Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Moanin'

My copy is perfect. Got it from Amazon with my fingers crossed. Sounds great.

A lot of distortion on my copy, especially bad on Side 2 - 2 in the piano section. Tested on two turntables with Shibata and fineline stylus, so they should deal fine with ‚critical‘ sonics like that. For me it‘s unlistenable:(

I didn't know this album until two weeks ago. Having now listened to it about 15 times, I just know that this is going to be one of my 'go to' records, when I want that 'hearing the band play in your room' experience. Fantastic sound. Simply one of the best sounding records I've ever bought for less than £25.

This sounds amazing. Definitely worth the wait for a repress.

Just received by album from Acoustic Sounds. This pressing came in a poly lined sleeve, perfectly flat and sounds FANTASTIC. No issues what so ever with this pressing.

This says Mastered from original analogue tapes , not CUT from them. Is this really just digital/hi res file? Kind of sounds that way to me

Guess I’m lucky. The vinyl came flat, clean & no scuff or non-fill. Highly recommended, considering the sound quality and mastering.

Great mastering (sounds terrific) and shock horror, a good pressing for a change. No complaints from me on this one! If only they were always like this!

Optimal strikes again! My copy is covered in hairline scratches! Luckily it seems to be playing pretty clean without any pops or ticks yet... Sound quality is incredible as well!

After missing out on the first batch of these - my first one came with a battered jacket from Amazon UK and they sold out of replacements thus leaving me a long wait - ive acquired a 2nd copy. My luck with these BN classics has been very patchy. Over 50% ive seen exhibit defects of unacceptable levels from scuffing (from the WORST paper only inners they used to provide) to serious non-fill, which is no doubt a result of Optimal struggling to keep QC high having expanded of late to press more and pick up the covid pieces as it were. For sure, this Blakey Lp is in my top 10 BN albums so i was determined to get one and this 2nd attempt has been fairly kind to me. Its nice to find the poly lined inner and none of the scratches/scuffs they once had each time. Nice to find a flat LP. Not quite so nice to find one little bit of non fill at the start of side 1. However compared to my Kenny Burrell Midnight Blue 1st attempt which was non filled all over (and the single worst ive ever seen) this is just a wee one off moment of it which is fleeting enough to work around at the price. Its still not perfect and my experiences with these BNs bares that out over last 2yrs so for this reason im sticking to buying anything pressed by Optimal post 2019 from Amazon Uk so i can enjoy the stress free returns of their botch jobs!

Tone Poets have a 100% success rate... take note Optimal!

Hope this helps another collector out.