First impressions after receiving the 4 album bundle from Rhino this morning:
- The vinyl albums sleeves/inner bags aren't bad but aren't fantastic either. As pointed out earlier by Flax the paper is rather cheap and lightweight, and the edges where the vinyl touches the sides of the bags/sleeves were slightly stretched or torn due to too-tight packaging in transit. However, the reproductions of the artwork/lyrics/credits are pretty good, and the texts are mostly crisp, clear and easy to read.
- As for the records themselves, they feel fantastic, heavy and solid. I haven't had a chance to play them yet but will give them a spin later today and report back. I'm expecting excellent dynamics/general sound. They've also reproduced the original vinyl etchings ('DOING THE WYTHENSHAWE WALTZ' etc.).
- Finally the download codes that come with the albums. Each album is downloadable, with The Smiths and Meat Is Murder each having their Sire bonus track (This Charming Man and How Soon is Now? respectively), which is strange as the vinyl albums don't contain these tracks (mercifully). These 320kbps mp3s of the albums sound absolutely fantastic - the remastering has been subtle but excellent. Drums are crisp and actually pop, the bass is strong and full and the vocals/guitar just sound cleaner and fuller than before. This is very noticable on The Smiths, also on Meat Is Murder, less so on QID and less on SHWC. I would highly recommend sourcing these downloads, or waiting for the cd reissues/remasters that will surely come out towards the end of the year (the ones mentioned by Steven Street in his blog, which he did with Johnny).
Fraid I have to disagree with the respectful Jukebox as I find the remastered sound fuller, deeper, crisper and just generally a more alive reproduction of the sound. Like I said, perhaps not worth buying these vinyl albums if you don't have a turntable or only want the download codes, as these remasters will probably be released on nice cds soon, but if you can track them down then do. Really worth it.