Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

I own this copy with voucher code (wave files!). the analog/ vinyl edition sounds very beautiful - warm, full-bodied, rich in details and quiet/ not too loud). the wave files are very precise. short, the vinyl version is an enjoyment.

I ve a release with thèse Matrix/runout informations.
But the bar code is the one of UK/Ireland release.... 602527434278
It makes me confuse.
Can someone help me ? Thanx

Although I did not appreciate many of the songs on the album Im mostly here to review its sound in general, and the sound is nothing I can complain about. A release with a very punchy mastering and clean pressing, with the exception of some songs that have a slight white noise in the background, leaving me wondering if its a stylistic choice. Hardly noticeable, but then why include it? Perhaps its static from the recording itself. The sleeves however can be problematic. Aesthetically they all look very nice but the task of fitting in your records is quite arduous.
Firstly, taking out the record from the inner sleeves is practically impossible without touching the vinyl itself, something I am not fond of. They simply fit so tightly that you require manual force to slide them out.
Secondly, because they are so tight you can hardly fit your own plastic ones into them, something I like to do if they are not lined with plastic material. They should not be discarded either because they include lyrics and song lists on them which as stated look nice but written with poor handwriting, turned sideways at times, and even covered with song numbers it can be a headache to read.
Lastly, the outer jacket sleeves which of course is a gatefold suffers from a problem which a lot of gatefold designs do. Trying to tuck in your sleeves to the very spine of the outer sleeve will make it unable to close, most likely because the record or sleeve is hindering it. Meaning you have to find a sweat spot close to the spine so that the sleeve is inside the jacket, but not so close it blocks its connection point.
There are a lot of negative points in the design here but whats important is the music, so do not misunderstand me and know that this is a great item for you collection if you like Arcade Fire.
Edit: If you are worried about the pressing quality because its GZ you might want to look into the US MRG385 version instead. Cant say if its better but it might be a safer bet than the EU GZ, mine plays quiet after a clean though.

Update:
Over a year later now I have to say that my opinion on the sound of this has changed a bit. Im hearing a lot more dynamic compression and lack of instrument separation, especially in the mid range where I feel the vocals arnt present enough a lot of the time. Its still quite a decent listen however.

Equipment used:
Rega RP1 with base carbon cart
Cyrus 2 Amplifier
System Fidelity SF-3050 tower speakers
Custom made HQ speaker cables

Update Equipment:
Nagaoka MP-200 Cartridge