Cure* – Wish

Let’s call it what it is. A 12 inch low bitrate CD pressed on wax. It’s not horrible but it’s not great either. The vinyl itself is flat and silent so good job there but this album wasn’t recorded well to begin with. If you’re chasing that audiophile recording of this album keep digging. It’s CD quality at best with some added separation. They tried. And for what they were working with I’d say they did a good job. It’s just not a high quality product

Very pleased with my copy, no surface noise or skips. No warps or any quality control issues either. The remaster is pretty good too! Purchased at Bucket O’ Blood Records

I very rarely do this for the simple reason that most reissues these days are quite disappointing and sound flat and lifeless. There have only been a handful of instances where I have been pleasantly surprised by one. This is one of those. After being very disappointed by my 2LP reissue of Disintegration, I wasn't expecting much from this one, but this pressing sounds worlds better. The instruments sound alive individually unlike on Disintegration. The bass and treble seem equally matched which leads to no instrument getting lost in the mix. Especially on songs like Trust and To Wish Impossible Things. The jacket, which is not a space-killing gatefold, is done well and the heavyweight inner sleeves replicate the original inners to a tee. I highly recommend this pressing for anyone like me that doesn't have over $200 to spend on an original pressing of this. I think you will be pleasantly surprised as well by this more affordable solution.

Face it, this was never a well recorded album in the first place. So let’s leave the audiophile talk at the door. The remastering work done here is fantastic. The bass guitar almost sounds new. There is much added space around the vocals and instruments. The highs sound better than ever. This about as “audiophile” as this album can get, all things considered. Robert Smith, and GZ,breathed some new life into this album. Miles at Abbey Road did well with the lacquer. The pressing quality done at Precision is just ok (others seem to have had worse luck than me, and mine isn’t perfect.) The packaging is also barely average.

Hello! If anyone's copy of Wish included two Disc 1's, I'm looking to complete my set. The sealed copy I picked up recently only included LP 2. I'm in Canada.

Wtf was going on at the Rhino plant when these were being assembled? Pretty ridiculous, especially when this retails for nearly $50 CAD. I don't mind paying that much for a good pressing of a great album, but come on - it can't be that hard to get it right.

My side D has Open, High, Apart on the center label, don’t know if anyone else has that issue, LPs were flat with little to no marks, def recommend this if you don’t want to go for the OG

There's either a serious mastering or pressing error on the entirity of Side C that I am surprised hasn't been addressed by Warner/Fiction. For example, Friday I'm In Love, there's a strange dropoff/swishing sound in the high frequencies starting off at the bridge ("Dressed up to the eyes") all the way through its completion. Then on "A Letter to Elise," there's similar swishing sound during the instrumental break before the last verse. I'd find it very hard to believe this ed the muster on test pressings and this is rather uncharacteristic of Miles Showell's work. I haven't had a chance to go through the rest of the set yet cause I wanted to hear one song, but judging from the comments below, it doesn't seem like I'm the only one experiencing this. Pallas did the worldwide pressing for Polydor, I wonder if that one also experiences the same issues?

Listening on an Audio Technica ATLP120XUSB with a VM95ML cartridge.

Note:
Someone posted the Wish album on You Tube and you can hear the artifacts I am describing on this video clip (I am not the er)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY4_XWQtzFs

Is it just me, or are the tracks on Side D listed in the wrong order on the back?

The pressing I have sounds absolutely terrible. Pops, clicks, surface noise, distortion, you name it, this copy has it. (Matrix variant 3)
I’ve tried two of these and both that have this matrix variant are awful. Ultrasonic clean does nothing for it so it’s in the pressing itself.

Well done Robert, I think it’s great! Looking forward to seeing you in June!