The London Symphony Orchestra* – Promises

Happy customer in 2025 after reading so much criticism but taking a shot anyways. Minimal wobble. Had to brush a long time to clear out most of the static noise but now I’m happy with just minor pops here and there (totally normal). Sax and reverb effects much more detailed and good separation. This record is so captivating and creates certain mood it’s hard to focus on other stuff while listening. I needed to just stare at the ceiling and feel.

Picked up this pressing in a UK HMV store yesterday, and the audio quality is second to none. What a beautiful album. RIP Pharoah Sanders.

My copy of Promises sums up pretty well what’s wrong (in my opinion) with many new vinyl releases. Nice packaging, well recorded and mastered music combined with botched pressing and a high price tag. This leaves me kind of scratching my head. Was there a campfire in the studio when this was recorded? My copy surely sounds like that. Ended up buying another copy (a CD) for actual listening. Just saying. It shouldn’t be like this.

Snap Crackle Pop and some Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders interspersed. Shame to waste the energy to produce such a poor pressing.

Great pressing. Disc is fairly flat and any surface noise doesn't detract from what is an amazing recording.
I tend to think that people may have an unrealistic expectation of the clarity of vinyl records, especially with quieter music. It's an imperfect medium and there is a reason why the record industry and buyers moved away from it. If you are looking for absolute silence digital is the only way to go but if you want the experience then get this pressing, give it a clean, sit down with a drink and enjoy!

Terrible pressing. Warped & has lots of scratchy wavy marks all over the record, on both A & B sides. The stylus jumps like crazy. Avoid this pressing unless you can inspect it visually, otherwise it's a pig in a poke, just like many other records from Pallas plant.

Perfectly fine copy for me - very slight wobble from the disc but nothing like the dishing and warping reported by others. Did my research before I bought and the standard weight (not 180g) black vinyl seemed to be the way to go, and I can attest that this is definitely what I have found. Really happy with my copy. Worth making the right choice though - there’s so much quiet in the music. If in doubt, or want guaranteed silence, maybe the FLAC.

I love the album so much that even though I've read so many negative reviews about the pressing quality here, I've decided to take a shot and buy it anyways... Well, I did not get lucky.
The 1st two movements play fine, only a few very minor pops, however, mid-way through 3rd movement the frequency of pops begins to escalate. 4th movement — which is one of the highlights of the album for me — is completely ruined, and towards the end of 5th movement, it's not just pops and cracks, but a continuous audible static in the high up until the end of side A. I've tried listening to side B, but the noise was unbearable right from the start so I gave up.

For an album that so heavily relies on quiet moments, the lack of quality completely negates the otherwise incredible performance.
For those of you who lucked out and got a quiet pressing, I am happy for you and extremely jealous (sell it to me).

For those wondering, played through:
- Linn Sondek lp12
- Ortofon Kontrapunkt B
- Monitor Audio PL100

My copy is quite with no issues that warrants complaints.

I also have a locked groove between movment 8 and 9. There is also a lot of cracklings and pops… I really like the music but I‘m not going to spin the record very often becausd This shit really makes me upset! There definitly has to be quality control! If I were the artist I would be really embarressed selling a piece of art everybody is looking forward to to enjoy and the: nah not today; I don‘t care…