Obscured By Clouds A1/B1

This very first pressing has audio of great quality for the vast majority and comes complete with textured cover and correct inner sleeve.

SHSP 4020 // A-1 / B-1 // MO / OP 2

The audio on S1 is Ex+ (Near Mint for the majority)

The audio on S2 is Ex+ (Near Mint in many sections / final track is Ex-)

The cover is Ex

The labels are Near Mint

The original inner sleeve is Ex

Visual grading

Overall this is a lovely looking vinyl and has not been played too much judging by the spindle wear.  There are no scratches and only a small number of sleeve removal hairlines and it still has a vibrant glossy sheen.  S1 does have a handful of tiny speck type marks but they have no affect on the high quality audio.  S2 is extremely clean with no marking at all.

Play grading  

The title track has only a little static/crackle on the intro which soon disappears and a couple of clicks at the half way point but aside from that the audio is extremely clear for a first pressing.  'When You're In' has exceptional audio from start to finish and has only a minimal amount of static on the fade out.  'Burning Bridges' plays superbly well with only a handful of light static sounds here and there, nothing intrusive though and the clarity is first class.  'The Gold It's In The...' is a genuine highlight and plays with great power and depth and no distortion either which is relatively rare on this louder track and especially on a first pressing.  It has perfect audio apart from a couple of static sounds on the fade out.  'Wot's...uh The Deal' is also nigh on perfect.  The production values, as I so often say with this album are just so good.  On a well preserved copy the clarity and overall 'mix' is first rate and this track practically qualifies as Mint such is the depth of the audio.  'Mudmen' ends the side with wonderful sound.  There is very little static on the intro which you don't often find as it is so quiet.  The quality does not diminish and again there is no distortion at all on the louder guitar sections.  A superb end to a side playing with high quality audio.

'Childhood's End' on S2 has some very light intermittent static on the intro but once the music really 'kicks in' the audio is of an immaculate standard and there is no other 'background' 'Free Four' is quite simply stunning from beginning to end.  This vinyl is 45 years old and yet this track practically qualifies as Mint the audio is that good.  What a stunning version!  You can hear the odd static sound during 'Stay' but they are very much in the background and do not interfere with the audio in any shape or form.  'Absolutely Curtains' has some light crackle for the first few seconds but this soon disappears and then for the vast majority has very clear audio with only a few static sounds here and there.  However, for such a quiet instrumental there is not very much interference and I only heard one pop throughout.

Cover

The textured G&L cover is in excellent shape with only a little shelf wear.  The edges do have some rubbing, nothing major, and you can see one small area of wear on the top edge but it is most certainly not a split.  The thin pinched spine is very clean with just a little rubbing on the top and bottom.  The opening edge is in great shape with barely any handling wear at all.  The front and back cover are in superb condition and have no marking or creasing and are amongst the cleanest I have ever seen.

Inner sleeve

The original poly-lined Harvest sleeve has only one tiny split on the bottom edge some very light creasing and age related fading around the edges.  A very clean example though.

The labels

The yellow/green Harvest label have no marking/writing and not a great amount of spindle wear.  They remain in superb condition.

Play tested on my Pro-Ject Essential III Turntable / B&W 684 Speakers

This record has been professionally cleaned on a Pro-Ject VC-S machine

SHSP 4020 // A-1 / B-1 // MO / OP 2

I grade according to "Record Collector" guidelines.

Any questions please feel free to ask

Please pay within 4 days of auction end

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Postage & Packaging

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