Pre-Shootout Reviews

Reviews from our (mostly) pre-shootout days.

Kenny Dorham – Whistle Stop

Hot Stamper Blue Note Albums Available Now

More Recordings by Rudy Van Gelder

This is a Minty looking Blue Label Blue Note LP with EXCELLENT SOUND. It features performances by Hank Mobley, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones.

To hear this record work its magic, go right to track two on side one. That’s Blue Note Music and Sound at their best! 

“Dorham teams up with tenor-saxophonist Hank Mobley (who he had recorded with previously along with Art Blakey and Max Roach), pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones for a set of lively, fresh, and consistently swinging music. This is a generally overlooked near-classic set.” – AMG

This is an Older Jazz Review.

Most of the older reviews you see are for records that did not go through the shootout process, the revolutionary approach to finding better sounding pressings we developed in the early 2000s and have since turned into a fine art.

We found the records you see in these older listings by cleaning and playing a pressing or two of the album, which we then described and priced based on how good the sound and surfaces were. (For out Hot Stamper listings, the Sonic Grades and Vinyl Playgrades are listed separately.)

We were often wrong back in those days, something we have no reason to hide. Audio equipment and record cleaning technologies have come a long way since those darker days, a subject we discuss here.

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Canteloube / Songs Of The Auvergne Vol. 2 / De La Roche

This original Vanguard Black Label pressing (VSD-2132) has a side one that’s simply OUT OF THIS WORLD, A Triple Plus all the way.

Why such a high rating? Of all the copies we played, this side one was the perfect blend of Tubey Magical richness coupled with clarity and presence.

Miss Devrath is front and center, live in your living room, as natural a human voice as you will ever hear on record. Of the six sides of this music we are offering today, this was the only Triple Plus side. There is simply nothing to fault; side one on this copy sounds right in a way that no other side we played did. And some of the other sides were quite good; you wouldn’t think the sound was lacking in any way. But after playing this side one it’s clear what the best copies are really capable of — completely natural Demo Disc Sound.

I believe Volume One used to be on the TAS Superdisc List, and for a time the Classic Heavy Vinyl reissue may have been as well. I remember playing the Classic years ago and thinking the sound was not bad, not as awful as most of their stuff, but still far from what it should be.

How anyone can take Classic Records seriously is beyond me, yet HP has many of their records on his Super Disc list and he is certainly not alone in praising their remastered pressings. In our opinion you should be able to hear what’s wrong with their records from another room, a test we would happily submit to.

That dark, hard, smeary, transient- and texture-free sound one hears on all their records is pretty obvious to those of us who listen to vintage vinyl all day. (Vintage vinyl has its own share of problems, just not those.) How the vast majority of audiophile reviewers can be fooled by such second-rate fare is frankly beyond understanding. (more…)

The Hollies – Live Hits

More Hollies

This is a Minty and wonderful British import Red Label Polydor LP from 1976. The sound is quite good — a bit of hardness creeps in to the loud sections from time to time, but the music is so enjoyable it’s easy to look past that. The Hollies wrote and performed so many great songs in the sixties that I grew up with, playing this record was a real joy. Allan Clarke has such an incredible pop voice, and his bandmates harmonize with him beautifully, it reminds me of how good the radio used to be when I was growing up. They sure don’t sing ’em like this anymore!

Graham Nash is missing, and his high harmony vocal would be a nice addition, but you can’t have everything. What you can have is a  beautifully sung pop album full of great songs.

This is an Older Review.

Most of the older reviews you see are for records that did not go through the shootout process, the revolutionary approach to finding better sounding pressings we developed in the early 2000s and have since turned into a fine art.

We found the records you see in these older listings by cleaning and playing a pressing or two of the album, which we then described and priced based on how good the sound and surfaces were. (For out Hot Stamper listings, the Sonic Grades and Vinyl Playgrades are listed separately.)

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Ben Webster And ’Sweets’ Edison – An Old Review from 2007

More Ben Webster

More Harry ’Sweets’ Edison

This is a Minty looking Columbia 360 Label LP.

As good as the now out of print Classic Records version was, my guess is that this pressing will be clearly superior in terms of warmth, richness, and sweetness. It’s been years since I’ve seen a copy of this album, but I remember liking it very much back in the days when the Classic version was in print.

I’ve also had a chance to go back and listen to lots of early Columbias like this one and I have been extremely impressed with the naturalness of the sound. I picked up a copy of Time Out recently that was as good as it gets on side one. No heavy vinyl reissue ever sounded like that.

“Tenor-saxophonist Ben Webster and trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison, both veterans of the swing era (although associated with different orchestras), had long wanted to record a full album together. The results, a swinging quintet set with pianist Hank Jones, bassist George Duvivier and drummer Clarence Johnston, are quite rewarding. ” — AMG

This is an Older Jazz Review.

Most of the older reviews you see are for records that did not go through the shootout process, the revolutionary approach to finding better sounding pressings we developed in the early 2000s and have since turned into a fine art.

(more…)

Satie / Parade – The Eccentric Erik Satie

More Recordings on the London Phase IV Label

This contains various works by Satie as performed by Camarata, Bernard Herrmann, London Philharmonic and The London Festival Players.

Obviously these were Phase 4 recordings which have been compiled on this album from 1973. The sound is quite good: very transparent and lively. It does not have the tubey magic that the best of the Golden Age recordings so often have in abundance, but the tonal balance is correct and the overall sound is quite good.

This album contains many of Satie’s most famous works on one LP. I can’t imagine that you will find this music easy to come by on other pressings.

A Very Good Sounding Record from Perry Como on Living Stereo

Living Stereo Titles Available Now

A very good sounding Living Stereo record from 1961, engineered by Bob Simpson. One problem. Where are you going to find enough clean copies with which to do the shootout and, more importantly, who’s going to buy them?

If you see one locally in clean condition and you like Perry Como, pick it up and give it a listen. We liked the copy of LSP 2390 we played.

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Born Under a Bad Sign – Where Are All the Clean Copies?

Hot Stamper Pressings of Electric Blues Albums Available Now

UPDATE 2020

This is a very old review, probably from close to twenty years ago. Like I say, we have trouble finding clean copies to shootout. We expect to be doing the record soon, however.

In 2025 we finally made it happen, and this is the copy that blew our minds.

Our Review from 20 Years Ago

This original Stax LP has AMAZING sound. You could not make this record sound any better. We really liked the Sundazed copy of this record until we heard this bad boy.

It MURDERS the Sundazed! It has more life, energy and natural presence.

We always suspected that a good original pressing would be better than the Sundazed but we had no way of knowing since all the copies we ever saw were beat to death. This is the first clean copy of this record I’ve seen in 20 years.

The sound is RICH and FULL with lots of texture to the guitars. It’s very natural sounding and full-bodied.

One of the all time great electric blues albums — a Must Own for fans of the genre (more…)

Handel / The Water Music / Royal Fireworks / Szell / LSO

More of the music of George Frederick Handel (1685-1759)

The Royal Fireworks sound amazing on other copies I’ve heard of this album, the best I’ve heard. DEMONSTRATION QUALITY SOUND on Side 2. This copy should be the same.

UPDATE:

This was written 20 years ago, and now we know that that is not how records work! Still, if you see this record at a good price, pick it up and play side two.

This is an Older Classical/Orchestral Review

Most of the older reviews you see are for records that did not go through the shootout process, the revolutionary approach to finding better sounding pressings we started developing in the early 2000s and have since turned into a veritable science.

We found the records you see in these older listings by cleaning and playing a pressing or two of the album, which we then described and priced based on how good the sound and surfaces were. (For out Hot Stamper listings, the Sonic Grades and Vinyl Playgrades are listed separately.)

We were often wrong back in those days, something we have no reason to hide. Audio equipment and record cleaning technologies have come a long way since those darker days, a subject we discuss here.

Currently, 99% (or more!) of the records we sell are cleaned, then auditioned under rigorously controlled conditions, up against a number of other pressings. We award them sonic grades, and then condition check them for surface noise.

As you may imagine, this approach requires a great deal of time, effort and skill, which is why we currently have a highly trained staff of about ten. No individual or business without the aid of such a committed group could possibly dig as deep into the sound of records as we have, and it is unlikely that anyone besides us could ever come along to do the kind of work we do.

The term “Hot Stampers” gets thrown around a lot these days, but to us it means only one thing: a record that has been through the shootout process and found to be of exceptionally high quality.

The result of our labor is the hundreds of titles seen here, every one of which is unique and guaranteed to be the best sounding copy of the album you have ever heard or you get your money back.

Overtures and Dances with Reiner – Were We Wrong? Probably

Hot Stamper Pressings of TAS List Super Disc Albums

Reviews and Commentaries for TAS Super Disc Recordings

This is a very old commentary. Lately every copy of this record that we have auditioned has left us wondering: what is the appeal?

Take this review with a large grain of salt and don’t spend a lot of money on this title unless you can easily return it.

We don’t think it sounds very good, and rather than continue to buy more copies, we are going to give up and write it off as a lost cause, TAS List or no TAS List.

This RCA Pink Label TAS List LP plays Mint Minus. Side one of this record sounds AMAZING, especially the Dvorak piece.

Here are the comments for the copy we recently sold on the site:

Superb string tone. This is one record that deserves to be on the TAS list, and you have to give Harry credit for going against the audiophile tide and recognizing a cheap, thin pink VIC! Side one sounds incredible. I do not ever recall hearing sound like this on this Victrola. It’s demonstration quality sound.

Classic Records remastered this record not long ago and ruined it.

This is what it’s supposed to sound like. (more…)