Just got this through the post today. Read that the 2003 remixes were good, and after playing, good is the biggest understatement. The quality is truly awesome. I was so fed up with wading through extortionately priced knackered copies, I thought I'd just invest in a new one. The Decca "originals" are so bass-heavy it's unbelievable.
But this 2003 re-release has at least had the participation of John Astley, him of the Who reissues program during the last 15 years or so. The vinyl is almost silent, and instead of the whole thing being swamped in a bottom end darker and stickier than Mississippi Mud Pie, the sonic broadness of each song and balance is astonishing. I swear it's really, really good, compared to a beat-up, scratchy old original.
You can't please everybody, though, let alone me, so here's the gripes:
1. No polylined inner. The record had to be "operated" out of the thin, glossy paper inner, (which to be fair includes all the original credits, and the new ones, printed on one side). There was so much static, though, I nearly tore the inner trying to get the disc out. Why no polylined inner in this release? - there was one in the 2003 Beggar's...
2. It's a 180g re-issue, and alot of sonic work has gone into getting the record to sound right. But the sleeve and inner and contents? Nay nay. What about the original poster? Could we have a copy of that? 'Parently not.
Other than that, 9/10. As reissues go, sound-wise it's probably the best I've ever heard since the first remix of The Who's Tommy on CD, until further ;-)