Month: October 2019

The Doors – Our Shootout Winner from 2007

More of the Music of The Doors

Reviews and Commentaries for The Doors’ Debut

THE BEST SOUNDING COPY OF THIS ALBUM WE’VE EVER HEARD!

This Elektra Gold Label SLAUGHTERED the DCC, MURDERED the MoFi, and DECIMATED every last pressing we played it against! You aren’t going to believe all the TUBEY MAGIC on this copy!

Both sides are chock full of wonderfully grungy guitars, BIG beefy bass, and amazingly full-bodied vocals. The overall sound is open and spacious with lots of room around the instruments. This copy has the kind of presence and energy that will have you really rockin’ out! Side one rates an A+++ and side two is right behind, rating A++ – A+++. We’ve never heard a better copy and we expect that you haven’t either — it’s OUT OF THIS WORLD!   (more…)

John Coltrane / Blue Train – Our Shootout Winner from 2011

This Blue Note pressing has THE BEST SIDE TWO we’ve ever heard or expect to hear! It does EVERYTHING right, giving you the kind of Blue Train sound that most jazz fans have dreamed of forever but certainly have never heard before. The sound is absolutely KILLER, sounding dramatically more like live music than any copy we’ve played. It’s full-bodied and rich with tons of energy, YOU ARE THERE immediacy and wonderful clarity. There’s also a ton of tubey magic and an unbelievably strong bottom end, making this the kind of record that’s going to BLOW YOU AWAY. I bet you never believed Blue Train could sound like this — heck, we sure didn’t! (more…)

McCoy Tyner – Extensions

  • With nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound on side one this copy has the real Blue Note magic 
  • The sound on side one was bigger, clearer, less boxy and simply more relaxed and musical than almost any other side we heard
  • The really good RVG pressings like this one sound shockingly close to live music
  • 4 1/2 Stars: “The all-star sextet stretches out on lengthy renditions of four of Tyner’s modal originals, and there is strong solo space for the leader and the two saxophonists. Wayne Shorter in particular is often quite intense. Stimulating music.”

With Alice Coltrane on harp, this is one trippy album! For those with adventurous tastes you are sure to have an interesting musical experience with this one.

We enjoy the sound of a great many Blue Note pressings from the ’70s, although to be fair there are plenty of dogs out there too. The reason this LP and others from the era have such transparency and such an extended top end compared with some of RVG’s older recordings is due, at least to some degree, to the better cutting equipment he had available to him in the ’70s. (more…)

Letter of the Week – “…you turn me on to albums I would never have even thought to listen to.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Harry Nilsson Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently:

Hey Tom, 

I was totally blown away by the Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 album you sent me. The lovely, sweet female vocals and the awesome percussion was to die for. For a supposed easy listening album, I was getting very excited! In fact, I cannot stop listening to it. My only complaint is it is too short in duration. When it is over, I want (need?) more! Do his other albums sound like this? If so, I will be buying more.

This is what I love about you guys, you turn me on to albums I would never have even thought to listen to. For example, on your recommendation, I ordered Harry Nillsson’s A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night.

This is an album I would never have given a second look at, yet, as soon as the needle hit the groove, I was floored. The vocal presence is startling. It is like Harry is in the room singing to me.

It reminds me a lot of one of my other favourites I bought from you a while back – a White Hot copy of Willie Nelson’s Stardust. 

Willie, Harry and Sergio as demo discs…who would have thought!

Jody S. 

Surrealistic Pillow (Mono) – Sundazed Reviewed

More of the Music of the Jefferson Airplane

Reviews and Commentaries for the Jefferson Airplane

Sonic Grade: C-

Back around 2000, I spent a fair amount of time comparing this pressing with both an RCA 1S Black Label original, two different RCA Orange Label reissues, and the DCC 180 gram pressing. To make a long story short, if you’re willing to buy this record for the songs that really sound amazing on it, like “Today,” then you should consider trying one.

If you want the whole album to sound good, you have your work cut out for you. Hot Stampers in good condition for this record are incredibly hard to come by.

The right Black Label original RCA pressings are superb, but try to find a quiet one.

If you love this album as much as we do, you’ll understand why we went to all this trouble to find the best pressings. There is NO OTHER GAME IN TOWN for this album — the Sundazed Mono pressing can’t handle the rock songs, and I’ve never been a fan of the DCC.

Chopin / Ashkenazy in Concert

Superb sounding Decca British Import LP!

This live recording has very natural sound. I normally do not care for Ashkenazy’s playing, but here he plays with a conviction that is usually lacking. Check out the 2nd movement on the sonata.

This album includes Chopin’s Sonata No. 2, Two Nocturnes, Mazurka in A and Grande Valse Brillante.

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New Jazz Conceptions Is Not What It Should Be on OJC

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Bill Evans Available Now

Another weak sounding jazz reissue on Original Jazz Classics from the 80s.

Don’t get us wrong — they are a lot of good ones. Here is the list of the OJCs we’ve auditioned and found to have at least the potential for good sound.

And here are the OJCs we’ve auditioned and found wanting to some degree.

Not all of them are bad; some are just not very good and would not be suitable for an audiophile with high standards.

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Ry Cooder – Boomer’s Story

More Ry Cooder

This is a QUIET Reprise Tan Label LP with a good side one and a GREAT side two. It’s not the best copy we’ve ever heard but it’s a step up from most of what’s out there. Side two is very natural and incredibly clean. The presence is wonderful, the top end is sweet, and the transparency is top-notch. Side one is similar but a bit smooth for our tastes.

We’re big Ry Cooder fans here at Better Records, and this is one of our favorites. Make sure to check out the lovely reading of Dark End Of The Street that opens side two. (more…)

Surrealistic Pillow – We Found a Good Sounding Orange Label Pressing

Hot Stamper Pressings of Folk Rock Albums Available Now

This review was written more than ten years ago. At this time [2023] we no longer pick up any pressings with the later label. So few sound any good, why waste time searching for so few needles sitting in so many haystacks?

This QUIET orange label (!) pressing has surprisingly good sound, some of the best sound we have ever heard for that more-often-than-not dismal second label in fact. It actually beat a few of our black label originals, with more tubey magic and less distortion and harshness than we expect from these later pressings. 

We always have fun playing this psychedelic ’60s masterpiece. The sound — problematical as it may be — gives you so many of the qualities we love about good ol’ analog. No one’s recording albums these days with this kind of richness, sweetness, and warmth, that’s for sure. Drop the needle on My Best Friend or Today to hear that trippy Sixties San Francisco sound at its best.

This album is an exceedingly difficult nut to crack — no matter how many copies we have, no matter how much information we have to work with. Play the typical copy and you’ll likely run for cover — we heard copies that were aggressive, shrill, lifeless, dull, thick, veiled, bass-shy — you name it, we heard it. Not only that, but as a rule most pressings, even the orange labels ones, are BEAT TO DEATH. Finding a copy that sounds any good and plays Mint Minus Minus or better is a real challenge.

Less Distortion

This one is cut very clean, with less of the grit and grunge that you hear on so many copies. The overall sound is rich, full, and tonally correct. There’s a touch of smear and the vocals don’t have all the presence of the best originals, but this is still an excellent copy that will sound better and play quieter than most copies out there. (more…)