INXS – Kick

Is this better than the mfsl from 2011? Words words

My go-to version of this album. I mentioned in a comment below, the first two tracks are...OK. Good, but not really noteworthy. But when "Devil Inside" kicked in, the room was shakin' and it packed a punch I hadn't heard on other versions. Luckily no issues at all with my pressings--flat, dead quiet, no skips like others have reported (and that's over a variety of cartridges). Sadly, it's one of the few Atlantic 75 series records by Analogue Productions that sounds this good. The other few I own are average at best. They're on the discard pile, for sale soon at a Discogs near you.

I've now had 3 copies of this... All warped. (Bought from Juno, UK)

What's going on here? I really do expect better from AP. Sounded great, but on disc two, it kept jumping. It wouldn't have mattered much if it was at 33rpm, but being 45, the speed made my cartridge jump like crazy.

Caveat Emptor

Really really solid pressing. No doubt worth the money if you like this album

OMG Absolutely phenomenal pressing of a masterpiece pop album. Mastering of Ryan K Smith of Sterling is spot on, I can't imagine getting this sounding any better, blows all other issues of this LP out the water. Super quiet Vinyl from QRP (Don't Know how they do it). Get it while you can, this is the definitive version.

I have this record twice. One has a number, the other doesn't. I read here that only the first 2000 were numbered. But what sense does that make if the album isn't limited?

Weirdly Mine doesn’t seem to be numbered. I’ll look again.

The level of detail, and the clarity behind Michael's voice, clearly put it above what was already a great original pressing in the 80's.

I don't normally buy double 45RPM releases at full price. Of the ones in my collection, probably 90% of the ones I have, I got at a notable discount. Like when Elusive Disc had a bunch of Music Matters Blue Note sets on sale for 28% off, or when I got a "scratch and dent" copy of the MoFi version of Elvis Costello's "Get Happy" (the packaging had a minor defect) from the same site. Some of my hesitance has also been thanks to how a lot of what gets released as a double 45 set is the kind of thing I'm not that interested in to the level of paying $50-$60 for a single album, like a lot of the old audiophile warhorse rock albums, or jazz LPs that also have great 33RPM versions.

And then came "Kick."

An album I love, and also one where my existing copy (Mobile Fidelity Silver Series) had somehow disappeared. I have no idea how, as I've always stored my MoFi records together, but it happened. With the cost of that having skyrocketed it and the going rate for an original now starting around $30, I started seriously considering buying it, and was trying to figure out the ideal order to get free shipping. Then everyone other than Acoustic Sounds sold out, so knowing how these things go, I bit. It showed up today. I have zero regrets. This thing sounds amazing. As a double 45 reissue of an '80s alt rock album, I feel like the goal should be to make it sound like the best 12" singles of that era, and AP/Ryan Smith/etc. absolutely succeeded in that regard, especially from "Devil Inside"-on.

Also, before this week, when I got this and also the 2017 Prestige version of Sonny Rollins' "Saxophone Colossus," the only QRP pressings I had were a couple older ones from the 200g era. They were very much well-pressed, but the quality seemed firmly in line with RTI, Pallas, Optimal, and Record Industy. The newer, 180g QRP records that I got this week, though? They're STUPIDLY quiet. I have no idea how they do it.

So yes: If you have the $60 to spend and love this album, get this version. The mastering is amazing, the pressing quality is immaculate, and the packaging is top-notch, as well. You won't regret it. Especially once it goes out of print and the prices skyrocket the way they inevitably do now with well-received audiophile reissues.

Mine unfortunately has a few skips skipping every line after each pause of new sensation
Other than that .a perfect pressing if that makes sense