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The package is gorgeous, true to the original right down to the inner sleeve featuring the exact same albums Capitol was pumping when it first came out. I would have liked an insert slipped in that told the story of something, anything, and/or had a list of musicians, when and where the thing was recorded, maybe something about the process of the repressing for this special “From the Capitol Vaults” vinyl reissue. I could have joyfully lived without all of that if the damn thing sounded any good. It does not. The 180-gram disc slid from the sleeve looking dark, lustrous and blemish-free, but I still carefully cleaned it with an expensive Last record-cleaning product then took a gentle couple swipes with an antistatic brush, then cleaned the stylus with the MobileFidelity stylus cleaner. This record was shaping up as an event and I wanted the listening to be right. I’ve got a near-vintage Thorens turntable w/ a Grado Sonata cartridge, legendary for its loving reproduction of the human voice. These play through a smartly modified Jolida 502B tube amplifier w/ high-quality KT88s and into Joseph Audio RM25si Signature speakers. I list this stuff because I didn’t screw around building the system. Not super high end, but plenty enough high end. Here’s what you get, and it’s a disgrace, with “Come Dance With Me”: inexcusable scratchy surface noise. I forgive the two fairly big pops, wherever they came from, but I cannot forgive the surface fuzz, which starts early between songs and builds to mingle with them as the record progresses through the grooves. It sounds like this particular “Come Dance with Me” was taken from a very poor digital master. There is no bloom to the sound or airy space, and Capitol was known for unbelievable recording back in the days this thing was cut, something they trumpet on the inner sleeve (“Full Dimensional Stereo” w/ one-line testimonials). Sinatra — THE VOICE! — constantly, dismayingly distorts, particularly in the low registers. The Billy May orchestra, a dizzying, hoppy fizz of massed horns for this session, has definition but does not leap at all out of the speakers. It is recessed. The rhythm section seems far, far away. In short, it’s a mess, sounds miserably compressed, and this magnficent document, one of Sinatra’s best, is sadly uninvolving, constantly calling attention to its shortcomings instead of allowing you to get lost in the glorious music. And make no mistake, the music is glorious. At this point, I have no idea what the best way to listen to “Come Dance With Me” is. I can’t imagine a CD from the same master is any improvement. I would think on a modest system, turned up, this might sound ok, but on good equipment, that for years has played to the advantage of just this kind of music, it does not.

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I believe there is an engineering flaw in the design of this unit. If they can fix that problem and lengthen the antenna, I would purchase it.

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I must point out, however, that Amazon did an amazing job of handling the return and the refund!

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Pro’s: Looks great, the actualy record player parts arent to chintsy, the sound out of the speakers are actually really good, picks up radio stations very well, USB hook up it splendid, has a head phone jack, easy to figure out, remote is very easy to use.

Con’s: Record player sounds like it did back in the day, so if your looking for immaculate sound i wouldn’t recomend it! Although it has great sound, there isn’t a hookup for additional speakers, for surround sound. When you hook up ur MP3 player or IPOD to the unit u loose control of what you get to play- which works for me becuase i’m a big fan of shuffle. It just goes from where ever you left off- playlist or whatever.

If you just want a unit that will play your Records,CD’s, MP3 & Radio it does this very well. But if you want a unit that will do more with a record than remenice to what they used to sound like then don’t bother!

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WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE 10/10 – a great song!! the intro to this song is amazing and its a great way to start the album. this song definatly lives up to all the hype.

ITS SO EASY 9/10 – another really good song with a good solo from Slash.

NIGHTRAIN 8/10 – a pretty good song, but not as good as the others, I think the intro is pretty cool.

OUT TA GET ME 7/10 – an ok song, but probably my least favorite on the album.

MR. BROWNSTONE 10/10 – a great song with a really cool intro. i think this song should have been on the greatest hits album.

PARADISE CITY 10/10 – a classic GNR song that is hard not to like.

MY MICHELLE 8/10 – after the intro, the song becomes harder rock like the others and its a good song overall.

THINK ABOUT YOU 8/10 – when i first heard this one i didn’t like it that much, but the more i listened to it the more i liked it. its a pretty addicting song and is good overall.

SWEET CHILD O’ MINE 10/10 – along with Welcome to the Jungle, this is the best GNR song. the intro is really good, and this song has one of my favorite solos by Slash in it. if you don’t like this song, then you just don’t like rock music.

YOU’RE CRAZY 9/10 – a really fast song that has some pretty cool parts in it. there’s not much to say about this song except that it’s just good.

ANYTHING GOES 9/10 – another fast song with a really cool sounding solo from Slash.

ROCKET QUEEN 10/10 – the more i listen to this song, the more i like it. i like the beginning of it, but the last 2 minutes are even better, especially the ending. this song is really underrated.

Not only are the songs on this album good, but when you listen to the whole thing, it sounds the best. If you don’t like the lyrics of this album, then at least get the edited version, but the cussing ads to the affect.

Get this album!!