Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures

This is a good sounding reissue. Nothing exceptional but definitely nothing close to”sounding compressed to death,” or “lifeless.” I believe these comments are coming from super fans who are just frustrated that the record didn’t sound like their other amazing sounding records (which is totally fair). I am a pretty casual fan and from that perspective, this is an above average sounding modern reissue. Compressed to death are reissues like Linkin Park’s earlier catalogue (not the recent one step).

While this very affordable reissue is above average in of sound quality relative to other modern reissues, I do agree that compression has taken out some of the beautiful dynamics, haunting space between vocal and the instruments and the overall atmospheric element of the album. It is not as immersive as it should be. The best analogy I can give is Radiohead - OK Computer. Most of the modern reissues of OK Computer don’t come close to the original vinyl in of dynamic range and fullness of the sound.

However, I am okay to live with this since getting a vintage copy of this record in a good condition is quite difficult and the price to be paid for such a copy is really expensive especially for a casual fan like myself.

The bass and drums cut through quite well (due to the compression) and the stereo panning throughout the record is nicely separated. Lower frequencies were EQ’d a bit weirdly but still it doesn’t make me feel like my ears were muffled/blocked with wool like some other bass boosted reissues (a lot of Beatles Giles Martin Remixes).

The cover reproduction is amazing. The texture and the print quality is top notch. For the price, this definitely deserves a space in my growing collection.

If you are desperate for a dull and lifeless version of this record with all the nervous tension taken away and replaced with meh, this is your product. Pressing was good though, just mastered into the ground.

I've the texture sleeve. it's an excelent sounding record. Sounds dynamic and loud.

To me it's an average pressing. the days when no one even thought of any of this stuff? All it really provides is aggravation

Ok, has anyone the CORRECT version of this record for sale? I asked several sellers to check their copy and all of them had the TEXTURED sleeve (this one: https://discogs.mejordescarga.net/release/7132498-Joy-Division-Unknown-Pleasures ) while this version here has a PLAIN outer sleeve according to Discogs.

Just got this version and imo its an excellent sounding record! Luckily my copy exhibits none of the issues others have mentioned. It's flat, quiet and dynamic.

UPDATE by Dec/23:

After playing the record several times the skipping issue seems to disappeared. All the tracks sounds fine now.

I bought a sealed, brand new copy and found this:

1) The sticker around the center hole (on the side "A") was full of air waves. It seemed like it would come off at any moment.

2) The first track has a lot of skipping; although the rest of the tracks sounds OK it was a shame since "Disorder" is my favorite track.

3) Even though this does not seem to affect the sound (no more skipping or noise) light scuffs can be observed on the record surface.

4) Sound quality is plain good. Not an audiophile level but pretty decent.

I would like to return this record (not for the audio quality itself but for the physical defects) but i bought it in a ambulant record expo so unfortunately i was not able to return it.

Have bought and returned this edition at least three times (brand new). Every single time, both first 2 tracks of each sides have an astronomical amount of skipping to the point that it is not even possible to listen to it. I have tried many different turntables, absolutely no chance. Same issue with the 2015 "Closer" Vynil Collector 180g reissue.

I definitely have this version, the etchings in the runout matches, and it has a textured sleeve. So there seems to be variations in the sleeve for the same pressing.