Surprised to see the other thread locked less than a month after release. I finally got a chance today to focus on the new records... an ice storm, a virus that took me down for a week, and everything else in life that takes precedent over listening to new vinyl, and so it took awhile, too long to post. Hence a new thread to share my opinions and invite others (since nobody really reviewed them in the other).

No point in going song to song as the albums aren't new. Instead I'll focus on the records themselves and how they sound.

Phase One sounds minimally better than the CD. It's less loud, but the album still sounds like it was mixed and mastered on a laptop and still sounds overly compressed so the reduction in loudness while an improvement, doesn't do enough to for the album to make it sound good.

Phase Two on the other hand is a great improvement, sounds phenomenal. It's not as loud, it doesn't sound so compressed, is very warm... just an overall improvement to the experience of listening to the album on CD or digital rip. To me, it's never sounded so good as this.

Both records are terrific pressings. Clean, no noise vinyl. Very quiet between the tracks.

So thumbs up from me on both but especially Phase Two, it should be essential for those vinyl afficianados among us!

[Edited 2/24/26 3:00am]

djThunderfunk said:

Surprised to see the other thread locked less than a month after release. I finally got a chance today to focus on the new records... an ice storm, a virus that took me down for a week, and everything else in life that takes precedent over listening to new vinyl, and so it took awhile, too long to post. Hence a new thread to share my opinions and invite others (since nobody really reviewed them in the other).

No point in going song to song as the albums aren't new. Instead I'll focus on the records themselves and how they sound.

Phase One sounds minimally better than the CD. It's less loud, but the album still sounds like it was mixed and mastered on a laptop and still sounds overly compressed so the reduction in loudness while an improvement, doesn't do enough to for the album to make it sound good.

Phase Two on the other hand is a great improvement, sounds phenomenal. It's not as loud, it doesn't sound so compressed, is very warm... just an overall improvement to the experience of listening to the album on CD or digital rip. To me, it's never sounded so good as this.

Both records are terrific pressings. Clean, no noise vinyl. Very quiet between the tracks.

So thumbs up from me on both but especially Phase Two, it should be essential for those vinyl afficianados among us!

[Edited 2/24/26 3:00am]

Agree that Phase Two sounds much better. I assumed at first that it was the result of being spread over two LPs but you're right, the problem is likely the source. Phase One just sounds too hot, to the point of distortion, especially toward the end of each side -- already overly-compressed songs like Fallinlovetonite sound a bit worse IMO. Good to have these on vinyl, but this was a bit of a bummer -- as I'm one of the few who actually likes the first album.

Thanks for the reviews. I just recieved my vinyl copies and can't wait to play them. This will have to wait until I clean the LPs and transfer them to anti static sleeves. Those paper inners included with the new releases are the devil....

Thanks for the review! I'm glad these became available on vinyl for those who collect / listen to it. I imagined HNR Phase Two would be the better listen on the medium. Nothing about Phase One to me says anyone involved with it expected it to be a good vinyl experience.