Legend

This is cheap and sounds cheap. Had to return it. My copy sounded like a digital transfer. Cold tone. It probably didn't help that the right channel volume was over 50% quieter than the left. I call that outright defective. This is an example of a mass produced modern pressing that completely lacks quality control. I will be looking into the 2 LP anniversary variation. Should sound much better.

I can tell you that by age 40, I may have listened to this album more times than any other album in my entire collection. That's saying a lot when my favorite bands are Pink Floyd, Guns and Roses and Metallica. I've had it in cassette, CD, MP3 and FLAC files.

I'm not an audiophile, but I can tell you that I heard sounds that I hadn't heard before with this LP.

I am officially in love with it.

Long live Bob.

VINYL ONLY: Unfortunately I should have listened to the negative reviews. So, album is a classic. Indisputable. The vinyl I received, at an attractive price that should have told me more than I allowed, was 180 gram and felt right, but is oddly shaped. The landing space for placing your needle is wider at one side of the album than the other... This was first noticed when using my auto drop on my Technics 1350, which landed and skidded into the first song. It took me a while to discern if my turntable was needing a landing adjustment and then if this was merely an optical illusion, but NO. This pressing has extra vinyl pushed out to one side, the album spins strangely when looking down from top with the bare landing space growing super wide, then narrow. The label has a similar oblongish tilt to it as well. Nevertheless, the album played true and my stylus / arm tracks true from an above visual inspection amid the wobble indicated by the clearly untrue circumference. There was nothing noticeable in play, album sounded just fine... until it hits the most interior tracks when there is mild tone confusion... as if the turntable's timing is barely untrue. All said, given other bad reviews about warp, etc, I suspect that is why 180 gram was so discounted. Purchased 6/25/17.

I'm not going to go into the music on the blu ray, if your reading this then your already familiar with Legend, probably already have it, like myself on cassette and cd, so I'll just stick with the quality of the blu ray. Who ever did the sound mixing did an outstanding job, you hear this album like never before. I hear things I don't remember on my other formats. The audio quality and mixing on the DTS HD is perfect, which is the only version I have listened to so far. Kudos to the people responsible. Is it the best I have ever heard or own? Not sure but it's one of them,especially considering the age of the material. The 30th Anniversary deluxe version has two songs not on my cd from 84( that's 1984) which to be honest doesn't add a whole lot to the over all, they don't hurt or take away, which brings me to my four star review. Presentation five stars( the case and the slide show of Bob as the disc plays ), music five stars, sound quality five stars ( should be more ), but I wish for the Blu ray they could have added some more mixes of the songs on Legend. There is more than enough room for extras. That is my only complaint, and it's not even really a complaint as more of a wish. If your a fan of this album and have the equipment to take advantage of the HD sound, buy it, you will not regret it, it's Legend on the next level.

First I want to address the elitist d-bags who are giving this album a low rating based on the track selection. Just because this album mainly consists of Bob's popular songs doesn't mean this isn't a GREAT album. Musicians and Artists don't make their own legacy when it comes to the the things they create…the people and fans do. The common complaint about this album is that it leaves out some of the great lesser known tracks and that it doesn't portray Bob as the politically charged, socially conscious person that he was (guess the people saying that skipped over the songs Buffalo Soldier, Get Up Stand Up, Redemption Song, and Exodus) or that Bob would not have been pleased with this album. It is absolutely true that Bob's contributions to mankind go well beyond his recordings. He did many great things for the country of Jamaica and provided inspiration for people of color all around the globe. I acknowledge that more people should be made aware of that fact. However, when it comes to his music the fans will decide which songs they like most. There are plenty of widely available Bob Marley albums and compilations. If people want to hear his other material - and they definitely should - then it's easily accessible. But considering that this album has sold more than 40 million copies since 1983 I would say that's a pretty good indication the music on this album album is loved by many people. Would Bob have picked this collection of songs himself? Maybe not. But I do think he would be pleased with it's wide reach. He always wanted his music to be embraced by the black community in America. As a black person myself I can tell you that I don't know a single family member or friend that doesn't know the words to at least half the songs on Legend. I would urge those who are new to Bob Marley's music to also seek out his other recordings, but DO NOT pass on this album just because a few elitist snobs don't like the fact that the songs on this album are popular.

So why did I only give 2 stars if the album is so great? Well it's because this is an overall review of the product purchased. It sucks that Amazon combines the reviews for multiple formats. Luckily there are enough 5 star reviews of the album that my review won't drag down the overall star rating. I bought the High Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-ray version and I'm not at all convinced that it was worth paying twice the price of the CD version. This is one of my most played albums from my CD collection so I was super excited when it became available in what is claimed to be a higher quality audio format. I'm not going to claim to have the highest quality audio setup out there, but I do own what most would consider audiophile grade equipment. Definitely not stuff you're gonna be able to go out and purchase at your local bestbuy. Comparing the CD to the HFPA Blu-Ray the difference in sound quality was negligible. It's a great album worth owning, but unless you're a sample rate snob (in which case you should get the 192/24 FLAC version from HDtracks) you should pass on the HFPA BD version of any album, with the exception of the ones that include 5.1 playback (Legend is normal 2 channel). Pick up a used copy on CD for 5 bucks and use the money you saved to buy some of Bob's other music.

Oh and one last comical note. The Blu-Ray comes with a code to download a digital copy of all the tracks….in MP3. They are 320kps files, but it's still mildly hilarious that you are sent to the "High Fidelity Pure Audio" website to download tracks in a lossy file format.

I love the heck out of this. I saw it on here for a super low price and knew I needed to add it to my collection. The sound is great. Sadly, there is a song on the B-side that skips uncontrollably sending the track through a loop. Unfortunately those things happen. Otherwise, this album is so good. It has nothing but hits on it. I assume the minor skip on my copy is not on every one of them given the reviews I have read so do not let that steer you away.