I first heard this on YouTube and I have to say it was one of the most incredible pieces of relaxing music I have heard. You have to be in the right state to really appreciate the quality of both of these songs, particularly Paradise Circus. Yes, it's expensive now and I paid a small fortune for my AP copy but the producers didn't ask people to pay that much. If it had been a rubbish tune it would probably go for not that much. The fact it is expensive goes to the quality of the tunes.

Nah you’re alright. Buy a good dub lp for the same price

I cannot understand such releases anymore, this all seems to be a matrix error.

Finally got round to getting the official version only to find the two annoying screeches in Four Walls are still there! I had heard they were anti copyright sirens! Pleased I didn’t spend £££ on the vinyl. I can’t actually believe they allowed this to be released. The sound is to relaxation what dropping a toaster in would be to a nice bath.

incredible! I had always wondered that myself. So strange that they are still in there.

How much did you spend ? This comment needs more words

Absolute masterpiece, every time I listen to it it gets better and better. Probably the most expensive record I have ever bought but after long deliberation I thought it was worth it... and I think it is. Still a shame though that this one wasn't pressed in bigger quantities so more people could enjoy it.

Tbh I don't care about the fancy stuff, a white label and i'd be happy.

It needs a repress for goodness sake. Everyone needs to have a copy because it's a fantastic combination of two of the most influential artists in music from past to present.

I am very sad to report this pressing sounds really bad..I'm not very picky but if had to compare the sound I would have to say the re press of Ok Computer by Radiohead sound just as bad....I'm still happy to own a copy but just wanted to let people know.

I really sad that i missed to buy this Record when it was released.After the incredible high prices here i'm really thinking about producing an Mastercut/Dubplate out of the Digital Release for private purpose only and just for my collection . That would be by far more limited and i would own #1 of 1 and would probably sound far better;)

Massive Attack and Burial...i hope they collaborate again because this EP is an unbelievable cerebral masterpiece.as far as the highly desired vinyl...until this gets a FIXED reissue, just buy the WAV version available from Massive Attack's store. sounds fantastic!i was fortunate to receive a vinyl rip WAV...horrible distortion beyond the expected Burial trademark sound. Hope's vocals clearly show the pressing to be unacceptable. i then bought the official WAV from Massive Attack. perfect sound! there's no way i would pay the $100-500+ asking price for the vinyl. if you want the best sounding copy of this EP spend $5 here: http://store.massiveattack.com/view-all/massive-attack-v-burial-digital.htmlnow, go spend some time in another world!

I noticed its disappearance too when I checked the MA official store for an official LOSSLESS download of Ritual Spirit EP. The vinyl is all I see as well as mp3s and AACs on Amazon and iTunes. I had messaged the store and MA about making lossless downloads available for new and old stuff a couple months ago...no response. Doesn't make sense to me why MA doesn't offer downloads like I've seen many other bands and labels do whether it's from their own online store or a site like Bandcamp.

Crikey, I had a couple of copies of the crappy vinyl version (TVF sent me extras after my complaining exactly as DCOM explained below) and didn't know it had been released as an official WAV. It seems to have been taken down now though so does anyone know where it may still be available as an official WAV?

Trips me out with each listen. I'll never get tired of it. Very well mastered. As you said...clean and spacious.

thank you 1000x for this. I wasn't aware of the DL option. It sounds perfectly clean and spacious in wav. I'm speechless...

One of the best record of our early 21st century. "Dark spirit lives in there"

Well said.

This needs a fucking reissue. Holy shit!

Give it another 6 years. You'll probably get your copy then.

*** Info on copies with AP ****This is an email from Leighton at The Vinyl Factory confirming UN-numbered copies which instead have AP hand-written on them. I can confirm that there are some AP copies out there. 20x of these were made, most of which were for those involved in the manufacture of the discs, eg the band, printers etc.There were also a small amount of these that were available at the Massive Attack show we held in London. Your actually very, very lucky to have one of those ones!

My copy plays great with no distortion.

i have to say that the people at the vinyl factory are the worst to deal with. such a shame for a company trying to bring on the revival of records. i had ordered two copies of this ( one for a friend). shot them an email a few weeks after i had paid. there response for the next month was that shipments are taking a while, just wait. eventually nothing showed up. emailed again, there response was that they had never received the order and that it was now sold out. if they had been able to answer emails correctly day one, i could of simply ordered two more copies. but their arrogance was great.i had ordered several other products in the past from them, their defect rate is quite high.they command top dollar for their releases and if massive attack and uncle had never worked with them, they would probably be nothing.no kind words to say about them and beware of bad pressings

Hello All,(tl;dr - vinyl has distorted sound, buy digital and save your money.)the sound quality of the vinyl has been questioned, and now that a lossless, official digital version has been released I'm finally able to come to a definitive personal conclusion in this matter.I was one of the lucky to get an order in for the vinyl before it was sold out, and after a while I received my copy (718/1000). I had heard Paradise Circus from a recording of Hobbs' XFM broadcast (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N701JYnjaMs ), and although the recording is not of the highest quality, the track sounds good.When I first listened to my copy I was puzzled, as Four Walls sounded a bit distorted/saturated, but still tolerable; then I got to Paradise Circus, which was completely distorted/saturated from the very beginning, all high frequencies were missing and the vocals were totally broken by crackling distortion; this vinyl rip sounds similar to my copy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o01fUwIX3PA .My home DJing/listening equipment consists of two Technics SL-1200MK5s with quality stylii, an analogue Ecler NUO 4.0 mixer, an analogue NAD amplifier and two pairs of decent speakers; I've been a vinyl-only DJ for over 20 years, and I think I'm at least somewhat qualified and able to judge how vinyl sounds.I opened a dialogue with The Vinyl Factory on this issue, claiming that I had received a defective copy. After some back-and-forth email exchange TVF sent me two extra copies of the vinyl, described as "picked randonly from the small quantity of extra copies" they still had. The subsequent extra copies I received sounded exactly like the original first one: unplayable/unlistenable.I suggested to TVF I make a lossless recording of my original vinyl for comparison; they declined. I asked for quality verification from the mastering studio and the pressing plant; they declined. TVF adamantly claimed that the vinyl sounds as good as it should, there are no problems with the mastering or the pressing and that the final product had been approved by both Massive Attack and Burial. (I have the email exchange stored for reference/evidence.)Someone commented below that Burial's sound has deliberate noise and distortion; I agree, those two things make Burial's sound unique and easily recognizable, but at the same time I think that both Massive Attack's and Burial's production values are so ridiculously high that the abysmal quality of the vinyl sound is a travesty neither of the artists would underwrite.I have now listened to the lossles WAVs of the tracks side-by-side with all three copies of the vinyl I have, and there is a huge disparity between the sound quality of the digital and vinyl versions. The digital files sound crisp, clear and beautiful; the vinyls distorted/saturated, noisy and lacking higher frequencies. It doesn't take an audio professional/expert to make this judgement upon hearing the difference.Based on this evidence, in my personal and not-so-humble opinion, it is possible that all the vinyl copies of this release are defective as described. Of course three copies are not a statistically large enough sample, but if the ones I have are indeed a random selection from the complete batch, there is a good probability that the whole pressing is of the same quality.(Full disclosure: I was fully reimbursed for the record and p&p, and got to keep all three copies TVF sent me.)If all the copies are like mine, the prices people are asking and paying for the vinyl are absolutely ridiculous, and I belive some buyers have been gravely disappointed after purchasing a possibly defective copy. If you're looking to buy a copy of this record on vinyl, please take into account that you may receive a record that is a limited edition and relatively rare, but of questionable value due to bad sound quality. I wholeheartedly suggest purchasing the official digital version instead - the price is a pittance and the product is of high quality.Cheers, Nuutti.P.S. I have purchased vinyls from The Vinyl Factory after this incident, and the copies I have received are quality pressings, sound great and I'm happy to have them. My intent is not to disparage The Vinyl Factory, I'm sure they do their best to produce and offer the highest quality products possible, but from my point of view, the story of this release is unfortunate.(Edit: fixed typos and grammatical errors, added release serial number, tl;dr and P.S.)

Thank you for the honest review regarding the vinyl limited edition version, I have only listened to the ripped from vinyl wav, and it has sounded horribly distorted and I always wondered if the expensive limited edition vinyl sounded just as bad. That is embarrassing for all parties involved that such an "exclusive" vinyl release was so defective sounding! Now we can all listen to a better quality digital version after waiting 2+ years!

Very deep, slow & epic. Musthave.

I saved up to buy this vinyl for 6 months, and now it's all gone? Is there not a single copy for sale on Discogs anymore?

Digital version just released (after two years): http://store.massiveattack.com/landing-page/massive-attack-v-burial-digital.html

Here's the article if you want to add it:http://www.discogs.com/Massive-Attack-vs-Burial-Four-Walls-Paradise-Circus/release/5033206

lmao someone bought this for $550