Fiona Apple – When The Pawn

I bought the record and listened to it without reading all these reviews. Quite surprised by the comments.
My copy sounds decent out right without any cleaning. Quiet, good dynamic, good bass, soundstage could be larger. Is it the best sounding record? Absolutely not. But if all vinyl factories manufacture to this standard as baseline i would be really thankful. You can complain about the package not being in gatefold, you can complain about the cover, or the price whatever it's subjective. But it sounds decent, fact. Not regret buying it for one second
And I like the cover, it's a "paying tribute " kind of cover.

I have no idea what these people are talking about. This release sounds great, and a hell of a lot better than VMP’s pressing of Tidal, which sounds muddy, dull and muffled to me. Frankly, the changed cover art is a cop-out and is by no means a selling point. But sounds really great and I’m happy to have it. Bring on Extraordinary Machine, VMP!

This is an excellent pressing: lacquer cut professionally at Capitol and an exemplary job by GZ — clean and flat — as they tend to step up the QC with their larger clients like VMP. And nice tip-on sleeves. I think people are letting the inflated price (b/c of Sony licensing) and anti-sleeve art affect their perception. It sounds better and less digital than the CD. I thought it stood up nicely to VMP's Tidal, which inherently has a more spacious, analog-y mix and source. Plus, I found some old 12x12" poster flat adverts from Epic/Clean Slate of the original When the Pawn album art at a record store, slid it into the plastic sleeve in front of the reissue and can't tell the difference! Selling my extra poster if anyone wants it.

The Release: It's a really difficult thing to kind of sum up. Because I have a huge sense of happiness that this is finally on vinyl and, I think, packaging-wise, VMP has done a really good job. I much prefer this cover, and I like that the full title can be found on the album's inner sleeve. I'm happy that they've kept up the black, 180g presentation of the Apple records they've so far released but, and there is no getting away from it, the album just doesn't have the depth or richness of sound that their Tidal release does. A lot of the drums sound ultra-tinny, and the bass isn't as full-bodied. It is by no means unlistenable, and it certainly is a welcome addition to my collection, but the VMP Tidal release is so good that anything less - in terms of sound quality - was always going to leave a slightly bitter aftertaste.

The Music: This is, and will likely remain for a long time, my favourite Fiona Apple album. Where the rest have at least one or two songs that deviate slightly from the overall quality of the records that house them, When the Pawn... makes no missteps. It is a record of unmatched consistency, both in Apple's repertoire and in modern music more generally. A wonderful album and one which, slightly-underwhelming pressing or not, everyone should own.

Lazy as hell release. massive disappointment after all those years of wanting this on vinyl.
This album used to be my favorite but after spinning on vinyl, it moved the position to the least favorite.
some bits of punchy. that's all. it matches the sound of Spotify streaming on chromecast audio connected by dirt cheap Y cable to my Sugden A21se Signiture. My analog lig is Nagaoka MP200 on modded Rega RP6 with additional PSU. Graham Slee Accession MM with PSU connected by Qed reference 40. now you can picture how bad this sounds.

For the sleeve. I really respect Fiona Apple but a poor decision to use this bad taste "image". I can't help but thinking she disregarded this album. she trashed her own arts only because her relationship with Paul Thomas Anderson.

We're seeing the moment once a masterpiece trashed, disgraced and devaluated by its own creator.

she shouldn't allow this being released on vinyl if she doesn't feel like.

*** I spinned this album a few more times. my review on SQ still the same. it simply sounds BAD.
*Edited; I was confused with Paul Thomas Anderson and Jon Brion 😅😅😅

Finally received my copy. I'm a huge fan of this record and been waiting for this to be on vinyl since ages. I agree with others, it was cut - most likely - from a digital source. That's not a bad thing as I've heard great sounding records from digital sources and bad sounding ones from analog as well, so just alone the fact that it is digitally sourced should not change anything about this release. What bothers me a bit that this is probably not a new transfer. It could've been the same process VMP did with Tidal but it isn't. I don't think it's a CD master, but an already existing hi-rez master cut to a lathe. Who knows the reasons? Maybe there was no issue with the masters, meaning there was no reason to do a new transfer just for this release; or maybe the label is reluctant about giving access to tapes. I don't know. I wish we had answers on these.

My copy is flawless though. Packaging is super minimalistic - I don't understand the need for a new cover, if it's not a legal issue, than it is kind of silly. Other than that, if you like this record, go for it. It's not a disappointment at all, it's just not the same treatment we got with Tidal.

I remember in 2017 the first time I heard on vinyl the piano on the song "Sullen Girl" ('Tidal, track #2') and being drawn to the harmonics on those strings that I had not heard on the CD. Then when Fiona starts singing and the drums kick in it was like being transported across space. I had the same expectation and excitement when I dropped the needle to hear "Love Ridden" (WTP, track #4) and what a disappointment. The piano sounded just like the CD. Soundstage, imaging/instrument separation, bass... all sounded familiar. I did A/B comparisons with the CD and could not find much difference. Yes, the vinyl sounds clean, it's quiet but if I'm going to spend 50$ on a piece of plastic I expect better, much better than the CD. This release doesn't offer that experience.

Incredible record, outstanding pressing. Absolutely flawless!!! Thanks to VMP for releasing this on vinyl.

My copy has arrived. Def not a silent copy, hopefully a machine clean will sort. The sound tho.. Beautiful. Feels like more separation in the mix. Worth the wait.

"Pressed on Exclusive 180g Black Vinyl", can anyone tell me how "exclusive" 180gr of black vinyl can be? It's just 180gr of PVC, no?