The Smile (5) – Cutouts

I was worried to buy a Smile record after getting WOE, which is quite of a mess... Luckily, this one seems to be a good pressing. Except Foreign Spies, all the other tracks are decent but some stand out : DGMS, Eyes & Mouth, Colours Fly and Zero Sum. Took one star off because there is a permanent noise on Side B which sometimes is heard through some quiet parts but it's ok.

Mine sounds fine, no warps or issues, but my god, another XL pre-order where I pay nearly $40 and then see it for HALF of that online later. FOMO is expensive, y'all.

Massive warp right out of the jacket. Noisy and distorted. One of the worst pressings of vinyl I've purchased. I'm embarrassed for the record store owner for even selling this, so won't even bother trying to get my money back. It's going in the trash, and I'll just tell him it's what I did with it the next time I visit his store.

I ordered mine through Amazon in case I would have to return it and sure enough the first and replacement copy both had the distortion on side 1 audible towards the end of track 3 and all throughout tracks 4 and 5. Returned.

This is a super good press, silent and great sounding.

The press quality is so poor the band, WASTE, and XL should be ashamed that this product is on the market. How can you charge people garish amounts for a limited edition only for it to be so warped the needle skips? Two copies too. This album and the fans deserve better.

Glad other people are mentioning the intense distortion on the first side. Especially the last 2 tracks.

Won the lottery! Initially bought the black US pressing and had really bad channel distortion issues (not inner groove distortion) and Side A had scratches.

This one came in perfect condition! I can’t believe I am saying this but this is actually one of the best sounding modern records I own. The instrument separation, dynamic range and soundstage - everything is so amazing! This one was mastered really well.

I also got a cover art on a cardboard and a sticker. Really happy to have this in my collection as this is such a good example of why modern music is amazing :)

I bought this from my local record shop in Toronto. Everything sounded so good except the last two tracks of Side A. Horrible channel distortion. I have a microcline stylus with a good turntable setup, so I was kind of shocked hearing the distortion thinking it was inner groove distortion.

When I visually inspected it, there were scratches on those two tracks right from the factory.

Also the record was slightly warped.

I really want to own this record but buying it again seems to be a gamble.

I always go with black vinyl when possible and my copy sounds flawless. not a single click or pop. bought from amazon