Normalization doesn't decrease volume?

[Barak]

While I can normalize "up" from a, for example, 50% loudness file, normalization doens't seem to work if I'm trying to normalize "down" from a file that's already at 100%. I have some files that are too loud and too quiet, and I'd like to normalize them all to 80%. Do I have to first play them all, and then use normalize on the "too quiet" ones and Quieten for the "too loud" ones?

[Spoon]

Just use them both together,

increase to a 80%

and decrease to 80% and it will work for files that are too loud and too quiet.