Sunny Day Real Estate – Diary

Super impressed with this pressing! Punchy and loud! Much better than the reissues I own.

This original vinyl pressing sounds really good. Ton of energy around the drums. The 2009 vinyl remaster sounds good too, but drums aren’t as punchy and top end not as natural sounding as this one. The 2009 does have benefit of the containing the full album, but is definitely not all-analog (if that matters). The cd from the 90s sounds flat compared to either of those vinyl pressings, but it does have more bass. I would bet that the original vinyl is all-analog based on the fact that (1) it’s clearly not mastered from the cd, (2) SAE could do all-analog vinyl mastering, and (3) it sounds like it to me. We’ll never know for sure I guess. The repress from 1998 probably sounds just as good if I had to guess (and goes for less). On the downside, there are tracks missing from the 94 and 98 single lp because they didn’t fit on a single lp.

I’ve been though 3 different copies of the newer clear pressing, and one of the black. All unplayable due to extreme warping. This record is cursed.

I’ve been though 3 different copies of the newer clear pressing, and one of the black. All unplayable due to extreme warping. This record is cursed.

I’ve been though 3 different copies of the newer clear pressing, and one of the black. All unplayable due to extreme warping. This record is cursed.

I’ve had this exact copy since around August 2023. Yes, both discs are warped probably because of how it was stuffed in the gatefold, but my needle tracks great on what could be my best sounding record. Massive, meaty, super wide, completely silent. It’s probably my favorite album of all time and this pressing blows me away every time I sit down and listen to it. Grendel in particular gets me emotional just because of how insane it sounds. Just simply incredible.

i see all these reviews hating on this press and i don't get it at all. mine came in perfectly and sounds great, silent, and has a wide range. maybe i just got lucky, but i love my copy.

Both of my discs have a tiny warp that’s annoying but it does not effect play so whatever. It seems that buying this record brand new is a roll of the dice so hopefully who you’re buying it from has a good return policy just in case

Really disappointed to receive a copy that has such a significant edge warp on the first disc that it skips. This is the second time I've bought a copy of this album on vinyl (bought a different pressing a few years ago and also had to return it due to a significant defect) - hoping to one day get my hands on one that's playable!

Disc 1 has a slight warp. There are a few crackly spots, but overall, this is a nice quiet record and remastered well for this particular pressing. Surprisingly, it sounds amazing for being pressed on colored vinyl. This pressing and the most recent 25th anniversary pressing of Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication pressed on red and blue colored vinyl are not what you would expect from a colored vinyl pressing at all.