TAS List Good

140-plus reviews and commentaries for recordings currently or formerly on The Absolute Sound’s Super Disc List.

The pressing we like often does not match the pressing on their list.

Sibelius – Symphony No. 2 / Paray

More Mercury Classical Recordings

  • Paray and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s lively and dynamic performance debuts on the site with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout this early Maroon Label Mercury Stereo pressing of SR-90204
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • This spectacular recording is big, clear, rich, transparent and energetic – the bottom end is especially strong and dynamic
  • Here is the Mercury sound we love, sound that is not easy to find, regardless of what anyone else will tell you
  • Huge, immediate, and natural – with a record this good, your ability to suspend disbelief will require practically no effort at all

(more…)

Duke Ellington – Duke’s Big 4

More of the Music of Duke Ellington

  • A vintage Pablo pressing with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from first note to last
  • Both sides here are clean, clear, full-bodied and present with plenty of bottom end weight
  • “One of Duke Ellington’s finest small group sessions from his final decade… [his] percussive style always sounded modern and he comes up with consistently strong solos on such numbers as ‘Love You Madly,’ ‘The Hawk Talks’ and especially ‘Cotton Tail,’ easily keeping up with his younger sidemen. Highly recommended.”

It’s incredibly hard to find a Pablo recording of the Duke from this era that has such big, open, clear, solid sound. Val Valentin did the engineering, and as he has so often did the course of his storied career, he knocked it out of the park.

(more…)

Rachmaninoff – Symphony No. 2 / Previn

More of the Music of Sergei Rachmaninoff

  • Superb sound throughout this vintage British EMI pressing of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades
  • A long term resident of the TAS super disc list, and one I never realized was anything special until my stereo got a lot better about ten or fifteen years ago
  • This is a spectacular recording – it’s guaranteed to put to shame any Heavy Vinyl pressing of orchestral music you own
  • There are more than 175 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performances with the highest quality sound. This record is certainly deserving of a place on that list.
  • The vast majority of the best orchestral recordings we’ve played were made in the Golden Age of recording (50s & 60s), but that doesn’t mean that the 70s & 80s didn’t produce amazing discs as well, and you can find more than 20 of them here

(more…)

Joni Mitchell – Wild Things Run Fast

More of the Music of Joni Mitchell

  • This copy has Joni rockin’ like you will not believe, with excellent Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Her last great record – fortunately for us audiophiles, it’s spacious, open and powerful with present vocals and solid bass
  • A desert island disc for me and one of the few good reasons to listen to “new” music in the 80s
  • “On her first new studio album of original material in five years, Joni Mitchell achieved more of a balance between her pop abilities and her jazz aspirations, meanwhile rediscovering a more direct, emotional lyric approach. The result was her best album since the mid-70s.”
  • This is a Must Own album from 1982, one that deserves a place in any audiophile’s pop and rock section
  • We’ve recently compiled a list of records we think every audiophile should get to know better, along the lines of “the 1001 records you need to hear before you die,” with an accent on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life. Wild Things Run Fast is a good example of a record audiophiles may not know well but we think would benefit from getting to know better
(more…)

James Horner – Glory (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

More Soundtrack Albums of Interest

  • Glory debuts on the site with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from first note to last
  • This one is doing practically everything right – it’s bigger, bolder, richer and more clean, clear and open than nearly all others we played
  • As one might expect, the sound absolutely jumps out of the speakers on this recording
  • There are some bad marks (as is sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs) on “The Year Of Jubilee” and “Preparations For Battle,” but once you hear just how incredible sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and just be swept away by the music
  • “The score met with critical acclaim, being assessed as…among Horner’s best works[;] it received a nomination for [the] Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and won [the] Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television…” -Wikipedia

(more…)

Miles Davis – Miles In The Sky

More of the Music of Miles Davis

  • Boasting a STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side one, this original Stereo 360 pressing is guaranteed to blow the doors off any other Miles In The Sky you’ve heard
  • Incredible sound courtesy of Arthur Kendy’s and Frank Laico’s engineering at the famed Columbia Studio B in NYC
  • Miles here is backed by his classic 60s All Star crew – Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter & Tony Williams
  • 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
  • “…Miles Davis explicitly pushed his second great quintet away from conventional jazz, pushing them toward the jazz-rock hybrid that would later become known as fusion… intriguing music…”

Both sides have excellent bass, correct sounding brass, wonderful transparency and loads of Tubey Magic.

Many copies didn’t have the kind of transparency or openness that we heard here, which made it harder to appreciate the contributions of the different players. This one puts plenty of separation between the various instruments, so you can make sense of what each of these heavy-hitters adds to the mix. You will have a very hard time finding a copy out in the bins that sounds as good as this one!

(more…)

Chet Atkins – Caribbean Guitar

More of the Music of Chet Atkins

  • You’ll find stunning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades on both sides of this famous TAS Super Disc RCA Living Stereo LP – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • Plays fairly quiet too – about as quiet as these RCA pressings from the early 60s ever will (noted condition issues below notwithstanding)
  • If you have ever heard one of our luscious Living Stereo Chet Atkins records, you know what to expect – off the charts Tubey Magic unlike anything made in the last fifty years, or more!
  • Engineer Bill Porter just doesn’t know how not to make an amazing sounding Living Stereo recording – everything the guy touches is gold
  • If you’re a fan of the smooth guitar stylings of Mr. Atkins, this is a classic from 1962 that belongs in your collection.

This is one of Chet Atkins’ best albums. Sonically, it’s right up there with The Other Chet Atkins and the Hollywood album. It seems like Bill Porter just doesn’t know how not to make an amazing sounding Living Stereo recording. He knocked this out of the park.

I suppose we owe a debt of gratitude to Harry Pearson for pointing out to us with his TAS List what a great record this is, although I’m pretty sure anybody playing this album can tell after a minute or two that it’s in that very special class of great recordings.

This album is a little more lively than some of his other recordings, which can be criticized for being a little too laid back. For example, try side 2, cut 2 where Chet actually jams.

The last track on side 2 where Chet is joined by a trumpet player is my favorite on the album. That guitar-trumpet combination is pretty magical on that song. And you’ve got to love the kind of sound Bill Porter get from a trumpet. That’s the kind of sound we audiophiles drool over. I do anyway.

(more…)

Holst / The Planets / Mehta

More of the Music of Holst

  • You’ll find INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout this early London pressing of Holst’s phenomenal magnum opus
  • These sides are clear, full-bodied and present, with plenty of space around the players, the unmistakable sonic hallmark of the properly mastered, properly pressed vintage analog LP
  • Vibrant orchestrations, top quality sound and scratch-free surfaces combine for an astounding listening experience of this TAS-approved recording
  • Here you will find some of the biggest, boldest sound for the work that we’ve ever heard

(more…)

Debussy / Images For Orchestra / Munch

More of the Music of Debussy

  • You’ll find solid Double Plus (A++) Living Stereo sound throughout this original Shaded Dog pressing
  • A spectacular Demo Disc quality orchestral recording – big, clear, rich, dynamic, transparent and energetic
  • The rich, textured sheen on the strings that the Living Stereo recording process perfected starting in the 50s is clearly evident throughout these pieces, something that the Heavy Vinyl crowd will never experience – that sound just does not exist on modern records

Demo Disc quality sound! Iberia on side two sounds exceptionally good. It’s also a better performance than the famous Reiner. Munch understands this music perfectly.

This recording has an extremely open, extended top end. If you can add a few dB around 50 cycles, you will have the best of both worlds.

(more…)

David Bowie – Let’s Dance

More of the Music of David Bowie

  • With two excellent sides, this vintage pressing can rock with the best of them – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • It’s all here: huge amounts of solid bass, clear guitar transients, breathy, natural vocals, and jump out of the speakers presence and energy
  • A real Demo Disc on the right system – “Modern Love,” “China Girl” and the title track are knockouts when you play them good and loud
  • On a Hot Stamper pressing that sounds as good as this one does, Omar Hakim’s drumming will rock your world like nothing you have heard
  • Top 100, of course – Let’s Dance is one of the best sounding Bowie albums ever recorded – this superb pressing is proof
  • One of the best releases of 1983, although that may not be saying much, since by 1983 popular music was definitely headed downhill — Bowie himself would never again release an album as good as Let’s Dance

Bowie is without question one of the all time great frontmen and producers. This is his last good album and a Must Own for audiophiles, especially if you have big dynamic speakers. Like we say, with this one you are in for a treat.

(more…)