Snow Patrol – Final Straw

Overall a pretty good package, although I think transparent orange* would have been a better colour choice to match the cover aesthetic and may have addressed some concerns over the SQ of gold vinyl. The gold colour is just a little dull.
* I actually thought that's what it was based on some creative lighting in the marketing mock-up photos.
That said, SQ is a 4 out of 5 to me - good but just a touch short of great. The odd pop and crackle but generally pretty clean.
Solid gatefold with the usual comment to make over card inners, resolved with after-market poly sleeves.

Nice package and good enough mastering, but awful, AWFUL pressing, just dreadful. Full of swish sounds and constant crackle. Way too much surface noise for a brand new slab of vinyl.
I usually don't have a problem with color vinyl, except for gold - most gold vinyl, I've noticed, tend to have a ton of surface noise, and this one is no exception!

Nice packaging. Gatefold is really nice quality. Shame the records don't come in lined sleeves to avoid surface marks straight out of the cellophane. The gold vinyl looks nice but is noisier than black vinyl could have been.

That said sound quality is pretty good. This is a wall of sound album for the most part which has been mellowed somewhat with this vinyl mastering, losing some of the energy and drive in the process for some tracks but definitely enhancing the vocals and making it a less fatiguing listen compared to the digital master.

The second disc doesn't have much on it that I would miss if I had just bought a standard edition of the album.

Was just delivered and it’s like I’m hearing it for the first time. The vinyl remaster is really nice. Wide sound stage and vocals are clear and forward. Well done!

All very well having a nicely well made pressing and sleeve. But when the music itself is from a digital source that doesnt have the original version of at least "Chocolate" its a minor detail that im not sure was on the original pressed vinyl. As they changed the song when it was released as single.

Great music, powerful sound.
The pressing is dead silent and flat. The mastering is pretty well done. Voice and instruments are balanced throughout the soundstage

Super quiet vinyl and excellent mastering. Worth every single penny.

I have the 2004 pressing, even after cleaning it a couple of times it just sounds atrocious.
Horribly compressed and distorted throughout. Sounds like I'm playing a record that's been run over by a couple of cars, using a rusty stylus, through a couple of smashed up speakers. Really not good. Not sure if the 2019 version sounds any better.

Great album but needs to be given some special treatment and some proper mastering for vinyl.

I disagree with vinylfilmaholic's review. There is minimal surface noise on my copy (which came sealed). The music sounds great, with considerable depth and clarity. Separation is decent. Far from the best pressing in my collection, but certainly not as bad as other reviews have detailed.

Went through two copies of this from Amazon before deciding to keep it. Doesn’t come sealed, just in a poly sleeve. Record comes really scratched but the music is fairly loud and compressed enough that the surface noise doesn’t become an issue much. Just a word of caution.