Glam Rock

Queen – A Day At the Races

More of the Music of Queen


  • Boasting INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from top to bottom, you’ll have a hard time finding a copy that sounds remotely as good as this vintage UK pressing
  • We shot out a number of other imports and the midrange presence, bass, and dynamics on this outstanding copy placed it head and shoulders above most other pressings we played
  • You may be interested in reading about a copy very much like this one that fell short in one aspect of sound important to us (and we hope you as well)
  • Forget the domestic pressings – they may be cut at Sterling, but they never sound like these shockingly good British LPs
  • “A Day at the Races is a bit tighter than its predecessor… its sleek, streamlined finish is the biggest indication that Queen has entered a new phase, where they’re globe-conquering titans instead of underdogs on the make.”
  • If you’re a Queen fan, their 1976 followup to A Night at the Opera is surely a Must Own
  • The complete list of titles from 1976 that we’ve reviewed to date — more than one hundred as of 2026 — can be found here

Forget the dubby domestic pressings and whatever crappy Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days — the UK LPs are the only way to fly.

(more…)

David Bowie – Pin-Ups

More of the Music of David Bowie

  • An outstanding import copy of Bowie’s 1973 classic, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades from start to finish – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • A Top Ten Poster Boy for Tubey Magical Richness, thanks to the engineering of Ken Scott, the man behind all the best Bowie recordings
  • The bottom end is huge, as would be expected from anything Ken recorded, and if you don’t believe me, check out “Baby You’re a Rich Man” from MMT
  • A really fun listen, with Bowie running through covers of his favorite Sixties hits in true Demo Disc sound
  • Turns out he’s a great interpreter, turning in passionate versions of songs by The Who, Pink Floyd, The Yardbirds and more

Bowie puts a unique spin on tracks originally played by The Who, The Yardbirds, Pink Floyd and other British rockers. It’s a fun, intriguing album that stands up well to repeated plays. Bryan Ferry did the same thing in 1973 with some of his favorite pop songs. Oddly enough, both albums entered the charts on the very same day in November of that year.

The sound is lively and full-bodied with nice transparency throughout. Bowie’s voice sounds correct and the bottom end is huge.

The bass here is deep and not nearly as sloppy as on most copies. Listen to the vocals, which sound just right and have lots of texture to them. The harmonica on “I Wish You Would” is amazing. When has a harmonica ever sounded so rich and full? You’ll also want to check out the sax solo on “Sorrow,” which just plain rocks.

So what were some of the worst copies we heard? One was a British original, believe it or not. They tend to be dull, thick, and lifeless — not a good match for this punky, energetic material. There may be some very good sounding Brit originals but, having said that, to date they have never won a shootout.

(more…)

Roxy Music – Stranded

More of the Music of Roxy Music

  • Both sides of this original UK Island pressing (the only way we offer it, the Polydor pressings are a shadow of the real thing) were doing practically everything right, earning STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from top to bottom
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this incredible copy in our notes: “silky and spacious”…”really big and rich”…”vox jumping out of the speakers”…”big, weighty bass”…”fully extended from top to bottom”
  • Rich, smooth and oh-so-analog, the Tubey Magic on their early albums is off the scale, especially here
  • Hands down one of the two best-sounding Roxy albums ever
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Without Brian Eno, Roxy Music immediately became less experimental, yet they remained adventurous, as Stranded illustrates…emphasiz[ing] both [Bryan] Ferry’s tortured glamour and Roxy’s increasingly impressive grasp of sonic detail.”

Stranded is one of the better recordings by the band, coming in second for sonics only to the first album, which is really saying something considering that the first album is a Better Records Top 100 title. The Tubey Magic on the early albums has to be heard to be believed!

These British pressings give you the richest, fullest, biggest sound with the least amount of sibilance on the vocals, grain or grunge. It’s the rich, full-bodied analog sound we adore here at Better Records, although it’s worth noting that the sound on some tracks is noticeably better than on others.

We thank Chris Thomas for his production and John Punter for his engineering work at AIR Studio. This album and the first one are without question the two best sounding Roxy albums, and that’s true for any incarnation of the band.

Both belong in any serious rock and pop collection, and if you are a fan of Art Rock, every Roxy album should be on your shelf, along with your Bowie, Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Eno, Peter Gabriel, 10cc and so many others (most of which are personal favorites of mine, albums I have played hundreds of times over the last 50 years and plan to play hundreds of times in the years ahead).

(more…)

T.Rex – Electric Warrior

More Rock Classics

  • A vintage copy of this T.Rex Glam Rock classic with killer Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound on both sides, just shy of our Shootout Winner – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • This early UK pressing is incredible, with the kind of grungy, Tubey Magical guitars that are guaranteed to blow your mind
  • It’s beyond difficult to find quiet copies of this title (same goes for The Slider), let alone those with this kind of sound, so any fan of Mr. Bolan should snap this one up and be quick about it
  • 5 stars: “The album that essentially kick-started the U.K. glam rock craze… it’s that sense of playfulness, combined with a raft of irresistible hooks, that keeps Electric Warrior such an infectious, invigorating listen today.”

(more…)

David Bowie – Diamond Dogs

More of the Music of David Bowie

  • STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from start to finish – this UK pressing will show you a Diamond Dogs you had no idea existed, yet here it is
  • This copy is one of the best we heard in our recent shootout – the sound is big, full, lively and spacious with hard-rockin’ energy to spare
  • It’s ridiculously tough to find even passable sound for this album – we guarantee you have never heard better than these two incredible sides
  • Great songs including the title track, “Rebel Rebel,” “1984,” “Sweet Thing,” “Big Brother,” “Rock & Roll With Me” and more

The sound on this UK pressing is Tubey Magical yet still clean, clear and spacious — you’ll need a lot of luck and a good-sized pile of records to find a copy that sounds like this one.

“1984” (a favorite of ours on David Live) sounds great here. In addition to singing, the man handles sax, Mellotron, and Moog duties on the album, and, most surprisingly, plays practically all of the electric guitar parts.

Bowie was one of the handful of artists to produce an immensely enjoyable and meaningful body of work throughout the ’70s and into the ’80s, music that holds up to this day. The music on his albums, often groundbreaking and always multi-layered, will surely reward the listener who takes the time to dive deep into the complex sounds he recorded.

Repeated plays are the order of the day. The more critically you listen, the more you will discover within the exceedingly dense mixes favored by the man, his producers (Tony Visconti among them) and engineers (our favorite being Ken Scott). And the better your stereo gets the more you can appreciate the care and effort that went into the production of his recordings.

(more…)

The Tubes – Self-Titled

More of The Tubes

  • The Tubes’ self-titled debut returns to the site after an eighteen month hiatus, here with with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from start to finish
  • This copy is simply bigger, richer, fuller, and livelier than practically all others we played
  • Their music is definitely not for everyone – I saw them live many years ago and they did put on one helluva show, but you have to be a fan of eccentric pop or none of it will make any sense
  • This is the band’s best sounding album as far as we know. Roughly 100 other listings for the best sounding album by an artist or group can be found here
  • In our opinion, the first album is the only Tubes record anyone needs. Click on the link to see more titles we like to call one and done
  • “Produced by Al Kooper, this debut by the notorious San Francisco group is best known for the blazing anthem ‘White Punks on Dope.’ Although the Tubes’ raison d’être was their shock-rock stage dynamic, Bill Spooner, Fee Waybill, and company could, on occasion, deliver some offbeat pop splendor.”

(more…)

Roxy Music / Self-Titled

More of the Music of Roxy Music

  • This vintage UK pressing of Roxy’s amazing debut LP (one of only a handful of copies to hit the site in twenty-two months) boasts KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them throughout – this is some of the most dynamic sound the band achieved
  • Andy Hendriksen’s engineering (over the course of a week!) is superb in all respects – we think the best pressings of this first album reveal a recording that is superior to any other by the band
  • A Top 100 album, Roxy’s masterpiece, and a Must Own desert island disc of glamorous Arty Rock
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Falling halfway between musical primitivism and art rock ambition, Roxy Music’s eponymous debut remains a startling redefinition of rock’s boundaries. Simultaneously embracing kitschy glamour and avant-pop, Roxy Music shimmers with seductive style and pulsates with disturbing synthetic textures.”
  • When it comes to rock and pop music in 1972, our picks for the best of the best, numbering at the moment a mere 21 titles, can be found here
  • This link will take you to the Hot Stamper pressings of our hardest rockin’ albums currently available
  • Here are the titles that have earned a place on our none rocks harder list

Folks, this is a true Demo Disc in the world of Art Rock. It’s rare to find a recording of popular music with dynamics like these. The guitar solo at the end of “Ladytron” rocks like you will not believe.

(more…)

Roxy Music / Country Life – A Killer Arty Rock Album from 1974

More of the Music of Roxy Music

  • Roxy’s fourth studio LP, here with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades on both sides of this original UK Island pressing
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this amazing copy in our notes: “great size and energy”…”sweet and tubey”…”big, note-like bass”…”huge and solid and jumping out of the speakers”…”lots of weight and body”
  • This one is simply bigger, richer, more clear and more Tubey Magical than all other copies we heard in our recent shootout
  • Marks and problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs, but once you hear just how killer sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and pops and just be swept away by the music
  • 5 stars: “…Country Life finds Roxy Music at the peak of their powers, alternating between majestic, unsettling art rock and glamorous, elegant pop/rock. Roxy Music rarely sounded as invigorating as they do here.”

Many of the best songs Bryan Ferry ever wrote and Roxy Music ever played are on this album. Musically, it’s right up there with the first album and Siren. All three represent the high watermark of early- to mid-70s Arty Rock.

These British pressings give you the richest, fullest, biggest sound with the least amount of sibilance, grain and grunge. It’s the rich, full-bodied analog sound — with some problems, to be sure — that we adore here at Better Records.

We thank John Punter for his engineering and production at George Martin’s legendary AIR Studios.

Roxy’s Art Rock

Now for those of you who are not big Roxy Music fans and don’t know this music, this album may take a bit of getting used to. We assure you it will be well worth your while. We think it’s brilliant.

And if you do consider yourself a fan of Art Rock, every Roxy album should be on your shelf, right up there with your Bowie, Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Eno, Peter Gabriel, 10cc and too many others to list. (Most are personal favorites of mine, albums I have played hundreds of times over the last 40 years and plan to keep playing until my ears give out.)

(more…)

Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure

More Roxy Music 

More Brian Eno

  • With two INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides, we guarantee you’ve never heard For Your Pleasure sound this good
  • Roxy and their engineers and producers manage to capture a deliciously Tubey Magical keyboard sound on their first two albums that few bands in the history of the world can lay claim to
  • It took us a long time to figure what pressings had the sound we were looking for, more than a decade, bit it was worth the wait because For Your Pleasure now sounds the way you want it to sound – big and bold
  • There are some bad marks (as is sometimes the nature of the beast with these Classic Rock records) on “Grey Lagoons,” but once you hear just how amazing sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and pops and just be swept away by the music
  • 5 stars: “… another extraordinary record from Roxy Music, one that demonstrates even more clearly than the debut how avant-garde ideas can flourish in a pop setting.”
  • If you’re a Roxy fan, For Your Pleasure has to be considered a Must Own Title of theirs from 1973

Spacious, dynamic, present, with HUGE MEATY BASS and tons of energy, the sound is every bit as good as the music. (At least on this copy it is. That’s precisely what Hot Stampers are all about.)

Strictly in terms of recording quality, For Your Pleasure is on the same plane as the other best sounding record the band ever made, their self-titled debut.

Siren, Avalon and Country Life are all musically sublime, but the first album and this one are the only two with the kind of dynamic, energetic, powerful sound that Roxy’s other records simply cannot show us (with the exception of Country Life, was is powerful but a bit too aggressive).

The super-tubey keyboards that anchor practically every song on the first two albums are only found there. If you want to know what Tubey Magic sounds like in 1972-73, play one of our better Hot Stamper Roxy albums.

Roxy and their engineers and producers manage to capture a keyboard sound on their first two albums that few bands in the history of the world can lay claim to. I love the band’s later albums, but none of them sound like these two. The closest one can get is Stranded, their third, but it’s still a bit of a step down. (more…)

David Bowie – Hunky Dory

More of the Music of David Bowie

  • Bowie’s pre-Ziggy folk rock masterpiece is back on the site after a ten month hiatus, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on both sides of this UK import pressing
  • Side one was sonically very close to our Shootout Winner – you will be shocked at how big and powerful the sound is
  • Ridiculously hard to find these days, hence the price we’re asking – if we could find clean copies with the right stampers and do these shootouts more often, believe me, we would love to make these killer pressings more affordable
  • Preternaturally Tubey Magical sound throughout thanks to the engineering prowess of Ken Scott, who continues to blow our minds to this very day
  • The best tracks on the album are demonstration quality – “Oh You Pretty Things” is a knockout here
  • Rich, spacious and sweet, with a huge soundstage – drop the needle on “Changes” and listen to how dynamic it is
  • 5 stars: “On the surface, such a wide range of styles and sounds would make an album incoherent, but Bowie’s improved songwriting and determined sense of style instead made Hunky Dory a touchstone for reinterpreting pop’s traditions into fresh, postmodern pop music.”

Tubey Magical acoustic guitar reproduction is superb on the better copies of this record. Simply phenomenal amounts of Tubey Magic can be heard on every strum, along with richness, body and harmonic coherency that have all but disappeared from modern recordings (and especially from modern remasterings).

The amazing Ken Scott (Ziggy Stardust, Magical Mystery Tour, Honky Chateau, Crime of the Century (all Top 100), as well as All Things Must Pass, Truth, Birds of Fire, Son Of Schmilsson, America’s debut and many more) is the man responsible for the sound here (he also produced the album, replacing Tony Visconti). It should go without saying that this is one seriously talented guy.

The kind of Tubey Magical richness and smoothness that he achieved at Trident in the early 70s, not to mention sound that is remarkably spacious and practically free from distortion — qualities that are especially important to us Big Speaker guys who like to play their records good and loud — has rarely been equaled by anyone in the years that’ve followed (even by Ken).

As noted above, many of his best recordings can be found in our Rock and Pop Top 100 list of Best Sounding Albums, limited to the titles that we can actually find sufficient copies of with which to do our Hot Stamper shootouts.

(more…)