_Composers – Anderson

Everything But the Beer – Pros and Cons from a Long-Ago Shootout

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.

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Anderson / The Music of Leroy Anderson Vol. 3 / Fennell – Reviewed in 2011

Hot Stamper Mercury Pressings Available Now

More Recordings Conducted by Frederick Fennel

Volume Three (SR 90400) of Anderson’s recordings for Mercury with Fennell conducting has long been a favorite or ours here at Better Records. The first volume is of course on the TAS Super Disc list, and when you get a good copy of it you will have no trouble believing it is a Super Disc. But so is this one, provided you play the right pressing of course.

On this RFR-1 Maroon label pressing STILL IN THE SHRINK, side two has the Super Hot stamper sound. The sound is shockingly rich, smooth and sweet. Where is the Mercury dryness and screechiness and upper-midrange nasality we’re all so used to from their records? It’s nowhere to be found on this copy, and that’s a good thing!

The strings are huge on this side as well, wall to wall and not bright. The sound is clear and correct from top to bottom!

Side one is not even close I’m sorry to report. The sound is huge and 3-D but there is just much too much smear to qualify as a Hot Stamper pressing. We rate it A to A+. (more…)

Anderson / Fiddle-Faddle / Fiedler

This famous Fiedler / Boston Pops recording of Leroy Anderson’s music has Super Hot Stamper sound on both sides! I frankly admit to never having taken this title seriously. I imagine few hard core Shaded Dog collectors have ever bothered to play it, which is their loss, not ours. It’s very well recorded, with tons of Golden Age Living Stereo magic. Talk about BIG and RICH, both sides will show you exactly why modern audiophiles drool over these recordings. You simply cannot find this sound anywhere else.

Side One

A++. It’s dynamic and lively, with huge size and scope and lovely transparency (a quality we find virtually non-existent on modern pressings by the way). Bells up top, rich lower strings, tons of Tubey Magic — it’s all here folks.

There is however some smear, heard most clearly on the strings. A++ is about right we think.

Side Two

A++, so transparent, with spaciousness, depth and 3-D that really draws you in and lets you forget you’re listening to a record at all. You will have a very hard time finding a Golden Age classical record that sounds better.

Listen to the horns on the second track — man do they ever sound REAL.

Track three has some pizzicato playing that you can demo your stereo with.

Like side one, a bit of smear holds it back from out top grade. (more…)