The Cure – Faith

I do not have experienced any issues with this pressing. Bass sounds really loud and I can hear clear vocals from Robert Smith. (I found this record at a local shop in Antwerp).

Setup:
Turntable: Audio Technica AT-LP60XBT
Speaker: Sonos Play 1 (1st gen)
Netwerk Audio Streamer: Sonos Port

******* RECORD BUYERS BE AWARE!!!! : There are TWO versions of this (Russian) Vinyl Lovers Grey Vinyl edition of 'Faith' - single LP edition - that are doing the rounds, and it is not easy to know which one you are getting if the records are bought NEW AND SEALED. Only if they have been opened and are NM or otherwise....

The original issue was 2008 and was also part of the rather neat looking 4-LP 'THE CURE FADE AWAY' box set release by Lilith / Vinyl Lovers Records (which also collected together 2LP BLACK vinyl versions of Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography which had on the 2nd LP in each case selected tracks taken directly from the 2CD Deluxe remasters of these three albums - for example, the double LP version of Faith had Carnage Visors on vinyl for the first time ever - taking up all of side 3 of the second LP).

This 2008 Vinyl Lovers Grey wax edition of Faith (single vinyl) was later reissued again as a repress in 2019/2020. This later repress can be easily distinguished from the original 2008 issue in that both sides of the grey vinyl have a HUGE area of dead wax (around 5cm!) which makes the grooves a lot smaller and tighter-packed. As a result the sound was compromised and was very compressed and crackly. Worse, the version I purchased of this repressing from Juno Records online site in late 2020 (I initially assumed I was getting the original 2008 version) was also warped. Badly! So I had to ask for a replacement to be sent - and that too was warped and played the same (crackly!). So I considered this repressing to be a duff batch...thus I am still after the original 2008 version which I would like to think doesn't have such issues (obviously the area of dead wax on each side is much smaller as can be seen on the illustrations of the album, the label and record on this Discogs entry).

By comparison, the RED Vinyl version of the Pornography album (also released initially in 2008) also has a smaller area of dead wax on the first 2008 pressing, whilst the later 2019/2020 reissue/repressing (d as 'LIMITED EDITION CLEAR RED VINYL' on the shrink wrap) has a different hue of red : it's darker and more translucent and thus not as opaque as the first 2008 pressing, plus the areas of dead wax are slightly wider - around 1.5cm - than the 2008 pressing, (but nowhere near as dramatic and eye-opening as the ones on the 2019/2020 Vinyl Lovers Grey repress of Faith!).

This is just to set the fact straight that these Vinyl Lovers 're-pressings' of these two Cure albums are not technically a direct straight copy of the first issues, but entirely new pressings made from completely different stampers - both of which incorporate far larger areas of dead wax!!

With regard to the 2LP standard black (180gram) pressing of Faith which features extra bonus tracks - the 2019/2020 repressing also has the first record (the original album) with the exact same huge areas of dead wax as per the later repressing of the grey vinyl single LP edition. The first 2008 version of this 2LP set's first album had far smaller run-off grooves on both sides. And the sound quality didn't appear quite as compressed.

Picked up the Vinyl Lovers pressing of Faith today on a whim. I hadn't researched anything about this reissue so I just rolled the dice.

My setup is an Audio-Technica AT-LPW40WN and Technics, New Class A (amp/stereo) and I listened to this album on a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-AD500X headphones.

1. As someone else mentioned I got a lot of popping and cracking throughout. This was right out of the sleeve and cleaned with a static brush before playing so there shouldn't have been as much as I encountered. It wasn't so bad that it ruined the album for me but it was definitely a lot more static than I would expect from a "new" album.

2. The sound quality is a tough one to pin down. Given that I have never heard a true analog version of Faith I have nothing to compare this version to other than digital versions. I will say that I listened to a track on Spotify and then listened to the same song on the vinyl and couldn't hear a noticeable difference. Upon a little research I found that a few people believe that this version was created using the CD's (digital files) as a source. Which probably s for the lack of that "warm" analog sound that you generally get from (true) analog recordings.

Overall it's an enjoyable version and if you listen without headphones the pops/cracks aren't nearly as noticeable. I guess depending on your degree of pickiness your mileage may vary with this version.

More info on this version can be found here. - https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/question-on-the-cure-vinyl-vinyl-lovers-brand-all-current-vinyl-in-print.489477/

is this an official copy? the fiction label is not to be seen on sleeve.

Light crackling throughout and sleeve is so tight it takes real effort to remove the LP from it.

hi, does anyone know if this pressing has a good sound?