TAS List Good

170+ reviews and commentaries for recordings currently or formerly on The Absolute Sound’s Super Disc List.

Keep in mind that the pressing we find worthy often does not match the pressing on their list.

Duke Ellington and Ray Brown – This One’s For Blanton

More of the Music of Duke Ellington

  • You’ll find solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them on both sides of this early Pablo pressing
  • This side one is remarkably dynamic, with an abundance of Tubey Magic and that big, bold sound we can’t get enough of here at Better Records, and side two is not far behind in all those areas
  • 4 stars: “For this set of duets, pianist Duke Ellington is teamed up with bassist Ray Brown in performances a bit reminiscent of Duke’s work with Jimmy Blanton three decades before. In addition to the four-part ‘Fragmented Suite for Piano and Bass,’ the duo plays five standards (including ‘Pitter Panther Patter’ from the Blanton days and three other Ellington-associated tunes). Delightful and often-playful music.”

(more…)

Joni Mitchell – Blue

More of the Music of Joni Mitchell

  • Boasting two solid Double Plus (A++) sides, this copy of Joni’s 1971 masterpiece is doing just about everything right – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Full-bodied and balanced with the kind of smooth musicality that’s not always easy to find for Blue
  • We lucked into this quiet copy during our most recent shootout, but in our experience that is something we would not expect to happen very often, but we’re glad it did in the case of this wonderful pressing
  • A Better Records Top 100 title that belongs in any audiophile music collection worthy of the name
  • 5 stars: “Sad, spare, and beautiful, Blue is the quintessential confessional singer/songwriter album. Forthright and poetic, Joni Mitchell’s songs are raw nerves, tales of love and loss (two words with relative meaning here) etched with stunning complexity…”
  • Everything changed for us in 2007 with the release of the Hoffman/Gray Rhino pressing of Blue, a record that made us ask ourselves, “Why are we selling records that we would not want to listen to ourselves?”
  • It was a kicked-by-a-mule moment for all of us here at Better Records, and I am glad to say one kick was all it took to loosen the rocks that had embedded themselves in my head

The best copies bring out the breathy quality to Joni’s voice, and she never sounds strained. They are sweet and open, with good bass foundation and transparency throughout the frequency range.

The best pressings (and our better playback equipment) have revealed nuances to this recording — and of course the performances of all the players along with it — that made us fall in love with the music all over again. Of all the tough nuts to crack, this was the toughest, yet somehow copies emerged from our shootouts that made it easy to appreciate the sonic merits of Blue and ignore its shortcomings.

Hot Stampers have a way of doing that. You forget it’s a record; it’s now just Music. The right record and the right playback will bring this music to life in a way that you cannot imagine until you hear it. That is our guarantee on Blue — better than you ever thought possible or your money back.

(more…)

Schumann and Grieg Piano Concertos / Lupu / Previn

More of the Music of Grieg

  • With solid Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last, this vintage London pressing of this wonderful classical Masterpiece is doing just about everything right
  • These sides boast full brass and an especially clear, solid, present piano, one with practically no trace of vintage analog tube smear
  • Dynamic, huge, lively, transparent and natural – with a record this good, your ability to suspend disbelief will require practically no effort at all
  • Back in the days when the TAS Super Disc list meant something, this record was on it and deservedly so
  • Our two favorite recordings of the Grieg Piano Concerto are this one and Rubinstein’s for RCA in 1962
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performances with the highest quality sound. This record is certainly deserving of a place on that list.

(more…)

Rachmaninoff – Symphonic Dances / Johanos

More of the Music of Rachmaninoff 

  • With solid Double Plus (A++) sound on both TAS-approved sides, this original Turquoise label pressing of this orchestral spectacular is doing just about everything right
  • It’s an extraordinary recording, and so wonderful on this pressing that after playing it, you may agree with us that few other classical Demo Discs are in its league
  • The bottom end of this record is powerful and solid like no other classical LP we’ve played in a very long time – this is the way to record tympani!
  • The sound is dynamic, lively and big – jumping out of the speakers and bringing the power and the vibrant colors of the symphony right into your listening room
  • Other orchestral recordings with powerful drums can be found here

(more…)

The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band

More of the Music of The Beatles

  • With two solid Double Plus (A++) sides, you’ll have a hard time finding a copy that sounds remotely as good as this vintage UK Parlophone LP – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Huge, spacious and detailed, with the Tubey Magic of a fresh tape, this is the way to hear Sgt. Pepper in all its analog glory, not remixed and not remastered (and ruined, of course)
  • Most pressings – especially the new ones – have nothing approaching the resolution, Tubey Magic, space and energy of this LP
  • A Better Records Top 100 – “It’s possible to argue that there are better Beatles albums, yet no album is as historically important as this.”
  • It’s hard to conceive of any list of the best rock and pop albums of 1967 that would not have this record on it, and there is a very good chance it would be perched right at the top of that list
  • Quite a few customers have written us letters telling us how much they enjoyed the Hot Stamper pressing of Sgt. Pepper we sent them

The sound here is so big and rich, so clear and transparent, that we would be very surprised, shocked even, if you’ve ever imagined that any pressing of Sgt. Pepper could sound this powerful and REAL. (more…)

Joni Mitchell – Hejira

More of the Music of Joni Mitchell

  • Outstanding sound throughout this vintage Asylum label pressing
  • Most copies we played were too compressed or veiled to involve you in the music, but this one has the big, rich, clear sound of analog at its best that Joni’s spacey “beatnik jazz” needs to work its magic
  • It’s richer and fuller than the average copy, with notably more presence, and that will be especially true when you compare it to whatever godawful Heavy Vinyl pressing may be currently available
  • “Joni Mitchell’s Hejira is the last in an astonishingly long run of top-notch studio albums dating back to her debut… Performances are excellent, with special kudos reserved for Jaco Pastorius’ melodic bass playing… This excellent album is a rewarding listen.”

We played a ton of copies and heard a lot to dislike. Many copies have a tendency to sound phony, a case of heavy-handed EQ in the mastering perhaps. When a copy sounds glossy, it loses its natural warmth and starts to sound like any old audiophile LP. We’re ideally looking for something akin to Blue here, and not the sound you find on Patricia Barber LPs. (Gratuitous maybe, but it feels like it’s been too long since we took a swipe at that junk. But I digress…)

Plenty of copies had natural sound but no real life or presence to speak of. It’s a sound you could live with until you heard a good one, but there’s no going back once you’ve heard what the album’s really capable of. A copy like this one gives you lots of richness and warmth without sacrificing the texture to the instruments or the breath to Joni’s voice. The percussion really comes through, the bass has more weight and the immediacy of the vocals put Joni front and center, just where she should be.

If you aren’t familiar with this album, it’s a few more steps down the path she started taking on Court and Spark. The musicians include Larry Carlton and Jaco Pastorius, so that should give you an idea about the jazz-fusion direction of the arrangements. It was a fun album to get to know and on a copy like this one, it really rewards multiple listens.

(more…)

Sibelius – Symphony No. 2 / Paray

More Mercury Classical Recordings

  • Paray and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s lively and dynamic performance debuts on the site with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout this early Maroon Label Mercury Stereo pressing of SR-90204
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • This spectacular recording is big, clear, rich, transparent and energetic – the bottom end is especially strong and dynamic
  • Here is the Mercury sound we love, sound that is not easy to find, regardless of what anyone else will tell you
  • Huge, immediate, and natural – with a record this good, your ability to suspend disbelief will require practically no effort at all

(more…)

Duke Ellington – Duke’s Big 4

More of the Music of Duke Ellington

  • A vintage Pablo pressing with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from first note to last
  • Both sides here are clean, clear, full-bodied and present with plenty of bottom end weight
  • “One of Duke Ellington’s finest small group sessions from his final decade… [his] percussive style always sounded modern and he comes up with consistently strong solos on such numbers as ‘Love You Madly,’ ‘The Hawk Talks’ and especially ‘Cotton Tail,’ easily keeping up with his younger sidemen. Highly recommended.”

It’s incredibly hard to find a Pablo recording of the Duke from this era that has such big, open, clear, solid sound. Val Valentin did the engineering, and as he has so often did the course of his storied career, he knocked it out of the park.

(more…)

Rachmaninoff – Symphony No. 2 / Previn

More of the Music of Sergei Rachmaninoff

  • Superb sound throughout this vintage British EMI pressing of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades
  • A long term resident of the TAS super disc list, and one I never realized was anything special until my stereo got a lot better about ten or fifteen years ago
  • This is a spectacular recording – it’s guaranteed to put to shame any Heavy Vinyl pressing of orchestral music you own
  • There are more than 175 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performances with the highest quality sound. This record is certainly deserving of a place on that list.
  • The vast majority of the best orchestral recordings we’ve played were made in the Golden Age of recording (50s & 60s), but that doesn’t mean that the 70s & 80s didn’t produce amazing discs as well, and you can find more than 20 of them here

(more…)

Joni Mitchell – Wild Things Run Fast

More of the Music of Joni Mitchell

  • This copy has Joni rockin’ like you will not believe, with excellent Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Her last great record – fortunately for us audiophiles, it’s spacious, open and powerful with present vocals and solid bass
  • A desert island disc for me and one of the few good reasons to listen to “new” music in the 80s
  • “On her first new studio album of original material in five years, Joni Mitchell achieved more of a balance between her pop abilities and her jazz aspirations, meanwhile rediscovering a more direct, emotional lyric approach. The result was her best album since the mid-70s.”
  • This is a Must Own album from 1982, one that deserves a place in any audiophile’s pop and rock section
  • We’ve recently compiled a list of records we think every audiophile should get to know better, along the lines of “the 1001 records you need to hear before you die,” with an accent on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life. Wild Things Run Fast is a good example of a record audiophiles may not know well but we think would benefit from getting to know better
(more…)