RCA

David Bowie – Low

More of the Music of David Bowie

  • Boasting killer Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades on both sides, this vintage pressing of Bowie’s rock Masterpiece is practically as good a copy as we have ever heard, right up there with our Shootout Winner – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Huge amounts of studio space can be heard on this copy, along with the Tubey Magical richness only the better UK pressings can offer
  • We shot out a number of other imports and this one had better midrange presence, bass, and dynamics than practically any other copy we played
  • 5 stars: “Though a handful of the vocal pieces on Low are accessible – ‘Sound and Vision’ has a shimmering guitar hook, and ‘Be My Wife’ subverts soul structure in a surprisingly catchy fashion – the record is defiantly experimental and dense with detail, providing a new direction for the avant-garde in rock & roll.”
  • If you’re a fan of the man, this is a Top Title from 1977 that belongs in your collection

As I’ve mentioned on the site numerous times, I spent a good portion of the 70s playing art rock records like Taking Tiger Mountain, Siren, Crime Of The Century, Deceptive Bends and scores of others. I remember being blown away when Low came out, and with this shootout we had a blast hearing just how good a killer Hot Stamper UK pressing can sound on the much more highly-evolved stereo system (equipment, room, set-up, tweaks, electricity, etc.) we have today.

It’s difficult to find a pressing that gets both sides of this album right, perhaps in part because the two sides are so different. Side one of this album features the more traditional (not really the right word, but it will have to do) Bowie rockers like “Sound and Vision” and “Be My Wife,” while side two sounds more like the instrumental synth music of Kraftwerk and Eno.

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The Kinks – Everybody’s In Showbiz

More Rock and Pop

  • Everybody’s In Showbiz makes its Hot Stamper debut with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them on all FOUR sides of these vintage RCA pressings
  • It’s lively and rich, with plenty of deep punchy bass, a nicely extended top and a huge three-dimensional soundfield (particularly on sides one and two)
  • The sound on sides one and two is remarkably full-bodied, with solid, present vocals, as well as excellent clarity all around, and sides three and four are not far behind in all those areas
  • “…they were in full bloom at this point in their career. Infectious, sly, brazen, and solidly awesome, this is that pre-Arista Kinks stuff you should be hip to.”

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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.

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Elvis Presley – Back in Memphis

More of the Music of Elvis Presley

  • Back in Memphis makes it’s Hot Stamper debut with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout this early RCA pressing
  • Guaranteed to be a huge improvement over anything you’ve heard, these sides are big, rich, and full-bodied with Elvis’s exceptionally present and breathy vocals front and center where they belong
  • Problems 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
  • “History has placed these ten tracks as mere outtakes to the great ‘From Elvis In Memphis’…but a closer inspection not only reveals ten great tracks but one of the most cohesive records Elvis ever delivered.”

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Elvis Presley – From Memphis To Vegas / From Vegas To Memphis

More Elvis Presley

  • The Hot Stamper debut of this 2-LP release, here with roughly Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on all FOUR sides of these vintage pressings
  • Side one and side four were sonically very close to our Shootout Winner – you will be shocked at how big and powerful the sound is
  • Composed of two full albums: Elvis In Person At The International Hotel Las Vegas, Nevada and Elvis Back In Memphis
  • Rock and roll energy to spare (particularly on sides one, three and four), the kind you will be hard-pressed to find on any modern Heavy Vinyl reissue these days
  • Brimming with Elvis classics: “Blue Suede Shoes,” “All Shook Up,” “Hound Dog,” “I Can’t Help Falling In Love,” “Suspicious Minds” – so many of The King’s best songs are here
  • Problems 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: “Easily the King’s best live album, In Person at the International Hotel featured a slew of hits, . . . Regardless of what they’re playing, the band really rock throughout.”
  • “History has placed [the] ten tracks [of Elvis Back In Memphis] as mere outtakes to the great ‘From Elvis In Memphis’…but a closer inspection not only reveals ten great tracks but one of the most cohesive records Elvis ever delivered.”

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Jefferson Airplane – Surrealistic Pillow

More of the Music of the Jefferson Airplane

  • The band’s sophomore release is back on the site for only the second time in fourteen months, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER from top to bottom
  • Side two was sonically very close to our Shootout Winner – you will be shocked at how big and powerful the sound is
  • If this price seems high, keep in mind that the top copy from our most recent shootout went for $1000, and the vinyl was not as quiet
  • It’s the rare copy of this 60s Psych Classic that has this kind of freedom from grit and distortion – it’s also swimming in Tubey Magic, the glorious sound of vintage analog vinyl, found on the real thing and, let’s be honest, nowhere else
  • An incredibly difficult album to find with audiophile sound, but this pressing has the goods and is guaranteed to beat – and by a very large margin – whatever you care to throw at it
  • 5 stars: “Every song is a perfectly cut diamond … a groundbreaking piece of folk-rock-based psychedelia that hit — literally — like a shot heard round the world…”
  • The DCC is a hopeless disaster – after fighting its way through Kevin Gray’s transistory, opaque, airless, low-resolution cutting system, whatever was good about the recording is completely gone
  • If I were to compile a list of my favorite rock and pop albums from 1967, this album would definitely be on it
  • As is sometimes the case, there is one and only one set of stampers that consistently wins our shootouts for this album.  Click on this link to see other titles with one set of stamper numbers that always come out on top

Three Qualities Are Key 

The best copies of Surrealistic Pillow have three things in common.

  1. Low Harmonic Distortion,
  2. Driving Rock and Roll Energy, and
  3. Plenty of Tubey Magical Richness.

It’s the exceedingly rare copy that has all three. The more of each of these qualities a given pressing has, the higher the sonic grades we typically will award it.

In order to find these three qualities, you had better be using the real master tape for starters. At this point, we only buy the Black Label Original RCA pressings, preferably in stereo but occasionally in mono when they’re clean enough to take a chance on, although we think the mono pressings are not competitive with the best of the stereo LPs.

Next, you need a pressing with actual extension up top, to keep the midrange from getting congested and harsh.

Richness, Tubey Magic, weight, and warmth — the other end of the spectrum — are every bit as important, if not more so.

Add freedom from dynamic compression — the exciting, lively sound that’s practically impossible to find on any modern reissue — and you should have yourself a musically involving, hopefully not-too-noisy LP to throw on the table and enjoy whenever you like, for years to come.

We know that the best pressings of this groundbreaking album, when played back on modern, high quality equipment, are every bit the thrill you remember — if you were around at the time like I was — from more than fifty years ago.

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Eurythmics – Touch

More of the Music of The Eurythmics

  • The Eurythmics’ third studio album was their breakthrough, and here it is with solid Double Plus (A++) sound throughout – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Both of these sides are surprisingly rich, smooth and analog-sounding, with an especially nice weighty quality to Lennox’s alluring vocals
  • Forget the domestic pressings; forget whatever lame reissues have come or will come down the pike – if you want to hear this album right, a Hot Stamper British pressing is the only way to go
  • Includes some of the most memorable synth-pop anthems of the era – “Here Comes The Rain Again,” “Who’s That Girl?” and more
  • 4 1/2 stars: “The cool, sophisticated musical experimentalism all over Touch cemented Eurythmics’ reputation as one of the most innovative duos of their time… Touch is a testament to what Eurythmics were at the height of their electronic-techno phase and, without doubt, is a milestone in 1980s pop music.”
  • If you’re a Eurythmics fan, this title from 1983 is surely a Must Own

We’ve tried a fair number of this band’s albums and to be honest, every one but this one has had horribly bright, overly-processed, distorted sound, even on import vinyl.

Until we run across something a lot better than what we have been auditioning, this will be the only title we can offer as a Hot Stamper from Eurythmics. (more…)

Harry Nilsson – The Point!

More Harry Nilsson

  • An original pressing (only the second copy to ever hit the site) with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish
  • Side one was very close in sound to our Shootout Winner – the overall grades for this copy are only one half plus lower than our $450 WHS presing that sold
  • Both of these sides are relatively rich, yet still clear and highly resolving – the boosted midrange, the biggest problem with the copies we played, is under much better control here than it was on most of what we played
  • Analog gets this music to sound right, although the long out of print DCC CD that Steve Hoffman mastered is excellent if you can find one
  • 4 stars: “Especially at this stage of his career, Harry Nilsson was uniquely suited for writing and recording children’s music, given his sweet melodicism and love of whimsy. The tale is fantastical enough to be of interest to children (and the moral is strong enough to reassure them and their parents), but the songs and music are so strong that the album continues to be a source of wonder, even as those children become adults.”

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Hall and Oates – H2O

More Hall and Oates

  • A vintage copy of this Hall and Oates classic from 1982 with killer Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound from start to finish – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • It’s lively, open, present and natural – the soundfield is big and spacious and the bottom end is killer
  • Much more consistent than most of their releases, this one boasts three monster hits including “Maneater,” “Family Man” and my all time favorite by the band, “One on One”
  • 4 stars: “Private Eyes solidified Hall & Oates’ status as one of the most popular acts in America in the early 80s, and…… with 1982’s H2O, they capitalized on its success, delivering an album that turned out to bigger than its predecessor, as it climbed higher on the charts and launched three Top Ten singles…”

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David Clayton-Thomas – Self-Titled

More Rock and Pop

  • This original copy (the first to ever hit the site) boasts two KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides or close to them
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this incredible copy in our notes: ” big and tubey and weighty”…”wide vox”…”3D and sweet and tubey”…”jumping out of the speakers”…”fully extended from top to bottom”
  • You get clean, clear, full-bodied, lively and musical analog sound from first note to last
  • Don’t waste your money on whatever dead-as-a-doornail Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – if you want to hear the Tubey Magic, size and energy of Clayton-Thomas’s 1973 release, a vintage pressing like this one is the only way to go

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