thanks man! I absolutely love that REH video, and I agree! His tone during the Wicked Sensation period was insane!!
As for the master on the BE, that's what I thought as well! but if there's one thing I learned from mixing/working with audio is to mix with the ears and not the eyes, sometimes we're just scared of doing something the "wrong way" (myself included).
Let's take Chris Lord Alge, one of my favorite mixing engineers. While the golden rule of many mixers is to apply very little eq boosts, he very often CRANKS up the eqs on his SSL desk like a crazy mofo... if it sounds good, it's good! also Randy Staub (another favorite of mine, worked on the Black Album, Motley's Dr. Feelgood and most recently Nickelback just to name a few) likes to add tons of low end in the overhead drum tracks, which is something most engineers stay away from...at the end of the day it's all about what sounds good no matter what it takes to get there!