Noisy – often

Here are the roughly two hundred titles that have turned out to be the most difficult to find with top quality sound and acceptable surfaces.

They are most likely to sound their best on a properly set up, very high quality front end sporting an exceptionally quiet cartridge which has been dialed in to a “T.”

Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark

More of the Music of Joni Mitchell 

  • With STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them on both sides, this early Asylum pressing is guaranteed to blow the doors off any other Court and Spark you’ve heard
  • The sound is rich, warm and natural, with wonderful transparency, ambience and loads of Tubey Magic
  • Musically this is one of our favorite Joni albums here at Better Records, and probably her Best Recording as well
  • A proud member (along with Blue) of our Top 100 Rock and Pop albums – yes, it’s that good sounding when it’s mastered and pressed as well as this copy is
  • It takes us about two years to get a shootout for this album going, mostly because the Asylum vinyl of the day is a problem, and also because this album is so good it tended to get played a lot
  • 5 stars: “[A] remarkably deft fusion of folk, pop, and jazz … the music is smart, smooth, and assured from the first note to the last.”
  • If I were to compile a list of my favorite rock and pop albums from 1974, this album would definitely be on it

Court and Spark deserves to be heard with all the clarity, beauty and power that our Hot Stampers reproduce so well. If there is a better sounding album with Joni Mitchell’s name on the cover, you’ll have to prove it to us.

What you hear is the sound of the real tape; every instrument has its own character because the mastering is correct and the vinyl — against all odds — managed to capture all (or almost all; who can know?) of the resolution that the tape had to offer. (more…)

The Carpenters – Close To You

More of the Music of The Carpenters

  • With two KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides or close to them, you’ll have a hard time finding a copy that sounds remotely as good as this vintage A&M pressing
  • A very hard album to find in audiophile playing condition – we must look at ten for every one we pick up
  • Here is the classic A&M sound we love – big, rich and Tubey Magical
  • On this copy you will find a healthy amount of the two qualities crucial to the sound of The Carpenters’ music: present and breathy vocals
  • “We’ve Only Just Begun” and “Close to You” are two of the better tracks here; perhaps you’re familiar with them?
  • 4 stars: “Close to You is a surprisingly strong album, and not just for those hits. Richard Carpenter’s originals ‘Maybe It’s You’ and ‘Crescent Noon’ are superb showcases for Karen Carpenter’s developing talent, the latter a superbly atmospheric, hauntingly beautiful art song of the kind that Judy Collins was doing well at the time, and gorgeously arranged.”

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Carole King – Music

More Singer-Songwriter Albums

  • An early Ode pressing with excellent Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish
  • The vocals are present and breathy, the piano and bass clear, not smeary or murky – this one was doing just about everything right
  • We had been thinking that Tapestry was the tough nut to crack in her catalog but it’s not even a contest – this one is five times as hard
  • We don’t imagine we’ll be tracking down too many copies of this so get it while you can!
  • 4 stars: “… time has shown this album to be one of her finest… her songwriting is still in peak form, and there are many highlights including ‘It’s Gonna Take Some Time’ (also made into a hit by the Carpenters) and ‘Song of Long Ago’ (with backing vocals by James Taylor).”

Superb sound on both sides for this, shall we say, “problematical” recording. Perhaps “challenging” is a better term. Either way, finding good sounding copies of this album is a real pain. Most pressings are shockingly bad.

So many copies were murky, smeary, and veiled that we considered giving up. Fortunately, there were a few copies that shone brightly above the rest and this copy is one of them!

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Paul Desmond – Desmond Blue

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Saxophone

  • Paul Desmond’s phenomenal 1962 release, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides
  • This is vintage Sixties Living Stereo sound at its best – big, rich and Tubey Magical like you will not believe
  • A “highly innovative and meticulously crafted work,” this collection is brimming with delightful jazz classics, including “My Funny Valentine,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” and “Body and Soul”
  • 4 stars: “… lush, reflective, thought-provoking, and soul-stirring. This work is quite a plus for any listener and especially those who consider themselves avid fans of Paul Desmond.”

Need a refresher course in Tubey Magic after playing too many modern recordings or remasterings? These original Living Stereo pressings are overflowing with it. Rich, smooth, sweet, full of ambience, dead-on correct tonality — everything that we listen for in a great record is here. (more…)

Jefferson Airplane – Crown of Creation

More of the Music of Jefferson Aircraft

  • Crown of Creation is back on the site after a four and a half year hiatus, here with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them on both sides
  • This may actually be their most well recorded album from the 60s – it’s rich, smooth, sweet, open, natural, and very analog sounding
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more presence and energy on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true if you made the mistake of buying some Heavy Vinyl LP
  • “The album captured the group’s rapidly evolving, very heavy live sound within the confines of some fairly traditional song structures, and left ample room for Slick and Marty Balin to express themselves vocally, with Balin turning in one of his most heartfelt and moving performances…”

This is not an easy album to find good sound for, and finding a copy with this kind of richness and transparency is nearly impossible. If you’re a fan, you’ll be hard pressed to do any better than this one.

We played a pile of these recently, and let me tell you — it is tough sledding finding good sounding copies of this one that play quietly. Of course, it didn’t surprise us too much having been through a number of shootouts for Surrealistic Pillow, but it was frustrating just the same.

The sound of the recording itself varies quite a bit from track to track, with songs like Lather sounding amazing but other tracks not so much. These crazy San Francisco hippies were high as a kite and running around with the Grateful Dead, so I’m guessing that getting audiophile quality sound onto vinyl was pretty far down their list of turn-ons. Still, they managed to produce an album with sonic qualities that should appeal to most audiophiles. (more…)

The Pentangle – Self-Titled

More British Folk Rock

  • The Pentangle’s Masterpiece returns to the site for the first time in years, here with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades on both sides of this early UK Transatlantic pressing – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • The unprocessed quality found throughout the album has its audiophile credentials fully in order, especially in the area of guitar harmonics, as well as drums that sound like real drums actually sound
  • The true foundation of the music is provided by two legendary guitar heavyweights, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, with Jacqui McShee’s almost unbearably sweet vocals soaring above them
  • This is one of the Holy Grail titles we have been trying to find on Transatlantic UK vinyl in clean condition for more than a decade, with almost nothing to show for our efforts until now
  • We can find Pentangling — they made a lot of those and for a compilation they sound great on the best pressings
  • But this record is in an entirely different league altogether — I suspect it will be many years before we can do it again
  • “It is one of the best albums one will ever hear, and as the liner notes say, ‘Play this record to those you love.'” – Rolling Stone

This is an honest-to-goodness Demo Disc. When for a (thankfully) brief time back in the 70s I was selling audio equipment, the song “Pentangling” was a favorite demo cut to play in the store. The sound of the string bass and snare drum are amazingly natural; I don’t know of any other pop album from the era that presents the vibrant timbre of those two instruments better.

This record easily qualifies for our Top 100 List, it’s that good (but unfortunately too rare to make the cut).

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Dick Schory – Music for Bang, Baaroom and Harp

Living Stereo Titles Available Now

  • Stunning Living Stereo sound through this original pressing, with both sides earning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades, just shy of our Shootout Winner – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • It’s a real treat to hear such a crazy assortment of percussion instruments with this kind of amazingly clear, high-resolution sound!
  • This copy was just plain bigger, richer and clearer than practically all others in our recent shootout
  • It also helps that both of these sides are in correct polarity, a subject you can read about on the blog if you would like to know more
  • If you’re a fan of percussion extravaganzas, this Living Stereo from 1958 is about as good as it gets

The hottest stamper pressings of this album are Demo Discs for three important qualities we listen for in our record auditions. Each of the links below will take you to other recordings we have found to be potentially superior in these areas of reproduction.

  1. Size and space,
  2. Correct timbre and
  3. Tubey Magic.

Harry Pearson put this record on his TAS List of Super Discs, and rightfully so. It certainly can be a Super Disc, but only when you have the right pressing. This is one of the Demo Discs on the TAS List which truly deserves its status when, and only when, you have the right copy. (The typical copy is quite good, but it sure doesn’t sound like this.) Nothing else in our shootout could touch it. And it’s IN PHASE. Many copies are not.

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Dire Straits – Love Over Gold

More of the Music of Dire Straits

  • A Love Over Gold like you’ve never heard, with solid Double Plus (A++) grades from top to bottom
  • Quiet vinyl for this album too – owing to the fact that there are so many quiet passages, it is the rare vintage pressing that can play quiet enough to earn even our Mint Minus Minus grade
  • The open, spacious soundstage, full-bodied tonality and Tubey Magic here are obvious for all to hear on these TAS-approved sides – huge, punchy, lively and rockin’ throughout
  • This Hot Stamper is far more natural than any other pressing you’ve heard – we guarantee it
  • “Certainly a quantum leap from the organic R&B impressionism of the band’s early LPs and the gripping short stories of Making Movies, Love Over Gold is an ambitious, sometimes difficult record that is exhilarating in its successes and, at the very least, fascinating in its indulgences.” – Rolling Stone

This modern album (from 1982, which makes it 40+ years old, but that’s modern in our world) can sound surprisingly good on the right pressing. On most copies, the highs are slightly grainy and can be harsh, not exactly the kind of sound that inspires you to turn your system up good and loud and really get involved in the music. I’m happy to report that both sides here have no such problem – they rock and they sound great loud.

We pick up every clean copy we see of this album, domestic or import, because we know from experience just how good the best pressings can sound. What do the best copies have? REAL dynamics for one. And with those dynamics, you need rock solid bass. Otherwise, the loud portions simply become irritating. (more…)

Badfinger – Straight Up Is Back!

More Classic Rock

  • With outstanding Double Plus (A++) grades from top to bottom, this early Apple pressing is guaranteed to blow the doors off any other Straight Up you’ve heard
  • The sound here just jumps out of the speakers, which is exactly what the better copies of the album are supposed to (but rarely) do
  • If you like your Rock and Pop with minimal audio processing and the most natural, raw and real sound, the hottest of the Hot Stamper pressings we offer will sound exactly the way you want them to
  • If you’re a fan of the band – or Power Pop in general – this is the Straight Up you’ve been waiting for
  • Straight Up is one of the hardest albums to find with audiophile-quality playing surfaces (as these sides can attest to), which is the main reason our last shootout was more than ten years ago (!)
  • Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs, but once you hear just how superb sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and pops and just be swept away by the music
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…Here, there’s absolutely no filler and everybody is in top form. Pete Ham’s ‘Baby Blue’ is textbook power-pop — irresistibly catchy fuzz riffs and sighing melodies — and with its Harrison-esque slide guitars, ‘Day After Day’ is so gorgeous it practically aches. ‘Perfection’ is an unheralded gem, while ‘Name of the Game’ and ‘Take It All’ are note-perfect pop ballads.”
  • If I had to compile a list of my Favorite Rock and Pop Albums from 1971, this album would definitely be on it

This is Power Pop, plain and simple. The basics are what count: punchy drums, grungy guitars, present vocals, clear but full bass lines — just the meat and potatoes of rock, no fancy sauces.

For this music to work, all the elements need to be in balance, with correct timbre for the relatively few instruments that make up the arrangements.

Opacity, smear or grit instantly destroy the whole point of having a straightforward production, which is to be able to have all the parts laid out cleanly and clearly.

The idea is to get the production out of the way and just let the music speak for itself.

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Brahms – 16 Hungarian Dances / Dorati

More of the Music of Brahms

  • Dorati and the LSO’s dynamic performance of these 16 Hungarian Dances debuts on the site with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout this early Mercury pressing
  • These sides are doing everything right – they’re rich, clear, undistorted, open, spacious, and have depth and transparency to rival the best recordings you may have heard
  • You’d be hard-pressed to find a copy that’s this well balanced, yet so big and lively, with such wonderful clarity in the mids and highs
  • This title is almost always noisy, which is why you will rarely find it for sale on our site

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