Best on Earlier Vintage Vinyl

This record will sound its best on the right early pressing.

The Pentangle – Solomon’s Seal

More British Folk Rock

  • With solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER from top to bottom, this original British Reprise pressing is doing most everything right – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Big, rich, energetic, with an abundance of Analog Tubey Magic, this UK copy has exactly the right sound for this music
  • Surprisingly rich and smooth, with excellent bass and the kind of breathy immediacy to the vocals that only vintage vinyl can offer

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Massenet / Le Cid Ballet Music / Fremaux

More Classical and Orchestral Recordings

  • This shockingly well-recorded orchestral recording on vintage British EMI vinyl boasts INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from first note to last
  • A tough shootout, as no other copy earned a 3+ grade on either side, which simply means that when you find a top copy, it sets such a high standard that everything else ends up getting marked down
  • Big and lively, with an extended top, rosiny texture to the strings, and lower strings that are rich and vibrant in the best tradition of vintage Deccas and RCAs
  • A Demo Disc of real power with huge size and scope – it’s smooth and natural, which means you can really turn it up if you want that front row center seat
  • Let’s give credit where credit is due – Stuart Eltham is an immensely talented recording engineer and this is unquestionably some of his finest work
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • This orchestral spectacular should be part of any serious classical collection –others that belong in that category can be found here
  • For those interested in our reviews for the many others pressings of Le Cid we’ve auditioned, please click here.

This is a record that clearly belongs on a Super Disc list; if Harry hadn’t already put it there we certainly would have. (We would love to compile a Super Disc list of our own, but unless you have just the right copy of whatever title you find on the list, you may not have anything like Super Disc sound quality, so why a list at all? It creates more problems for audiophiles than it solves.)

Both sides of this TAS List disc contain audiophile Must Own Demonstration pieces, full of Tubey Magic, powerful dynamics, real depth, lifelike ambience, and uncannily accurate instrumental timbres, especially from the woodwinds. Add explosive dynamics and deep bass and you have yourself a genuine audiophile recording.

The sound is so rich you will not believe you are listening to an EMI. If more EMI records sounded like this we would be putting them on the site left and right. Unfortunately, in our experience the majority are thin, shrill and vague. Not so here!

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Simple Minds – Sparkle in the Rain

More Rock and Pop

  • An original UK Virgin import pressing with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them from start to finish
  • This British pressing is huge, spacious and rich, with prodigious amounts of bass, guaranteed to sound better than any other copy you’ve heard (particularly on side two)
  • “For Sparkle in the Rain, [the band] sought U2 producer Steve Lillywhite, whose approach helped shape their performances into a forceful, direct set of commercial rock designed to shake nosebleed seats. [T]he move worked.”

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The Weavers – At Home

More Folk, Rock and Pop

  • The Weavers At Home appears on the site for only the second time ever, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides
  • The sound throughout this original Stereo Vanguard pressing is rich, full-bodied, lively, and warm, with breathy, clear vocals
  • Remarkably present, real and resolving, this pressing is guaranteed to murder any remastering undertaken by anyone – past, present and future
  • Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • The mono pressings we played on the early Red Label were passable, even good on some sides, but they are very unlikely to ever win a shootout, so for that reason it is doubtful that we will bother with them in the future. This is a stereo recording from 1959 and it’s clear to us that it will sound better in stereo

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Bryan Ferry – Bete Noire

More of the Music of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music

  • Bete Noire returns to the site for the first time in years, here with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them throughout this early Reprise pressing
  • Both sides of this hit-packed 1987 Ferry LP are big, rich and tubey – dramatically fuller than practically all of the others we played
  • “Kiss & Tell” and “The Right Stuff” are two of the bigger bangers here, and they both sound the way they should – big and clear
  • 4 stars: “Bete Noire sparkles as the highlight of Ferry’s post-Roxy solo career… Here, his trademark well-polished heartache strikes a fine balance between mysterious moodiness and dancefloor energy…”

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Charlie Byrd – Hollywood Byrd

More of the Music of Charlie Byrd

  • Hollywood Byrd appears on the site for only the second time ever, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them throughout this original Stereo 360 pressing
  • Forget the later pressings — none of them can compete with the right originals on this title
  • This side one is remarkably transparent, rich, spacious, sweet and tubey, and side two is not far behind in all those areas
  • Columbia records produced by Teo Macero in the 60s have consistently open, natural sound – this one recorded in 67 is no exception (particularly on side oine)

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Miles Davis – Filles de Kilimanjaro

More of the Music of Miles Davis

  • With KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades on both sides, this copy is certainly as good as we have ever heard
  • A tough shootout, as no other copy earned a 3+ grade on either side, which simply means that when you find a top copy, it sets such a high standard that everything else ends up getting marked down
  • This Columbia 360 Label LP boasts rich, full-bodied, clear sound with the space and three-dimensionality that was difficult to find on the later pressings we played
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… this middle ground between the adventurous bop of the mid-60s and the fusion of the late-60s is rewarding in its own right, since it’s possible to hear great musicians find the foundation of a new form. For that alone, Filles de Kilimanjaro is necessary listening.”

This is one of the all-time classic progressive jazz albums, and a copy like this allows you to appreciate the contributions of Miles and his top-notch band (Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams and the great Ron Carter on most of the songs). This one’s not as “out there” as Bitches Brew, but it gives you a taste of the various directions these guys would take in the years to come.

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Free – Self-Titled

More Rock Classics

  • Free’s sophomore release, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER throughout this British Pink Rim reissue Island pressing
  • The sound is big, rich, and spacious, with an abundance of hard rockin’ energy and a solid bottom end
  • A record we have been trying to get going for five years – copies in clean condition take us years to find!
  • Only the right UK pressings had the Tubey Magical British Blues Rock sound we were looking for – the domestic pressings are made from dubs, something that A&M did most of the time for the British bands they distributed
  • Forget whatever dead-as-a-doornail Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – if you want to hear the Tubey Magic, size and energy of the master tape, a vintage UK pressing like this one is the only way to go
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… an album that stands alongside its predecessor as a benchmark of British blues at the turn of the 1960s.”

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Roxy Music – Viva! Roxy Music

More of the Music of Roxy Music

  • Both sides of this original UK Island pressing (the first copy to ever hit the site) were doing everything right, earning INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades from top to bottom – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • This is an album I have been playing regularly lately and it has really grown on me over the last couple of years – a truly fine album that rewards repeated plays, as should any classic release from this incredible band
  • A tough shootout, as no other copy earned a 3+ grade on either side, which simply means that when you find a top copy, it sets such a high standard that everything else ends up falling short of the standard and must be marked down accordingly
  • Guaranteed to be a huge improvement over anything you’ve heard, this Brit is big, punchy, and full-bodied – Bryan Ferry’s leads really soar
  • A killer pressing with energy and presence that positively JUMPS out of the speakers, two of the qualities that we prize most highly in our Hot Stampers, and two of things among many that Heavy Vinyl does so poorly
  • “…Viva! is a tough, powerful document of Roxy at the peak of their live powers, featuring a fine cross-section of their best work.”

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Aretha Franklin – Spirit In The Dark


  • You’ll find outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER throughout this vintage Atlantic pressing
  • It’s lively, open, present and natural; the soundfield is big and spacious and the bottom end is killer; Aretha fans, you won’t want to miss out on this one
  • We’ve done a ton of Aretha shootouts over the years and I’d put this one right up there with any of her titles for top quality sound
  • Our last shootout was 2020 — we simply cannot find copies of albums like these with audiophile quality surfaces, and the future does not appear to be any brighter in that respect than the present
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Spirit in the Dark was one of Aretha Franklin’s more overlooked albums from her Atlantic prime, despite the inclusion of a couple hit singles (the title track and “Don’t Play That Song”)… it’s an exuberant and remarkably consistent effort.”

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