The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies

after reading these reviews. I expected shit. after finding what appeared to be a roach turd stuck in my pressing. I expected shit. But other than some light surface noise I can find nothing wrong here. My copy is dynamic with clear separation.

This is a really nice sounding reissue imo. Originals may sound better. Never heard one. Clean originals are a hard find. My pressing is perfect.

My 14 Legacy vinyl double lp easily sounds better than my original dynaflex.
I guess I'll just stick with it

"Two Sisters", "God's Children", "Better Things", "Oklahoma USA": the Kinks have the most tunes that bring a tear to my eye. Word is this pressing will too. But I dunno, the idea of paying top dollar for a 70's Dynaflex makes me weep.

Dull sounding. Not audiophile. Why didn’t hey use the 2014 metalwork for this - they seem to have used those plates for the box set?

The only other version I have to compare this to is what I bought on iTunes, but I have very little to complain about. There's some surface noise, but I haven't cleaned it, so I can't count that against it. Sonically, it seems full, though sometimes cymbals seem not-so-analog. But overall, this pressing brings me joy.

My copy sounds nice and is very quiet. I don't have any other vinyl versions to compare.
For $29 at Barnes and Noble you can't beat it.

I have an old RCA pressing and am very disappointed with this new lp. Compared to my old lp, this new release seems dull and lifeless. In an A/B comparison on the song Skin and Bones the twin guitars seem muddier and deeper in tone on the 2022 and on the 2022 it is hard to hear the interplay between the two guitars. I have also received the cd of the 2022 mastering. I have the 1990 cd and when I do a wave form comparison between the two cds I perhaps have an explanation for the differences. It seems that the 2022 mastering of the cd is heavily compressed (everything is boosted) almost up to intolerable levels. If this is the mastering that was also used to create the LP then we have an explanation for what I am hearing. Frankly, If you have a good original pressing this new release is probably not going to impress you.

Overall this is ok, but there is some warpage to the disc. Some noise, particularly on side one but two seems fine. 'Tearing' noise several times on side one, which also dogged my copy of Lola from a couple of years ago.
Decent though, and still a great listen.

I was a little concerned to see this was pressed in the Czech Republic so I braced myself for yet another round of GZ Roulette. Thankfully, in this case, the record was perfectly flat and played without a single pop or crackle. Hurrah!

As for the sound quality, I don’t have any other copies to compare with - look to others for opinions on that - but to my ears it sounds great. A wonderful album and well worth owning.

Played on: Fluance RT85 with Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge.