Tool (2) ‎– Lateralus

Now that the Chris Bellman pressing has been split into a separate entry Tool (2) - Lateralus - it would be interesting to see which of the quality reviews refer to which pressing.

Having read poor reviews for the sound quality of the picture-disc version of this album, I thought I would try this unofficial release. This bootleg pressing sounds like trash (I wish I had saved my money and paid attention to the review by @fjosh below). Sounds like a poorly encoded MP3 file, reminiscent of the days of limewire. Completely unlistenable - I turned this off immediately. Do yourself a favour and plug in your iPod instead.

Limited edition... how much? 50 000 copies? 100 000 ?

Been playing mine semi-regularly for six months and other than slight crackling between a few tracks, my copy sounds awesome. Sound really jumps off the record. People with skipping and awful sound should return their albums or properly configure their platters.

The only Tool album which lives up to their reputation. I never understood why Aenima is regarded as a masterpiece. I always thought it was pretentious. Lateralus might also be pretentious, but it's also deep and psychedelic. Regarding this pressing, I have an early one and it sounds good for a picture disc. Very minimal surface noise. And although I am not a fan of these things, I have to admit that it looks really great and adds to the overall vibe. A classic.

Newer copies of these might be better but while the album is amazing, my copy from around 2 years ago has SO MUCH SURFACE NOISE. especially on side B. seems like the luck of the draw with this one, still an amazing album worth owning.

As some users have mentioned, I bought this record based off of the beautiful artwork by a really rad artist (Alex Grey - definitely worth a Google) and knowing there may be some surface noise and other nasty things to ignore.

However, I was pleasantly surprised at just how clean the pressing really was. Very very little surface noise (a couple of pops.. mostly on inner tracks) and excellent dynamic range. I've listened to the CD and digital versions countless times.. and can definitely say I was not let down by this vinyl release, if not actually impressed!

Just gave my copy a spin none of the problem reported in the other comments. Little to no surface noise. The mastering is fantastic also.

good album. surprisingly doesn't sound bad. It's funny because i got this at FYE. I hate them but i could nt resist