I never understood the preoccupation with volume. It's like a macho thing. HOW MUCH CAN YOU TAKE?!?!? There's nothing sadder than a deaf thirty year-old.
It's seems like the bands are overcompensating for two things: 1.) The obvious. 2.) The band not being that good. And, YES, I'm including Iggy and the Stooges and LCD in that group. That reissue of "Raw Power" is quite possibly the shittiest sounding CD I've ever heard.
Brian
Different ways to look at it, J Mascis said it was as a drummer to try and get that visceral feel of drumming in guitar. Others it is just deafness, others sadism (when the engineer wears ear protection, that is just wrong), some it is just to get over the stage volume.
Also it is just fun to do once in a while.
