Sometimes I find myself wondering whether or not what I am listening to is any good. If it only sounds marginally acceptable it might be the way the artist and recording engineer hoped it would sound. Or not.
I am not going to like everything.
One of my main indicators of whether a track is sonically working or not is pretty simple. Do I want to turn it up or down in volume?
If I grimace at the dynamics and scrunch my face at the sometimes blare of an instrument, I want to turn down the level.
That's not a great recording.
But those toe-tapping times when I itch to turn up the level and go, go, go! That to me is the mark of a great recording.
