Living Stereo Titles Available Now
200+ Reviews of Living Stereo Records
This VERY RARE 2 LP Shaded Dog pressing has Super Hot Stamper sound. Much of what’s good about Golden Age recordings is heard here, with side one for example having the sound of a HUGE hall and that Three-Dimensional quality that the best vintage recordings are able to convey so well.
We constantly knock Heavy Vinyl here at Better Records for the simple reason that we play vintage recordings such as this by the score every month and can hear what they do so well. Unfortunately the huge hall and the 3-D soundstaging they effortlessly reproduce cannot be found on any Heavy Vinyl pressing we know of.
Such qualities allow this record to sound — in some ways, to be sure not all — like live music.
Side One
Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 – Elgar
Mignon Overture – Thomas
Largo from Xerxes – Handel
Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin – Wagner
Sound
A++, with the huge hall and 3-D sound we mentioned above. Very clear, especially when quiet. There’s a big bass drum on one of these tracks that is killer. A little more Tubey Magic would have been nice. As it is, this side sounds REALISTIC, like a real live concert.
Side Two
Accelerations, Waltzes – J. Strauss
Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes – Traditional
Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1 – Enesco
Sound
A or so, by far the weakest side. Small and thin, not our sound!
Side Three
Danse Macabre – Saint-Saens
Hungarian Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra – Liszt
Sound
A+ to A++, with BIG sound. The Living Stereo compression makes the quiet passages sound amazing but robs the climaxes of some energy.
Side Four
Selections from West Side Story – Bernstein
Bugler’s Holiday – Anderson
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes – Kern
Kid Stuff – Hayman
Theme from Peter Gunn – Mancini
Sound
A++, ending on a high note! BIG sound in a BIG hall. Compression is still a bit much in the loudest parts, which can get congested, but find us a Golden Age pressing that doesn’t get congested at least some of the time and we will eat it.
Tubey Magical and lots of fun!
Further Reading