Top Artists – Jeff Beck

Jeff Beck – Truth

More Jeff Beck

  • With superb Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them from start to finish, this reissue pressing of Beck’s debut LP is guaranteed to handily beat any other Truth you’ve heard
  • Easily – and by a wide margin – the best sounding record Jeff Beck ever made – thanks, Ken Scott!
  • This pressing embodies the “big rock sound” that we go crazy for here at Better Records (particularly on side one)
  • Really fun music – it’s a blast to hear Rod Stewart fronting such a heavy rock band
  • 5 stars: “…almost as groundbreaking and influential a record as the first Beatles, Rolling Stones, or Who albums.”

Vintage covers for this album are hard to find in clean shape. Most of them will have at least some amount of ringwear, seam wear and edge wear. We guarantee that the cover we supply with this Hot Stamper is at least VG, and it will probably be VG+. If you are picky about your covers please let us know in advance so that we can be sure we have a nice cover for you.

This is a seriously good sounding pressing of Truth, Beck’s As-Heavy-As-I-Can-Make-It Rock debut, the kind of record that would define Classic Rock for the next 40+ years.

The soundstage is huge, while the presence and transparency of this copy go way beyond most pressings. Great rock and roll energy, too, of course — without that you have nothing on this album.

Note how spacious, big, full-bodied and dynamic both sides are. I am pleased to report that the WHOMP factor on these sides was nothing short of massive. With tons of bass, these sides have what it takes to make the music rock.

If you’ve got the full range dynamic speakers to play Truth good and loud, you will discover, as we have, what a powerful British Blues Rock album this is. This is heavy electric blues played with feeling, and with Rod Stewart handling the vocal duties, how can you go wrong?

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Jeff Beck – Blow by Blow

More Jazz Fusion

  • Beck’s 1975 release, here with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from first note to last
  • These are just a few of the things we had to say about this incredible copy in our notes: “bass fully extended down low”…”tubey and 3D”…”great energy”…”jumping out of the speakers”…”focused and transparent and spacious”
  • These sides are doing practically everything right — they’re clean, clear and open with lots of space around the players, and plenty of rich, bottom end weight
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Blow by Blow signaled a new creative peak for Beck, and it proved to be a difficult act to follow. It is a testament to the power of effective collaboration and, given the circumstances, Beck clearly rose to the occasion. In addition to being a personal milestone, Blow by Blow ranks as one of the premiere recordings in the canon of instrumental rock music.”

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Jeff Beck – Wired

More Jeff Beck

More Jazz Fusion

  • You’ll find seriously good Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides of this vintage copy of Beck’s sophomore solo effort (one of only a handful to hit the site in eleven months) – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Big and full with a punchy bottom end and driving jazz/rock energy, here are the elements critical to the better sounding copies
  • Wired, the sequel to the hugely successful Blow by Blow, was produced by Sir George Martin and mixed by Geoff Emerick
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Within a two-year span, the twin towers Blow by Blow and Wired set a standard for instrumental rock that even Beck has found difficult to match. On Wired, with first-rate material and collaborators on hand, one of rock’s most compelling guitarists is in top form.”
  • If you’re a Jeff Beck fan, or perhaps more a fan of mid-70s Jazz Fusion, this title from 1976 is surely a Must Own

Copies with the most bass, the richest lower midrange and the most extension up top (to keep the upper midrange from becoming too hard and shrill) did the best in our shootout, assuming they weren’t veiled or smeary of course.

So many things can go wrong on a record. We know, we heard them all. We’re glad to report this copy was doing just about everything right, hence the high Hot Stamper grades. (more…)

Side Two of Truth Tends to Sound Better than Side One

More of the Music of Jeff Beck

What to Listen For – Side to Side Differences

An interesting bit of trivia: many side twos earned a sonic grade that was a full plus higher than any given copy’s grade for side one. A half plus higher was quite common too.

Side two most of the time just plain sounds better than side one, so when evaluating your copy be sure to check side two first to hear what is probably going to be the best sound on the album. 

In many ways it sounds like the first Zep album, and that’s a good thing. The sound is a perfect fit for the music. In recent interviews Jeff Beck has been saying that Jimmy Page stole his idea for a Heavy Rock Band playing electrified blues. Based on the evidence found on the two sides of this very album I would say he has a point.

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Letter of the Week – “The sound on Goodbye Pork Pie Hat is to die for.”

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

Hey Tom, 

Another WINNER. Just spun my latest purchase from you folks, Jeff Beck’s “Wired,” and it’s KILLER. The sound on Goodbye Pork Pie Hat is to die for. THANK YOU guys, for always coming through with THE best sounding LPs. I now have two dozen of “your” albums in my collection – owning their own special shelf – and they continue to occupy not just a special place on my Well-Tempered Amadeus GT, but in my heart. 🙂 

Steven

Further Reading

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Like Truth here.

The soundstage is absolutely HUGE, while the presence and transparency of this copy go way beyond most pressings. Great rock and roll energy too of course — without that you have nothing on this album.

Note how spacious, big, full-bodied and DYNAMIC side one is. That’s why it’s White Hot. I am pleased to report that the whomp factor on this side was nothing short of MASSIVE. With tons of bass this side has what it takes to make the music ROCK.

One of the most surprising things we learned in our first big shootout from 2014 was how well recorded the album is. It’s yet another triumph from one of our favorite engineers, Ken Scott.

In many ways it sounds like the first Zep album, and that’s a good thing. The sound is a perfect fit for the music. In recent interviews Jeff Beck has been saying that Jimmy Page stole his idea for a Heavy Rock Band playing electrified blues. Based on the evidence found on the two sides of this very album I would say he has a point.