Labels We Love – Track

Our First Big Shootout for Tommy Took Place Way Back in 2008

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Who Available Now

Our notes from 2008. Much has changed since then!

This British Track Black Label pressing DEMOLISHED our expectations for this album. I don’t think I’ve ever heard The Who sound this good.

Three out of four sides rate our top grade of A+++, and side three ain’t far behind at A++. What do such high grades give you for this album? Tubey magical guitars, silky vocals with lots of texture, unbelievable weight to the bottom end, “you are there” immediacy, BIG drums sound, OFF THE CHARTS rock and roll energy, and shocking clarity and transparency.

This is only the second $1000 Hot Stamper we’ve ever listed on the site. We know there’s always a rise in trash talk on the vinyl message boards when we throw this kind of record on the site, but we can’t worry about that silly business. Our job is to find you guys the best of the best, and here’s a record that we’re very proud to put at the very top of our top shelf.

Story Of The Shootout

We’ve never been able to pull off a full Tommy shootout until now. We had played enough copies to figure out that the Track originals are really the only way to go, but who can find even one clean copy these days, let alone enough to do a shootout?

UPDATE

This is long before Discogs got up and running. You can buy Tommy all day long up there, and on Ebay too. You may end up with lots of noisy copies, but at least you can find them.

This is where you come in, loyal customer. The prices we charge on records like this allow us to spare little expense when it comes to acquiring important LPs. So when we saw a $200 Original British pressing on the wall at Amoeba recently, we were able to splurge on it.

How did it turn out? Well, by the time I invested the labor in it to clean it and evaluate it, we definitely won’t be making a dime on that one. (Of course, keep in mind that it inspired us to finally move on this shootout, so in that sense it was well worth it.)

It’s a nice copy, but a hefty price tag and a prime spot on the wall can’t tell you a thing about how a record sounds. Keep that in mind the next time you see an expensive record at your local store or on Ebay that has you hot and bothered. We may charge a lot for our Hot Stampers, but at least when you buy one you are GUARANTEED good sound.

(more…)

Which Album by The Who Has the Best Sound?

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Who Available Now

We think Tommy has the best Who sound.

I don’t know of another Who album with such consistently good sound — song to song, not copy to copy of course. Just about every song on here can sound wonderful on the right UK pressing.

If you’re lucky enough to get hold of a killer copy, you’re going to be blown away by the Tubey Magical guitars, the rock-solid bottom end, the jumpin’-out-of-the-speakers presence and dynamics, and the silky vocals and top end.

Usually the best we can give you for The Who is big and rockin’ (Who’s Next, Live at Leeds), but on Tommy, we can give you 60s analog magic you will rarely find in the decades to follow.

Killer Acoustic Guitars

Acoustic guitar reproduction is key to this recording, and on the best copies the harmonic coherency, the richness, the body and the simply phenomenal amounts of Tubey Magic can be heard in every strum.

What do high grades give you for this album? Silky, sweet vocals; huge weight to the bottom end; “you are there” immediacy; BIG drums, off the charts rock and roll energy, and shocking clarity and transparency.

No other Who album in our experience has all these things in such abundance.

The Tubey Magic Top Ten

You don’t need tube equipment to hear the prodigious amount of Tubey Magic that exists on this recording. For those of you who’ve experienced top quality analog pressings of Meddle or Dark Side of the Moon, or practically any jazz album on Contemporary, whether played through tubes or transistors, that’s the luscious sound of Tubey Magic, and it is all over Tommy.

(more…)

The Who – Tommy

More of the Music of The Who

  • Superb sound throughout this vintage UK import copy, with all FOUR sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER
  • Side three and side four were sonically very close to our Shootout Winner – you will be shocked at how big and powerful the sound is
  • Both of these early Black Label British Track pressings have the rich, spacious, Tubey Magical sound that has the power to immerse you in the story of a deaf, dumb and blind boy named Tommy
  • Top 100, and clearly our pick for the best sounding album The Who ever made – when you play a copy that sounds as good as this one we think you’ll have no problem seeing our point
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these Classic Rock records – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…Townshend’s ability to construct a lengthy conceptual narrative brought new possibilities to rock music.”
  • This is a Must Own Who Classic from 1969 that belongs in every right-thinking audiophile’s collection
  • It’s our pick for the band’s best sounding album. Roughly 150 other listings for the Best Recording by an Artist or Group can be found here

I know of no other Who album with such consistently good sound — song to song, not copy to copy, of course. Just about every song on here can sound wonderful on the right pressing. If you’re lucky enough to get a Hot Stamper copy, you’re going to be blown away by the Tubey Magical guitars, the rock-solid bottom end, the jumpin’-out-of-the-speakers presence and dynamics, and the silky vocals and top end.

Usually the best we can give you for The Who is “big and rockin,” but on Tommy, we can give you 60s analog magic that will all but disappear in the decades to follow.

Acoustic guitar reproduction is key to this recording, and on the better copies the harmonic coherency, the richness, the body and the phenomenal amounts of Tubey Magic can be heard in every strum.

(more…)

The Who – Quadrophenia

More of The Who

  • Quadrophenia is back! These early British pressings boast stunning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound or close to it on all FOUR sides, just shy of our Shootout Winner – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • It’s been over a year since we last had a copy play this quietly, and it didn’t sound as good as this one
  • If you want to hear this music explode out of the speakers and come to life the way The Who wanted you to hear it, these records will do the trick
  • The sound here is so big, rich, and powerful it will surely make you rethink the recording itself
  • The sound here is so big, rich, and powerful it will surely make you rethink the recording itself
  • We know about quite a few records that rock this hard
  • We seek them out, and we know how to get them to sound their best
  • 5 stars: “Some of Townshend’s most direct, heartfelt writing is contained here, and production-wise it’s a tour de force, with some of the most imaginative use of synthesizers on a rock record.”
  • If you’re a fan of The Who, or Classic Rock in general, this title is clearly a Must Own from 1973

We removed this title from our Top 100 list a while back because it has become too difficult to get hold of clean UK copies. Who’s Next is even more difficult, but for some reason we left that one on the list, go figure. (It is the better album, their Masterpiece, in fact.)

The other Who album that still makes the cut and always will is Tommy. That is one amazing sounding record, when you find a good one on the UK Track label. (Nothing else can touch it, of course, but if you don’t want to pay the big bucks we charge, find one of these for cheap.)

On the best copies, the energy factor is OFF THE CHARTS. The highs are silky sweet, the bottom end is meaty, the drums are punchy and the vocals are present and tonally correct. The piano has real weight, the synths float breathily in the air, and there’s wonderful three-dimensional depth to the soundfield.

There’s a POWER to the sound that the average copy only hints at. The crashing guitar chords that are the hallmark of The Who often lack the weight of the real thing; they don’t punch you in the gut the way Townsend no doubt wanted them to.

Moon’s drums need to blast away like cannons. This is the quintessential Who sound. Everybody who’s ever seen them live knows it. I saw them back in the day when Moon was still behind his kit and it’s a sound I’ll never forget.

Most copies don’t have nearly this much Tubey Magic — you aren’t going to believe all the richness, sweetness, and warmth here. The clarity and transparency are superb in their own right, and the impressive dynamic range really allows this copy to communicate the explosive energy of The Who at their peak.

As with any Who album, this is obviously not your typical Audiophile Demo Disc. We don’t imagine you’ll be enjoying this one with wine, cigars, and polite conversation. This one is for turning up loud and rockin’ out — in other words, it’s our kind of record!

(more…)

The Who / Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy – Their Must Own Singles Compilation

More of The Who

  • With solid Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides, you’ll have a hard time finding a copy that sounds remotely as good as this vintage UK import – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Features material not available on any of the band’s other albums, making it an absolute Must Own
  • The sound quality of the tracks varies quite a bit but that’s the nature of beast when it comes to these compilation LPs
  • Many tracks were left in mono and that is a big help when it comes to the sound of the early Who recordings
  • “I Can’t Explain” on side one is pretty much right on the money – rich and clear, with good top end extension, there aren’t many sides out there that get as much right as this one does
  • 5 stars: “Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy has the distinction of being the first in a long line of Who compilations. It also has the distinction of being the best. The Who recorded their share of great albums during the 60s, but condensing their highlights to just the singles is an electrifying experience.”

(more…)

The Who – Live At Leeds

More of The Who

Records We Only Sell on Import Vinyl

  • A hard-rockin’ copy – this British Track pressing boasts INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) DEMO DISC sound or close to it on both sides
  • The recording is huge and lively with startling dynamics and in-the-room-presence like nothing you’ve heard
  • This is demo disc quality sound by any measure, especially on big speakers at loud levels
  • The vinyl is fairly quiet, but that is rarely a concern when an album has music this loud and powerful
  • Drums so solid, punchy and present they put to shame 99% of the rock records on the planet
  • The sound of the best pressings is raw, real and exceptionally unprocessed
  • Cited as the best live rock recording of all time by The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, the BBC Q magazine, and Rolling Stone. In 2003, it was ranked number 170 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
  • We should have all the papers that come with the album, but please be sure to double check with us, if having all the papers is important to you

Get ready to rock out, as this is one of the BEST SOUNDING live albums ever recorded. “Young Man Blues” on a copy such as this has drums that are so solid, punchy and present they positively put to shame the drum sound on 99 out of 100 rock records! Keith Moon lives on!

The bass is AMAZING on this record. Present vocals and clear guitars in both channels are also key to the best copies.

Most pressings do not get the guitars to jump out of the speakers the way the best can.

Few copies get the highest highs and the lowest lows but this one had it going on from top to bottom.

The seven minute long “Magic Bus” that finishes out the side is The Who at their best.

Rock fans will have a hard time finding a better sounding Who pressing than this one, on either side.

(more…)

What to Listen For on Quadrophenia

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Who Available Now

Moon’s drums need to blast away like cannons. This is the quintessential Who sound. Everybody who’s ever seen them live knows it. I saw them back in the day when Moon was still behind his kit and it’s a sound I’ll never forget. 

Most copies don’t have nearly this much Tubey Magic — you aren’t going to believe all the richness, sweetness, and warmth here. The clarity and transparency are superb in their own right, and the impressive dynamics really allows this copy to communicate the explosive energy of The Who at their peak.

(more…)

Who’s Next – An Overview

More of the Music of The Who

The following was written in the early 2000s. Some of the commentary has been added or modified.

Who’s Next has been remastered for audiophiles many, many times, more often than not quite badly in our opinion.

To be fair, we should point out that our opinion has changed quite a few times over the course of the last twenty years.

This then is our story.

MCA MASTERPHILE

Back in the days when I was foolishly in the thrall of half-speed mastered audiophile pressings, I thought that the MCA Masterphile was king. That was probably the mid to late ’80s.

BRITISH TRACK LABEL ORIGINALS

By the early 90s I had discovered how good the Black Label Original British Track pressings could be and started preferring those. A bit murky but Tubey Magical, full and rich, precisely the way a good British Rock recording (Faces, Jethro Tull) should be.

JAPANESE AND GERMAN

Of course by then I had played numerous Japanese and German pressings, none of which sounded right to my ears, then or now. The Japanese did what they like to do to most of the records they master, from whatever dub tapes are sent to them: they brighten up the sound.

When I had much darker, less-revealing system, the Japanese pressing did better than most of the other pressings I played.

But it was wrong, and the better my stereo got the more wrong it sounded. This process comes under the general heading of audio progress 

MCA HEAVY VINYL

In 1995 the MCA Heavy Vinyl version came out, mastered by Kevin Gray. I quite liked it at the time but no longer do; it’s brightened up, opaque, airless and much of the fine detail of the recording is missing, all due to the crude cutting system Kevin employed at the time. It’s also notoriously badly pressed, resulting in stitches in the vinyl that are audible on practically every copy. (more…)

The Who – Odds & Sods

More of The Who

More Compilation Albums with the Potential for Very Good Sound

This review is from the late 2000s I would guess.

Our advice nowadays would be to go for the British Track pressings. They’re the most likely to have reasonably good sound.

Wow — an original Black Label Track British Import pressing that plays QUIET and sounds about as good as any compilation of this material can hope to sound. We had about a half-dozen copies to compare against each other and none of them were as good as this one. I really doubt you can do much better. Like any comp the sound ranges from track to track, but relative to the other copies we played we award this one a conservative overall sonic grade of A+ to A++. 

Those of you who follow the site won’t be surprised to learn that some of the best sound on here is found on the tracks that Glyn Johns worked on.

This one comes in the original cool cover that’s die-cut to appear ripped. The later covers fake the effect. (more…)