Gojira (2) – Fortitude

My copy is flawless. No cracks, pops, very quiet surface noise. I saw some comments about bad copies, but mine seems great.

The first copy I bought had three clicks at the end of Into the Storm. The second one is flawless.

No issues to report with my copy, vinyl nice and flat with no surface noise. Think it could do with better separation, espically with the drums, but overall I am happy I have this on vinyl.

Physically crooked vinyl, there is noise and a few loud clicks. The album itself is gorgeous! I took another copy to my collection.

Физически кривой винил, есть шум и несколько громких щелчков. Сам по себе альбом шикарный! Взял себе в коллекцию другой экземпляр.

Great album, but some surface noice and crackles here and there even after a wet clean before first listening. Still worth buying as the album itself rocks!

It’s not without problems. Doesn’t sound mastered for vinyl to me and it’s a little flat. That’s the mastering, which is surprising because it was done at Sterling. Couldn’t be the mix itself because Andy Wallace did it and it doesn’t get much better than him. The pressing is a little crackly, but not consistently throughout. I don’t notice it during most of the album. The cons annoy me when I hear them and I’m tempted to sell my copy. But then I hear the rest of the album again and it’s still a great listen on vinyl. The pros still outweigh the cons for me. And I’m reminded it’s a really strong album, even for Gojira. It’s easy to under-appreciate it because, well, it’s effin’ Gojira. But any other band that put this out would be instantly famous. So yeah, great album and nice to listen to on vinyl. I rate it 4/5.

Update: I gifted my copy to a friend. Not sure how I feel about this album overall. The pressing could definitely be better. Album has definite strong points.

Poor sound, no dynamics, clicking and poping all along... Some problems that on the light blue edition.

Obvious problems when you push 26 minutes of sound on each side of a vinyl pressed at 33rpm.
Optimal time for 33 rpm is 19:30 minutes and to avoid sound quality problems the maximum is 23:00.

Looks like a fast pressing without any test presses.
The ed album as 320kbp/s mp3 sounds largely better.

Don't buy it till there's no a 2x12"LP edition.

I bought this record thinking it was the normal version. When I got home, looking closer I saw a Limited Edition Black Ice sticker on the shrink wrap but it still is this 'normal' version. If I'd bought it thinking it was the limited edition I would've felt screwed. Side A skipped a few times on first play.

Received my replacement copy. Just listened to the first side and I won't listen to the second anymore. There's constant crackling between the songs and in the quiet parts. The first two songs have distortions in sound and during the fadeout of the last song there's a constant popping sound til the end. What an annoying pressing quality!!! Anyone who buys crappy pressings like these saying they're ok and does not complain deserves the crappy pressings to come!

My copy has constant crackling noise on both sides. Sent it back for a replacement and hope for the best.