell enough, and the band doesn't get deserved credit. I really like it, it's going to stay in my CD player for quite a while.

But...

It's yet another victim of the loudness war (like so many releases from the past few years). It sounds great, not as distorted as Death Magnetic, but because of the overcompression the dynamic range is very small, and the biggest victim of this are the drums. They are overpowered by guitars for far too many times on the album. Why would you want the drums to be pushed into the background when you have Dave ****ing GROHL behind them?

Actually it is a clavinet solo... if you're going to correct someone try not to be a ****ing dumb ass

Yea, I have read a lot of "reviews" like this, it seems as if the reviewer is afraid to say how good the album is because then people would realize how terrible the rest of the music today is. Then...no one would buy albums, or worse yet, no one would buy the stupid magazines that review the garbage coming out these days. So the result is a critic who says "yeah, its ok." Are you serious?? I think there's something bigger at work here, seriously. The major record labels are scrounging for attention and still trying to sell their ****ty records the old fashioned way. There HAS to be payola at work here, where big labels give Spin and RS money to give favorable reviews of absolute crap artists while impressive records like the Vultures' debut flies under the radar. Yes, even super heavyweights like these guys can fly under the radar under this corrupt system. Wake up, people! This album ROCKS all the way through! Go to a record store and pick it up...and while you're there, wipe your butt with a spin magazine.

I couldn't agree more. This is the only album I've listened to start to finish so many time in at least a decade. F'ing brilliant. After so many disappointments over the years with musicians I really like, I was just hoping it would be pretty good. I played the album on youtube pre-release and I was sitting there grinning like an idiot - I bought it the next day and I can't stop listening to it. I didn't realize how accustomed I'd become to mediocrity. The best part for me is the surprise element. I wouldn't have put these guys together if I was dreaming up a great rock band, but somehow it really works.
Re: all the lame reviews - it seems like there are alot of people who don't want a decent rock band to show up. I wondered what happened to all the kill-joys I knew from high-school - I seems they all became music critics :)

really!, why dont you do a few seconds research before you call someone an idiot, I bet you don't even know what a clavinet is do you? so why are you so sure J P Jones play's slap bass? YOU, yes YOU IDIOT! yes it is a clavi, twat......

wtf how can it get the same grade as Shakira.You are a morron . It's a incredible album .(im a thirteen years old french)

Anonymous at 11.14.09 11:14 AM - unfortunately you are retarded, it is a clavinet.

Since there is a lack of review here, let me give you my un-paid position.

This self titled album could be one of the most important rock albums to come out in the last 5 years. Spitting in the face of current rock albums, TCV steer far away from the single based album structure. This album is meant to be heard from start to finish. Once absorbed by Holmes' spooky desert rock guitar, the precision and elegance of John Paul Jones' bass open your eyes to an auditory world thought to of never existed. Grohl really struts his stuff demonstrating his vast array of drum styles, which only emphasizes the diversity each player brings to the table. The first single "New Fang" is an up beat sing-along jam that commands your head to bob to the driving beat. On the other end of specturm you have tracks like "Bandoliers" where the chorus is simply breath taking. TCV's ability to take an abstract guitar riff and transform in into a melody that resembles the beauty and clarity of an orchestral masterpiece is a representation of the musical titans at work here.

My rating : 5.0 out of 5.0

I'mmm sorry to inform you there is absolutely no slap-bass on this song and I'm sorry you deluded yourself into thinking so. He had it right.

This is exactly why I stopped reading Spin Magazine. Retards.

Hopefully the all music guide will pull through with a reasonably thought out review.

Apparently both Spin and Rolling Stone forgot what rock is. I guess I cant blame them though. I am sometimes confused by the feces being thrown about the room masquerading as music. Though this is not ****, this is just picking up where 1975 left off with a dash of QOTSA and Foo Fighters. It's just rock and roll. It's just ****ing good.

this is a review? i don't even understand why mikael gave it that rating. that could've been written by a 7th grader with a.d.d.

That review blew yes, but this song is the ****!

I am yet to read an in depth review published by Spin. Stop accommo**** people with short attention spans and start showing some respect to your readers. Oh and maybe hire some actual journalists.

Wow, this is one of the worst reviews for an album I have ever read. Please put some thought into it... Why would I want to go out and buy the album if it doesn't even inspire someone like you to write more than 3 sentences of crap.

mikael gave this album the same rating as dashboard confessional's new album...lol

@ Anonymous

it's not a slap bass. It IS a clavinet.

I hope Mikael didn't get paid for this lazy excuse of a review. Spin...you disappoint.

Clavinet solo? It is called slap-bass. Idiot. Awful review, a lack of effort on so many levels.

This is the LAZIEST review i have every seen. you should be out of a job, sonny.

Why is this a 3 1/2 star review? Nothing but positive statements. Please give me reasons WHY it got that score. I want an in-depth, well-thought out review, not a couple of weed references and "dude" jokes.