More of the Music of The Rolling Stones
Reviews and Commentaries for Sticky Fingers
Sonic Grade: F
The MoFi pressing of this album is a joke. It’s so compressed, lifeless, and lacking in bottom end punch that it would hardly interfere with even the most polite conversation at a wine tasting. I consider it one of the worst sounding versions of the album ever made.
It’s an Audiophile Record in the worst sense of the word.
It’s a Hall of Shame pressing and a Half-Speed Mastered Disaster if there ever was one.
A well-known reviewer actually — I kid you not — was still defending the sound of the MoFi as late as 2010. In one of his reviews earlier in 2008 he used it to test a piece of equipment he was evaluating!
In 2010 he wrote this:
Mo-Fi’s half-speed mastered edition (MFSL 1-060) was controversial when issued in 1980, with its jacked up lower bass, icy top end, sucked out midrange and low overall level. I’ll tell you though, as my system has improved, the more I’ve come to appreciate it. It offers outstanding focus and clarity and its portrayal of inner detail and transient snap is unsurpassed. Admittedly the sound is not for everybody.
It’s not for me, that’s for damn sure.
And “unsurpassed” simply means you have never had the experience of hearing a good sounding copy of Sticky Fingers.
Which is sad, don’t you think? Especially if you like to call yourself a “record expert.”
If you would like to know more about Sticky Fingers, the best album these guys ever made, we’ve written quite a bit about it, and those reviews and commentaries are linked at the top of this post.
If you are still buying these modern pressings, take the advice of some of our customers and stop throwing your money away on Heavy Vinyl Pressings and Half-Speed Mastered Records.
People have been known to ask us:
How come you guys don’t like Half-Speed Mastered records?
At the very least let us send you a Hot Stamper pressing — of any album you choose — that can show you what is wrong with your copy. And if for some reason you disagree that our record sounds better than yours, we will happily give you all your money back and wish you the best.
To learn more about records that sound dramatically better than any Half-Speed ever made (with one rare exception, John Klemmer’s Touch), please consult our FAQs:
More Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Below you will find our breakdown of the best and worst Half-Speed mastered records we have auditioned over the years.
Half-Speed Mastered Mediocrities
Half-Speed Masters – The Complete List
New to the site? Start here.