The Smile (5) – A Light For Attracting Attention

Packaging is pretty basic, but I do love the larger font lyrics. The CD is mastered by Bob Ludwig, so it sounds good. Nice soundstage, separation and mix. I do not have any remorse for buying the CD instead of the vinyl, whereas if I was buying Neil Young’s Harvest, I’d be pretty bummed if I got CD instead of vinyl. I actually prefer Radiohead/Thom Yorke/The Smile releases on CD, the music deserves a straight uninterrupted flow and it usually sounds great in that format.

Exceptional mastering and sound - deep, detailed and alive. Sounds awesome.
Some light occasional distortions - I guess the setup must be perfectly adjusted for this record.
Great embossed packaging with cool artwork. Not the quietest sufrace, but nothing serious in of vinyl quality.

Don't know if luck is the key to get a nice pressing of this one but in this case I was. I was very surprised when the needle reached the vinyl to release a perfect silence. The only minor pops I can hear are on side D but they don't ruin the whole thing. So if you're a Lucky Man like me you will enjoy it a lot, definitely worth the shot. Way worth to buy this yellow version than the crappy expensive grey smoked one.

bad bad bad distortion on panavision. cleaned a few times to no avail. im not buying LPs anymore. The Smile should have better care of those who buy their music.Such a disappointement.

Excellent sound, more dynamic compared to the digital one. My copy is almost silent and flat.

Very very good press, pretty much no noise bar a patch of it in the last 20 seconds of "You will never work in television again", but the quality of the rest of the press makes up for that error.

One could have summarized the whole, confusing jumble of
'The Smile' in a small 10" with the following tracks:
1. INSTANT PSALM (early)
2. THE SAME
3. YOU WILL NEVER WORK IN THE TELEVISION AGAIN
4. READ THE ROOM
5. YOU KNOW ME!
6. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS
7. SPEECH BUBBLES

Then it would have been something!
For me this is not the best Radiohead side project!

Anybody know the quantity this is limited to? Seems to be better bet over the black version, sound-wise.

Overall this is a good pressing. The dynamics and mastering is really good. The only issue is I have slight distortion on a couple tracks such as on “You Will Never Work In Television Again” and “Free In the Knowledge”. It’s very listenable tho. However, this being pressed on 2 discs should have avoided this problem. That is the reason why we press on 2 discs as to not cram too much information on the vinyl hence reducing its playback quality. I am overall happy with this however. Great artwork and packaging. The sleeves have a textured feel to them. 4 stars for me.

"The Three Amigos" loves the Japan UHQCD releases. I wish they would come out with high-resolution tho.