Kerry, what you're hearing is how people are mixing records today. Extensive chorusing, detuning, and effects make for an extremely "processed" end result. A lot of people are into that, I've got no problem with it. It's appropriate in certain places and not in others. If you're listening to Nickelback and expecting to have some sort of Floyd-esque realistic symphonic experience, well, I don't know who you're trying to kid. If some mix engineer pulls that shit on your kettle drum during Also Sprach Zarathustra, they be crazy, it don't belong there.
You seem to be unable to separate the delivery medium from the sound, and additionally your opinion of what it should sound like from what it does sound like. Digital is not the problem, and it isn't going anywhere because the advantages far outweigh the detriments. Every year some smart engineer figures out how to take care of one more of those detriments. Pretty soon the only issue left with digital will be "idiots driving a poorly designed system improperly with a bad source are still able to make things sound bad", which has been a problem since the beginning of PA history and isn't going anywhere fast.
And now, one of my seemingly endless car analogies: Two cars pass you on the highway. One is a '67 Chevy, flawlessly restored, driven by a cool-looking middle-aged guy. The other is a Toyota Prius, with flames painted on, driven by some 20 year old in sunglasses with someone who looks suspiciously like your daughter in the passenger seat. You're probably going to have a negative reaction to the latter, even though it's getting 50 miles to the gallon and the kid's having the kind of fun you were at that age. The Chevy has a lot of nice things about it, but it costs a lot to maintain, you can't find parts for it, and it burns oil along with its 15MPG.
Technically, for highway driving, the Prius is far superior. You like the Chevy more because it's what you think a car should be, but someday you're going to have to admit that just because th Prius is new and shocking (!) doesn't mean it doesn't have merit.
I hope that made some sort of sense, these discussions rarely do.