OMD* – Souvenir

Well, the pressing would be top and the cover as well if it weren't for .... the usual problems with the attitude of some companies and their employees regarding meticulousness in the job and quality control. I've been listening to and collecting vinyl since 1973 and have worked as a DJ for years, but I've never experienced this kind of mass-produced junk on vinyl pressings in the hey days of vinyl. There were faulty pressings back then too, without question, but not to the same extent as today. It's mainly the poor base material that is the dilemma today. Obviously, even then the work was already being done in a rather amateurish way. This can be heard particularly well and annoyingly as a background noise when the discs are played. I have records that are 60 years old and still sound better than some of today's rubbish.
But now to "Souvenir", pressed in 2019. I bought the disc from overseas, sealed, so brand new. Opened, wanted to pull the discs out of the trifold cover ... but nothing worked. These morons glued the discs with inlays into the cover. Probably to save time so that the lunch break would last longer, they didn't wait until the glue for the cover folds was dry. I then removed the discs with a surgical knife. First annoyance overcome, disc put on, third song the disc jumps and always gets stuck in the same place. There was glue on it too, which I had to painstakingly remove. The same mess with disc two and three. So also painstakingly cleaned. Only now was I able to examine the disc with my ears. The dynamics are good and the voices come out well. Perhaps the mastering is a little quiet, but I'd rather have it that way than this loudness madness.

Pretty sure this is the first time the single versions of "We Love You" and "Shame" have appeared on CD.

I Forgot how good this album was.
Great sounding quality.

Top flight mastering, pressing, packaging, and of course music. What more could you want from a record?

One of my favorite LPs I own! This is a must-have for anyone who loves synths.

A magnificent effort on the packaging / artwork for this release. Records are flat & quiet, though my initial copy had manufacturing scratches which affected playback. Mastering is a little inconsistent - some tracks have great bass, others sound very thin - though that could simply be a result of recording studios / year of production. Beyond that, this is the only vinyl compilation you will ever need.

Holy cow, this is the epitome of what a good pressing should be.

I was literally blown away when I dropped the needle and heard silence. That’s right, complete silence. You could drop a pin and hear it. Zero surface noise from start to ending. Unheard of today! No pops. No static. Very nice deep grooves. Just pure amazing music.

The remaster is phenomenal. I am blown away at how punchy the bass is, the middle notes pop, the electronic synths sound like I’m right in front of the band. Pure perfection.

The sleeve is nothing to gawk at either. It’s just as well made. Thick cardboard like paper, and the trifold feels heavy and well put together. Very very minimal design and color scheme, but than again, that’s OMD for you. The only “complaint” about the sleeve is it’s a little oversized, which makes it impossible to fit into a standard protective outer sleeve, which irks me only because I like to have one for all my vinyl to protect from dust, dirt, etc. but at the same time, because of its oversize, the vinyls fit perfectly into their individual compartments without any pushback like you see a lot in even gatefold, so for that reason, I’ll give it a pass.

Pure pop perfection and every collector should have this in their collection. Totally worth the money!

Very Impressed with the quality of the sound and the beautiful design of the package. worth every cent.

Very nice set but the CD's have slight marks on them, very tight fit in the slots in the cardboard. These should be in card sleeves like the DVD's, there isn't a mark on those. Everything else in the set is really nice, the foil/black prints look great and the hardback book with the sleeve artwork in is really nice. Just hope the CD's are mastered well.

this is the release that they're selling whilst on (US) tour, at the merch desk. 50 bucks US, and worth it!