Folk Rock, British/Irish

Al Stewart – Past, Present & Future

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More British Folk Rock

  • With INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades from top to bottom, we guarantee you’ve never heard Past, Present & Future sound this good – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Both sides of this original UK pressing are rich and Tubey Magical, with powerful, note-like bass, incredible transparency and plenty of energy
  • 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 the competition
  • Don’t waste your money on the sub-generation domestic pressings, they are clearly made from dubbed tapes
  • “…the record where Al Stewart truly begins to discover his voice [and] finally found his muse, focusing his songwriting and intent to a greater extent than ever before.”

It took us ages to track down copies of this album that didn’t sound flat, boring, and stuck in the speakers. We played a large number of Brit and domestic copies, and while both versions can sound lovely on the best pressings, there are certainly plenty of bad sounding versions out there from both countries.

This is the album that comes before Modern Times, Year Of The Cat and Time Passages in the Al Stewart discography, so if you’re a fan of any of those albums we imagine you’ll find a lot to like here.

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Cat Stevens – Tea For The Tillerman on the Island Pink Rim Label

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More Reviews and Commentaries for Tea for the Tillerman

 

  • This early Pink Rim Island UK pressing of TFTT, an album we consider the Pinnacle of British Folk Rock, boasts two excellent Double Plus (A++) sides
  • The emotional power of the songs is communicated completely on a pressing that sounds like this one – the experience will be like hearing the album for the first time, and how can you put a price on that?
  • Here’s your chance to relive the experience of hearing this groundbreaking album for the first time, but with much better sound than you ever thought possible
  • 5 stars on Allmusic, a stunning Demo Disc, and a permanent member of the Better Records Top 100

Hearing this Hot Stamper is a privilege that affords the listener insight into Cat Stevens’ music that is simply not possible any other way.

This album, I hope it goes without saying, is one of the greatest Folk Rock recordings of all time, the kind of music that belongs in any collection. I’ve been playing this album for 40+ years and I can honestly say I’ve never once tired of hearing it. I do get tired of hearing bad copies.

Cat’s mixes are full of subtle elements that may require many listening sessions over the course of years, even decades, to recognize and appreciate. Consider them an extra reward for having played the record so many times. I’ve played hundreds of copies over the last thirty-plus years and never tired of it once. As every music lover knows, the best albums only get better with time.

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Graham Nash / Wild Tales – A Forgotten Folk Rock Classic

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  • Boasting two superb Double Plus (A++) sides, this copy of Nash’s underrated sophomore solo album is doing just about everything right
  • The sound is Classic 1973 Analog – smooth, rich, warm and tonally correct, with real energy and the kind of natural sound that’s a hallmark of the better Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young recordings
  • Filling out the band: Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Dave Mason, Neil Young, David Lindley and too many others to list
  • “Nash speaks from his heart on Wild Tales and those that are willing to get past its sparse arrangements will be able to accept it for the masterpiece of folk-rock that it is.”

This is a criminally underappreciated album, and perhaps that has to do with just how poor the average copy sounds. When you get a copy like this one you cannot fail to appreciate how powerful and deeply emotional these songs are. Drop the needle on the title track or “Grave Concern” to see what we mean.

The sound has the life and energy of rock and roll. This is Graham fronting a band, and on the better copies the recording and the music both work together to make them sound like these guys have been playing together forever. This is not the Big Production that Nash’s first album was. Been there done that; who needs the headache?

A Forgotten Classic

Like Nash’s first album, no one pays much attention to this music nowadays, but Better Records is going to try to remedy that situation by making available to the audiophile public numerous copies of this album, every one of which is guaranteed to turn you into a fan. This is not new music, but it may be new music to you, so “discovering” it will be every bit as much fun for you in 2023 as it was for me in 1973.

This is not an audiophile record. It ain’t never going to make the TAS List or get a mention by anyone in the Audiophile Press. This is a record for music lovers who care about good sound. If you’re reading this, that’s you. Us too, and proud of it.

From one audiophile to another, this is a great record that belongs in your collection.

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Traffic – John Barleycorn Must Die

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  • An outstanding copy (only the second to hit the sit in two years) with solid Double Plus (A++ ) sound from start to finish
  • These sides have the vintage analog sound we love – they’re full-bodied and smooth, with plenty of Tubey Magic, gobs of studio space, and the right balance of richness and the clarity that is the key to getting top quality sound for John Barleycorn
  • Arguably the band’s best album, certainly their most groundbreaking, original and involving – Low Spark would rank a not-especially-close second
  • “…the band sounds utterly grounded. As the grooves percolate effortlessly along, it becomes clear that unity, not any technical skill, is what makes the music levitate.”
  • This is a Must Own title from 1970, a great year for rock and pop music

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Dire Straits – Communique

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Records We Only Sell on Import Vinyl

  • You’ll find INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on both sides of this vintage British pressing of the band’s sophomore album – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Here are just a few of the things we have to say about this amazing copy in our notes: “big + rich + extended from top to bottom”…”3D guitar + vox”…”jumping out [of the speakers] + great weight”…”breathy + present vox”
  • 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 on Communique
  • If you’re a fan of the band’s debut release, you’ll find much to like on this underappreciated follow up
  • “…an album full of the delicate subtleties that make Mark Knopfler shimmer — that deep tobacco-soaked voice, the quick, fluid guitar, and the wit behind many of his lyrics… a rich, abundant source of beauty.”
  • If you’re a fan of the band, a killer copy of their album from 1979 surely belongs in your collection

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Cat Stevens – The World of Cat Stevens

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More Folk Rock

  • A vintage copy of Cat Stevens’ 1970 compilation LP with an INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to an superb Double Plus (A++) side one, and British Decca vinyl that is about as quiet as we can find it
  • This side two is doing everything right – the sound is rich, full-bodied and Tubey Magical, Cat’s vocals are present, and there is plenty of studio space on the recording
  • Everything you want in a Folky Pop Star recording is here
  • Not an easy record to find in audiophile playing condition with top quality sound – it took us years to get this shootout going

Tubey Magical Acoustic Guitar reproduction is superb on the better copies of this recording. 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…)

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.

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David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust

More of the Music of David Bowie

  • Here is a copy that is doing just about everything right, with seriously good Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER from top to bottom – Ziggy Stardust in analog is simply a phenomenally good sounding recording
  • Side one was sonically very close to our Shootout Winner – you will be shocked at how big and powerful the sound is
  • Exceptionally (and unusually) quiet vinyl too – the quietest we have ever found
  • The amount of Tubey Magic has to be heard to be believed – this is the pinnacle of sound for Glam Rock
  • Until you hear one of these killer British pressings you simply cannot know what you are missing
  • We know that the price we are asking is high – if we could find clean copies with the right stampers and do these shootouts more often than every five years, believe me, we would love to make these killer pressings more affordable
  • A Rock & Pop Top 100 album, and Ken Scott’s engineering masterpiece all rolled into one
  • 5 stars: “Fleshing out the off-kilter metallic mix with fatter guitars, genuine pop songs, string sections, keyboards, and a cinematic flourish, Ziggy Stardust is a glitzy array of riffs, hooks, melodrama, and style and the logical culmination of glam.”
  • This is a Must Own Title from 1972, a year which turned out to be a great one for Rock and Pop music.

Drop the needle on any song. We guarantee you have never heard that song sound better. The mastering is superb. There’s really no “mastering” to listen for — all you’re really aware of is the music flowing from the speakers, freed from all the limitations that you’ve had to accept over the years.

Unquestionably, this is the pinnacle of Glam Rock. Every track is superb; not a moment is less than stellar from beginning to end.

Is it Bowie’s Masterpiece?

Absolutely. No other Bowie record ranks higher in my book.

Is it amazingly well recorded?

You better believe it. This is not just Bowie’s masterpiece; it’s Ken Scott‘s as well. For BIG, BOLD, wall to wall, floor to ceiling sound, look no further. The best copies are swimming in rich, sweet TUBEY MAGIC. This is a sound we cannot get enough of here at Better Records.

Tubey Magical Acoustic Guitar reproduction is superb on the better copies of this recording. 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 guitars on this record are a true test of stereo reproduction. Many pressings of this album do not get the guitars to sound right. On some they will sound veiled and dull, and on a copy with a bit too much top, they will have an unfortunate hi-fi-ish sparkle, the kind that Mobile Fidelity was infamous for in the late ’70s and ’80s.

The guitars may not sound “real,” they way they actually would in real life, but they sure sound grungy and GOOD!

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Gerry Rafferty – City To City

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  • This early British pressing boasts a STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side two – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • City To City is a Must Own album – no right-thinking audiophile can fail to be impressed by the songwriting and production of Rafferty’s masterpiece of British Folk Pop
  • You won’t believe how rich, Tubey Magical, big, undistorted and present this copy is (until you play it anyway)
  • If all you know are audiophile or domestic pressings, you should be prepared for a mind-blowing experience with this UK pressing
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Rafferty’s turns of phrase and tight composition skills create a fresh sound and perspective all his own… resulting in a classic platter buoyed by many moments of sheer genius.”
  • A list of Must Own rock and pop from 1977 would have to have this album on it, somethere near the top I would think
  • In our opinion, City to City is Rafferty’s best sounding album, and probably the only Rafferty solo release you’ll ever need.
  • Click on this link to see more titles we like to call one and done. Night Owl (1979), Snakes and Ladders (1980) and Can I Have My Money Back (1971) strike us as weak albums, strictly for hardcore fans.

Here you will find the kind of rich, sweet, classically British Tubey Magical sound that we cannot get enough of here at Better Records. (more…)

Richard & Linda Thompson / Pour Down Like Silver

More of the Music of Richard Thompson

  • An original UK Island pressing with a STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side two
  • There’s real Tubey Magic on this album, along with breathy vocals and in-your-listening-room midrange presence
  • Exceptionally present, real and resolving, this pressing is guaranteed to murder any remastering undertaken by anyone – past, present and future
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…those brave enough to look past its dark surface will find a startlingly beautiful album; it’s not an easy album to listen to, but it greatly rewards the effort.”

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