Favorites – Rock-Pop

If I still had a record collection — no longer in the cards because all of my records went to good homes a long time ago — these 250 or so titles would be in it.

Neil Young – Harvest

More of the Music of Neil Young

  • This vintage Reprise pressing was giving us the sound we were looking for on Neil’s undeniable classic, with both sides earning stunning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • It’s practically impossible to find an early pressing with sound this good and vinyl that plays as quietly as this
  • Marks in the vinyl are another matter, though – those on “Out on the Weekend” are especially bad but if you can tough those out, this copy is going to blow your mind
  • A Top 100 album and a sublime recording no audiophile should be without
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…the love songs and the harrowing portrait of a friend’s descent into heroin addiction, ‘The Needle and the Damage Done,’ remain among Young’s most affecting and memorable songs.”
  • If you’re a Neil Young fan, and what audiophile wouldn’t be?, this title from 1972 is clearly a Must Own

When you have this kind of open, extended top end, the grit, grain and edge just disappear, leaving you with a clear, Tubey Magical sound that’s way beyond anything you have ever heard for Harvest (or we will happily give you your money back).

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).

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Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon

More of the Music of Pink Floyd

  • A vintage copy of this mindblowing recording that is guaranteed to rock your world with superb Double Plus (A++) sound on both sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • The transparency, the clarity, the energy, the power – it’s all here on this very special import pressing
  • A Top 100 album (Top Ten actually) and Demo Disc to rival the most amazing sounding records of all time
  • 5 stars: “…what gives the album true power is the subtly textured music… no other record defines [Pink Floyd] quite as well as this one.”
  • A Top 100 album (Top Ten actually) and a Rock Demo Disc to rival the most amazing sounding records of all time
  • 5 stars: “…what gives the album true power is the subtly textured music… no other record defines [Pink Floyd] quite as well as this one.”

This vintage import pressing has the presence, the richness, the size and the energy you always wanted to hear on Dark Side — AND NOW YOU CAN!

Take the clocks on Time. There are whirring mechanisms that can be heard deep in the soundstage. On most copies, you can’t even tell they are there. Talk about transparency — I bet you’ve NEVER heard so many chimes so clearly and cleanly, with such little distortion, as you will on this copy.

One thing that separates the best copies from the merely good ones is super-low-distortion, extended high frequencies. How some copies manage to correctly capture the overtones of all the clocks, while others, often with the same stamper numbers, can barely hint at them, is something no one can explain. But the records do not lie. Believe your own two ears. If you hear it, it’s there. 

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Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV

More of the Music of Led Zeppelin

  • A Zep IV that was doing just about everything right, earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides
  • Insane rock and roll energy like nothing you have ever heard – the sound is full-bodied and reasonably smooth, making it possible to get the volume up good and high where it belongs
  • Here are the rock and roll classics that reign supreme to this very day – “Black Dog,” “Rock & Roll,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “When the Levee Breaks,” every one sounding better than you’ve ever heard them or your money back
  • There are some bad marks (as is sometimes the nature of the beast with these Classic Rock records) on “Rock and Roll,” but once you hear just how excellent sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and just be swept away by the music
  • 5 stars: “Encompassing heavy metal, folk, pure rock & roll, and blues, Led Zeppelin’s untitled fourth album is a monolithic record, defining not only Led Zeppelin but the sound and style of 70s hard rock.”
  • If you’re a fan of the band, this title from 1971 is clearly one of their best, and one of their best sounding
  • The complete list of titles from 1971 that we’ve reviewed to date can be found here.

It is a positive THRILL to hear this record rock the way it was meant to. If you have big speakers and the power to drive them, your neighbors are going to be very upset with you when you play this copy at the listening levels it was meant to be heard at.

You’d better be ready to rock, because this copy has the ENERGY and WHOMP that will make you want to. Zep IV demands loud levels, but practically any copy will punish you mercilessly if you try to play it at anything even approaching live levels.

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Ambrosia – Life Beyond L.A.

More of the Music of Ambrosia 

  • With superb Double Plus (A++) grades from start to finish, we guarantee you’ve never heard Life Beyond L.A. sound this good – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • These sides are dramatically bigger and richer, and have more vocal presence and hard-rockin’ energy, than a lot of the others we played in our most recent shootout
  • The sound is solid and rich, the vocals breathy and immediate, and you will not believe all the space and ambience – which of course are all qualities that Heavy Vinyl records have far too little of, and the main reason we have lost all respect for the bulk of them
  • “[The album] marked a bit of a move away from their lush arrangements and introduced a more raw, aggressive progressive rock / jazz influence.”

This Hot Stamper Ambrosia LP has the kind of sound you would never expect to find in the grooves of this album. It was a thrill to hear, especially at the volumes at which we played it! The transparency and openness were excellent. We’re big fans of this band here at Better Records — we love their take on complex, Big Production Arty Rock.

The Music

Life Beyond L.A. may not be especially well known in audiophile circles but it is certainly an album we know and love here at Better Records. I’ve been playing it regularly for decades. There’s so much good music on the album that, now that we can hear it right, we’ve come to appreciate it all the more. It rocks in a more straightforward manner compared to the first two albums. It’s still got plenty of proggy elements and breakdowns, but now there’s an entirely new jazz element introduced into the mix, which comes to the fore strongly on the wonderful “Apothecary.” Side one is exceptionally strong from first note to last.

Side two starts out brilliantly with the dynamic, energetic “Dancin’ By Myself,” a song that ranks with the best by the band. It’s followed by “Angola,” a tongue-in-cheek staple of their live act these days, and then on to the wonderful ballad “Heart to Heart,” pointedly reminiscent of “Holdin’ On To Yesterday,” right down to the violin solo. The last track is a bit of a downer, but everything before that is superb.

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The Beatles – Beatles For Sale

More of the Music of The Beatles

  • Incredible sound throughout this copy of the Fab Four’s very well-recorded fourth album, with both sides earning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades, just shy of our Shootout Winner – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Especially rich and spacious, this is the album that moves away from the midrangy sound of A Hard Day’s Night and With The Beatles
  • A criminally underrated album by the Fab Four – Allmusic gives it Five Big Stars and we like it every bit as much as they do
  • “I’m A Loser,” “Baby’s In Black,” “Rock And Roll Music,” “I’ll Follow The Sun,” “Eight Days A Week,” “Words Of Love,” “Every Little Thing,” “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party,” “What You’re Doing,” and 4 more – 14 tracks in all (!)

Beatles For Sale is a criminally underappreciated album, and a killer copy like this will show you exactly why. The startling presence and immediacy of the sound here allow the emotional qualities of these lovely songs to work some real Beatles vocal magic.

There is one important trait that all the best copies have in common: wonderful midrange warmth and sweetness. It’s the single most important factor in bringing out The Beatles’ individual voices and harmonies. Of the first five albums, from Please Please Me to Help, For Sale is clearly the most natural and Tubey Magical. (For those of you keeping score at home, With the Beatles is clearly the worst, with A Hard Day’s Night not far behind.)

When comparing pressings of this record, the copies that get their voices to sound present, while at the same time warm, smooth, and sweet, especially during the harmonies and in the loudest choruses, are always the best. All the other instruments seem to fall in line when the vocals are correct. This is an old truism — it’s all about the midrange — but in the case of an early Beatles album such as For Sale, it really is true. (more…)

Joe Jackson – Night and Day

More of the Music of Joe Jackson

  • A vintage copy of Joe Jackson’s 1982 Masterpiece with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from first note to last – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Rich solid piano tone, lively drums, tight powerful bass and strong vocal presence – it’s all here and more
  • From that opening big drum on “Another World,” you’ll know this pressing has the Night and Day magic
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…his blend of percolating Latin rhythms, jazzy horns and pianos, stylish synths, and splashy pop melodies uncannily feel like a bustling, glitzy evening in the big city.”
  • If you’re a Joe Jackson fan, this title from 1982 is surely a Must Own

You’ll want to turn this one up good and loud to get the full effect because the music really swings on a copy that sounds as good as this one does. It not only swings, it ROCKS.

From that opening big drum on ‘Another World’ you know you’re in for some wonderful sound: BIG, spacious, transparent, dynamic — you name it, this record pretty much has it all.

Night and Day is Joe Jackson’s Masterpiece. It’s simply WONDERFUL from start to finish. This is adult popular music that belongs in any serious thinking person’s record collection. Not many records from the ’80s sound as natural as this one. It’s analog, that’s for damn sure. (more…)

Peter Frampton – Wind of Change

More of the Music of Peter Frampton

  • A Wind of Change like you’ve never heard, with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER on both sides
  • This vintage British pressing of Frampton’s solo debut is the very definition of Tubey Magic, with sound so rich and sweet it will make you want to take all your CDs and dump them in the trash (now that record stores don’t even want them anymore)
  • The better copies like this one keep what’s good about the recording while letting us hear into the soundfield with glorious transparency
  • 4 stars: “The sound is crisp, the melodies catchy, and Frampton’s distinctive, elliptical Gibson Les Paul guitar leads soar throughout….“

This is some of the best high-production-value rock music of the 70s. The amount of effort that went into the recording of this album is comparable to that expended by the engineers and producers of bands like Supertramp, Yes, Jethro Tull, Ambrosia, Pink Floyd, Elton John and too many others to list. It seems that no effort or cost was spared in making the home listening experience as compelling as the recording technology of the day permitted.

The best song Peter Frampton ever wrote (and performed) is on this very record, in White Hot Stamper sound no less: All I Wanna Be (Is by Your Side). It has the Tubey Magical sound WE LOVE here at Better Records.

However, the richness that makes British recordings from the era so good can easily go over the edge, turning the sound into a thick, mucky stew in which the individual sonic components become difficult to separate out. Think of the typically dull Who’s Next or early Genesis or Jethro Tull albums and you’ll know exactly what I mean.

Only a select group of pressings are able to strike the right balance between Tubey Magic and clarity. This is one of those.

And as far as we can tell, it’s the only version of the album that’s pressed from the master tape. The domestic A&M LPs are clearly made from dubbed tapes. They are as flat, small, smeary, veiled and opaque as any Heavy Vinyl pressing being made today, and we long ago gave up on them (i.e., domestic pressings of this album and Heavy Vinyl in general). (more…)

Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic

More of the Music of Steely Dan

  • Here is an early ABC Stereo pressing with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them on both sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Simply phenomenal amounts of Tubey Magic can be heard on every strum of the guitars, along with the kind of richness, body and harmonic coherency that have all but disappeared from modern remasterings (particularly on side two)
  • Becker and Fagen spared no effort in the recording of this album – the mix is perfection
  • A Top 100 Album and our pick for The Best Sounding Steely Dan Recording of Them All
  • 5 stars: “Steely Dan made more accomplished albums than Pretzel Logic, but they never made a better one.”

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10cc – How Dare You!

More of the Music of 10cc

 

  • You’ll find stunning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound on both sides of this early UK pressing of 10cc’s fourth (and most wacky) album, just shy of our Shootout Winner – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • This wonderful LP will show you that 10cc’s commitment to audiophile recording quality was as strong as any of the major artists of their day
  • Forget the dubby domestic stuff — this early British pressing is huge, spacious and rich, with prodigious amounts of bass, guaranteed to sound better than any other copy you’ve heard
  • 4 stars: “…a well-crafted album that shows off 10cc’s eccentric humor and pop smarts in equal measure… it remains a solid album of witty pop songs that will satisfy anyone with a yen for 10cc.”
  • If like us you’re a fan of Arty Rock from the era, this is a killer album from 1976 that belongs in your collection.

With this superb British pressing, some of you who might consider yourselves more devoted fans of the band will finally be able to hear what a good recording this is. The typical domestic copy is a disaster, as are some of the British originals and reissues; we should know, we cleaned them, played them and heard them for ourselves.

If you know anything about this band, you know their recordings are often amazing Demo Discs. We’ve done shootouts for all their most important titles and the sound on the best copies is OUT OF THIS WORLD.

If you’re looking for something off the beaten path, this is definitely one to check out. I don’t know of any other album like it.

Best sound on side one: “Lazy Ways.”

Best track on the album: “Rock ‘N Roll Lullaby.”

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Buffalo Springfield – Retrospective

More of the Music of Buffalo Springfield

  • With solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them on both sides, this original Atco pressing will be very hard to beat
  • Big, full-bodied, clear and present, the Tubey Magical richness of the better pressings is a joy to hear on modern high resolution equipment (particularly on this side two)
  • “Kind Woman” and “I Am A Child” are just two of the best sounding songs – listen to all that space around the voices and instruments (particularly “I Am A Child” on this side two)
  • And the Pysch stuff – “On the Way Home,” “Broken Arrow” and “Expecting to Fly” – is guaranteed to be more three-dimensional than you’ve ever heard it
  • 5 stars on AllMusic – this is Must Own Music from one of the most groundbreaking and accomplished groups of the late-60s (even though they never cracked the Top 40 Album chart)

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