Something just came to mind, when were general pop recordings out with the most DR or Lufs or whatever measure you prefer? I'd say it was late 1950's to late 1970's. Though I have not done any survey to see if that turns out to be so.
From what I have seen the most dynamic popular music was recorded from the late 1970's through the early 1990's. Pink Floyd and Dire Straits are notable are examples from the 1970's but there were many others. Even early "grunge" music was digitally recorded and very dynamic such as early Nirvana, Meat Puppets, and others. I would argue the "peak" of dynamic recording was during the late 1980's and early 1990's when engineers were really getting to understand digital recording. Tracy Chapman's 1988 debut is a good example. Some of the best popular dynamic recordings in my opinion are Lyle Lovetts first 4 albums (late 1980's through early 1990's) ... these really showed what the potential of digital recording could be. From the early 1990's on things changed quickly and dynamic popular recordings got louder and louder until today when everything is loud whether new or remastered. See below, I sometimes pick up the "Grammy compilation CD's" at thrifts. By 1997 the Grammy pop recordings were compressed compared to earlier but not too bad but by 2019 anything popular pretty much had to follow the "super loud" style. Things have not changed much since.
foobar2000 1.4.4 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2020-06-27 20:40:02
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Analyzed: Alanis Morissette / 1997 Grammy Nominees (1)
Celine Dion / 1997 Grammy Nominees (2)
Eric Clapton / 1997 Grammy Nominees (3)
Garbage / 1997 Grammy Nominees (4)
Gloria Estefan / 1997 Grammy Nominees (5)
Jewel / 1997 Grammy Nominees (6)
LeAnn Rimes / 1997 Grammy Nominees (7)
No Doubt / 1997 Grammy Nominees (8)
Shawn Colvin / 1997 Grammy Nominees (9)
Smashing Pumpkins / 1997 Grammy Nominees (10)
Toni Braxton / 1997 Grammy Nominees (11)
Tony Rich Project, The / 1997 Grammy Nominees (12)
Tracy Chapman / 1997 Grammy Nominees (13)
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR10 -0.09 dB -13.18 dB 3:50 04-Ironic
DR8 -0.80 dB -11.26 dB 4:35 03-Because You Loved Me
DR10 0.00 dB -11.32 dB 3:56 02-Change The World
DR7 -1.00 dB -9.57 dB 4:21 06-Stupid Girl
DR6 -1.24 dB -9.14 dB 3:49 13-Reach
DR10 0.00 dB -12.20 dB 4:02 07-Who Will Save Your Soul
DR11 0.00 dB -12.28 dB 2:52 10-My Baby
DR8 0.00 dB -9.12 dB 4:29 08-Spiderwebs
DR4 -1.69 dB -7.31 dB 4:17 12-Get Out Of This House
DR9 -1.50 dB -12.29 dB 4:26 05-1979
DR9 -1.50 dB -12.81 dB 4:32 11-Un-Break My Heart
DR9 -1.20 dB -11.76 dB 5:10 09-Nobody Knows
DR10 0.00 dB -11.57 dB 4:30 01-Give Me One Reason
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Number of tracks: 13
Official DR value: DR8
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
foobar2000 1.4 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2019-02-16 14:31:16
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Analyzed: Ariana Grande / Grammy Nominees 2019 (1)
Backstreet Boys / Grammy Nominees 2019 (2)
Brandi Carlile / Grammy Nominees 2019 (3)
Camila Cabello feat. Young Thug / Grammy Nominees 2019 (4)
Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin / Grammy Nominees 2019 (5)
Childish Gambino / Grammy Nominees 2019 (6)
Christina Aguilera feat. Demi Lovato / Grammy Nominees 2019 (7)
Daniel Caesar feat. H.E.R. / Grammy Nominees 2019 (8)
Drake / Grammy Nominees 2019 (9)
Janelle Monáe / Grammy Nominees 2019 (10)
Justin Timberlake feat. Chris Stapleton / Grammy Nominees 2019 (11)
Kacey Musgraves / Grammy Nominees 2019 (12)
Kelly Clarkson / Grammy Nominees 2019 (13)
Kendrick Lamar & SZA / Grammy Nominees 2019 (14)
Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper / Grammy Nominees 2019 (15)
Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B / Grammy Nominees 2019 (16)
P!nk / Grammy Nominees 2019 (17)
Post Malone feat. 21 Savage / Grammy Nominees 2019 (18)
Shawn Mendes / Grammy Nominees 2019 (19)
Taylor Swift / Grammy Nominees 2019 (20)
Tony Bennett & Diana Krall / Grammy Nominees 2019 (21)
Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey / Grammy Nominees 2019 (22)
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR5 -0.07 dB -7.14 dB 3:13 12-God is a woman
DR6 -0.02 dB -7.78 dB 3:36 21-Don't go breaking my heart
DR4 -0.36 dB -6.58 dB 4:39 10-The joke
DR5 -0.39 dB -7.39 dB 2:57 13-Havana
DR6 -0.01 dB -7.90 dB 4:13 02-I like it
DR4 -0.37 dB -6.23 dB 3:29 09-This is America
DR5 -0.18 dB -6.80 dB 3:54 20-Fall in line
DR9 -0.02 dB -10.53 dB 3:30 08-Best part
DR6 -0.07 dB -9.72 dB 3:20 04-God's plan
DR6 -0.25 dB -7.55 dB 3:15 01-Make me feel
DR5 -0.02 dB -7.11 dB 4:38 18-Say something
DR6 -0.03 dB -9.58 dB 4:06 06-Slow burn
DR6 0.00 dB -8.43 dB 3:44 16-I don't think about you
DR4 -0.76 dB -6.12 dB 3:54 03-All the stars
DR5 -0.10 dB -9.52 dB 3:37 11-Shallow
DR6 -0.01 dB -8.13 dB 3:56 19-Girls like you
DR6 0.00 dB -8.72 dB 3:42 17-Beautiful trauma
DR4 -0.08 dB -5.61 dB 3:18 07-Rockstar
DR5 0.00 dB -7.62 dB 3:31 15-In my blood
DR3 -0.35 dB -6.26 dB 3:32 14-Look what you made me do
DR9 -0.06 dB -10.89 dB 2:48 22-'s wonderful
DR4 -0.29 dB -7.00 dB 3:05 05-The middle
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Number of tracks: 22
Official DR value: DR5
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 1014 kbps
Codec: FLAC
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