NPR has a terrific piece this week on the Loudness War — as mourned/explained by this YouTube video.
As a drummer, hearing every part of the kit and every single beat rammed to the front of mixes is as depressing as… I don’t know, probably as depressing as Auto-Tune abuse is to singers. Anyway, NPR has Bob Ludwig on hand to explain — he’s mastered pretty much every classic album you’ve heard of, ever — and the historical context of 45s makes this an especially fascinating look at the phenomenon.