I think this is one of the things driving the vinyl resurgence. Albums that release on vinyl tend to less alteration to the dynamic range... Ymmv I've not listened to everything out there :-]
The real reason for that is because of the physical limitations of the medium. You have to be very careful when mastering for vinyl that you aren't knocking the stylus out of the groove by making things too loud (especially sudden changes are dangerous). Even for less proactively mastered stuff, if a master is received too loud, the factory will reduce the volume before pressing so that it is playable.
