Duran Duran – Rio Carnival

Horrendous pressing. Extremely noisy with a lot of clicks, pops, hissing swirling from left to right at the opening of each side, distortions in the music. With this being a run of 10,000 copies, I'm guessing they didn't change the stampers very often, if at all. If you have one that sounds clean and smooth then you likely got one from the beginning of the run. I'm guessing mine was one of the last with how terrible it sounds. It looks good, I guess I'll have to focus on that. Surprised this isn't a GZ pressing with how bad it is but Optimal just ruined their reputation with this one.

Is this 45 rpm? I know the other one is but this doesn’t specify

Finally got a copy of this even though I have all three original versions of Carnival, and while it looks gorgeous, boy, am I disappointed. This thing skips more than a third grader going home on the last day of school! I've brushed it and cleaned my stylus, and it's only marginally better. I'll have to run it through a recording cleaning machine next, which is something I really shouldn't have to do on a 'fresh outta the sleeve' record.

1st time listening to this & must say well impressed.

I think this version of Rio is an extended/ remixed (by David Kerschenbaum) version of the original US pressing. It is just over 1 minute longer and has the same fade in and fade out, so I think the instrumental part towards the end is extended). I also have it on CD on the Strange Behaviour compilation and the 2-Disc 2009 UK CD version of the Rio album.

Yea, the bass is good and it sounds vibrant enough but the vocals sound terrible with loads of sibilance. It’s just a shockingly bad pressing.

Hmmm ... while the pressing is very quiet with regards to surface noise and beautiful to look at, the mastering of this is very flat and recorded at a low dB level. The bass is alright, but muffle. Also, what happened to the mid to mid-highs to highs?

Still happy to have it, but guess I'll be searching for a nice copy of the original pressing.

Got mine today and I love it. I’ve had Rio on every format since it came out on cassette, cd, 45 singles and I’ve tried 3 different pressings of the Rio album and the song Rio never sounded right on any of those. It sounded great on the 45, cassette and cd. I never understood why the Rio album sounded so thin, hollow, and had no bass, which was a crime cuz John Taylor’s baseline on Rio is epic! This RSD Carnival is the first time I’ve ever heard “Rio” the way it’s supposed to sound on a 33 rpm record. Full, dynamic and bass aplenty. I wish they would release the Rio album with this mastering. I don’t care about the vinyl color but it does look cool. I had to clean mine, as it had quite a bit of surface noise. Mine has horrible surface noise at the the Very end of Side 2 Rio Part 2, that cannot be cleaned away. I don’t care cuz that’s just an instrumental and the End and the rest of the record sounds great. I’m happy with this. No regrets

Why not just buy an original ‘82 pressing for around $15? Just an honest question!

Stunning release! To my ears a perfect pressing, no unwanted surface noise and it looks fabulous! A RSD release to be proud of!