Alice In Chains – Dirt

Theres a reason this is my favorite album. Vinyl is my introduction to Alice in Chains and after Jar of Flies I got this at walmart not knowing what to expect. If Jar of Flies is a nightmare, Dirt is Hell. The sound stage is pretty confined outside of the cymbals but the separation makes it crystal clear.

I just picked up this red pressing and I have to agree with Quesadillasx above (or below). It’s pretty lacking dynamically..fairly compressed sounding and somewhat muddled. I’m using a Marantz TT-15S1 with the Virtuoso Wood cart running through a Yamaha AS1100 and out to Wharfdale Aura 2s. I have to turn up the volume a bit to get output and use the tone controls to get the highs and mids to come out. Not impressed honestly.

Pretty great copy. Great price for great sound quality. Best value

Pretty great copy. Great price for great sound quality. Best value

Not sure what issues the reviewer before me had, but this double LP sounds fabulous to me. That being said I do give all of my new albums a good cleaning & run a brush over it to make sure nothing was missed. The only complaint I have is the fact that it's a double lp and not in a gatefold jacket and the cheap paper inner sleeves. So much better than the CD release I have been listening to since the 90s!

I am glad most of the reviews have had a positive experience, but I cannot reflect those same sentiments unfortunately. My copy is very muddy sounding with minimal separation and weak dynamics - it feels more compressed than digital, in fact the Spotify version sounds way more alive than my pressing. A shame for such a phenomenal album.

I never pickup pressings from Wal-Mart expecting them to be a MoFi Analog Master pressing .. I always take it with a grain of salt, and have actually been pleasantly surprised with most of my Wal-Mart finds. This one, unfortunately, very much missed the mark.

Just got my copy and colour me impressed!

Perfectly flat, silent and noise free (!), and fairly dynamic for a grunge/metal classic.

I’ve honestly never heard this album without the crazy compression and distortion that existed on the original releases (CD included) but here it is!

Out of all three current pressings, this is apparently the one to get and I am glad I added this grail as it sounds fantastic - best I’ve heard.

Pressing - 4/5
Actually pretty good. No issues with warping or off center pressing. There’s a little surface noise, and some distorted areas, but not bad overall.

Mastering - 3.5/5
I don’t mean to be a Debbie downer but I was expecting way more from this. The bass thumps, and the highs are solid, but the midrange is muddied and the drums are buried in the mix. The vocals are mostly great, but at times they sound really compressed. Maybe my expectations were too high, but the Facelift anniversary reissue blows this out of the water.

Packaging - 3.5/5
I never understand why so many double LPs aren’t in gatefold sleeves. Ultimately I don’t care that much, but it happens more than it should IMO. At least the images are nice and crisp, unlike the Facelift reissue.

Overall - 3.5/5
It’s ultimately not that bad, but again, nowhere close to the Facelift reissue. I wish they got Chris Bellman to do this one like they did on Facelift. Seeing all the positive comments makes me want to buy a copy of the black MPO press and see if it’s actually just this version.

I have the Walmart exclusive Apple Red, but my barcode is 194399867617, not 19439953541 as shown here.

One thing makes this unique, two discs in a single slip. Two more sides of artwork and/or pictures would have been nice for a 30th anniversary. Having said that I got two really flat, nice sounding records and that's what it's really about. Zero complaints on the sound quality. First, I hope last, Walmart album.