Music Genres

The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour

More of the Music of The Beatles

  • A stunning True Stereo pressing with some of the best Beatles sound money can buy – superb work from Ken Scott here
  • Demo Disc quality sound for “I Am The Walrus,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Baby You’re A Rich Man” and more
  • You won’t believe how powerful the sound is – it’s big, rich, open and lively beyond all expectation
  • A longtime Top 100 album and psych rock masterpiece that knocks us out every time we do the shootout
  • Any list of the best rock and pop albums of 1967 would have to have this record on it, along with its predecessor, Sgt. Pepper, released in May of the same year if you can believe it

Drop the needle on “Fool On The Hill” and you’ll see why we get so worked up over top copies that sound as good as this one does. This is a STUNNING recording, but you need a killer Hot Stamper pressing to appreciate just how well recorded the album is.

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The Human League – Dare

More New Wave

  • Superb sound throughout this original UK Virgin pressing, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • We shot out a number of other imports and this one had the midrange presence, bass, and dynamics that were missing from most other copies we played
  • Forget the dubby domestic pressings and whatever crappy Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – the British LPs are the only way to fly on Dare
  • 5 stars: “Dare! captures a moment in time perfectly – the moment post-punk’s robotic fascination with synthesizers met a clinical Bowie-esque infatuation with fashion and modern art, including pop culture, plus a healthy love of songcraft. The Human League had shown much of this on their early singles, such as “Empire State Human,” but on Dare! they simply gelled, as their style was supported by music and songs with emotional substance.”

This vintage import pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records can barely BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound.

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Art Pepper – Winter Moon

More of the Music of Art Pepper

  • A Winter Moon like you’ve never heard, with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them throughout this vintage Galaxy pressing
  • The sound here is rich and Tubey Magical, which is the only way this music makes any sense on record
  • You’d be hard-pressed to find a copy that’s this well balanced, big and lively, with wonderful clarity in the mids and highs and Pepper’s sax front and center
  • Rosiny string texture is key to the best pressings – the ones that have the highest-resolution strings with the most sheen tend to do the best in our shootouts
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Pepper sounds quite inspired performing seven strong compositions highlighted by Hoagy Carmichael’s ‘Winter Moon,’ ‘When the Sun Comes Out’ and a clarinet feature on ‘Blues in the Night.'”
  • If you’re a fan of Art’s, this is an excellent title from 1981 that belongs in your collection.

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Lou Reed – Transformer

More Rock Classics

  • This copy of Lou’s Rock Masterpiece boasts solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER from top to bottom – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • A superb pressing that is guaranteed to blow your mind – there is practically no chance that you have ever heard this album sound this good, especially if you have an original import or domestic pressing
  • A side one this good means “Walk on the Wild Side” is a Demo Quality track that will have your audiophile friends turning green with envy
  • Our vintage British import Hot Stamper pressing here showed us just how Tubey Magical the midrange of the album could be – thanks, Ken Scott!
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… Bowie and Ronson gave their hero a new lease on life – and a solid album in the bargain.”
  • Transformer is his Masterpiece, a Core Collection title, and possibly a case of One and Done since it’s the only Lou Reed album we sell. (You, of course, may feel differently.)

Transformer is an absolute tour de force of 70s Glam Rock / Classic Rock / Alternative Rock. You’ve got Lou Reed teamed up with David Bowie (in the producer’s chair), Mick Ronson, Herbie Flowers and Klaus Voorman, and on top of that the album was recorded at Trident and mixed by the great Ken Scott.

Throw in the fact that this is the best set of post-Velvets material Lou would ever write and it is a recipe for success. There are so many good songs on here I won’t bother to list them one by one. Satellite Of Love is especially good though, if you ask me. If you agree, and you’ve never heard the VU demo version, make sure to seek it out. It’s completely different and good fun.

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The Eagles / On The Border – A Must Own Country Rock Classic

More of the Music of The Eagles

  • An original British SYL copy with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout this criminally underrated California Country Rock classic – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • If you’ve never heard one of these early pressings, you have simply never heard this album sound the way it should, mastered with the correct polarity, for one thing
  • We’re huge fans of the album here at Better Records; it’s some of the most sophisticated, well-crafted, heartfelt music these guys ever made, and that’s saying a lot coming from us – we’ve been big fans for decades
  • 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 accent on morbidity and more on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life. On the Border is a good example of a record most audiophiles don’t know well but should.

Many of you have probably forgotten how good this album is (assuming you were ever familiar with it in the first place) probably because the typical domestic copy you would have played back in the day is fairly hard on the ears. Most pressings, even the British ones, barely hint at the kind of sound you’ll hear on this vintage UK pressing (the only kind we sell of course).

The LIFE and ENERGY of this pressing are going to knock you right out of your seat. Most copies leave you with a headache, but this one will have you begging to turn up the volume.

Tubey Magical acoustic guitar reproduction is superb on the better copies of this album. 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). (more…)

Miles Davis / Basic Miles – Here Is the Hot Stamper Sound of Kind of Blue

More of the Music of Miles Davis

  • Demo Disc Jazz sound for this wonderful collection, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Opening side two, the 9+ minutes of “On Green Dolphin Street” has some of the coolest jazz you will ever hear, on any record, at any price
  • If you want to know what the better copies of Kind of Blue sound like, this pressing will tell you, because it has that sound
  • And that means it is absolutely nothing like the MoFi 45 RPM 2 LP pressing that some audiophiles (and the reviewers who cater to them) seem to like so much
  • We’re talking Bill Evans, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley in their prime, 1958, with top 1958 sound to match
  • And that means it is absolutely NOTHING like the MoFi 45 RPM 2 LP set that some audiophiles (and the reviewers who cater to them) seem to like so much, why, we cannot begin to fathom

Want to know how good our Hot Stamper Kind of Blue pressings sound?

Listen to this very record.

If you play the tracks that were recorded in 1958, the year before Kind of Blue, you will hear practically the same lineup of musicians.

That means Stella By Starlight and Little Melonae on side one, and Green Dolphin Street and Fran-Dance (Put Your Little Foot Right Out) on side two. 

The nine-minute plus Green Dolphin Street that opens side two is nothing short of amazing, some of the coolest jazz you will ever hear. With Fran Dance on the same side, that gives you about 17 minutes of great-sounding jazz by Miles’ classic Kind of Blue lineup.

Side one has the same cats playing for more than 12 minutes. By my calculation, that’s close to another album’s worth of material from the group. The rest of the material on this compilation is best seen as gravy; maybe not essential, but never less than interesting. (more…)

Julie London – Julie Is Her Name

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Albums

  • This killer MONO pressing of Julie London’s debut LP boasts Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from first note to last
  • The midrange immediacy of this early Liberty pressing will put Julie in the room with you – more than anything else, it lets her performance come to life
  • The naturalness of the presentation puts this album right at the top of best-sounding female vocal albums of all time
  • This is a lot of money for a somewhat noisy copy, but the sound is so awesome and quiet pressings of the album so hard to come by that we hope someone will take a chance on it and get the thrill we did from hearing it sound right for once
  • 4 stars: “Her debut is her best, a set of fairly basic interpretations of standards in which she is accompanied tastefully by guitarist Barney Kessel and bassist Ray Leatherwood.”

Listen to how rich the bottom end is on Barney Kessel’s guitar. The Tubey Magic here is off the charts. Some copies can be dry, but that is clearly not a problem on this one.

To take nothing away from her performance, which got better with every copy we played. Julie’s rendition of Cry Me a River may be definitive.

If only Ella Fitzgerald on Clap Hands got this kind of sound! As good as the best copies of that album are, this record takes the concept of intimate female vocals to an entirely new level.

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The Byrds – Untitled

More of The Byrds

  • This 2-LP set from 1970 boasts solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on all FOUR sides
  • The sound is Tubey Magical, lively and dynamic, with remarkable transparency and immediacy
  • We’re always blown away at just how much further the better copies are able to take the music – what a difference the right pressings make
  • 4 stars: “Among the later Byrds albums, Untitled was always the one to own … the group by this time was modifying its established sound into more of a 70s mode, and the influence of new members Gene Parsons and Skip Battin was showing up, pushing aside the familiar timbre of Roger McGuinn’s 12-string Rickenbacker in favor of a leaner country-rock orientation.”

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John Williams – The Missouri Breaks (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

More Soundtrack Recordings of Interest

  • With two very good Hot Stamper sides, you’ll have a hard time finding a copy that sounds as good as this original UA pressing
  • It’s richer and fuller than the average copy, with notably more presence, and that will be especially true when you compare it to whatever godawful Heavy Vinyl pressing may be currently available
  • This is true of even our lowest-priced, lowest-graded copies – they are guaranteed to sound much better than any pressing you can find on the market today, as well as any pressing you may already own
  • I recall this record being on the TAS list back in the day – it appears to have since dropped off the newer iterations, but we still think of it as a Super Disc
  • “While eschewing the grandiose string arrangements and heroic sweep of the composer’s best-known efforts, it’s nevertheless one of Williams’ most delightful and ambitious scores, applying traditional Western instrumentation like guitar, banjo, and harmonica to melodies rooted in contemporary pop and jazz.”

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Wes Montgomery – A Day In The Life

More of the Music of Wes Montgomery

  • A vintage copy of this 1967 jazz favorite with a KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side two
  • Another triumph for Rudy Van Gelder and his unerring skill at getting all the musical elements to work together
  • The first album Creed Taylor produced for A&M was A Day in the Life with Wes Montgomery, just days after the release of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper (and which Wes never heard before recording this album!)
  • “There is a notable quality that each Wes recording seems to retain – they just seem to be getting better as the years go by.” – Pat Metheny

This superb album includes Montgomery’s great cover of A Day In The Life on side one and killer tracks like Eleanor Rigby, Willow Weep for Me, Windy and The Joker on side two.

It’s damn near impossible to find decent sounding early pressings, but the sound here is very good. There are plenty of dull, lifeless, overly compressed copies out there. That sound becomes especially offensive when the strings come in, most notably in the climactic middle section of “A Day In The Life.”

Fortunately for everyone who loves this kind of guitar-led jazz, our Hot Stampers have the warm, rich sound that let you enjoy this wonderful music without making your ears bleed. (more…)