Nothing wrong with the discs themselves. Silent play, no clicks or pops (I was initially cringing when I deciphered the deadwax etchings and saw it's pressed at Rainbo. But it passed, somehow.)The recording of the concert itself sounds amateurish. Orchestra is way too quiet, has no presence, no depth, no imaging. The vocals are boomy, and twice as loud as the music. Defeats the purpose of the entire event if the instruments never shine through. May as well have been recorded in a crappy sounding arena, because you would never believe it was done in an acoustically sound amphitheatre, as it was.Cool to have, fun to play. I do like the original vibe that each track has thanks to the live music, but I don't think it was pulled off by the right engineers.Those who think it sounds great have not heard the potential of a proper live album.THE CROWD IS LOUDER THAN THE ORCHESTRA. What a complete EQ joke. Who mic'd this up and mixed it? Because they should never have a job in the field again. Fuckin amateur hour.

Illmatic is undoubtedly one of (if not) the best Hip Hop albums of all time. I can't disagree that the packaging of this album is superbly done. But...I question why Nas would choose this orchestra, who at times play like 5 year old kids bashing instruments...check One Love...when he could have chosen the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble...In fact, why not have Hypnotic Brass Ensemble in conjunction with the National Symphony Orchestra...It may have just given the album the "life" that it's missing...

The sound quality is fantastic......great pressing, if you can find a copy i recommend grabbing. The whole packaging gatefold cover is nothing but quality.

The mix and recording is actually quite poor. Pressing plays noise free, but the orchestra has no presence and his vocals are way too loud and boomy. For having been recorded in a proper amphitheatre, it sounds like a shitty arena.

Having a full live orchestra just adds an extra layer of epic awesomeness to an already amazing album! If you like Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra or the Hacienda Classics but with Dance Music substituted for the Golden Age Hip-Hop stylings of Nas - this is worth checking out!

how is the sound quality??? anyone what do you think is it worth it?

Not a fan of the mix. Orchestra not prominent, has no soundstage or depth. Boomy, loud vocals, way too forward.Cool to have and play. Surprised that a pressing by Rainbo could be so silent. No flaws in the pressings themselves, but the recording left me wanting much more.

Absolutely perfect vinyl transfer. That said, being a live orchestral recording of hip hop, you're not gonna get that 808 bass or that studio sound but its a very well made record.

Mine has a huge scratch on the B side that makes an awful popping sound with every turn of the record. It takes up about half of "The World is Yours." I emailed Mass Appeal to see if they could send out a replacement of the first record.

these people selling this for 65 bucks is a bit much, its only 35 usa dollars on his website

I also ordered directly from Mass Appeal; turned out to be 10€ cheaper than any local record store. Record is worth every penny. I`m pretty satisfied! Great set!

Got mine on RSD for $40 Canadian. That's even less! :D

Amazon 30€ in stock ! That’s why I don’t buy on Discogs anymore, except real rare vinyl.

Just ordered from MassAppeal and only paid $10 postage - albeit it will take up to10 days - but hey, I can wait! Worked out at £30 all in with the current exchange rate. BARGAIN!!!!

i know it is ridiculous...but you have to understand that from the 5000 pressings only like 500 made it to Europe for instance...so cost of shipping plus a tiny bit of profit to make it even for stores they already sell it for 45 bucks on RSD and when you buy and resell of course people going to ask over 50...wouldn't surprise me this record goes to 100 USD soon...I just bought my copy from someone in Denmark for 55 USD and 18 USD is shipping alone !!! so that was actually quite a deal...I emailed a lot of stores in the country I live but they only had a hand few copies and those were sold on RSD.

the benefits of living the States....I missed out on so many releases just because you can only get it in the States...fucking shipping prices are insane and resellers should get banned to Russia for tripling the cost

One of the best packaged products I have seen released EVER! Great job on this one. Heavyweight 2xLP vinyl, heavy weight printed inner sleeves, large poster, booklet, Gatefold cover with gold foil printing. Just absolutely beautiful!

I just received mine: totally agree! this release is just beautiful!!! Amazing set!!

how is the sound quality? in the video you can hear many people screaming. I hope they eliminate those background noises. thanks