Loggins and Messina – The Best of Friends

More Loggins and Messina

More Country and Country Rock

  • White Hot on side two, Super Hot on one, killer from start to finish
  • The sound of Master Tapes, not dubs, shocking as it may seem
  • So many of the band’s best songs on one LP make this a Must-Own
  • This copy rocks with all the energy that L&M’s super-tight band is capable of

Both of the copies in this 2-pack have one excellent side and one side that just didn’t meet our standards, so we combined them to give you Super Hot Stamper sound for the entire album.

The best news we have to report concerning this compilation is that it does not sound at all like a compilation, and by that we mean that the best copies don’t sound “dubby”, flat, small or compressed. The best copies, in fact, ROCK, with all the energy that the band is capable of.

You may have noticed that we do very few Greatest Hits albums here at Better Records, for the simple reason that most greatest hits albums don’t sound very good. This is one of the few exceptions to that rule that we’ve come across in our record playing travels over the years.

The best originals may be better, but the difference between our Hot Stampers of this album and whatever original pressing you own should be pronounced, in our favor of course.

Side One

Big and rich yet clean and clear with wonderfully present vocals.

What to Listen For (WTLF) – Angry Eyes

If you have good weight on your side one, the place you can hear it most clearly is in the toms on Angry Eyes, the first track. They are big and solid and really punch through the mix, staying in the lower part of the soundfield below the vocals. The lightweight pressings make the toms sound anemic. The copies with poorly defined bass will make the toms sound fat and blobby.

No two copies of the record should have the toms sounding the same; they don’t on our system and they shouldn’t on yours.

Side Two

Clean, clear and transparent with plenty of space around all of the instruments and super breathy vocals.

There’s more air and space here than on any other side two we played, yet the sound is as rich as you could ever want. This side is hard to fault.

What to Listen For (WTLF) – Danny’s Song

You want Kenny Loggins to be front and center. Ideally his voice will be both sweet and breathy (and heartfelt of course). If your copy has its high end intact, and is cut clean, the sibilance from the master tape will be much less gritty on your side two than it is on other copies. This is where you can hear how present, tonally correct and distortion-free your copy is.

TRACK LISTING

Side One

Angry Eyes
Be Free
Vahevala
Peace of Mind
My Music

Side Two

Thinking of You
House at Pooh Corner
Watching the River Run
Danny’s Song
Your Mama Don’t Dance

AMG Review

The Best of Friends contains ten of Loggins & Messina”s best-known songs, not only including all of their big hits (Vahevala, Your Mama Don’t Dance, Thinking of You,” “Watching the River Run”), but also key album tracks like “House at Pooh Corner,” “Danny’s Song,” “Peace of Mind” and “Angry Eyes.”