I've had the Made in Canada Orange vinyl and also this one, Deluxe Black Vinyl made in Germany and this one is far superior. The Orange vinyl was such a noisy pressing, even after a vacuum wash on my VPI machine there was unbearable pops. This one was great right out of the sleeve. So while it's fun to have all of the coloured options, getting the best sounding version is really what matters, and this one made in germany is the way to go.
I bought the gatefold edition of this album. Its sounds amazing. The sound is vivid, great bass response, beautiful detailed highs, and a quiet pressing, with no background interruptions, and no warp either on my German pressing. My only gripe is that the gatefold packaging should have been standard, not a special edition. As if its not pricey enough anyway!
This sounds excellent and it’s certainly obvious the music was mastered right from the master tapes without any clowning around with compression or any other crap as mentioned by another reviewer below and Flea himself. The music is clean, clear, crisp and the bass hits hard! The music and songs are great, and the more I listen to it, the more I dig it. “Here and After” my favorite song right now. Only downfall, I had to get a second copy due to constant surface noise on my first copy. Second copy plays much quieter but both records have a very slight warp, which I’ll take over surface noise.
Great album and pressing. It sounds amazing, it's a killer album. I'm so happy to see Frusciante reunited with the band. This album got 17 songs that are completely different from one another. Love it. Great value!
Its so rare to see (hear) this kind of music today, crafted by the musicians from jamming sessions. Maybe thats why the album sound so fresh and different, even though its from a band thats 40-years-old, whom draws inspiration from all previous albums in their discography. Compared to contemporary mainstream-music it is to be considered "trend-breaking" by not having 5, 6 or 7 corporate song-writers on each song with generic sound. Great time to be alive.
No issues with the vinyl apart from a slight warp (which seem like the standard nowadays sadly). Cut by BG, pressed at Optimal and Made in Germany on stickers.
This album is perfect, so much musicality and a very accessible sound. There is a song on this record for everyone. The vinyl is surprisingly well pressed considering previous RHCP pressings. Silent and very detailed soundstage. Perfect all the way
The production on this album is fantastic. The recording, mixing and mastering are top notch. It is not audiophile quality but excellent. There is minimal background noise and pops on all four sides. The dynamic range on this album allows for a very enjoyable listen. However, my first copy because it was defective. All four sides had ridiculous distortion, unbearable background noise and pops scattered througout. However, I was able to exchange it with a second copy, which sounds as fantastic. I had to wash both copies as they were very dirty after unboxing. Thankfully, my second copy sounds great after the wash. Bravo RHCP.
The vinyl itself sounds great. Flea said on his social media that it is mastered directly from the master tapes they recorded on, with no compression etc. No complaints. Still deciding what I think musically. There is good music in here but nothing stands out to me as it has in all their previous works.
Link to Flea's twit from 2 April 2022 (https://twitter.com/flea333/status/1510063243724673032): "For you audiophiles out there, the new rhcp record is mastered directly from the tape we recorded it on, no computers, no lame compression or limiters."