Do drums sound bad :( :( ???

very slightly better than on the original. worst snare sound = DDN.

Yeah, agreed.
It doesn't pay tribute to Steve's drums playing.
Compared to Sister drums sound, it's weak.

the snare on DDN is wretched. It turned me off from the album for a long time. The busy rolls on "Silver Rocket" just sound silly with that snare.

the loudness war:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ

Yep, its loud allright. But not much else.

I still have the Blast First vinyl copy I bought in college 15 years ago. Compared to the new remaster, the guitars are way more in your face and present, and the drums crackle and pop. The tambourine on the bridge of Eric's Trip just leaps out from the speakers and sits in your lap on the LP but on the CD it seems tamed and way back in the mix. Yeah the LP is much quieter than the CD but hey I still have a volume knob on my amplifier. Turn it up and the LP is just as loud. And better!

I went out to buy this today but the two record stores I went to didn't have it. I am so disappointed.

You're kidding, right?

Nope... have I missed something?

release date in uk is july 2nd.

LOL
Someone skipped a physics class (listening to their first press copy) 15 years ago :D

I like the remaster much more than the Geffen reissue. Guitars are much cleaner.

The remaster is also better for mp3s (as stated in the p4k article).

My record player is not hooked up at the moment, so i can't compare it to the vinyl.

The opinions on the sound are making me want to get the reissue, just cos ive always felt the CD version i have (its the Geffen) lacked a certain something production wise, which i managed to kinda ignore over time.