Steve Albini performing in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2014.
By the early ’90s, the adoption of the CD had set in motion the loudness wars: the race to maximize amplitude of rock recordings. The practice resulted in tracks that were a compacted mush with little dynamic range. A fatiguing sound that became the hallmark of major label studio releases.
Enter Steve Albini, the musician, sharply opinionated recording engineer—he loathed the term “producer”—and musical iconoclast who died this week at the age of 61. Albini hated the major labels, finding their business practices immoral. But he especially hated what they were doing to rock music.
Albini thought rock and
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