Hot Stamper Pressing of the Music of The Rolling Stones Available Now
Billy Preston is all over Black and Blue on piano and organ and his contribution is crucial to the musical vibe on practically every song. Listen for Billy’s full, solid, clear piano sound. When the piano is thin, the mix is thin and that’s not the sound you want on a Stones album.
If the piano gets lost, your copy either has a smear problem or a transparency problem. Those are certainly easier to live with — all the 70s systems I owned were smeary and opaque compared to my system today and I enjoyed the hell out of all of them — but far from ideal.
Lately we have been writing quite a bit about how pianos are good for testing your system, room, tweaks, electricity and all the rest, not to mention turntable setup and adjustment.
- We like our pianos to sound natural (however one chooses to define the term).
- We like them to be solidly weighted.
- We like them to be free of smear, a quality that is rarely mentioned in the audiophile record reviews we read.
Other records that we have found to be good for testing in order to improve your playback, as well as your critical listening skills, can be found here.
Side One
Hot Stuff
Hand of Fate
Cherry Oh Baby
Memory Motel
Side Two
Hey Negrita
Melody
Fool to Cry
Crazy Mama
Further Reading
- Basic concepts and realities explained
- More records with specific advice on what to listen for
- More reviews and commentaries for the music of The Rolling Stones
