Top Artists – The Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane / After Bathing At Baxter’s – Our Shootout Winner from 2012

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Reviews and Commentaries for The Jefferson Airplane

This RCA pressing was a BIG step up from most copies we played. Most copies we’ve played are too lean down low, which takes a lot of the power out of this crazy psychedelic music. This one gives you more weight down low and good energy, which helps these songs sound the way The Airplane must have intended.

I’m not familiar with the Sundazed pressing, but I would be shocked if it was even in the ballpark with a Super Hot Stamper copy like this one. Is anyone seriously buying their records for sound quality these days? (more…)

Jefferson Airplane – 2400 Fulton Street

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Reviews and Commentaries for The Jefferson Airplane

The big selling point of this compilation is that practically all of Surrealistic Pillow is on it it. Any Hot Stamper pressing of that album we offer will clearly sound better. It will surely be priced at many hundreds of dollars. It’s a single disc. And there is no question it is going to be noisier.  

That’s if we can even find one! When was the last time you saw one on the site? It’s exceedingly rare to find one that’s not scratched, inner groove damaged or just plain worn out. We’re buying them all the time, but most end up going back to the sellers who mis-graded them (or can’t be bothered to play their records, even the ones that command high prices).

The sound here is big, open, rich and full, with the performers front and center (as well as left and right). The highs are extended and silky sweet. The bass is tight and punchy. And this copy gives you more life and energy than others by a long shot.

This 1987 compilation also has some of the midrange magic that’s no doubt missing from whatever 180g reissues have been made from the 50+ year old tapes. However good those pressings may be, we guarantee that this one is clearly more REAL SOUNDING. (more…)

Jefferson Airplane – Volunteers

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Reviews and Commentaries for The Jefferson Airplane

This original RCA Orange Label pressing boasts dramatically better sound than most pressings – this is a very good way to hear this notoriously problematical album. Featuring a host of stellar guest musicians, including Jerry Garcia, David Crosby, and Stephen Stills.

This will never be an audiophile Demo Disc, but the good copies sound much more “right” than most, and that is about the best one can hope for with Volunteers. We rarely do shootouts for the album because finding good sound and quiet surfaces is just too hard these days, what with every vintage pressing now being suddenly collectible according to every record store owner in Los Angeles. (more…)

Surrealistic Pillow – Our Shootout Winner from Way Back

More of the Music of the Jefferson Airplane

An OFF THE CHARTS side one with more tubey magic than you probably ever imagined.

We always have fun playing a great copy of the psychedelic 60s masterpiece, because the sound gives you so many of the qualities we love about good ol’ analog. No one’s recording albums any more with this kind of richness, sweetness, and warmth, that’s for sure.

Drop the needle on My Best Friend or Today to hear that trippy Sixties San Francisco sound at its best. 

This album is an exceedingly difficult nut to crack — no matter how many copies we have, no matter how much information we have to work with. Play the typical copy and you’ll likely run for cover — we heard played copies that were aggressive, shrill, lifeless, dull, thick, veiled, bass-shy — you name it, we heard it.

Not only that, but as a rule these early pressings are BEAT TO DEATH. Finding a copy that sounds any good and plays Mint Minus Minus or better is a real challenge.

But we didn’t give up. We knew that the best pressings of this album have tubey magic in spades. Undaunted, we kept up the search and eventually found some OUT OF THIS WORLD Hot Stamper copies.

Almost every pressing you’ll ever find suffers from at least a bit of harmonic distortion — some MUCH worse than others. We were convinced at one point that it was on the tapes, but after playing these super clean copies, we now know that not to be the case. (more…)

Surrealistic Pillow (Mono) – Sundazed Reviewed

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Reviews and Commentaries for the Jefferson Airplane

Sonic Grade: C-

Back around 2000, I spent a fair amount of time comparing this pressing with both an RCA 1S Black Label original, two different RCA Orange Label reissues, and the DCC 180 gram pressing. To make a long story short, if you’re willing to buy this record for the songs that really sound amazing on it, like “Today,” then you should consider trying one.

If you want the whole album to sound good, you have your work cut out for you. Hot Stampers in good condition for this record are incredibly hard to come by.

The right Black Label original RCA pressings are superb, but try to find a quiet one.

If you love this album as much as we do, you’ll understand why we went to all this trouble to find the best pressings. There is NO OTHER GAME IN TOWN for this album — the Sundazed Mono pressing can’t handle the rock songs, and I’ve never been a fan of the DCC.

Surrealistic Pillow – We Found a Good Sounding Orange Label Pressing

Hot Stamper Pressings of Folk Rock Albums Available Now

This review was written more than ten years ago. At this time [2023] we no longer pick up any pressings with the later label. So few sound any good, why waste time searching for so few needles sitting in so many haystacks?

This QUIET orange label (!) pressing has surprisingly good sound, some of the best sound we have ever heard for that more-often-than-not dismal second label in fact. It actually beat a few of our black label originals, with more tubey magic and less distortion and harshness than we expect from these later pressings. 

We always have fun playing this psychedelic ’60s masterpiece. The sound — problematical as it may be — gives you so many of the qualities we love about good ol’ analog. No one’s recording albums these days with this kind of richness, sweetness, and warmth, that’s for sure. Drop the needle on My Best Friend or Today to hear that trippy Sixties San Francisco sound at its best.

This album is an exceedingly difficult nut to crack — no matter how many copies we have, no matter how much information we have to work with. Play the typical copy and you’ll likely run for cover — we heard copies that were aggressive, shrill, lifeless, dull, thick, veiled, bass-shy — you name it, we heard it. Not only that, but as a rule most pressings, even the orange labels ones, are BEAT TO DEATH. Finding a copy that sounds any good and plays Mint Minus Minus or better is a real challenge.

Less Distortion

This one is cut very clean, with less of the grit and grunge that you hear on so many copies. The overall sound is rich, full, and tonally correct. There’s a touch of smear and the vocals don’t have all the presence of the best originals, but this is still an excellent copy that will sound better and play quieter than most copies out there. (more…)