Bear McCreary – God Of War

My copy is fine on side A, but starts to be super annoying from middle of side B to D completely. Given this classical score style pops and super loud crackles spoil the experience noticably. I requested to get replacement vinyl - and decided to get the black version instead of just the colored ones again. We'll see if the black version sounds better. I can't recommend the colored version - it really sounds as if there were serious pressing issues or at least super inconsistent quality...and not just normal surface noise on a colored record. If you want to gamble: Then go for it.

Finally got around to playing my copy. There is a notable amount of clicks and pops, but only occasionally, and not enough for me to say this is a straight up bad pressing. The music still sounds good and I'm not hearing any notable surface noise.

It's a mediocre pressing of a soundtrack that really deserves a good one in order to shine. Which is a shame as pops and clicks on an orchestral score in particular (imo) takes something from the listening experience.

It's not all awful, but comparing to what I've read from both the reviewer below and other people who have this release, then I might just be fortunate, because I'm hearing about some really, really bad pressings of this from different sources.

Got my colored God of War today and I've got bad news - at least from my end. The surface noise is pretty low, but the amount of clicks and pops across both records is pretty severe. It's unlistenable on quieter tracks where these kinds of surface distortions are most noticeable. On both records there were skips that would send the stylus backward so it would just keep playing the same bit over and over again. I haven't had a brand new record that bad. Ever. This isn't a colored vs. black issue either. This is just bad pressing. The quality here is a joke. I've played thrift-store records that were in better condition.

This is the cleaning I've tried thus far:

- Dry-cleaning with an anti-static brush and a static-gun
- Wet-cleaning with a spin-clean
- Ultrasonic Cleaning with a buddy's system using tergitol and ultra-pure water

None of this made a difference. Every skip, pop, and click was still there. The surface noise might have lowered bit a touch. Disappointing, to say the least. Other than some really 'out-there' cleaning methods (like the oft-mentioned wood-glue method), I'm not sure there is much more that can be done.

The packaging is also a little disappointing. I'm not usually a stickler for this kind of thing. I'm mostly concerned with audio performance, but everything about this set feels cheap. The cardstock is thin and the sleeves are a joke - the art is neat, but each sleeve is composed of the kind of glossy paper that will scuff your records in short order. Invest in some decent mofi sleeves and you'll be in better shape. I wish we could pay a bit extra at checkout to have some non-paper sleeves.

For me, Mondo has been seriously lacking in quality recently. I've had to get rid of a number of their releases because I simply couldn't listen to them without getting pissed off. This is one of those sets that will likely be offloaded as soon as I get around to it. I just wish they would stop locking in these soundtrack releases if they aren't going to do a decent job with them. It's unlikely God of War will get a different release, so this is the one we are stuck with.

Each time I get screwed with a Mondo release, I tell myself it is the last time. Then they go an lock a deal to press a soundtrack that I really want. So I take the plunge. And I'm disappointed. Again and again. This will be the last time for me. At least I'm pretty sure it will be.

The music of God of War is great, and this set is at least a 1.5/5 for me (The extra .5 being added because the music is so good). It's just disappointing when the quality of the vinyl is not up to par. I'd recommend that people stay away from Mondo in the future, at least until they can read a review to make sure the quality is where it should be.

tl;dr: From my copy - the quality is absolute garbage. Do not buy this set. If it was returnable, I would be doing just that. Trying to make this record play properly was a futile exercise in frustration.