Steyn’s Song of the Week
Now the hacienda’s dark, the town is sleeping
Now the time has come to part, the time for weeping
Vaya Con Dios, my darling
Vaya Con Dios, my love…
Month: September 2022
Rush – A Farewell To Kings
More Rush
- This outstanding pressing boasts solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it on both sides
- We guarantee there is dramatically more richness, fullness and presence on this copy than anything else around, and that’s especially true for whatever godawful Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently being foisted on an unsuspecting record buying public
- 4 stars: “On 1977’s A Farewell to Kings it quickly becomes apparent that Rush had improved their songwriting and strengthened their focus and musical approach… [it] successfully built on the promise of their breakthrough 2112, and helped broaden Rush’s audience on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.”
The Doors’ Debut – MoFi Reviewed
More of the Music of The Doors
Sonic Grade: D
If anyone still thinks that this pressing is anything but a bad joke played on the audiophile public — so sucked out in the midrange, bass shy and compressed to death — that person still has a way to go in this hobby.
A very long way.
You can hear that something is off with this pressing from another room. The sound is bad enough to have earned a place in our Mobile Fidelity Hall of Shame.
But wait just a gosh darn minute.
I liked the MoFi just fine when it came out. I guess I had a way to go in this hobby too.
That was back in the early ’80s. I like to think I’ve learned a thing or two in the last forty years.
Some reviewers and a great many audiophiles may be stuck in the 80s, but I sure as hell don’t think I am one of them.
Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love
More Kate Bush
More Art Rock
- An original UK import pressing with seriously good sound from start to finish
- Guaranteed to be a huge improvement over anything you’ve heard, this Brit is big, lively, and full-bodied with excellent presence – Kate’s wonderfully breathy vocals really soar
- The domestic pressings are clearly made from dubs and should have no business taking up space in any serious audiophile record collection (but you may have noticed that we have a habit of saying that about a lot of records)
- 4 1/2 stars: “…from the minutiae of each song to the broad sweeping arc of the two suites, all heavily ornamented with layered instrumentation, makes this record wonderfully overpowering as a piece of pop music.”
- If you’re a fan of the Ms Bush, her Magnum Opus from 1985 belongs in your collection.
- The complete list of titles from 1985 that we’ve reviewed to date can be found here.
Salvation Is a Tough Test on Honky Chateau
Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Elton John Available Now
We award the Four Plus A++++ grade so rarely that we don’t have a graphic for it in our system to use in the grading scale. So the side two here shows up on the chart as A+++, but when you hear this copy you will know why we gave it a fourth plus.
UPDATE
We no longer give out grades of Four Pluses as a matter of policy, but that doesn’t mean we don’t come across records that deserve them from time to time.
When I hear a record with a side this phenomenally good, with the stereo tuned-up and tweaked within an inch of its life to reproduce the album at the highest level I can manage, I will sometimes sit my wife down and play her a track or two. I did it for a Four Plus Deja Vu earlier this year [2016] as a matter of fact, playing Country Girl: Whiskey Boot Hill on side two, with that crazy HUGE organ blasting out of the right speaker — what a thrill!
For this record I played her Salvation, with one huge chorus following another, like powerful waves crashing on the shore, until Elton takes a deep breath and belts out the final, biggest chorus, hitting his peak an octave higher and taking the song to an emotional level neither one of us had ever experienced with it before.
We followed it up with the lovely Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, and that was about as much Elton John live in my listening room at practically concert hall levels we could take in one sitting.
Hearing Elton with such energy, standing right in front of us, with instruments and singers encircling him from wall to wall and floor to ceiling, was so powerful and immersive it left us both with tears in our eyes.
That’s what gets you a Fourth Plus around these parts.
U2 / The Joshua Tree – Their Best Sound and Music
More of the Music of U2Hot Stamper Pressings of 5 Star Albums Available Now
Based on the U2 albums we have played, we must consider this the band’s Magnum Opus, their single greatest achievement on record. We don’t know of any U2 album with better music or better sound.
Better music, absolutely. Better sound? That requires a more nuanced answer.
We grade albums on a curve, so the most we can say for this album is that the best pressings strike us as being the truest to what we imagine were the intentions of the artists and engineers.
Not Demo Discs by any means, but records that sound right for who made them and when they were made.
This is also the last U2 album we have found with much in the way of audiophile quality sound, since the dreadful Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop were the next three to be released, and we have never cared for any of them.
The Eighties
The recordings of the Eighties are often tricky when it comes to sound, and U2 is not a band we have ever associated with audiophile-quality sonics. We’ve been through a number of their albums now, including this title, War and October, and while Demo Quality Sound may never be in the cards for these guys, we have at least found pressings that do a much better job communicating the music than others.
Bottom line? While this may not be a record that’s going to blow anyone’s mind, it does do a very good job of bringing this music to life in a way that most copies, the CD, and of course any Heavy Vinyl pressing cannot begin to.
If you’re a fan of U2, we guarantee you simply cannot find a better sounding copy than this (unless you trade up to one of our even hotter stampers).
By the way, the British copies we played were awful. Perhaps there are good ones out there but we sure didn’t hear any.
One More Thing
If you have the time and like the album I recommend you watch the DVD on the making of The Joshua Tree. It’s not only entertaining but, if you’re like me, you’ll come away with a whole new appreciation for the effort that went into the recording of it. There is a lot going on in these mixes and it would have to be a very special stereo indeed that could manage to bring even half of what’s on the tape out into the open where it could actually be heard and appreciated.
A Must Own Modern Rock Record
We consider this album U2’s Masterpiece. It’s a recording that belongs in any serious Rock Music Collection.
Hugh Padgham Is One of Our Favorite Producer-Engineers
Hugh Padgham Engineered or Produced Albums with Hot Stampers
Hugh Padgham Engineered or Produced Albums We’ve Reviewed
More of Our Favorite Engineers
Hugh Padgham is one of our favorite engineers and producers . Click on the links to find our in-stock HP engineered or produced albums, along with plenty of our commentaries about the quality of their sound.
Listening in Depth to Mona Bone Jakon
Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Cat Stevens Available Now
Right off the bat I want to say this is a work of GENIUS. Cat Stevens made three records that belong in the Pantheon of greatest popular recordings of all time. In the world of folk-pop, Mona Bone Jakon, Teaser and the Firecat and Tea for the Tillerman have few peers. There may be other recordings that are as good but there are no other recordings that are better.
Side One
Lady d’Arbanville
This track will always be a little bright. It was supposed to be a hit song, and hit songs are frequently mixed a little bright.
Maybe You’re Right
Pop Star
I Think I See the Light (more…)
Better Records’ Abandoned Record Collecting Axiom Number One
UPDATE 2026
This commentary about axioms is being reworked. Stay tuned for further developments.
However, you are free to enjoy it for the time-capsule insights from 2021 you will find here. We still agree with practically all of what we wrote, so no worries there.
It’s clear to us now that axiom is not at all the right word to use in describing what it is that we believe to be true about records and audio.
An axiom is often described as one of these three things:
1. A statement accepted as true as the basis for argument or inference.
2. An established rule or principle or a self-evident truth.
3. A maxim widely accepted on its intrinsic merit.
We stumbled upon the term Core Insight not long ago and realized it would be a much better fit for what we think we know.
A version of Core Insights as they apply to Hot Stampers would go something like this:
- A core insight is a fundamental understanding that helps identify better approaches to finding solutions.
- Core insights in our case come from testing thousands of record pressings to assess their sonic characteristics.
- Testing is the main way we acquire useful data about the records we sell.
- The data is then used to guide future strategies for finding even better sounding records.
- The underlying patterns or truths about the records we played are revealed through this process.
- Continuing research helps us understand the records we test at the deepest levels.
- This understanding allows us to refine our core insights and create new ones.
- The use of core insights insures that our experiments will continue to become both more revealing and accurate.
So Axioms are out and Core Insights are in!
Chet Atkins – Chet Atkins in Hollywood (1959)
More Chet Atkins
More Recordings in Living Stereo
- An original RCA pressing of the original mix from 1959 with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Living Stereo sound or close to it from first note to last
- It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, with no marks that play or issues with the inner grooves
- This TAS List recording will have you asking why so few Living Stereo pressings actually do what this one does. The more critical listeners among you will recognize that this is a very special copy indeed. Everyone else will just enjoy the hell out of it.
- You won’t believe how natural, rich, tonally correct and Tubey Magical this copy is – until you play it, of course
- The bass is exceptionally well recorded on this album – it’s so clear, deep and note-like, you may just want to use it as Bass Test Disc for your own system
- 4 1/2 stars: “If the cover of At Home evokes the 1950s, the music on In Hollywood IS the 1950s: a warm, cozy, sophisticated album of mood music in the best sense.”
- Follow this link to read more reviews and commentaries for the recordings of Bill Porter
TAS List of course, and full of Living Stereo Magic. You can feel the cool air of the studio the minute the needle hits the groove.
I suppose we owe a debt of gratitude to Harry Pearson for pointing out to us with his TAS List what a great record this is, although I’m pretty sure anybody playing this album would have no trouble telling after a minute or two that this copy is very special indeed.