Labels We Love – Sire

Talking Heads – Hard to Beat in 77

More of the Music of The Talking Heads

For some recent listings for the album, we noted:

If I were to compile a list of my favorite rock and pop albums from 1977, this album would definitely be on it.

In the four years since we last played it, we’d forgotten how amazing this album can sound on the best pressings. I’d even say that it’s a sonic step up from Fear Of Music and Remain In Light, probably tying with More Songs About Buildings and Food and Little Creatures for top Talking Heads honors.

That seems to have undersold just how good this album can sound on the right pressing. Having just done the shootout in our new custom-built studio, we could not have been more impressed with the recording, as you can see from the notes for the winning copy shown below.

Side One

Here are our notes for side one, for those who have trouble reading our scratch. We started off with track two.

Track two

  • Big, spacious vocals and guitars
  • Very detailed

Track one

  • Fat drums
  • Rich and relaxed

The initial grade was one we often give out, “at least 2.” We knew the sound was great, but how great? We would need to play more copies to see how this one compares to the others that seem to be doing everything right, everything being the operative word. What is everything, and how right can it get?

Yes, that’s right, we needed to answer the most important question in all of audio: Compared to what?

We typically take the two or three best side ones — we call them “contenders” — and listen to them again to see which of them has the real Shootout Winning magic in its grooves, the one that does everything right and then some.

When we played this copy again, it was clearly superior, earning our top grade of Three Pluses:

  • The richest

Ah, richness. What would an analog pressing be without that wonderful quality? Think of all the best sounding London and Decca orchestral recordings. Which of them aren’t rich?

This is why we love vintage analog. It has this sound. (See here for an even better example.)

It’s important at this point to distinguish between the artificially and unnaturally rich sound we decry on so many of the Heavy Vinyl remasterings being produced today and the authentic, natural and believable richness that the records made in the 50s, 60s and 70s have, with little of that quality evident in the decades to follow.

Side Two

Here are the notes for side two. I think we played the second song first again.

Track Two

  • Deep, plucky bass
  • Breathy vocals
  • Not hard at all

Track One

  • Big, punchy and upfront

The initial grade was “at least 2” and sure enough this side two ended up winning, making it one of our coveted Top Shelf copies. Records with two shootout-winning sides are exceptionally rare. There are at present 149 pressings with at least one White Hot Stamper side on the site, but only 14 of them are White Hot on both sides.

After hearing this album sound as amazingly good as this copy clearly does, we would have to say that the Heads’ first album is their best sounding.

It was a thrill to hear it sound so much better than we remember it from our most recent shootout in 2020.

And the good news, for those who can see the value in owning a record with sound guaranteed to blow your mind or your money back, is that you can expect to see more shootouts for Talking Heads’ album coming in 2024. As long as audiophiles are willing to pay our admittedly high prices, we will keep finding pressings that, seriously, set a standard that no record made in the last 30 or more years can meet.

(more…)

Talking Heads – Talking Heads: 77

More Talking Heads

  • A vintage pressing of Talking Heads’ debut album (one of only a handful of copies to hit the site in years) with excellent Double Plus (A++) grades from top to bottom
  • Big and open with lots of layered depth to the soundfield, and sonics that positively jump out of the speakers
  • The sound here is so analog — warm, rich and smooth with the kind of fullness and life that are hard to come by for this music
  • 5 stars: “Talking Heads threw you off balance, but grabbed your attention with a sound that seemed alternately threatening and goofy. The music was undeniably catchy, even at its most ominous, especially on ‘Psycho Killer,’ Byrne’s supreme statement of demented purpose. And that made Talking Heads: 77 a landmark album

If I were to compile a list of my favorite rock and pop albums from 1977, this album would definitely be on it

We’re huge Talking Heads fans at Better Records, but we’d never tried to shoot out this album before 2011 because the copies we had played to that point were no great shakes. And that trend of mediocity only continued in the ensuing decade since, alas.

We’d forgotten how amazing this album can sound on the best pressings. I’d even say that it’s a sonic step up from Fear Of Music and Remain In Light, probably tying with More Songs About Buildings and Food and Little Creatures for top Talking Heads honors.

(more…)

K.D. Lang – Ingenue

More K.D. Lang

More LPs with Quiet Vinyl

  • An original copy of Lang’s audiophile favorite from 1992 with superb Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • The sound of this rare import is rich, full-bodied, lively, and warm, with solid bass and breathy, clear vocals
  • Includes Lang favorites “Miss Chatelaine” and “Constant Craving” – both are guaranteed to sound better than you have ever heard them
  • 4 stars: “… the craft of the album is impressive indeed, and few artists have reinvented themselves with as much poise and panache as lang did on Ingénue.”
  • If you’re a fan of Ms Lang, her classic album from 1992 surely belongs in your collection.

By 1992 records like this were only released on import vinyl and typically went out of print soon after they started their descent down the pop charts. I used to sell them back in the day and supplies were extremely limited and unpredictable. And once they were gone they were virtually never reissued. All of those factors conspire to make the cost of acquiring the mintiest pressings from overseas fairly high, and of course the main reason you have never seen the album on our site before.

Be that as it may, we have this copy available and it is not only very good sounding but the music is every bit as good as I remember it. (more…)

The Pretenders / Self-Titled

More from The Pretenders

More Women Who Rock

  • This early UK pressing of the band’s debut LP boasts outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish
  • Here are the full-bodied mids, punchy lows, and clear, open, extended highs that let this Pretenders Classic come to life, and beat the pants off the dubby domestic pressing, and anything else you care to put up against it
  • One of engineer Bill Price’s better efforts behind the boards, and Chris Thomas’s production is State of the Art
  • 5 stars: “Few rock & roll records rock as hard or with as much originality as the Pretenders’ eponymous debut album. A sleek, stylish fusion of Stonesy rock & roll, new wave pop, and pure punk aggression, Pretenders is teeming with sharp hooks and a viciously cool attitude.”

Forget the dubby domestic vinyl, these Brit pressings are the only way to go. (more…)

Talking Heads – Fear of Music

More Talking Heads

More Brian Eno

  • This outstanding Talking Heads LP boasts Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • I’d be hard-pressed to name another group from the era who put out more groundbreaking yet accessible records than the Talking Heads
  • Producer Brian Eno wasn’t shy about adding multiple layers of effects and processing; the texture of Eno’s synthesizers gives the music depth and character
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…the music is becoming denser and more driving… with lyrics that match the music’s power… its better songs are as good as any Talking Heads ever did”
  • If you’re as big a Talking Heads fan as we are, this is a classic from 1979 that belongs in your collection.
  • The complete list of titles from 1979 that we’ve reviewed to date can be found here.

As huge fans of this band, it was a major thrill for us to complete a shootout for this album recently. We found that the best copies had wonderful transparency, meaty bass, Art Rockin’ energy and a refreshing overall freedom from distortion.

(more…)

Talking Heads – True Stories

More Talking Heads

  • You’ll find Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides of this superb pressing
  • Here’s the midrange magic that’s surely missing from whatever 180g reissue has been made from the tapes (or, to be clear, a modern digital master copied from who-knows-what-tapes)
  • This is that rare copy with top quality sound and exceptionally quiet vinyl – it plays Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus, as quiet as they ever do
  • “Despite its perfunctory nature, however, True Stories is not without its charms… ‘Dream Operator’ is one of the most affecting tunes Talking Heads ever recorded; the closing-credits theme ‘City of Dreams’ is similarly touching.”

(more…)

Talking Heads – More Songs About Buildings and Food

More Talking Heads

More Brian Eno

  • This pressing boasts very good Hot Stamper sound from the first note to last – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • With Eno producing and Rhett Davies engineering, every track is (psycho) killer – truly this is a Must Own from 1978
  • 5 stars: “Brian Eno brought a musical unity that tied the album together, especially in terms of the rhythm section, the sequencing, the pacing, and the mixing.”

(more…)

Talking Heads – Little Creatures

More Talking Heads

  • An outstanding pressing of Little Creatures with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish – this one has the BIG BEAT sound we love
  • I ask you, what record from 1985 sounds better than Little Creatures?
  • These sides are rockin’ on tracks like Stay Up Late, Road To Nowhere, And She Was, Creatures of Love and more
  • Surprisingly big, punchy and open sound for this ’85 pop classic – a Top 100 album and longtime Better Records favorite
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Ear Candy …a pop album, and an accomplished one, by a band that knew what it was doing.”

We’re huge fans of Little Creatures, and when you hear a copy like this you’ll know exactly why. Not many records from this era sound as amazingly rich as this one, not in our experience anyway.

On the better copies, the sound is punchy, smooth & so ANALOG, with an especially beefy bottom end, the kind a good Big Beat Pop Album record needs. For a good reference think Get The Knack or Parallel Lines.

Tight, punchy, surprisingly deep note-like bass absolutely makes or breaks the sound on Little Creatures. Without the proper bass foundation this funky beat-crazy Talking Heads album can’t BEGIN to do what it’s trying to do: get your feet tappin’ and your body rockin’ to the music.

The better pressings are surprisingly dynamic, with a sweet, often silky top end. The drums are very well recorded throughout — you can really hear the room around that big kit. You will also find that the higher-rez pressings give David Byrne’s vocals the presence and breathy texture they need. The overall sound will be open, spacious, and sweet — even three-dimensional. (more…)

Ramones – Road to Ruin

xxxxx

  • Road to Ruin makes its Hot Stamper debut here with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • This superb recording is huge and lively with startling dynamics and in-the-room-presence like nothing you’ve heard
  • 4 1/2 stars: “It’s clear throughout that Tommy and Stasium definitely had the best interests of the band in mind as they aimed the sound a little closer to the mainstream, and the changes they made served to open it up in interesting ways.”

(more…)

Talking Heads / Remain In Light – Our Shootout Winner from 2008

More Talking Heads

HOT STAMPERS DISCOVERED AT LAST! We’ve been trying to find a great sounding copy of this album forever, and this is the week we finally succeeded. It takes an exceptional pressing to get all the elements correct — the funky bottom end; the processed, multi-tracked vocals; the Brian Eno production weirdness and so on.

This is a brilliant album but a typically problematic record. Most copies get some things right but fail miserably in other areas. There are smeary copies that can’t deliver the punchy bottom you need, grainy copies that make the vocals painful to listen to, and plenty of copies that are just too dark or flat sounding for anyone to enjoy. Note that the first track on both sides will sound the worst. The sound gets better, though, as you get further into the album. (more…)