Top Artists – The Police (and Sting)

The Police – Synchronicity

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  • You’ll find outstanding Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER throughout this this original copy
  • Side one was sonically very close to our Shootout Winner – you will be shocked at how big and powerful the sound is
  • Clearly better than most other pressings we played – when you can hear it sound this good you may come to appreciate, as we did, just how good the music is
  • “Every Breath You Take” and “Wrapped Around Your Finger” are remarkably big, rich and Tubey Magical here – they are exceptional recordings, and this pressing does them proud
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Few other albums from 1983 merged tasteful pop, sophistication, and expert songwriting as well as Synchronicity did, resulting in yet another all-time classic.”

This music can have real Rock and Roll POWER — if you’re lucky enough to own a pressing with the energy of the master tapes inscribed in its grooves. Some have it and some don’t.

Welcome to the world of analog, where no two copies sound the same and most are nothing special. (No two covers of this album look the same either. Get a pile of them out and see if you can find two that match. It’s not easy.) (more…)

Zenyatta Mondatta on Nautilus SuperDisc

More of the Music of Sting and The Police

This commentary was most likely written in the mid-2000s, shortly after we had started to sell Hot Stamper pressings but had to yet to make it our main business, which we did in 2007.

2007 was a long time ago. It was the year we made many breakthroughs. In fact, we made more breakthroughs in that year than in any other in the history of the company, including this singularly important break with the past.

Our Take Back in the Day

And to think we actually used to like the sound of some of these Nautilus pressings!

They suffer from the same shortcomings other Nautilus and Half Speeds in general suffer from — the kind of transparent but lifeless and oh-so-boring sound that we describe in listing after listing.

Three of the Best?

I just did shootouts with three of what I thought were the best Nautilus Half-Speeds: Dreamboat Annie, Ghost in the Machine, and Time Loves a Her0.

None of them sound like the real thing, and especially disappointing was one of my former favorites, the Little Feat album.

On the title track, the Nautilus is amazingly transparent and sweet sounding. There are no real dynamics or bass on that track, so the “pretty” half-speed does what it does best and shines. But all the other tracks suck in exactly the same way Night and Day does. Cutting the balls off Little Feat is not my idea of hi-fidelity.

We put audiophile beaters up for sale every week. Each and every one of them is a lesson on what makes one record sound better than another. If you want a wall full of good sounding records, we can help you make that happen. In fact it will be our pleasure. Down with audiophile junk and up with Better Records. (more…)

Ghost in the Machine on Nautilus Vinyl

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Sting and The Police Available Now

And to think we used to actually like the sound of the Nautilus pressings! They suffer from all the same shortcomings other Nautilus and similar half-speeds suffer from: the kind of pretty but lifeless and oh-so-boring sound that we describe in listing after listing. 

Three of the Best, Or So We Thought

I just did shootouts with three of the best Nautilus Half-Speeds: Heart, The Police’s Ghost in the Machine, and Little Feat. None of them sound like the real thing, and especially disappointing was one of my former favorites, the Little Feat album.

On the title track the Nautilus is amazingly transparent and sweet sounding. There are no real dynamics or bass on that track, so the “pretty” half-speed does what it does best and shines. But all the other tracks suck in exactly the same way Night and Day does. Cutting the balls off Little Feat is not my idea of hi-fidelity.

We put audiophile beaters up for sale every week. Each and every one of them is a lesson on what makes one record sound better than another. If you want a wall full of good sounding records, we can help you make it happen. In fact it will be our pleasure. Down with audiophile junk and up with Better Records.

These kinds of records used to sound good on the systems of their day, and I should know, I had an old school stereo even into the 90s.

Some of the records that sounded good to me back then don’t sound too good to me anymore.

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The Dream Of The Blue Turtles – What to Listen For

More of the Music of Sting and The Police

More Records with Specific Advice on What to Listen For

Most copies we played had that edgy, harsh, digital ’80s sound, the kind that makes us wince.

Other copies lacked energy, others were just too bright, and most of them were full of grit and grain.

When the brass sounds too thin, as it did on a majority of our copies, the sound is positively painful.

It’s another one of those albums that sounds like it was designed to “pop” out of your speakers. You can really picture this one playing at all the audio shows back in the day. They were probably playing a CD, and, for all we know, it may have even sounded better than the average vinyl pressing.

TRACK LISTING

Side One

If You Love Somebody Set Them Free
Love Is the Seventh Wave
Russians
Children’s Crusade
Shadows in the Rain

Side Two

We Work the Black Seam
Consider Me Gone
The Dream of the Blue Turtles
Moon over Bourbon Street
Fortress Around Your Heart

AMG Review

After disbanding the Police at the peak of their popularity in 1984, Sting quickly established himself as a viable solo artist, one obsessed with expanding the boundaries of pop music. Sting incorporated heavy elements of jazz, classical, and worldbeat into his music, writing lyrics that were literate and self-consciously meaningful… he proves that he’s subtler and craftier than his peers.

Sting – Mercury Falling

More Sting and The Police

This review for the Universal Heavy Vinyl pressing of Mercury Rising was written in the 2000s. I doubt we would be remotely as enamored with it now as we were then, but of course we will never know.

We had some brand new, long out of print Universal Heavy Vinyl pressings of this Sting title sitting on the shelf and decided that, since this was one of the better pressings they’d remastered, perhaps a shootout was in order for fans of Der Stingle.   

Sure enough, no side of any copy sounded the same as the side of any other copy, which just goes to prove that, regardless of how carefully you master and press your records, there will always be sonic variations from copy to copy –if your stereo is capable of revealing them. 

Since you’re on our site I’m guessing that your stereo must be pretty good, which means that our copies of Mercury Falling will be much more enjoyable than you might expect. 

Problems

Oh, the usual ones. Lack of top end extension. Veiled mids. Smear.

On the positive side the sound was fairly rich and ANALOG sounding on most copies, not at all the artificially clean and clear sound one would expect to hear on the CD and most Heavy Vinyl being produced these days. (We are not fans of either FYI.)

Side One

A+. Not nearly on the same level as side two but better than the average copy. Sting’s vocals are rich, smooth and present.

Side Two

A+++. This is As Good As It Gets folks! It’s SUPER open and spacious with a three-dimensional quality that you just won’t find on the average copy. The vocals are clean and clear and the bass sounds excellent.

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Sting – Bring on the Night

More Sting and The Police

  • This outstanding copy of Sting’s epic double album boasts solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it on all four sides AND exceptionally quiet vinyl
  • Sting and his jazzy pals work through a good portion of his extensive catalog, including both Police songs and solo tracks
  • “Sting really got carried away with the idea that his supporting crew for Dream of the Blue Turtles was a real jazz band, and technically, he was kind of right … the loose, rather infectious performances show what Sting was trying to achieve with his debut.”

Sting said to Bring On The Night and who were we to argue? We finally collected enough of these import pressings to get a proper shootout going, and the best copies really impressed us.

The best copies like this one give you more transparency and separation between the various bandmembers. Many copies had a sterile/dry quality, but this one remains rich throughout with more analog warmth. (more…)

Sting – Ten Summoner’s Tales

More Sting and The Police

  • This copy of Sting’s fourth solo album boasts outstanding Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on both sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Engineer/Producer Hugh Padgham once again achieved his trademark sound in the studio – Spacious, Lively and Powerful
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… his best solo record. In places, it’s easily as pretentious as his earlier work, but that’s undercut by writing that hasn’t been this sharp and melodic since the Police, plus his most varied set of songs since Synchronicity… as an album, Ten Summoner’s Tales is more consistently satisfying than anything else in his catalog.”

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