Month: May 2021

Coltrane’s Sound – A Very Good Reissue by Bernie Grundman

More of the Music of John Coltrane

Sonic Grade: B+ (at least)

This is one of the better sounding Heavy Vinyl pressings we have played recently.

What makes it different from so many others that fail to live up to the remastering hype that surrounds them? (And regularly irritates the hell out of those of us who actually know what a good record actually sounds like.)

  • It’s tonally correct from top to bottom. At most five or ten per cent of the audiophile repressings we’ve played in the last ten years can make that claim.
  • The bass is not boosted or poorly defined. This eliminates at a minimum 98+% of all the Mobile Fidelity pressings we have ever played. Nobody seems to notice how bad the bass is on their records. A real puzzler, that fact.
  • It’s not exceptionally veiled or recessed. I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of Heavy Vinyl pressings that are not far too veiled and recessed to compete with their vintage vinyl brethren.

It is slightly veiled, and lacks some of the life, the space and obviously some of the presence of the real thing, the real thing in this case being an early stereo pressing on the Blue and Green Atlantic label.

Still, for your money you are getting a helluva good record.

One of the top two or three Rhino records to date.

(Bernie did a great job on this Coltrane album, but whatever you do, don’t waste your money on his recut of Lush Life. It is just plain awful, an audiophile hall of shame pressing that’s so bad it defies understanding. Something sure went wrong somewhere, I can tell you that. Stay tuned for my review.)

• Lacquers cut by Bernie Grundman
• LPs cut from the original analog masters
• Packages replicated to the finest detail manufactured with more care than ever

Our Previous Hot Stamper Commentary for Coltrane’s Sound

This is yet another superb Tom Dowd recording of Coltrane in his prime, with support from the brilliant McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones.

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The Chi-Lites – A Lonely Man

More Chi-Lites

More Soul, Blues and R&B

  • The Chi-Lites make their site debut here with this outstanding pressing of A Lonely Man – solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER throughout – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Bigger and bolder, with more bass, more energy, and more of that “you-are-there-immediacy” of ANALOG that set the best vintage pressings apart from the current crop of (mostly awful) reissues, CDs, and whatever else you care to name
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Behind the talents of Eugene Record, the Chi-Lites presented an impeccable album featuring one gem after another.”

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The Animals – Animal Tracks (US)

More of The Animals

  • Animal Tracks makes its Hot Stamper debut here with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish
  • An exceptional copy in every way – not only is the sound As Good As It Gets, but there are no marks that play on the 55 year old vinyl
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more space, richness, vocal presence, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true if you made the mistake of buying whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently on the market
  • “… featured recent hit singles, B-sides along with other recordings previously released in Britain but not in America, making this a fine compilation of the group’s early career.”

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Paganini – Kreisler / Concerto In One Movement / Campoli – Reviewed in 2019 and 2008

The Music of Paganini Available Now

More Album Reviews of the Music of Paganini

  • This exceptionally rare early London pressing features Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER and includes a wonderful performance of the Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3
  • This is a spectacular recording – it’s big, clear, rich, dynamic, transparent and energetic, and is guaranteed to put to shame any Heavy Vinyl pressing of orchestral music you own
  • Campoli brings his warmth, feeling, and technical precision to these classical masterpieces
  • The Decca engineers captured the correct amount of detail in the bowing and fingering – it’s not overdone as it is in so many records that many audiophiles prefer, with the mics much too close to the strings

This is a WONDERFUL sounding violin concerto recording. It has TUBEY MAGIC as well as MUSIC to die for. What’s most interesting about the sound is how well the violin is integrated into the orchestra. On most RCAs, just to pick one golden age label to use as an example, the violin is typically hugely oversized and placed far in front of the orchestra. Not so here. The violin is of a whole with the orchestra, which makes for a much more natural and relaxed presentation. (more…)

Tony Bennett – If I Ruled The World / Songs For The Jet Set

More Tony Bennett

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Albums

  • Bennett’s wonderful 1965 release finally makes its Hot Stamper debut here with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout
  • These sides are exceptionally spacious and three-dimensional, as well as relaxed and full-bodied – Tony is right in the room with you on this one
  • “Employing Sinatra arranger Don Costa, Tony Bennett put together a concept album similar to Sinatra’s Come Fly with Me.”

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Jackson Browne – For Everyman

More Jackson Browne

More Singer-Songwriter Albums

  • A KILLER copy of JB’s sophomore effort with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or very close to it on both sides
  • David Lindley joins the band, and talented helpers include Bonnie Raitt, Glen Frey, David Crosby, Elton John and Joni Mitchell
  • “His work is a unique fusion of West Coast casualness and East Coast paranoia, easygoing slang and painstaking precision, child’s-eye romanticizing and adult’s-eye acceptance… Brilliantly conceived, incomparably immediate, For Everyman truly earns its title.” – Rolling Stone

The average copy of this record is MUD, but this pressing will show you that the master tape of For Everyman is a whole lot better than most music lovers and audiophiles might suspect. (The first album is the same way.)

Want a quick test for transparency? Listen to the piano on I Thought I Was a Child. On most copies you can’t really hear the attack of the hammers hitting the strings, but here you can. If the tonal balance is correct — and it is on this copy — then you know you are getting a pressing of very high quality.

Note that the first track on side one almost never sounds as good as those that follow. (more…)

Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps

More Neil Young

More Live Recordings of Interest

  • You’ll find outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound on both sides, making this one of the more enjoyable copies we played in our recent shootout – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • It’s not easy to find copies that get both the quieter, acoustic material and the big, rockin’ Crazy Horse stuff right, but this one managed it
  • 5 stars: “His strongest collection since Tonight’s the Night, its obvious antecedent was Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home, and, as Dylan did, Young divided his record into acoustic and electric sides while filling his songs with wildly imaginative imagery.”

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The Hollies – He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

More of The Hollies

  • Some of the best Hollies sound we’ve heard
  • Richer and smoother than most of the copies we’ve played
  • Surprising immediacy and bottom end weight on both sides
  • Engineered by Alan Parsons, but most copies don’t deliver

EXCELLENT SOUND for both sides of this classic Hollies album. We collected these for a long time in hopes of finding a copy that could really deliver, and this one certainly fits the bill! Most people are probably most interested in the title track — and I’m pleased to report it sounds wonderful here — but this album is actually quite solid with a number of good songs. The immediacy and bottom end weight on both sides surprised us and really helped the music come to life.

Many copies we played were too dry and grainy to enjoy. This one is richer and smoother, with only a touch of the grit that we heard on copy after copy. The presence is superb and there’s tons of energy. The overall sound is clean, clear and open with good separation between the instruments. Allan Clarke’s vocals sound natural and full, without the pinched quality we heard on many pressings. We gave both sides A++ grades, it will be very tough to find a copy that performs any better from start to finish. (more…)

Wagner for Band / Fennell / Eastman Wind Ensemble

More of the music of Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

TAS List Records Available Now

Reviews and Commentaries for TAS Super Disc Recordings

  • Wagner for Band finally makes its Hot Stamper debut with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish
  • There is plenty on offer for the discriminating audiophile, with the spaciousness, clarity, tonality and freedom from artificiality that are hallmarks of the best Mercury recordings of Fennell leading the EWE
  • Far richer, smoother and livelier than every other pressing we played, with Tubey Magic and space we guarantee you have never heard on any Fennell record before
  • An incredibly rare TAS List recording, now replaced on the list by a Speakers Corner LP – from the looks of it, The Absolute Sound is going deaf in its old age

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Wham! – Make It Big

Pure Pop Albums Available Now

  • Two incredible sides each earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or very close to it
  • Both sides here are super big, full-bodied and Tubey Magical with wonderfully present vocals and a solid bottom end
  • Exceptionally quiet vinyl throughout — Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus
  • “They succeeded on a grander scale than they ever could have imagined, conquering the world and elsewhere with this effervescent set of giddy new wave pop-soul, thereby making George Michael a superstar… It was an instant classic, and it was the first indication of George Michael’s strengths as a pop craftsman…” – All Music, 4 1/2 Stars

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