Import=Best

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…)

Dire Straits / Alchemy: Dire Straits Live

More of the Music of Dire Straits

  • An Alchemy like you’ve never heard, with solid Double Plus (A++) sound on all FOUR sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • The overall sonics here are big, rich and musical with great space and energy – just right for a live album
  • Stick with the imports on this title, even though the domestic pressings were originally mastered by Robert Ludwig – he didn’t have the real tapes, and that makes all the difference in the world
  • “The arena-size crowd cheers wildly, and claps and sings along when given half a chance, as though each song were an up-tempo rocker… That Dire Straits’ introspective music loses much of its detail in a live setting matters less than that it gains presence and a sense of anticipation.”

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Elton John – Too Low For Zero

More Elton John

  • You’ll find KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides of this early British import LP – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • There’s real Tubey Magic on this album, along with breathy vocals and plenty of rock and roll energy
  • “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues” – the best song Elton’s done in the last 35 years – is the best reason to own the album
  • One of engineer Bill Price‘s best efforts behind the boards in the ’80s, and Chris Thomas’s production is State of the Art as usual
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Happily, this is a reunion that works like gangbusters, capturing everybody at a near-peak of their form.”
  • If you’re an Elton John fan, and what audiophile wouldn’t be?, this title from 1983 is surely a Must Own

Much of the production – the smooth, sweet harmony vocals, the rich, grungy guitars, the solid, warm piano – reminds me of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, one of the classics from back in the day when Gus Dudgeon was running the show.

Caribou (1974) and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975) have a similarly glossy, perfectionist approach to production as well. It was 1975’s Rock of the Westies that went off in another direction.

The next six albums, from Blue Moves to Jump Up, at least to these ears, don’t sound good enough or have the kind of consistently high-quality material that was the hallmark of the six albums recorded from 1970 to 1973. Four of those are in our Top 100 Rock and Pop album list, and all four are Must Owns in my book. Pop music just doesn’t get any better.

So if Too Low For Zero reminds us in any way of those albums, especially in the songwriting department now that Bernie Taupin has rejoined team Elton after a too-long hiatus, that is all to the good.

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Cream – Wheels Of Fire

More of the Music of Cream

  • Cream rocks on these vintage UK import pressings with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on sides one and two, and solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it on sides three and four
  • The power and energy of these live sides is off the charts — punchy, open, and spacious with bass and WHOMP you have never experienced for this music, guaranteed (particularly on side three)
  • Everything you’d want sonically from a live Cream recording is present on this copy – big-time presence, an abundance of life, tonal correctness, and loads of Tubey Magic (also particularly on side three)
  • Those of you looking for a White Hot copy with Triple Plus (A+++) sound on both the studio disc and the live disc will be disappointed to learn (as we were) that no such copy came out of our most recent shootout, making this one of the best copies we can offer this time around
  • 4 stars: “…[Eric] Clapton is at a peak here, whether he’s tearing off solos on a 17-minute ‘Spoonful’ or goosing ‘White Room’ toward the heights of madness. But it’s the architect of ‘White Room,’ bassist Jack Bruce, who, along with his collaborator Peter Brown, reaches a peak as a songwriter…. [I]n many ways Wheels of Fire is indeed filled with Cream’s very best work.
  • If you’re a fan of Clapton and the band, this RSO UK import from 1968 belongs in your collection.

It’s exceptionally difficult to find even decent sounding copies of this album. We’ve played SCORES of original domestic copies, original imports, and all kinds of reissues over the years, and it’s very rare to find a copy that sounds this good on all four sides. (more…)

Shostakovich / Symphony No. 5 – Kertesz

More of the Music of Dmitri Shostakovich

  • This stunning classical release returns to the site after a four year hiatus, here with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them on both sides of this early London UK pressing
  • It’s also impossibly quiet at Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus, a grade that practically none of our vintage classical titles – even the most well-cared-for ones – ever play at
  • The sound of the orchestra is dramatically richer and sweeter than you will hear on practically all other pressings – what else would you expect from Decca’s engineers and the Suisse Romande?
  • The sonics here are glorious, full of all of the qualities that make listening to classical music in analog so involving
  • The RCA with Mitchell has a bit more of the vintage Living Stereo Tubey Magical sound from back in the day compared to this London with Kertesz, which, although a bit more modern, is every bit as good, maybe better depending on the system playing it and the preferences of the listener

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Richard & Linda Thompson / Sunnyvista

More of the Music of Richard Thompson

  • Boasting two solid Double Plus (A++) sides, this original UK Chrysalis pressing (one of only a handful of copies to hit the site in years) is doing just about everything right
  • None of the domestic copies we played were more than passable, and even worse, most of the Brit originals we played were almost as smeary, veiled and opaque
  • Both of these sides are simply bigger, more present, more energetic and just plain more fun than most others in our recent shootout
  • If you’re a fan, this is the only way we know of to hear this album sound the way it should
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…the wittiest and most joyous album Richard & Linda made together.”

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The Pretenders – Pretenders II

More of the Music of The Pretenders

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  • Seriously good sound throughout this vintage copy (the first to hit the site in over three years), with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER
  • The right original British pressings are an audiophile dream when they have this kind of punchy bass and pile-driving energy
  • Bill Price engineered and Chris Thomas produced, brilliantly of course – you know them from the Sex Pistols’ debut and The Clash’s London Calling
  • 4 stars: “What’s more the unique American voice of Hynde matched with the tribal beat of Martin Chambers and spangly guitar of Honeyman-Scott was as close to perfect as a band could get in the late 70s.”
  • If you’re a fan of these hard-rockin’ Brits (with an American frontwoman), this classic from 1981 surely belongs in your collection.
  • The complete list of titles from 1981 that we’ve reviewed to date can be found here.

If any of this commentary looks familiar there’s a simple explanation for that fact; it’s lifted practically wholesale from our listings for the first Pretenders album.

The two albums are twins, with the same engineer, the same producer, even the same band members, something that was regrettably and tragically to change soon enough. (more…)

The Beatles – Yellow Submarine

Hot Stamper Pressings of The Beatles Available Now

  • You’ll find stunning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades on both sides of this vintage UK copy – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • Without a doubt the hardest single side of any Beatles album to find with good sound is side two of Yellow Submarine, and here’s a copy that is practically as good as it gets
  • This pressing is clean, clear, solid and energetic – just the right sound for this classic Beatles music
  • The only place to find the all-time classic “Hey Bulldog,” as well as “All Together Now” and “It’s All Too Much”
  • “All You Need Is Love” debuted in a true stereo mix on LP for this album
  • Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – those on “Pepperland” are especially bad – but if you can tough those out, this copy is going to blow your mind

This is a very difficult album to find good sound for; many pressings are almost unbearably gritty and harsh. Fortunately, these two sides have no such problems. The overall tonality is rich and full-bodied, and there’s plenty of presence and energy as well.  (more…)

Kate Bush– Lionheart

More of the Music of Kate Bush

  • An original UK pressing of Kate’s sophomore LP (only the second copy to ever hit the site) with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from start to finish
  • We shot out a number of other imports and the midrange presence, bass, and dynamics on this outstanding copy placed it head and shoulders above most of the other pressings we played
  • Both of these sides are dramatically richer, fuller and more Tubey Magical than all others we played, with Kate’s exceptionally present and breathy vocals front and center where they belong

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Kate Bush – The Kick Inside

More Women Who Rock

  • A vintage copy of Kate’s debut LP with an INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side one
  • Forget the domestic pressings (with the different cover), forget all the lame reissues that have come or will come down the pike – if you want to hear this album right, a Hot Stamper British pressing is the only way to go
  • Our last shootout was over a year ago and we will not be in a hurry to do another one anytime soon – with so many incompetent “record dealers” in the game now, getting clean copies of Kate Bush’s albums across the pond was much more difficult and expensive than it should have been
  • Includes Bush’s hit “Wuthering Heights,” and a number of tracks written by this precocious artist at only 15
  • 4 stars: “… the sound of an impressionable and highly precocious teenager spreading her wings for the first time… a mightily impressive debut.”

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