Janelle Monáe – The Archandroid

For those concerned about mastering, or a lack of high-end on the Optimal pressing, I'm A/B-ing it with the version streaming on Apple Music and they sound (almost) exactly the same. Artistic choice.

Seems to be conflicting information floating out there about this preesing. I just received mine in the mail and there was a sticker on the back saying “Made in ”, despite this page having it listed as a US pressing. There was also no insert included in the gatefold as described in the notes and photos. Audio-wise, sounds quite good to my ears and better than I was expecting after reading some of these reviews. Hopefully this gets a reissue soon with better quality control

Fabulous album, atrocious pressing. Mine came (brand new) full or scuff marks and surface blemishes, and therefore very noisy even on the most forgiving of my decks; the mastering sounds weirdly eq'd, with rolled-off highs that cause a lot of the intricacies of the production to get completely lost, and jacked-up lower mids that make the bass and toms / kick drums sound boomy. Awful. At least the CD sounds great and does justice to Janelle's vision and her team's prowess.

Seems like the new copies are of the later optimal pressed versions. My copy came with a made in sticker at the back

Warner Music currently has this back in stock for $19.99.

Still one of the too-good-to-be-true, riveting, imaginative, and fully-realized debuts that pop music has seen in the last fifteen years or so. Mind you, there are several concept albums that have knocked me on my ass in recent years, but there's still something about this one that mesmerizes. Here is a rising pop talent emerging fully formed, with enough forward-thinking vision and virtuosic ambition artists twice her age don't tap into until the middle stage of their careers. She fearlessly ventures a range of styles and influences— from Tin Pan Alley, funk, hip-hop, afrobeat, dance-pop, and electro-pop to jazz, folk, soul, psychedelia, hard rock, swing, orchestral, ambient, and tons more—and weaves them around a rather compelling storyline that would serve as killer source material for a big-budget Hollywood musical epic about a messianic cyborg, Cindi Mayweather, dealing with the transgressions of a wretched futuristic dystopia, Metropolis, comparable to the United States of America. She is sent from Earth to free the citizens of this dystopia from years of being restricted of their humanity and freedom. There's also a love story intertwined in the heart of this kooky saga, where Cindi has the hots for a human ant, Sir Greendown, but she must choose between saving her people from disillusionment, or getting lost in love. Camp, yet haunting, ain't it? Bless Janelle Monáe, forever.

(Note about the vinyl edition of this album: I can't get over how expensive and largely sought-after this has gotten on vinyl. The quality of my copy, an Optimal pressing, is pretty good for the most part. Aside from a few pops and clicks, the mastering is well-done, with balanced sound and less emphasis on the low end (compared to the CD, which is very dynamic, too.) My copy isn't plagued with warpage or defects that some have reported about this particular pressing. Plus, the campy grandeur of this album's art can only be fully enjoyed and appreciated on this format, with its nice gatefold.)

I think there are two different pressings for the US release. The first one was done by United Record Pressing (as shown by the test pressing in the database). But I just purchased a new copy and while it has the US copyright info on the back cover, the vinyl is an EU pressing (by Optimal Media). This pressing sounds quite good - minimal surface noise, no warping - it's also very dynamic and crankable. The other reviewer may have the pressing done by URP, which would explain the poor quality.

Does anybody feel the highs are rolled off on this LP album? After several listens on my stereo and with my headphones (GMP 8.35D) I realized that the the upper frequency spectrum is highly attenuated on some tracks.

I don't want to obsess about this but the audio quality of this pressing is quite low for a modern pressing: low audio level, lots of surface noise, warping.

I'll order the CD at some point to make a comion, although given the theme of the album I think that they tried to give an overall "LO-FI" character. The dynamics are great though and from the CD I expect some more compression, which is not always desirable.