Stellar album, just-ok product quality
925092
This album is one of my all-time favorites, the only reason I gave 4 stars was because the album was slightly warped from heat or moisture damage.  Which may or may not be amazon's fault, however they are the distributor so that falls on their heads.
1793639
My brief review is primarily about the the vinyl release. No need to rehash what other reviewers have said about the music. If you're a fan of Aimee's music, this is a must have release. Great song craft, no doubt about it. Four stars for the music. However, the audio quality of the album is a disappointment IMO. Rather dull sounding high frequencies, no sparkle and little ambiance. Bass is wooly, poorly defined, and not very deep. Soundstage is rather flat and poorly fleshed out. Nothing is overtly horrible, but nothing about this release highlights the charms of a well recorded lp. (Understand my criticisms are given in the context someone who is an audio nut with a high end system.) The mediocre sound of Charmer frustrates this long time fan of Aimee's music because all of the Til Tuesday vinyl releases were exemplary sounding recordings. The graphic design and jacket quality of the lp release are well done and helps justify spending $25 for this. The vinyl is a retro clear orange Jello color. All said, if I'd heard this lp on a friend's system first, I'd have settled for the cd release instead.
4582370
Handling full album a bit loose and awkward, otherwise good album.
2084572
Youth Novels goes straight to the top of my all-time favorite list.  From start to finish, that album is a self-contained miracle.  It heralds so much talent, confidence, swagger, melodicsim, and, you know, every other adjective.  Her live show was even better.  Watching someone who knows she is great at what she does is a treat.  That said, this album is a let-down.  Is it better than 100 other albums you're randomly going to play for me?  Sure.  But aside from the first couple of tracks, this album is missing the clarity of the first album.  The whole production is a little muddled, and even Unrequited Love, which pointedly nods to 50s gems that I love, misses the mark wide.  The whole album seems to be submerged in a gray gloom that does not service the album well.  I'm still glad I own the album, but I haven't listened to it in ages since the first month that I bought it.  LL is such a huge talent, and her first album so sublime, that I'll probably buy at least her next two albums without hearing even one track beforehand.  That's a sign of crazy talent.
2384384
This is one of my favorite albums. I received a record player this past Christmas as a gift, as well as a record which was incorrectly labeled as the weakerthans reconstruction site. As the record had been purchased in advance of Christmas, the cut off time for returns had passed before the record was opened. A little disappointed, I ordered the record on my own and was pleased to see that the correct album arrived. However, when I first tried to play the record, about ten days later, I was distraught to discover that the vinal was warped, and the record unplayable. Once again the cut off for a return had passed. I'm disappointed in the quality control here, two for two on this record. I will, in the future, be purchasing my records from a shop where I can check them myself at the time of purchase.
3259647
It's a LOVELY record, this. The songs are great, the production is impeccable, and, if it hadn't been MASTERED LIKE A BRICK WALL, I'd be listening to it over and over and over again.

As it is, Sterling Sound's Greg Calbi has made an album that's as loud as Smashing Pumpkins' "Zeitgeist" and that is, therefore, almost as unlistenable. Ear fatigue sets in almost immediately.

Go with the vinyl, which is marginally better. I look forward to a Blu Ray or similar release so that someone can fix the problem. Damn iPod users and their earbuds are screwing up music for the rest of us.
788472
The rating sums up my feelings on the music pretty well; amazing album and everyone who loves hip-hop should own a copy. Enough has been said about its greatness already.

I'm writing this review mostly about the vinyl pressing; which essentially is perfect, packaging and everything was well made and in flawless condition, if a bit barebones(no inserts or anything); but being nitpicky I do notice on the wax that some songs are really not mixed very well, something I never noticed with the digital copy I've been listening to since it came out. The song "Backseat Freestyle" especially; one of my favorites, has a severe lack of bass, and Kendrick's voice seems to be boosted up to the point that its almost grating  on the ear. I know this isn't a fault of my system because other songs like "Money Trees" (right after it!) sound very rich in bass! Also the volume the tracks were mixed at kind of seems to fluctuate slightly from track to track, didn't notice that in my digital copy either.
Not deal breaking by any means; still a spectacular album and; for me, something that just needs to be in the collection. Just a friendly warning to audiophiles out there.
1117917
I have been expanding my vinyl collection recently, and in the hopes of further stimulating its contemporary resurgence I decided to purchase the 2008 Back to Black vinyl reissue of Urban Hymns (in Sept 2010). Already had it on CD, but what the heck, vinyl is a much more enjoyable experience. Not so with this reissue.

Pros: Jacket comes with two heavy duty inner sleeves with unique artwork on every side, though they lack antistatic plastic liner. Vinyl is thick and heavy.

Cons: Jacket is not a gatefold (doesn't open up), and both disks share the same space inside. I felt that was pretty non-standard and a little cheap for a double LP. Sound quality left much to be desired, stereo separation wasn't very good, and it lacked the warm "punch" I am used to with most of my other vinyl records that makes the music feel alive.

Deal-breaker: Disk 1 Side B, first band/song has a spot of raised, rough excess vinyl that causes the song to be unplayable. I returned the LP for an exchange, and the second copy had the exact same problem, same location! I sent it back for a refund. I believe that Amazon received a bad shipment of this "limited edition" album, and the quality control at at the pressing plant leaves much to be desired.

Here is hoping that there are some good copies floating out there, but be aware that you may discover the same defect has afflicted your copy.
515174
Kind Of Blue is musically timeless. The concept of this package is terrific. Adding the studio outtakes was a nice touch. This record has been re-issued more times than one can imagine, so adding those extra tracks was long overdue. But the real reason for my comments is the disappointing quality of the vinyl LP. I just wish Sony/CBS had some quality control in terms of the blue vinyl LP. My first copy had bubbles which created bad pops and surface noise. I just received my replacement copy today and it is worse. More bubbles, pops and this one is warped. I hope can get another copy as easily. Maybe the third time it will be better.

A note on the packing job by Amazon...the first one came well padded in the oversize box but the second one had no padding at all, just shrink-wrapped on a bigger piece of cardboard. An invitation to a problem.
2031987
The actual vinyl is great and that's all I really care about, but I feel like they underplayed the amount of damage to the sleeve. It houses the vinyl well enough, but it was also autographed with a purple (maybe blue) crayon and cut up in spots. Plays excellently however.
2676888
There are a lot of reviews with different aims for this album, but this one concerns the SOUND QUALITY of the Rhino Reissue of Let It Be. I know when I'm searching for reviews on the quality of reissues, the more informative opinions about the quality of the sound product make a huge difference, and there doesn't seem to be enough (S. Ware's 2009 review is very helpful, but I figure another voice of dissent is needed here).

I'm no technical wizard as others who post are, but there are obvious flaws in the sound quality. The compression has "evened out" the sound in the ways you can read about, with everything sounding like the same volume (and therefore, flat) instead of some instruments purposely being louder than others. It's obvious on Tommy Gets His Tonsils out, as the sound effects on the phone are noticeably louder at the beginning. In Answering Machine, the line "I Get Enough of That" is way louder than it should be (compared to the original LP, or 2002 CD reissue). At the same time, for the entirety of the album, the drums just don't pop out like they should, and are way too low in the mix.

The compression is a real, real issue. Guitars that should be in the background are brought up. S. Ware's post describing the problems at the beginning of "I Will Dare" is spot on. But to me, the cleaned up sound is the worst offense. This was obvious on the Sorry Ma reissue, and it's clear here as well: the sound is much too clean. The white noise and rough edges about the album's production are gone. Like grain in film, removing it removes detail. The sound of the second guitar in Tommy Gets Tonsils Out is just not right. Unsatisfied no longer kicks ass, and the introduction to the song sounds like some Lite-FM affair. It's just not right.

Answering Machine is one of the band's finest classics, but here, in addition to the way-too-loud "I get enough of that" line, the shakers are way off in the mix, and the "1-2-3-4" countoff that starts the song is DELETED.

Let it Be is one of the finest rock and roll albums ever. I won't go into lengthy detail, but I love this album greatly. I didn't bother checking most of them out after being disappointed with the sound of Sorry Ma, and Let It Be is no better. Pick up the Restless Records Reissues from 2002. Stay away from the Rhino edition.
4955801
The album is great. However, the inner sleeve was torn on all sides, and the record falls out.
2620542
The album sound was good. The quality of the press seemed a little sub par (there was extra vinyl pieces on the edge of the record and the hole in the center was a very tight fit on be record player). It is also annoying that when the split the record up across 4 sides that you only have 3 songs per side. I wish the would split it up across 3 sides and keep the 4th blank.
1168177
Can't say exactly why, but I was a bit disappointed with the album
1285613
The album itself is terrific, however the vinyl I received had a few flaws that resulted in skipping and unsavory sound quality at times.
4385948
Great album, poor download quality from Amazon.  Took many multiple attempts to get a copy that didn't have damaged files.  Amazon rep seemed completely clueless as to how the whole download thing works and that there are multiple servers with different copies of the album
537375
I love this album.....BUT.....this vinyl came with dust on it, which I didn't expect for a new one. Also...it gets worse....the vinyl jumps in a few places.