I remember buying Visions of a Life on vinyl. It was the white vinyl version. It was terrible. Absolutely no high end. Then I tried the regular black vinyl pressed At Pallas Not audiophile, but definitely a lot better and an enjoyable listen
Listening to the USA and Canada black vinyl release and am not hearing any pressing issues thus far. No indication in the matrix or otherwise about who pressed this. Mastered at by JNH (Joe Nino-Hernes) at Sterling, as noted earlier.
I received red Vinyl today from Juno. Quieter than my black vinyl. Same Stampers But unfortunately when I put on Side 2 saw the warp. Thought I was at the beach watching the waves as the record was spinning. Had do take it off the turntable
Been bugging me what the beginning of The Beach reminded of then it hit me today... Great album though!
Short version: There is hope for this album sound quality wise if you have a digital copy like I do. If you have some flexibility in your system, use it! I'm now able to enjoy my favorite album of the year even more. Long version: I've complained a couple times in this thread about how brick-walled the digital version of "Blue Weekend" is. I've also said on this thread that "Blue Weekend" sounded decent on speakers but not on headphones.... (I've tried 3 different pairs: Sennheiser hd800S, Fostex TH900 and Audeze XC. (The Senn's sounded the least harsh) I've conducted some recent experiments. I tried it with my IEM's (Noble X) through my IPhone 11. My IEM's aren't as good as my desktop setup but "Blue Weekend" was noticeably less harsh but not as full sounding. So it got me to thinking. My DAC is a Yulong DA9. Yulong is known for it's warmth. My model has 3 settings. bright/mid/dark. I've had mine set to dark for several months. It shouldn't be the DAC. The IEM's were OK, the speakers were OK.... I have the Yulong DAC connected to a headphone amp: Violectric HPA V181. I've never had any real issues with it causing harshness in the past but I decided to take it out of the equation. I plugged the Senn's straight into the DAC (which has a headphone jack) and bypassed the amp.... Wow. What a difference. Even at higher volumes than I've been listening to in the past, the album is not harsh anymore. I can enjoy the album so much more and hear so many more of the layers that are there. In the past, I could barely take "The Beach II" it was so harsh. It was almost like hearing this song for the first time. I didn't have to wince! Anyway, I thought I would share. Maybe some others can find a solution within their current set-up too. Try what you can!
Pitchfork are taking their time reviewing the album. Love them or loathe them, you can’t deny their influence! I reckon they give it 7.2
They did a cover of Steely Dan’s ‘Dirty Work’! (59 minutes in) Jo Whiley - Sofa Session: Wolf Alice - BBC Sounds
7.2 is a positive rating, but it doesn't shake my sense that Pitchfork really doesn't care about British rock music. I did think that the text of the review, written by Ian Cohen, was good. I disagree with his criticism that Wolf Alice "lack(s) a quintessence that immediately establishes a song as Wolf Alice". I think that kind of versatility is part of the point of Wolf Alice. It's sort of like when you listen to a band's really early work, and it's all over the place because they're still working out what kind of band they are at that point. Wolf Alice are an unusual band that never really had to work that out because it turns out that they're very good at all sorts of different kinds of rock music.
On a different note--now that I look at the discography of Markus Dravs, who produced "Blue Weekend", I see a pattern of this kind of production. Dravs also produced Coldplay's "Mylo Xyloto", which had so much production all over it that I could barely hear the songs. This one turned out a lot better.
I hate that pitchfork review, they seem spiteful for no reason. This is so far my album of the year. Just enough pop to glisten and just enough rock to hit you in the feelings.
At the moment it's in my top five albums of the year. It does feel like a massive step up for them in terms of production and How Can I Make It OK might be the best song of their career so far. In fact the only stinker is Play The Greatest Hits, it could have easily been cut and nobody would have missed it.
I’d say that Pitchfork review is about right. Knowing Pitchfork I’m Surprised they were that generous!
Totally agree. That’s the only filler on the record - it’s a bside at best. Love How Can I Make It Ok - gorgeous song.
"Play the Greatest Hit's" is fun. The album needed a rocker. I get what you guys are saying but I'm glad it's there.
I have to join the praise here. This band always had potential and they’re using it well, growing from album to album. I really like how they managed to make their music sound more accessible still retaining their identity. Great album!
I wish ! They gave the debut 7.4 and the second album 7.0. I felt they were not going to join in the almost coordinated hyperbole surrounding the new album…it’s basically Visions of a Life part 2 in terms of style and production. It’s good , but let’s be honest, it’s not even close to being the classic album its Metacritic score suggests. I’d give their debut 9/10 , myself! Definitely their best album, in my opinion.
This is really growing on me now - how far they have progressed in ways, since I saw those young scruffy kids on the smaller stage at Glasto:
This is their half-hour mini-gig from the stream-only Worthy Farm (Glastonbury) show last month. It's very wonderful; there's a genuine magic about this band. BBC iPlayer - Glastonbury - Wolf Alice (2021) (FYI there are tons of other archive Glastonbury gigs that have just been added to BBC iPlayer and they are available for a month)
I’d never really thought about that, but I think you’re right: Pitchfork is pretty heavily biased towards American indie rock. In the days before the Internet, keeping up with British indie music was a full time job for Americans, requiring much reading of tea leaves in imported copies of the NME and Melody Maker.
Cool share there, damien thanks for that. I got the lenticular version from blood records and the vinyl had a lot of 'flutter and wow' or whatever it is called (that roaring noise you often get on pic discs) so I told them and they send me the actual blue marble vinyl and inner sleeve as a replacement, which was nice of them.
I see they are making videos for every song. Possible short film. Maybe we get a blu-ray with hirez surround? Dreaming
I received the blue vinyl from Rough Trade today. It was advertised on the site with a bonus live CD. My invoice said bonus live CD included. But alas there was no bonus live CD. I emailed them and they told me that was only through the UK store. Makes no sense to me. Ridiculous
Hey all, I really like this album, thought it showed some good band progression. I want to purchase on vinyl… any consensus about which is the best pressing yet?
