Seatbelts* – Cowboy Bebop (Original Series Soundtrack)

This album (and the pressing) gets me all amped up right from the first track!

Pressage marbled translucide magnifique jamais vu aussi beau, super pochette aussi et le pressage est top

Exceptional quality, exceptional pressing, exceptional music. Sleeve and inner sleeves are top quality.

Got it today, both of my vinyls are purple. Sounds great.

Love the album although I've never seen the show. Great selection of jazz as well as other genres.

I've read some comments that indicate there is considerable vinyl noise on album 1 on some of the releases. I received my copy about a week ago and I just want to state that the discs are good. There is no vinyl noise and no warp.

Finally mine arrives.
To not mince words Ill just say that this is simply a way to collect Bebop material and listen to the music on vinyl. One should not go in expecting some revelation in of sound or visual design.
My first gripe since day 1 has always been the rather unimaginative artwork. It does not reflect the show very well and does not work as a display piece. It may be by the original creator but thats a weak defense.
Its also a real shame Green Bird is nowhere to be found.
Soundwise theres nothing particularly wrong here, and sometimes its rather good on the simpler tracks. But the complex orchestrations feel pretty congested, 2D and lackluster in of remastering. Much more care could have been put in highlighting and staging the performances to make a convincing and realistic soundscape. This seems to me largely like a CD pressed to vinyl almost directly. There are few exceptions, particularly on Side D, which is a bit better but the set certainly doesnt start off with great impressions.
It does have decent bass and highs, its just how its all arranged and used that is a bit disappointment when compared to other great Jazz recordings and pressings.
The pressing is quite decent for me however with low surface noise and the odd pop here and there mostly. But those rough card inners should really be lined with plastic if intended to be used.
In the end its nice to have as a fan, but what puts it into perspective best I think is that Id rather have the bootleg for its nicer cover and likely similar sound.

Equipment Used:
Technics SL-1210GR Turntable
ATVM95ML Cartridge
Cyrus 2 Amplifier
System Fidelity SF-3050 Tower Speakers

My version was purchased from Europe and bears the same color scheme ("Swordfish II / Red Tail") and sticker as this one, but:

1) The colors go in the order of an US version: LP1 is red\gold and LP2 is purple;
2) Etched numbers are the same (20-0304NL_19439773931 SST TK), but the laser stamped MPO codes differ from other presses. From A to D: 21215882, 21215363, 21214934, 21214933.

Seeing how 2020 presses had an MPO number starting with 20, I think at the very least there's a 2021 European run, maybe undeclared.

Pretty good sound and quality by the way - some surface noise but nothing offensive. Judging from the on the US version I almost decided against ordering this release at all. Don't waste your time like me and get it while it's available.

my euro edition has the same colour scheme as the us in the notes. decent sound, both discs slightly warped, a few ticks and pops but nowhere near as bad as a typical mondo release.

For the commenters wondering why The Real Folk Blues isn't on this: there were four main soundtracks released for the series, this is just a repressing of the first one. The Real Folk Blues is on the second one.

It might have been a good idea to make a "greatest hits" with all the most popular songs on it for this release, especially if they're not planning to reissue the other OSTs.