Queens Of The Stone Age – R

My BG cut copy had a made in Germany sticker on the back of the cellophane.

The bass is huge on this album, and everything else sounds great too. Listened A/B with the digital, this is superior. Bonus songs are worthy inclusions.

Highly recommend.

Terrible sounding pressing, very quiet and no punch at all. It is as if you are listening to it while wearing a set of loosely inserted ear plugs.

I don't think it has been on the platter for 8 or 9 years. The only reason I still have it is because they are one of my favourite bands, if not it would have been used for skeet shooting years ago.

Mine came perfectly flat and has antistatic sleeves. First time hearing this album on vinyl but this one sounds great. Much better than my og cd version

I recently bought a sealed edition which is very similar to this one visually (the sleeve, insert, artwork, hype sticker, I can’t spot any differences) but:
1) the vinyl itself has totally different matrix 010701008-A-2 and 010701008-B-2 etched
2) there is an additional small sticker on the back of the shrink which says MANUFACTURED IN POLAND
Does anybody know if it’s still this 2019 EU edition or something new?

Excellent pressing with great sound. Sounds better than my digital download of the Deluxe version of this album. I expect nothing else from BG and Pallas. Buy this album!!!

I just picked this up. Sounds fantastic to me. Flat, clean, good sound stage. No complaints.

Pressing - 5/5
Exactly what you usually expect from a Pallas pressing. Nice and heavy, even, flat, and perfectly center. Plus, came very clean right out of the package and no surface noise at all. A+ all around.

Mastering - 4/5
In isolation, this sounds really good. Great soundstage and nice, crisp dynamics. But, honestly, it pales in comparison to the original. I’m not an “original press is always best” kind of person, but the difference between the two is significant. Maybe it’s just that Bernie was given a different source. This sounds great, but the original is demo-worthy.

Packaging - 4/5
Nice to have the original art but outside of that, nothing super special. Came in a poly lined sleeve which is a plus.

Overall - 4/5
Solid copies of the original press are still affordable, so I’d say go with that one. But, if you prefer new, or want the original artwork, this one is solid. I own both, because I love this album and my original press has a persistent skip in one spot, so this is my “playing” copy and that one is my “special occasion” copy.

Pressing - N/A
I bought this in VG+ condition so not going to give a rating on the pressing, because likely a lot of the surface noise and the one consistent place it skips comes from it being played a bunch. But, what I can comment on is that it’s a nice, flat, centered record, and has crisp sound in the inner grooves despite being on a single LP.

Mastering - 5/5
Can’t imagine it sounding any better. Perfectly balanced, great soundstage, very dynamic in all the right ways. I also have a copy of the 2019 Grundman press as my regular listening copy, and this one is much more balanced and more dynamic (and, that one happens to sound pretty darn good so for this to beat it means it’s special)

Packaging - 4/5
The (in)famous X rated packaging is here on full display, but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary.

Overall - 5/5
This is the copy to get if you can find it for a reasonable price. The 2019 sounds great if you’ve never heard this one, but once you hear this one, you’ll notice a clear difference.

Just like my pressing of SFTD this pressing is phenomenal. Excellent sound for an excellent record. If you see it grab it