Demo Discs for Weight, Bass & Whomp

For whomp factor, the formula goes like this:

deep bass + mid bass + speed + dynamics + energy = whomp.

Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy

More of the Music of Warren Zevon

  • Excitable Boy is back on the site after a three year hiatus, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on both sides of this vintage Asylum pressing
  • The sound is anchored by an exceptionally fat, rich, punchy low end, and this copy delivers on that promise big time
  • Much like The Pretender, this is a superb recording with the kind of Tubey Magical Analog Richness we go crazy for here
  • 4 stars: “Excitable Boy was an actual hit, scoring one major hit single, ‘Werewolves of London,’ and a trio of turntable hits (‘Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner,’ ‘Lawyers, Guns and Money,’ and the title track).”
  • If you’re a fan of Warren’s, this has to be seen as a Top Title from 1976 that surely belongs in your collection
  • It’s without a doubt his best sounding album, and, to our way of thinking, his only essential one

Just listen to ‘Excitable Boy’ and ‘Werewolves Of London’ to hear how full-bodied the sound of this album can be — the louder you play it the better it gets!

That’s the “big speaker quality” we live for around here. You turn it up and it starts to really rock.

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Hi-Fi a la Espanola / Fennell

More Classical and Orchestral Recordings

  • An original Plum Label Stereo Mercury pressing (the first copy to ever hit the site) with a huge, powerful and tubey Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side two
  • Both of these TAS-approved sides boast an abundance of energy, loads of rich detail and texture, superb transparency and excellent clarity – the very definition of Demo Disc sound
  • Don’t expect to see anything but the real FR pressing when you get this one home — the RFR pressings are not remotely as good and did not even qualify for the lowest Hot Stamper grade on both sides
  • We owe a debt of gratitude to Harry Pearson for championing records such as this one – who is fit to carry his mantle today? (Besides us of course!)
  • We have been working up a shootout for this title for a very long time — after hearing how dubby and veiled the Classic Record pressing of the album was, we knew only the real thing would be worth doing

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Jimi Hendrix – The Jimi Hendrix Concerts

More of the Music of Jimi Hendrix

  • This 2-LP set of previously unreleased performances boasts very good Hot Stamper sound or BETTER on all FOUR sides
  • It’s richer, fuller and with more presence than the average copy, and that’s especially true for whatever godawful Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently being foisted on an unsuspecting record buying public
  • 4 stars: “With top-notch performances, consistently inspired solos, and excellent sound, this is probably the best introduction to Hendrix’s live recordings.”

This live album, taken from concerts recorded from 1968 to 1970, is wonderful sounding on the best tracks. If you’re in the market for live Hendrix on a Hot Stamper, you’ll be hard-pressed to do any better.

The bass on this recording is huge, which is exactly what this kind of music needs most. At the levels we were playing this album, it really came to life. That’s the true test of a good live rock record — the louder you play it the better it sounds!

Stephen Cook writes “With top-notch performances, consistently inspired solos, and excellent sound, this is probably the best introduction to Hendrix’s live recordings.” We agree on all three points completely — but only when you hear it on the right pressing.”

Sonically, this recording has the key elements that a good live album needs: correct tonality, powerful dynamics, and Rock and Roll ENERGY.

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The Three on Inner City – By Far the Best Way to Get All Six Tracks

More of the Music of The Three

  • A Demo Disc quality Inner City pressing of this wonderful recording with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from start to finish
  • The transients are uncannily lifelike – listen for the powerful kinetic energy produced when Shelly whacks the hell out of his cymbals
  • My favorite Piano Trio Jazz Album of All Time; every one of those six tracks is brilliantly arranged and performed
  • 4 stars: “One of Joe Sample’s finest sessions as a leader” – with Shelly Manne and Ray Brown, we would say it’s clearly his finest session, as a leader or simply as the piano player in a killer trio

If you want to hear the full six tunes recorded by The Three at that famous Hollywood session (which ran all day and long into the night, 4 AM to be exact), these 33 RPM pressings are the best way to go. The music is so good that I personally would not want to live without the complete album. The Three is, in fact, my favorite Piano Trio Jazz Album of All Time; every one of those six tracks is brilliantly arranged and performed (if you have the right takes of course; more about that later).

More On The Subject Of Energy

This is a quality no one seems to be writing about, other than us of course, but what could possibly be more important? On this record, the more energetic copies took the players’ performances to a level beyond all expectations. It is positively shocking how lively and dynamic the best copies of this record are. I know of no other recording with this combination of sonic and musical energy. It is sui generis, in a league of its own.

Both sides are so transparent you can hear Shelly Manne vocalizing as he’s playing the drums. The drum solo on side two is killer here. So full of energy and so dynamic. Why aren’t more drum kits recorded this well? Check out the pictures inside the fold-open cover to see all the mics that were used on the drums. That’s where that wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling sound comes from.

The transients are uncannily lifelike, conveying the huge amounts of kinetic energy produced when Shelly whacks the hell out of his cymbals.

Ne Plus Ultra Piano Trio

This record is made from the “backup” tape for the session. East Wind released two versions of the famous direct to disc version at 33 RPM, and for those of you who bother to read the commentary, you know that take one of that pressing presents a completely different performance of the music than the one found on the Inner City on offer here.

There was a time when the best copies of a recording like this would go directly into my collection. If I wanted to impress someone, audiophile or otherwise, with the You-Are-There illusion that only Big Speakers in a dedicated room playing a live recording can create, this would be up near the top of the list. There is practically nothing like it on vinyl in my experience.

This is without a doubt my favorite piano trio record of all time. Joe Sample, Shelly Manne, and Ray Brown only made one album together, this one, recorded direct to disc right here in Los Angeles for Eastwind in the Seventies. Joe Sample for once in his life found himself in a real Class A trio, and happily for jazz fans around the world, he rose to the occasion. Actually, it was more like an epiphany, as this is the one piano trio album I put in a class by itself. All three of The Three are giving us the best they’ve got on that November day in 1975.

When it comes to small combo piano jazz, there is none better.

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Pink Floyd – The Wall

More of the Music of Pink Floyd

  • This copy of The Wall is guaranteed to blow the doors off any other pressings you’ve heard, with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER on all FOUR sides
  • Forget whatever dead-as-a-doornail Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – if you want to hear the Tubey Magic, size and energy of Floyd’s magnum opus from 1979, this is the way to go
  • The Wall demands big, bold, explosively dynamic analog sound, and here is a copy that delivers on that promise
  • Grungy electric guitars, breathy vocals, huge punchy drums, earth-shaking bass and room-filling ambience are all here on these TAS-approved side like you’ve never heard before
  • A Top 100 title and one of the best sounding rock recordings of all time – here is a copy that will make our case
  • If you’re a Pink Floyd fan, or maybe just somebody looking for a killer Demo Disc to play, this title from 1979 surely deserves a place in your collection

We spend a ridiculous amount of time cleaning, playing, and comparing copies of this classic double album for our shootouts and let me tell you, there are a lot of weak copies out there.

What do these kinds of top grades give you for The Wall? Top-notch clarity and transparency, mind-blowing immediacy, weight to the bottom, extension up top, HUGE open soundfields, real texture to all the instruments, TONS of energy with serious dynamics, BIG punchy drums and loads of natural ambience.

Pink Floyd tends to be an amazingly well-recorded band, and this album is certainly no exception. If you’ve taken home one of our Hot Stampers for Dark Side of the Moon, Meddle, or Wish You Were Here, then you certainly know what we’re talking about. (more…)

Rimsky-Korsakov / Scheherazade / Ansermet (Decca)

More of the Music of Rimsky-Korsakov

  • Excellent sound throughout this vintage Decca pressing of Ansermet and the Suisse Romande’s superb performance of this dazzlingly symphonic suite, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER
  • It’s also remarkably quiet at the high end of Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • This copy will go head to head with the hottest Reiner pressing and is guaranteed to blow the doors off of it or your money back
  • The top end is natural and sweet – this is the way the solo violin in the left channel is supposed to sound
  • Extraordinary Demo Disc sound – the brass has weight and energy on that powerful first movement like nothing you’ve ever heard in your life )outside of a live performance)
  • This is the first full price Decca pressing we have ever offered with Hot Stampers — most Decca pressings of this title are awful sounding and it took us a long time to figure out how to find the good ones
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you

We did a monster shootout for this music way back in 2014, one we had been planning for more than two years. On hand were quite a few copies of the Reiner on RCA; the Ansermet on London (CS 6212, his second stereo recording, from 1961, not the earlier and noticeably poorer sounding recording from in 1959); the Ormandy on Columbia, and a few others we felt had potential.

The only recordings that held up all the way through — the fourth movement being the Ball Breaker of all time, for both the engineers and musicians — were those by Reiner and Ansermet. This was disappointing considering how much time and money we spent finding, cleaning and playing those ten or so other pressings.

Here it is over a decade later and we’re capitalizing on what we learned from the first big go around, which is simply this: the Ansermet recording on Decca/London can not only hold its own with the Reiner on RCA, but beat it in virtually every area. The presentation and the sound itself are both more relaxed and natural, even when compared to the best RCA pressings.

The emotional content of the first three movements (all of side one) under Ansermet’s direction are clearly superior. The roller coaster excitement Reiner and the CSO bring to the fourth movement cannot be faulted, or equaled. In every other way, Ansermet’s performance is the one for me.

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Shelly Manne & His Men / At The Blackhawk, Volume 2

More of the Music of Shelly Manne

  • With solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from first note to last, this early Contemporary stereo pressing will be very hard to beat
  • This is West Coast Jazz at its best, and if anyone can capture the realism of a live jazz club, it’s the engineers and producers at Contemporary
  • Each instrument here sounds right – the piano is weighty and percussive; the drums are punchy; and the brass has lovely leading edge transients
  • 4 stars: “These lengthy performances (“Vamp’s Blues” is over 19 minutes long) give trumpeter Joe Gordon, the cool-toned tenor-saxophonist Richie Kamuca, pianist Victor Feldman, bassist Monty Budwig and the leader/drummer a chance to really stretch out. Fine 1950s bebop.”

Wonderful sound and music! This is West Coast Jazz at its best. The sound is superb — airy, open, and spacious with a stunningly good bottom end. You won’t believe how alive the bass sounds — the depth and definition are out of this world! Each instrument here sounds just right — weighty, percussive piano; punchy drums; and lovely leading edge transients on the brass. Contemporary got live nightclub jazz sound down to a “T” here.

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Fleetwood Mac – Rumours

More of the Music of Fleetwood Mac

  • With seriously good Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER from start to finish, this early pressing of Fleetwood Mac’s Magnum Opus will be very hard to beat
  • Tubey Magical Analog – the sound is open, spacious and transparent, with a huge three-dimensional soundfield
  • A Better Records Top 100 title – when you hear it sound as good as it does here, you’ll know why we’ve long considered Rumours an Audiophile Demo Disc
  • If you own the album on two 45 RPM discs (you know the one), allow us to send you a copy that will beat the pants off that modern mediocrity – this one!
  • 5 stars: “Each tune, each phrase regains its raw, immediate emotional power—which is why Rumours touched a nerve upon its 1977 release, and has since transcended its era to be one of the greatest, most compelling pop albums of all time.”
  • A list of Must Own Rock from 1977 would have to have this album on it, somethere near the top I would think

When you hear a good copy of Rumours, it’s very easy to understand why this is one of the best-selling pop music albums of all time. Just about everyone knows how great these songs are, but I bet you didn’t know they could sound like this!

It’s tough finding Hot Stamper copies of this album. With over 75 sets of stamper numbers for each side, it’s an extremely taxing project, even for us. We know some of the better stampers and have been acquiring them since then in preparation for this shootout. (more…)

Dave Brubeck Quartet – Time Further Out 6-Eye in Stereo

More of the Music of Dave Brubeck

  • Outstanding sound throughout this vintage Stereo 6-Eye pressing, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades
  • It’s bigger, richer, more Tubey Magical, and has more extension on both ends of the spectrum than most other copies we played
  • This copy demonstrates the big-as-life Fred Plaut Columbia sound at its best – better even than Time Out(!)
  • 4 1/2 stars: “The selections, which range in time signatures from 5/4 to 9/8, are handled with apparent ease (or at least not too much difficulty) by pianist Brubeck, altoist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright, and drummer Joe Morello on this near-classic.”

Time Further Out is consistently more varied and, dare we say, more musically interesting than Time Out.

If you want to hear big drums in a big room, these Brubeck recordings will show you that sound better than practically any record we know of. These vintage recordings are full-bodied, spacious, three-dimensional, rich, sweet and warm in the best tradition of an All Tube Analog recording.

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Martin Denny / Quiet Village

More Exotica

  • Quiet Village returns to the site for only the second time in years on this original Stereo Liberty pressing with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it throughout – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • This side two is huge and rich, with a big stage, Tubey Magic and correct tonality from top to bottom, and side one is not far behind in all those areas
  • The tonality is right on the money – it’s remarkably lively, with tight, clear bass (particularly on side two)
  • Listen to how open the drum sound is (also particularly on side two) – that sound is just not to be found on popular albums anymore

This superb sounding copy of Quiet Village has a lot in common with the other Bachelor Pad / Exotica titles we’ve listed over the years, albums by the likes of Esquivel, Dick Schory, Edmundo Ros, Arthur Lyman and others.

But c’mon, nobody really buys these records for the music (although the music is thoroughly enchanting). It’s all about the Tubey Magical Stereoscopic presentation, the wacky 3D sound effects (of real birds and not-so-real ones) and the heavily percussive arrangements. In all of these areas and more this record does not disappoint.

If you’re an audiophile, both the sound and the music are crazy fun. If you want to demonstrate just how good 1959 All Tube Analog sound can be, this is the record that will do it.

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