Hot Stamper Albums with Huge Choruses that Are Big and Clear
More Records that Are Good for Testing Big, Clear and Lively Choruses
At about the two minute mark the big chorus in Watching the River Run is also a great test for weight, resolution, dynamic energy, and freedom from strain in the loudest parts. When the whole band is really belting it out, the shortcomings of any copy will be exposed, assuming you are playing the album at loud levels on big dynamic speakers.
It was a key test every pressing had to pass. That’s what makes it a Good Test Disc.
When the music gets loud you want it to get better, with more size, energy and, especially, emotional power, just they way it would be heard in concert.
Any strain or congestion in the choruses we hear in our shootout causes the pressing in question to be downgraded substantially.
Hot Stampers are all about the life of the music, and when this music gets lively, it needs to be clear and clean.
This is of course one of the biggest issues we have with Heavy Vinyl — it never gets up and it never gets going the way real records do. “Boring” is the adjective we most commonly use to critique the few we hear, and who wants to listen to boring records?
EQ Issues
Practically all copies have a midrange equalization problem, with a lack of lower mids and boosted upper mids, which often thins out the vocals and leads to hardness and honkiness.
The better copies manage to keep the EQ anomalies within bounds while giving us full-bodied pianos; rich, lively vocals, full of presence and brimming with enthusiasm; harmonically-rich guitars, and a three-dimensional soundstage that reveals the space around them all.
Multi-Instrumentalists
On Full Sail the more versatile members of the band played a wide variety of instruments. (Michael Omartian as you probably know is not a member of the band but rather a top session guy and producer. In one year alone he was nominated for ten Grammy Awards, winning three.)
Jon Clarke – oboe, baritone saxophone, bass saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, alto flute, bass flute, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, English horn
Al Garth – violin, bass clarinet, recorder, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Michael Omartian – piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, Hammond organ, tack piano, Lowrey organ, Moog synthesizer, Fender Rhodes electric piano
TRACK LISTING
Side One
Lahaina
Travelin’ Blues
My Music
A Love Song
You Need a Man
Coming to You
Side Two
Watching the River Run
Pathway to Glory
Didn’t Know You When
Sailin’ the Wind
AMG Review
This is every inch a follow-up to Loggins & Messina, including a ’50s rock & roll pastiche in the style of “Your Mama Don’t Dance” called “My Music” that hit number 16 as a single. Other notable material included Jim Messina’s island-rock anthem “Lahaina” and one of Kenny Loggins’ sensitive but generic ballads, typically called “A Love Song.” But then, the charm of L&M was that they could get away with something this sappy. Balance is the key to L&M albums, and it’s the chief talent (among many) that producer Messina brings to them. Here, as on L&M’s first two albums, he achieves a musical flow that’s exhilarating …