Top Artists – America

America – Harbor

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  • Insanely good sound for this Warner Brothers pressing from 1977 with both sides earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or very close to them; the first copy to ever hit the site!
  • These sides are doing everything right — clean, clear, full-bodied and dynamic with a tight punchy bottom end 
  • Exceptionally quiet vinyl throughout — Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus
  • Produced by George Martin and engineered by Geoff Emerick, this is the last America album to feature Dan Peek before he took off for a career as a solo Christian musician; while it’s less folky (and less popular) than their earlier work, there’s still plenty of great songs here

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America – History: America’s Greatest Hits – Our Shootout Winner from 2008

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A distinguished member of the Better Records Rock and Pop Hall of Fame. 

THE BIG SOUND on both sides lets this Greatest Hits compilation hold its own against the originals. Side One has amazing CLARITY and PRESENCE, which is especially noticeable on the vocals. Side Two has plenty of bottom end that drives these songs with energy and life. Listen for the bells on ‘Tin Man’; they have the correct transients and harmonics. You never quite get back all of the tubey magic of the originals, but the detail and richness are enough to make you fall in love with this high quality George Martin (re) production.

Is That A Master Tape In Your Pocket… ?

If we didn’t know better we’d say this had Master Tape Sound, something we wouldn’t normally say about a compilation album. But wait just a minute — it IS Master Tape Sound! George Martin remixed the original multitracks, creating a new master mix in the process. The double tracked vocals on ‘Ventura Highway’ are an obvious indicator of the difference between this and the original. The separation of the instruments is astonishing. You wouldn’t expect a greatest hits record to have such textured, clear transients, but here they are, along with naturally sweet highs and nice tight bass, tighter than the originals in fact. Every cymbal crash and hi-hat hit sounds clear, free of the usual smear found on this type of compilation.

Remixed By The Man Himself

This album of gems is not your mama’s greatest hits record. Gone is the sub-generation sound of your typical hits comp. This record wasn’t made from a dub — the (new) master tape was definitely threaded up for this baby.

Letter of the Week – America and Eagles

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently:

Hey Tom, 

I want to tell you I bought America’s 1st lp from you some couple of years back. White Hot designation at that time. I don’t know if you have found one better since then. Paid big dollars and I still cannot believe the sound. Worth every penny. When I play that LP, I cannot avoid getting goose bumps or getting totally enveloped with the music. The guitars and vocals are flat out surreal. It is just as amazing as the Eagles 1st lp Hot Stamper. Un******believable that any record could sound that good.

Bill P. (more…)

America’s Greatest Hits

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  • An outstanding copy of America’s 1975 release with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish
  • Both sides have amazing clarity and presence, which is especially noticeable on the vocals
  • THE BIG SOUND on both sides lets this Greatest Hits compilation hold its own against the originals
  • “An essential collection for fans who like their ’70s folk with a pop sheen, loads of hooks, and top-drawer arrangements.”

THE BIG SOUND on both sides lets this Greatest Hits compilation hold its own against the originals. They have plenty of bottom end that drives these songs with energy and life. Listen for the bells on ‘Tin Man’; they have the correct transients and harmonics. You never quite get back all of the tubey magic of the originals, but the detail and richness are enough to make you fall in love with this high quality George Martin (re) production. 

Is That A Master Tape In Your Pocket… ?

If we didn’t know better we’d say this had Master Tape Sound, something we wouldn’t normally say about a compilation album. But wait just a minute — it IS Master Tape Sound! George Martin remixed the original multitracks, creating a new master mix in the process. The double tracked vocals on ‘Ventura Highway’ are an obvious indicator of the difference between this and the original. (more…)

America’s Debut – Our Shootout Winner from 2009

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A distinguished member of the Better Records Rock and Pop Hall of Fame. 

TUBEY MAGICAL practically MASTER TAPE SOUND on side one! A good sounding copy of this album is a real treat; a superb sounding copy like this one is an EXPERIENCE! We’ve been playing this album for years but I cannot recall a copy with a more extended top end than the ones here. The transparency is off the charts. Side one is natural, relaxed, musical, sweet, tonally correct from top to bottom and overflowing with Tubey Magic.

These green label Warner Brothers originals — like most records — are sonically all over the map. The biggest problem these pressings suffer from is a lack of extreme top to provide harmonics for the guitars. On the average copy the guitars are veiled and dull.

Equally problematic is smear, the loss of transient information. The best copies have guitars that are being played by fingers, with the subtle plucking of same naturally followed by the note produced. So many copies just present you with the note. You don’t really notice what’s missing until you hear a good pressing and suddenly you are aware of the players and their fingers making these sounds. This is one of the main qualities that we listened for to separate the winners from the also-rans. (more…)

Listening for Harmonically Correct Acoustic Guitars on America’s Debut

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Another in our series of Home Audio Exercises.

The guitars on this record are a true test of stereo fidelity. As it says below, most of the pressings of this record do not get the guitars to sound right. They often sound veiled and dull, and on a copy with a bit too much top end they will have an unnatural hi-fi-ish sparkle.

(This kind of sparkle can be heard on practically every record Mobile Fidelity made in the ’70s and ’80s. Tea for the Tillerman, Sundown, Year of the Cat, Finger Paintings, Byrd at the Gate, Quarter Moon in a 10 Cent Town — the list would be very long indeed, and these are just the records with prominent acoustic guitars!) 

The key song on side one that we use to test is Three Roses. There are three sonically-separated individuals each playing six string acoustic guitars, and when this side is cut right the guitars sound just gorgeous: sweet, with all their harmonic structures intact. (It’s also my favorite song on side one.) (more…)

America’s Phenomenal Debut on a Phenomenally Good Sounding Pressing

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  • An incredible sounding copy with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or very close to it on both sides
  • One of our favorite Hippie Folk Rock albums – the instruments and voices seem to be right in your listening room
  • The Tubey Magical acoustic guitars on this record are a true test of stereo reproduction – thanks Ken Scott!
  • “America’s debut album is a folk-pop classic, a stellar collection of memorable songs that would prove influential on such acts as the Eagles and Dan Fogelberg…”

This is clearly America’s best album, and on the better pressings like this one the sound is worthy of Demo Disc status. You’ll find the kind of immediacy, richness and harmonic texture that not many records (and even fewer CDs) are capable of reproducing.

The version we are offering here has the song A Horse With No Name. Some copies without that song can sound very good as well, but with grades these good this copy is going to be very hard to beat.

Interestingly A Horse With No Name never sounds quite as good as the rest of the album. It was recorded after the album came out in 1971 and added to later pressings starting in 1972. Unlike the rest of the album, it was not engineered by Ken Scott at Trident, but by a different engineer at Morgan Studios. (more…)

America – Homecoming – Their Second Best Album

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  • An outstanding copy of America’s second album, boasting Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER on both sides
  • This is a simply wonderful Green Label original pressing – big and rich with excellent transparency and breathy vocals
  • Some of the most tubey, warm acoustic guitar reproduction you could ever ask for – this is the sound of real analog!
  • Ventura Highway sounds amazing here, as does everything else; it’s a Demo Disc for acoustic guitars and vocals

The guitars on this record are a true test of stereo reproduction quality. Most of the pressings of this record do not get the guitars to sound right. And when the guitars are perfection, the voices and all the other instruments are right as well. Let’s face it: they just don’t know how to make acoustic guitars sound like this anymore. You have to go back to 40+ year old records like this one to find that sound.  

Warner Brothers Green Labels

Green label Warner Brothers originals are sonically all over the map. The biggest problem these pressings suffer from is a lack of extreme top end to provide harmonics for the guitars. The guitars on this copy sound just right, really sweet and open. On the average copy, they sound veiled and dull. (more…)