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.

Miklós Rózsa – Quo Vadis (Music From the Film on London)

More Decca & London Records

  • 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
  • This 1978 re-recording of Rózsa’s original work for the 1951 film, here performed by the Royal Philharmonic in glorious orchestral sound
  • The Decca pressing is on the TAS Super Disc List, and those are the ones that always win our shootouts, but the London pressings can also have excellent sound and tend to be priced much lower owing to the fact that they are much more findable here in the states
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Rózsa gets spirited performances out of the orchestra and the chorus, but with the latter he also achieves a level of subtlety in their performance of his work which greatly enhances the finale to the piece.”

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James Taylor / Dad Loves His Work

More of the Music of James Taylor

  • This original Columbia pressing of JT’s 1981 release boasts incredible Shootout Winning sound
  • Both of these sides are exceptionally rich, Tubey Magical and spacious – thanks, Val Garay!
  • We were knocked out at how good this album sounds on a great pressing like this one – one of the more impressive 80s pop recordings we’ve played in some time
  • The sound may be heavily processed, but that kind of sound works surprisingly well on the highest quality pressings
  • 4 stars: “James Taylor bounced back from the spotty Flag with this all-original album led by his collaboration with J.D. Souther on ‘Her Town Too,’ his biggest pop hit since ‘Handy Man,’ and his biggest non-cover hit since his first, ‘Fire And Rain’…”
  • If you’re a fan of JT’s, or Folky Pop in general, this has to be seen as a top title from 1981.
  • 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,” but with less of an accent on morbidity and more on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life. Dad Loves His Work is a good example of a record many audiophiles would benefit from knowing better.

The soundstage and depth on our best Hot Stamper copies is HUGE — this is without a doubt the most spacious recording by James Taylor we’ve ever heard. If you want your speakers to disappear, replaced by a huge studio full of musicians playing their hearts out, this is the album that can do it.

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Miles Davis – Someday My Prince Will Come (Six-Eye)

More of the Music of Miles Davis

  • Superb sound throughout this Miles Davis classic, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER
  • This original Stereo 6-Eye LP is full-bodied, high-rez and spacious, with Miles’s horn uncannily present, a sound you just cannot find on Heavy Vinyl no matter who makes it
  • If you have the big system and dedicated room a record of this quality demands, you can put Miles right in the room with you with a Hot Stamper pressing as good as this
  • Vintage pressings that are free of scratches and groove damage are few and far between, but here’s one, perfect for even the most demanding audiophile
  • Another engineering triumph for Fred Plaut at Columbia’s legendary 30th Street Studios – the man is a genius
  • Musically this is one of our very favorite Miles albums, and the sound is Demo Disc quality on the better copies
  • If you’re a jazz fan, this Must Own Title from 1961 belongs in your collection

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Arnold – Guitar Concertos / Bream

More Living Stereo Recordings

  • Amazing sound throughout this original Shaded Dog pressing, with both sides earning INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades
  • 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
  • These sides are wonderfully full-bodied, rich and present, using state-of-the-art All Tube Living Stereo recording technology that was so advanced in 1961 it thought it could transport a living, breathing Julian Bream directly from his studio into your listening room
  • It turns out that with today’s playback systems and cleaning technologies, the dream of being in the “living presence” of the performers has become a reality
  • Bream’s guitar sounds sweetly natural, not overly detailed and the orchestra is exceptionally well recorded, as we would expect from a good RCA of this period

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Albeniz / Suite Espanola on Decca

More of the Music of Albeniz

  • With two seriously good Double Plus (A++) sides, we guarantee you’ve never heard Suite Espanola sound remotely as good as it does on this vintage Decca pressing – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • This is our best sounding Decca pressing – the best Londons will always win the shootouts we do, but the best Deccas can come close and sound truly amazing in their own right
  • The orchestral power on display is positively breathtaking – few recordings we know of are this dynamic and exciting
  • Wilkie’s Decca Tree recording is overflowing with the kind of clear, spacious, realistic sound that can only be found on the better vintage vinyl LPs
  • Performances and sound like no other – De Burgos’s Suite Espanola is practically in a league of its own

Wow, is this record ever dynamic! I would put it right up there with the most dynamic recordings we have played over the course of the last twenty five years. It also has tons of depth. The brass is at the far back of the stage, just exactly where they would be placed in the concert hall, which adds greatly to the realism of the recording.

Note that careful VTA adjustment for a record with this kind of dynamic energy is a must. Having your front end calibrated to this record is the only way to guarantee there is no distortion or shrillness in even the loudest passages.

What to Listen For

Clear castanets.

Big bass drum thwacks.

Crescendos that build to intense climaxes.

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Carmina Burana on Telarc – A Very Old Review

Hot Stamper Pressings of Orchestral Spectaculars Available Now

This IMMACULATE Telarc Double LP with Virtually No Sign Of Play is one of the greatest audiophile records of all time and Telarc’s greatest recording! No recording gets more realism with this work … depth, dynamics, colors & performance!

Why don’t more of their recordings sound like this? Telarc is not a label I would normally associate with good sound but you have to give them credit here: they knocked this one out the park. They have made good records in the past — this one is proof enough, and some of the Fennel titles are quite good — but most of their catalog leaves much to be desired and is hard to recommend. (more…)

Lee Morgan / The Sidewinder

More of the Music of Lee Morgan

  • Incredible sound throughout this 60s Blue Note pressing, with a Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side one
  • It took us about two years to get this shootout going, but the best copies we played were so impressive that they made all the time and money it took to pull it off worth the effort – what a record!
  • These sides are rich and full, from the extended top end all the way down to the deepest bass — thanks RVG!
  • The trumpet on this album is amazing — tonally correct with wonderful leading edge transients
  • Both musically and sonically, this is Blue Note at its best
  • 5 stars: “Carried by its almost impossibly infectious eponymous opening track, The Sidewinder helped foreshadow the sounds of boogaloo and soul-jazz with its healthy R&B influence and Latin tinge. While the rest of the album retreats to a more conventional hard bop sound, Morgan’s compositions are forward-thinking and universally solid…”

When we dropped the needle on this one, we immediately stopped listening critically and just began enjoying the album. That’s the sign of an exceptional copy — the sound gets out of the way and the music becomes the point.

There’s life and presence on these sides the likes of which you almost never hear on any jazz record.

The lineup here is fantastic, with Joe Henderson on tenor sax, Billy Higgins on drums, Barry Harris on piano and Bob Cranshaw on bass. (more…)

Miklós Rózsa – Quo Vadis (Music From the Film on Decca)

More Orchestral Spectaculars

  • This Decca Phase 4 Stereo pressing of Rózsa’s sweeping cinematic score boasts solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish
  • These TAS-approved 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
  • This 1978 re-recording of Rózsa’s original work for the 1951 film, performed by the Royal Philharmonic, succeeds in achieving glorious Phase IV orchestral sound
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Rózsa gets spirited performances out of the orchestra and the chorus, but with the latter he also achieves a level of subtlety in their performance of his work which greatly enhances the finale to the piece.”

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Miles Davis – E.S.P.

More of the Music of Miles Davis

  • Boasting two solid Double Plus (A++) sides, we guarantee you’ve never heard E.S.P. sound remotely as good as it does on this original pressing
  • There’s plenty of 1965 Columbia 360 Label Stereo Tubey Magic – the analog sound is real, tonally correct, and above all, natural
  • Miles fronts his second classic quintet here – saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams
  • Marks and problems 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
  • 4 1/2 stars: “They created a unique sound that came to define the very sound of modern jazz … ESP remains one of their very best albums.”

You’re going to have a fairly tough time finding a copy that is anywhere near as impressive as this one. Trust me — we know whereof we speak. We’re always trying and all too often coming up short; but most of them are too dull and lifeless to get excited about. Many of them are too congested and veiled to make any sense of. Not here though!

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Dick Schory – Music for Bang, Baaroom and Harp

Living Stereo Titles Available Now

  • Stunning Living Stereo sound through this original pressing, with both sides earning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades, just shy of our Shootout Winner – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • It’s a real treat to hear such a crazy assortment of percussion instruments with this kind of amazingly clear, high-resolution sound!
  • This copy was just plain bigger, richer and clearer than practically all others in our recent shootout
  • It also helps that both of these sides are in correct polarity, a subject you can read about on the blog if you would like to know more
  • If you’re a fan of percussion extravaganzas, this Living Stereo from 1958 is about as good as it gets

The hottest stamper pressings of this album are Demo Discs for three important qualities we listen for in our record auditions. Each of the links below will take you to other recordings we have found to be potentially superior in these areas of reproduction.

  1. Size and space,
  2. Correct timbre and
  3. Tubey Magic.

Harry Pearson put this record on his TAS List of Super Discs, and rightfully so. It certainly can be a Super Disc, but only when you have the right pressing. This is one of the Demo Discs on the TAS List which truly deserves its status when, and only when, you have the right copy. (The typical copy is quite good, but it sure doesn’t sound like this.) Nothing else in our shootout could touch it. And it’s IN PHASE. Many copies are not.

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