Cure* – Wish

Can anyone comment about the sound difference between this Rhino pressing and the Made in Germany pressing from 2022 (not the picture disc)?

I don't know what record some of you bought (regarding the complaints), but I picked up this German pressing today and my copy sounds fuckin' great (and I usually hate now-a-days reissues/pressings).
I don't hear any issues with the bass, no dirty noises either, the highs sound crisp, and the mids cut through fine. Also, I like the simple layout and presentation, not far from the original. It's fine as is, not being a gatefold. Some old The Cure records were double LPs and not gatefolded either. You want a bad sounding The Cure pressing? Try the Mexican pressing for Disintegration, that was a badly pressed record!

My setup: An old mid 80s Onkyo TT (had it for almost 30 years) with a Stanton stylus, a pair of Bower & Wilkins 200 Series V201, a Yamaha sub, a Yamaha amplifier, a Sony SEQ-430 EQ and Yamaha 5.1 surround speakers.

This sounds amazing! Anyone saying it doesn’t just got a bad copy or needs to get their hearing checked. I’ve listened to this album hundreds of times and I can now hear sounds I never heard before. This remastering is extraordinary.

Fantastic pressing. Great sound stage and warmth throughout. These Rhino SYEOR releases have been excellent so far.

I'm in the camp of thinking this is not a very good remaster/pressing, it's quite disappointing. At least the vinyl version. There is almost no punch to the drums/percussion. The first track - Open, degenerates into an almost unlistenable mess towards the end when the cymbals and drums are crashing. No, my record doesn't need cleaning. I'm playing it on a good quality Pro-Ject turn table through a technics amp and out through some Kef floor-standing speakers. I have compared this vinyl version to a 90s cd copy of the album I own, which sounds far better. The instrumentation is separate, and spaced out, all the way through each of the songs. Id be interested to hear if the new cd-remaster has the same issues as the vinyl pressing.

has anyone compared this with the recent picture disc release? seemingly the reviews are better for that, surprisingly

I bought a copy today and I must say, it sounds pretty decent for a picture disc release. I've had a few picture discs over the years and they have without exception sounded notably worse than their black or coloured counterparts. The standard black vinyl of this release isn't available outside Europe at the moment (AFAIK), so I can't do a direct comparison. If you want this album and are worried about the picture disc impairing the sound quality, I'd err on the side of picking up a copy - which I didn't think I'd ever recommend for a picture disc release.

I'll add my copy to the list of one's that arrived dirty however, I'm not bothered by this. Vinyl manufacturing isn't set in places where brain surgeries are performed. After a thorough wet-clean I have to say I'm pretty pleased with this pressing. Although not mind-blowing, it's by no means as flat/dull as other reviews would have you think. I played this through my Pro-Ject X1 with Sumiko Moonstone cart, and toggled between the digital copy I also own. Having gone back and forth the highlights for me were Apart, A Letter To Elise and, my least favorite track, Friday I'm In Love. Drumming on both Apart and A Letter To Elise were very well defined and, far more natural sounding than my digital counterpart. Both these tracks had mid-range and mid-bass that really came through. Friday I'm In Love was bright and crisp and all three tracks were very well balanced. The rest was great but, not excellent and, I told myself if the last three songs (side4) weren't right I'd be writing a more lack-luster review however, they sounded fantastic! I only wish From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea, my personal favorite from this album, sounded as good as the 6 exceptional tracks mentioned. I'm curious what the US Rhino pressing will sound like when it drops this February. I might just buy it as well but, I was too excited not to spend a little extra for this pressing.

I bought this around 92/93 on tape....I couldn't stretch the extra 5 quid to the new vinyl sitting beside it in virgin megastore.

Anyway I have it now and it sounds brilliant. More importantly it brings back amazing memories .....that's the magic of music.

Reluctantly bought this because i was to impatient to wait for a US standard pressing but Sound wise i cant even tell this is a picture disc it sounds very good.
(Played on an RT82)
Very nice thick card stock to and beautiful art
10/10 for pic discs