EMI/Harvest

News of the World Was a Major Discovery We Made in 2007

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Queen Available Now

We discovered a killer copy of News of the World in 2007. Our Hot Stamper review can be seen below.

It was a clearly a breakthrough for us, the kind of record that, out of the blue, revealed to us sound of such high quality that it dramatically changed our appreciation of the recording itself.

We found ourselves asking “Who knew?” Perhaps a better question would have been “How high is up?”

This was Demo Disc quality sound by any measure, especially on big speakers at loud levels.

2007 was the year we made many important breakthroughs. In fact, we made more breakthroughs in that year than in any other in the history of the company, including this singularly important break with the past.

News of the World is one of those records that helped me make real progress in audio.

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Mussorgsky & Ravel – Pictures at an Exhibition

More of the Music of Modest Mussorgsky

  • With two seriously good Double Plus (A++) sides, this British EMI import pressing is doing just about everything right – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Our favorite performance by far, with big, bold and powerful sonics like no other recording we know
  • The brass clarity, the dynamics, the deep bass and the sheer power of the orchestra are almost hard to believe
  • No vintage recording of these works compares with Muti’s – and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite is an extra special added bonus on side two
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we’ve awarded the honor of offering the best performances with the highest quality sound, and this record certainly deserve a place on that list.
  • If you like orchestral spectaculars, have we got amazing sounding records for you

This EMI import pressing gives you the complete Pictures at an Exhibition with a top performance and superb sonics.

As this is my All Time Favorite performance of Pictures, this record naturally comes very highly recommended. Pictures is a piece of music that has been recorded countless times, and I’ve played scores of different recordings, but the only one that truly satisfies is this one, Muti’s 1979 recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Much like Previn and the LSO’s performance of The Planets, he finds the music in the work that no one else seems to.

A Must Own Classical Record

This orchestral spectacular should be part of any serious Classical Collection. Other Must Own classical recordings can be found here.

For his 1979 review of the Mussorgsky, Robert Layton in the GRAMOPHONE writes of Muti and The Philadelphia Orchestra :

…what orchestral playing they offer us. The lower strings in ‘Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle’ have an extraordinary richness, body and presence, and “Baba Yaga”, which opens the second side, has an unsurpassed virtuosity and attack as well as being of demonstration standard as a recording. The glorious body of tone, the richly glowing colours, the sheer homogeneity of the strings and perfection of the ensemble is a constant source of pleasure.

Of the performance of Stravinsky’s Firebird, Layton writes:

…Muti’s reading is second to none and the orchestral playing is altogether breathtaking. The recording is amazingly lifelike and truthful.

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Paul McCartney – Tug of War

More of the Music of Paul McCartney

  • Boasting KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from top to bottom, we guarantee you’ve never heard Sir Paul’s 1982 release sound as good as it does on this original UK copy – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • We had a devil of a time finding sonics as good as these on Tug of War – most copies are just plain awful
  • A copy with transparency and clarity like this lets you appreciate George Martin‘s masterful production work – you will easily hear the results on “Ebony and Ivory”
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – those on “What’s That You’re Doing? (feat. Stevie Wonder)” are especially bad – but if you can tough those out, this copy is going to blow your mind
  • 4 1/2 stars: “[Its] crowd-pleasing genre-hopping finds its apotheosis on ‘Take It Away,’ a salute to eager performers and the crowds who love them, which means it summarizes not only the appeal of Tug of War in general – it is, by design, a record that gives the people old Beatle Paul – but McCartney in general.”

Drop the needle on the opener Tug Of War and listen to how wide and deep the sound field is. Take It Away follows with a bit of an ’80s reggae feel, and on the better copies you get meaty, tight bass that sets the foundation for the fun to follow. (more…)

Paul McCartney & Wings – Back to the Egg

More of the Music of Paul McCartney

  • The band’s final release makes its Hot Stamper debut with solid Double Plus (A++) grades throughout this British import pressing – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Both of these sides are big and rich, with remarkable clarity and three-dimensional space, the kind of sound that most other pressings only hint at
  • 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 Back to the Egg

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Paul McCartney & Wings – Band on the Run

More of the Music of Paul McCartney

  • With incredible Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades on both sides, this British pressing is practically as good a copy as we have ever heard, right up there with our Shootout Winner
  • Another record that rarely can be found with audiophile playing surfaces – noisy vinyl is the rule, not the exception
  • The legendary Geoff Emerick engineered the album, a Top 100 title here at Better Records – it’s an impressive recording when it sounds as good as this copy does
  • The title track, “Jet,” “Bluebird,” “Mrs. Vandebilt,” “Let Me Roll It,” “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five” – so many great songs
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – those on “Mamunia” are especially bad – but if you can tough those out, this copy is going to blow your mind
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…sophisticated, nuanced arrangements and irrepressibly catchy melodic hooks… McCartney’s infallible instinct for popcraft overflows on this excellent release.”

This is a TOUGH album to find with great sound and quiet vinyl but when you come across an excellent copy like this, the record is a MONSTER. The track list includes some of the best McCartney songs of the seventies: the title song, “Jet,” “Bluebird,” “Mrs. Vandebilt,” “Let Me Roll It,” “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five” (my personal favorite on the album) — there’s really not a dog in the bunch.

This is clearly the last consistently good studio album the man recorded.

So many copies we play are either murky or a bit edgy, and it takes a very special copy to strike the ideal tonal balance that will allow all the songs to sound their best.

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Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother

More of the Music of Pink Floyd

  • You’ll find solid Double Plus (A++) sound on both sides of this seriously good UK import pressing
  • This is one of the better copies we’ve played in years – it’s richer, bigger and more solid than most others from our most recent shootout
  • While the music here may not be for everyone, if you’re a fan you’ll have a hard time finding a copy that sounds even remotely as good as this one does

This is an album that rarely sounds any good. We’ve spent a ton of money over the years chasing British originals and various other pressings looking for that Pink Floyd magic, but the early pressings were consistently disappointing, as are most reissues. If you like this music — admittedly a big if — I don’t think you can find better sound for it. (more…)

Queen – News of the World

More of the Music of Queen

  • This vintage British EMI import was giving us the big and bold sound we were looking for, with a STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side two
  • If you’re looking for sonics that jump out of your speakers, a killer Hot Stamper pressing is guaranteed to have that quality, because that’s what we’re looking for too
  • The emotional power of these songs is communicated so completely through this copy that the experience will be like hearing it for the first time
  • “…it’s massive, earth-shaking rock & roll, the sound of a band beginning to revel in its superstardom.”
  • If I were to compile a list of my favorite rock albums from 1977, this album would definitely be on it
  • If you’re looking for sound that jumps out of your speakers, a killer Hot Stamper pressing is guaranteed to have that quality, because that’s what we’re looking for too

Side one starts out with Queen’s back-to-back anthemic classics, “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” Does it get any better for a Queen fan? Hell no!

The stomps and claps that introduce the former should make you feel like you are in a stadium full of people with a single goal — to rock you. Those stomps and claps need weight and clarity, an unusual combination. One without the other is not going to cut it.

The record needs to be able to reproduce the room everybody is in, while still conveying the tremendous impact and power. Most domestic pressings are severely lacking in these areas. This kind of anemia can be frustrating — you want to rock but the sound won’t let you.

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Deep Purple – Self-Titled

More British Blues Rock

  • Deep Purple’s third studio album, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides of this original UK Harvest pressing
  • 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
  • If you want to hear this music explode out of the speakers and come to life the way the band wanted you to hear it, this record will do the trick
  • 4 1/2 stars: “This is a record that even those who aren’t Deep Purple fans can listen to two or three times in one sitting … [it] holds together astonishingly well as a great body of music.”

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Deep Purple – Fireball

More Deep Purple

  • An early Harvest UK pressing with solid Double Plus (A++) sound on both sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • This copy was simply bigger, richer and clearer, with more Tubey Magic, less smear and less congestion than most of the others we played
  • One of Ian Gillian’s favorite albums, “… it was really the beginning of tremendous possibilities of expression.”
  • 4 1/2 stars: “One of Deep Purple’s four indispensable albums (the others being In Rock, Machine Head, and Burn), 1971’s Fireball saw the band broadening out from the no-holds-barred hard rock direction of the previous year’s cacophonous In Rock.”

This vintage Harvest pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records rarely even 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. (more…)

Rachmaninoff – Symphony No. 1 / Previn

More of the Music of Sergei Rachmaninoff

  • Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1 returns to the the site with outstanding sound throughout this original British EMI pressing
  • 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
  • The only Rachmaninoff symphonies we know of with the potential for audiophile sound are the ones Andre Previn made for EMI in the 70s
  • However, we have quite a large number of reviews and commentaries for Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos

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