Riff: Darius Rucker – “Wagon Wheel”

Not to play devil’s advocate, but I looked into it, and it turns out you don’t need to have a number one hit to have ears.

The fact of the matter is that at least 95% of the music on the radio made after the ’90s was made with the loudness war uber-compression, and this track is a prime example, especially when compared with *any* previous version. It removes the charm of the Dylan, Old Crow, and Against Me versions. Since there are no dynamics, Rucker has to just drop all of the instruments on the bridge for a dip in energy. It’s a pretty cut-and-dry slab of homogeneous sound. Luckily, the internet means we can easily listen to any other version besides this one.