Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Eagles Available Now
Presenting another entry in our extensive listening in depth series.
Here are some albums currently on our site with similar track by track breakdowns.
This is the second-best sounding Eagles record of all time, no doubt thanks to the engineering of our man Glyn Johns.
In case you don’t know, the best sound on any Eagles record is found on the first album.
It’s a Top Ten rock and pop title and as Tubey Magical a rock record as you will ever hear.
A True Super Disc (Second Only to the First Album in that Respect)
Of course, the best sound on an Eagles record is found on the first album. For whatever reason, that record was left off the TAS super disc list, even though we feel that both musically and sonically it beats this one by a bit.
On the TAS Super Disc list, Harry Pearson recommends the British SYL pressings for this album. SYL pressings can sound very good; in fact, one of the top copies from our most recent shootout was SYL. A bit of a surprise since our champion for both sides during the last shootout was domestic.
Does that mean the best domestics will always beat the best SYL pressings? Not at all. Only critical listening can separate the superb pressings from the typical ones. After playing more than a dozen copies of this album this week, we can definitively tell you that there are far more mediocre copies of this record — both domestic and import — than truly exceptional ones. The typical pressing of this album, whether the domestic or SYL, falls far short of belonging on a Super disc list.
There are killer domestic copies and killer SYL imports out there, and the only way to know which ones sound good is to collect ’em, clean ’em, and play ’em. Remember: TAS list doesn’t guarantee great sound, but Better Records does — if you don’t think a record sounds as good as we’ve stated, we’ll always happily take that record back and refund your money. Good luck getting ol’ Harry to send you a check when the TAS-approved pressings you pick up don’t deliver.
Side One
Doolin-Dalton
This wonderful song is a great test track for side one. Typical pressings of this album tend to be dark and lack extension up top. When you have no real top end, space, detail and resolution suffer greatly. You need to be able to appreciate each of the stringed instruments being played — guitar, banjo, dobro — and the top end needs to be extended and correct for you to do that.
When the vocals on this track sound natural, with lots of breathy texture, and the cymbal crashes ring cleanly, you know you’ve got a good copy on your hands.
Twenty-One
A fairly tough track to get right. This song can have superb sound, but on a lower resolution copy it will often sound a bit veiled and smeary. When the top end is correct, the clarity and detail usually fall right into place.
Out of Control
Tequila Sunrise
Desperado
Side Two
Certain Kind of Fool
Outlaw Man
Saturday Night
This song has sweet vocal harmonies that are reminiscent of CSNY. You’ll need a transparent copy to allow you to pick out the individual voices — when you’re able to, this track can be magical.
Bitter Creek
Doolin-Dalton/Desperado (Reprise)
- Tubey Magical rock and pop demo discs available now
- Tubey Magical rock and pop demo discs reviewed to date
Further Reading
- How to go about collecting better sounding records
- First get good sound – then you can recognize and acquire good records
- Acquiring a good sounding record collection – Hot Stampers versus collector pressings
