Month: March 2018

Elvis Presley – It Happened At The World’s Fair


  • An insanely good sounding copy: Triple Plus (A+++) on the first side, Double Plus (A++) on the second
  • If you want to know just how rich, spacious, natural and Tubey Magical an Elvis record can sound, here’s your chance to find out
  • Fairly quiet vinyl throughout — Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus – it’s unlikely any early pressing would ever play as well
  • Elvis’s early albums are rarely in audiophile playing condition, so finding these later pressings with such good sound has been a real ear opener

This pressing has the glorious sound of 1963 in its grooves. It has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records cannot even BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound. (more…)

Tim Buckley – Goodbye And Hello

  • An insanely good sounding Gold Label original with Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides
  • The overall sound here is super big, full and dynamic with excellent bass and a nice extended top end
  • Fairly quiet vinyl throughout — Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus
  • 4 1/2 Stars on All Music: “Often cited as the ultimate Tim Buckley statement, Goodbye and Hello is indeed a fabulous album…”  

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Della Reese – Della in Living Stereo

 

  • Both sides here are rich and smooth with a big bottom end and a lovely musical quality that’s missing from the average copy
  • Plays Mint Minus Minus on side one and even quieter on side two — Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus
  • “Recorded in 1959, this excellent album finds Reese backed by an orchestra that Neal Hefti arranged and conducted.” – All Music

If you’re a fan of vintage female vocals – the kind with no trace of digital reverb – you may get quite a kick out of this one.

Tubey Magic Is Key

This early Living Stereo pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records cannot even BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound.

If you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it — not often, and certainly not always — but maybe one out of a hundred new records do, and those are some pretty long odds.

What to Listen For (WTLF)

Copies with rich lower mids and nice extension up top did the best in our shootout, assuming they weren’t veiled or smeary of course. So many things can go wrong on a record! We know, we heard them all. (more…)

Willie Nelson – Phases And Stages

More Willie Nelson

More Country and Country Rock

  • Stunningly good Triple Plus (A+++) from the first note to the last; you’ll have a hard time doing any better than this
  • The overall sound here is big, full, solid and musical with excellent bass and none of the harshness that plagues most copies
  • This is the first Hot Stamper to make it to the site, and we’ve been trying for a long time! Not so many good sounding copies out there…
  • “Make no mistake – the deceptively relaxed arrangements, including the occasional strings, not only highlight Nelson’s clever eclecticism, but they also heighten the emotional impact of the album.”

The first Hot Stamper copy of this great album to ever hit the site and it’s one for the ages. It’s taken us a long time to pull together enough clean copies to make this shootout happen. Boy, was it worth all the trouble. The presence and immediacy here are outstanding. Turn it up and Willie is right between your speakers, putting on the performance of a lifetime. He’s clearly one of our favorite male vocalists, and this superb copy will show you why.

Fresh Tapes – You Just Can’t Beat ‘Em

When this record was made the tapes were fresh. Now they’re 30+ years old. On audiophile equipment you will have no trouble appreciating the difference. Unless I miss my guess the difference in sound should be obvious and huge.

On this pressing Willie is no longer a recording — he’s a living, breathing person. We call that “the breath of life,” and this record has it in spades. His voice is so rich, sweet, and free of any artificiality, you immediately find yourself lost in the music, because there’s no “sound” to distract you.

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Willie Nelson – Tougher Than Leather

More Willie Nelson

More Country and Country Rock

  • Triple Plus (A+++) on side one and almost as impressive on side two, this is as good a copy of Tougher Than Leather as can be found
  • It’s richer, fuller, more musical and more natural – Willie’s unique voice is reproduced with a solidity and immediacy not heard on other copies
  • This is the first Hot Stamper to make it to the site, and we’ve been trying since 2011! Not that many good sounding copies out there…
  • As one Amazon reviewer wrote “This is a must buy album for any true Willie Nelson fan. This is good Willie – THERE IS NO BAD WILLIE!”

The first Hot Stamper copy of this great album to ever hit the site and it’s one for the ages. It’s taken us a long time to pull together enough clean copies to make this shootout happen. Boy, was it worth all the trouble. (more…)

Elvis Costello – This Year’s Model

Hot Stamper Pressings of Elvis’s Albums Available Now

Reviews and Commentaries for Elvis Costello

  • WOW — an incredible Triple Plus (A+++) side two backed with an excellent Double Plus (A++) side one for this Elvis Costello classic!
  • You’re gonna love the sound here – full-bodied and punchy with a solid low end and excellent presence for Elvis’s vocals
  • The bass is right – the moment-to-moment rhythmic changes in the songs are clear and the band swings the way it’s supposed to
  • 5 stars on Allmusic: “The most remarkable thing about the album is the sound — Costello and the Attractions never rocked this hard, or this vengefully, ever again.”

PUMP IT UP! This British Import Radar LP has TWO AMAZING SIDES that brilliantly and powerfully convey the energy of this hard rockin’ music.

The overall sound is punchy, lively, and dynamic with plenty of tight, note-like bass. This is key to the best copies.

The Low End Theory

A correct bottom end is absolutely CRITICAL for this album. Like Trust and Armed Forces, there’s a TON of low-end on this record; regrettably, most copies suffer from either a lack of bass or a lack of bass definition. I can’t tell you how much you’re missing when the bass isn’t right on this album. (Or if you have the typical bass-shy audiophile speaker, yuck.)

It’s without a doubt the single most important aspect of the sound on this album. When the bass is right, everything falls into place, and the music comes powerfully to life. When the bass is lacking or ill-defined, the music seems labored; the moment-to-moment rhythmic changes in the songs blur together, and the band just doesn’t swing the way it’s supposed to. (more…)

Pin-Ups – Some of His Favourite Songs

More of the Music of David Bowie

Bowie, writing in his own hand, describes Pin Ups this way:

These songs are among my favourites from the “64–67” period of London.

Most of the groups were playing the Ricky-Tick (was it a ‘y’ or an ‘i’?) – Scene club circuit (Marquee, eel pie island la-la).

Some are still with us.

Pretty Things, Them, Yardbirds, Syd’s Pink Floyd, Mojos, Who, Easybeats, Merseys, The Kinks.

Love-on ya!

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Listening in Depth to The Dan’s One True Rock Album

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Steely Dan Available Now

This is the only Steely Dan album recorded with a working live band.

One of the most important qualities we look for in a Hot Stamper copy is the ability to convey the fun and energy of these seriously hard-rockin’ sessions.

Side One

Bodhisattva
Razor Boy

This is the track I use to judge side one. Almost every copy you come across has grainy vocals, if there are any highs at all. This is true for the entire album, but it’s especially noticeable on this track. When the vocals are clear, smooth and sweet, or at least as clear, smooth and sweet as one can hope for, you are playing a good copy. Consider yourself one of the lucky ones.

That’s if there’s bass. This is a rock record, and rock records, like all records, need bass. If the vocals on this track are right and the bass is good, you might actually have a winner.

Also listen to how clear and solid the piano and vibes are underneath the vocals. On the best copies their contributions are easy to follow and really provide support in the lower registers for the vocals above them. If on your copy they’re a murky mess don’t be surprised; that’s pretty much the way they sound on most copies. (They’re a good test for the quality of your reproduction from the mid-bass up through the lower midrange.)

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Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks – Where’s The Money?


  • A truly outstanding early pressing with Triple Plus (A+++) sound on side two and Double Plus (A++) sound on side one
  • The sound is rich, real and musical in ways that we we almost never hear a Dan Hicks record sound
  • The female singers’ voices are so clear, breathy and sweet on this copy, we were a bit taken aback – that just never happens
  • 4 1/2 Stars: “…the album does in fact capture a certain intimacy missing from their studio debut.”

Both sides are rich, real and musical like no other Dan Hicks record you have ever heard.

The female singers’ voices are so clear, breathy and sweet on this copy, we were a bit taken aback. On a Dan Hicks record? That just never happens.

What to Listen For (WTLF)

Here are some of the things we specifically listen for in a vintage Dan Hicks ‘Hipster Acoustic Swing” record

Our hottest Hot Stamper copies are simply doing more of these things better than the other copies we played in our shootout.

The best copies have:

  • Greater immediacy in the vocals (most copies are veiled and distant to some degree);
  • Natural tonal balance (many copies are at least slightly brighter or darker than ideal; those with the right balance are the exception, not the rule);
  • Good solid weight (so the bass sounds full and powerful);
  • Spaciousness (the best copies have wonderful studio ambience and space);
  • Tubey Magic, without which you might as well be playing a CD;
  • And last but not least, transparency, the quality of being able to see into the recording.

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Listening in Depth to Fleetwood Mac’s Self-Titled Album

More of the Music of Fleetwood Mac

Reviews and Commentaries for Fleetwood Mac’s Self-Titled Album

So few copies we ran across in our shootout had that “jump out of the speakers” sound we knew was possible from our previous shootouts of the album. When finally one did, boy did it ever. What a knockout. Hot Stampers? The best copies are on fire!

If you have a big speaker system and have taken advantage of the audio revolutions we discuss throughout the site, this is the kind of record that shows just how much progress you’ve made.

When a record like this blows everything you’ve ever heard out of the water, you are definitely on the right track!

In-Depth Track Commentary

Side One

Monday Morning

This copy is so transparent that it revealed a quality of the recording that we were never aware of before. The songs that Lindsey sings, which tend to be the rockers, have a certain gritty quality to the vocals which is not on any of the other songs, those sung by Stevie Nicks or Christine McVie. It’s not a pressing problem. It HAS to be the way they wanted his vocals to sound. There’s a certain rawness and bite that he seems to be going for, so don’t expect the smoothness and sweetness of the other tracks when playing his.

Warm Ways

Folks, it doesn’t get any better than this. This song is PURE POP PERFECTION. This is our favorite test track for side one. Christine’s voice needs to be present and immediate, while at the same time completely free from grain or artificial EQ. On the best copies she is breathy and sweet. In case you haven’t noticed, these are not qualities you hear often in the songs Christine sings lead on. Most of her vocals are veiled and farther back in the mix. Stevie Nicks tends to get better sound for some reason, don’t ask me why. Just listen to the sound of the vocals on Landslide; McVie never gets that kind of presence and immediacy. (more…)