/ cassettes back when car stereos used a couple 6x9's you had to do everything you could to get volume ! When "appetite for destruction" came out many people lamented the high levels of compression , but I honestly couldn't tell it on any of the equipment I had at the time . I do remember being put off by the fast beat , which was just TOO fast throughout , if you ask me.
If your sound system is shitty you can't tell a difference anyway and ,really that's why they record so many things so hot , so it'll sound good (or at least loud ) thru junk !
People let a lot of decisions cloud their minds when selecting music gear today very little of has to do with high fidelity or even outright spl , which I was concerned with in my teens.
They make "cute" little stereos today the ones with a single big volume knob in the middle , and "turbo" bass ports and shit.
What the fuck is a turbo bass port ? You can probably blame some of that bull on bose who has marketed such things as "waveguide" TECHNOLOGY ! that's how they market that stuff , they imply that large speakers are somehow uncouthe and unsophisticated , AND THEY MAY BE RIGHT ! But they WILL do the job .
Here's a nice little wiki read on the loudness wars which points up some of the more infamous albums and backgrounds the compression thing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war
good read !