More Rolling Stones
On this London LP, even though it says the record is electronically re-processed into stereo, the songs we heard on side one were dead mono.
So much for believing what you read on album covers. (more…)
Top Artists – The Rolling Stones
Letter of the Week – “Love in Vain… that particular song sounds as if they are playing live in my living room!”
More Rolling Stones
:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2244952-1331736823.jpeg.jpg)
One of our good customers had this to say about a Hot Stamper Rolling Stones title he purchased recently:
Hey Tom,
I was blown away by Let It Bleed. Despite the only noise on the record being on Love in Vain… that particular song sounds as if they are playing live in my living room! The richness of the guitars is unbelievable. And the bass on Live With Me, wow…. Great pressing! (more…)
Letter of the Week / Sticky Fingers – Who Should Take Credit for Knocking It Out of the Park?
More Rolling Stones
Sticky Fingers
One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently:
Hey Tom,
All time world champ. A cut above unbelievable! All the magic sans the shrillness so common in the multitudinous copies I’ve heard. Breathtaking finesse and musicianship exploding in holographic dynamics that are clean and tonally real and penetrating.
What a copy. Pure gold. Thank you Tom. You knocked it out of the park.
Phil
Fantastic! We loved it too.
One small correction: Some mastering engineer knocked it out of the park. All we did was find the ball, grab it and run with it.
TP
The Rolling Stones – Between The Buttons on Decca
More Rolling Stones
Records We Only Offer on Import Vinyl
- An outstanding copy with Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish – one of the better copies from our recent shootout, and pressed on exceptionally quiet vinyl to boot
- This is classic ’60s Stones sound, courtesy of Dave Hassinger, working in L.A. (RCA) and London (Olympic + Pye)
- If you’re looking for the ideal combination of Tubey Magical richness and transparency, this British Decca LP in stereo is one of the few that will show it to you
- 5 Stars – Richie Unterberger hailed it as one of the Rolling Stones’ “strongest, most eclectic LPs” and, according to Robert Christgau, Between the Buttons was “among the greatest rock albums.”
This LP has the British track listing, so don’t pick this one up if you’re looking for great sounding versions of Let’s Spend The Night Together or Ruby Tuesday. A bummer, but the domestic copies sound AWFUL, so what can you do?
Tubey Magic Is Key
This vintage British pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records rarely BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound.
If you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it — not often, and certainly not always — but maybe one out of a hundred new records do, and those are some pretty long odds.
The Rolling Stones – Goats Head Soup
More Rolling Stones
- This superb copy of Goats Head Soup has stunning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on the second side and solid Double Plus (A++) sound on the first
- We guarantee the sound is dramatically bigger, richer, fuller, and livelier than any pressing you have ever heard
- Who knew the record could sound this good? Certainly not us – we had no luck with this album for years
- “This may not be as downright funky, freaky, and fantastic as Exile, yet the extra layer of gloss brings out the enunciated lyrics, added strings, wah-wah guitars, explicit sex, and violence, making it all seem trippily decadent…”
The best pressings give you exactly what you want from this brand of straight-ahead rock and roll: presence in the vocals, solid, note-like bass, big punchy drums, and the kind of live-in-the-studio energetic, clean and clear sound we love here at Better Records. With big speakers and the power to drive them, at loud levels YOU ARE THERE.
And why not? The engineer is Andy Johns, Glyn’s very talented younger brother (sadly, now deceased). They worked together on the Stones’ previous album, Exile on Main St.
Andy engineered the Zep albums from II through Physical Graffiti, and those are amazingly well-recorded albums in anybody’s book when you have pressings that allow you to hear them right.
And you can add to that group Tull’s Stand Up (69), Traffic’s John Barleycorn (70) and the Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request (67), Sticky Fingers (71) and It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll (74). Even two tracks from Stephen Stills’ first album (71). (more…)
The Stones Jazz with Joe Pass and Bruce Botnick
Yet Another Audiophile Quality Pressing “Discovered”
Brought to you by the folks at Better Records. We know a good sounding record when we hear one.
That’s how we came to have a website full of them
And the music is interesting and fun from first song to last. With Joe Pass on guitar how could it not be – the guy’s a very talented player.
With two Triple Plus (A+++) shootout winning sides, this original stereo World Pacific copy simply could not be beat
- Huge and rich, here is the kind of Tubey Magical presentation that lets this big group of musicians (four trombones!) come alive
- The engineering by none other than Bruce Botnick is brilliant in all respects, as good as his work with The Doors
- This is FUN West Coast Pop Jazz built around the superb arrangements of Bob Florence and the great songs of the Stones
- We’re so sure you’ll like this music that if for any reason you are unhappy the domestic return shipping is on us!
Engineering by Bruce Botnick
Botnick is of course the man behind the superb recordings of The Doors, Love and others too numerous to mention.
More recordings by Bruce Botnick
He also recorded another of our favorite West Coast jazz ensemble records, Bud Shank And the Sax Section. That undiscovered gem — well known to us but heretofore undiscovered by the audiophile public as far as we can tell — has a lot in common with this album. Top players, smart arrangements, superb sound, the album is as fun as Fun West Coast Jazz gets.
This copy is spacious, sweet and positively dripping with ambience. Talk about Tubey Magic, the liquidity of the sound here is positively uncanny. This is vintage analog at its best, so full-bodied and relaxed you’ll wonder how it ever came to be that anyone seriously contemplated trying to improve it. (more…)
The Rolling Stones – Some Girls
More Rolling Stones
More Top 100 Titles
- This outstanding pressing boasts solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it on both sides
- It’s got weight, punch, energy and fullness – qualities key to the best sounding pressings
- Tons of great songs – Miss You, Beast of Burden and Shattered, all sounding shockingly good – thanks to the engineering skills of Chris Kimsey
- 5 stars: “Opening with the disco-blues thump of “Miss You,” Some Girls is a tough, focused, and exciting record, full of more hooks and energy than any Stones record since Exile on Main St. Even Their rockers sound harder and nastier than they have in years.”
This is the Stones’ last truly great album. All Music Guide gives it the same 5 star rating that they awarded Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, and Sticky Fingers. With hits like Miss You, Shattered, and Beast Of Burden, it’s easy to see why.
Most copies are too thin and grainy for serious audiophile listening, but this one is a different story. It’s not easy to find great sound for The Stones, so take this one home for a spin if you want to hear this band bring these songs to life in your very own listening room.
Not many copies have this kind of clarity and transparency, or this kind of big, well-defined bottom end. The sound of the hi-hat is natural and clear on this pressing, as are the vocals, which means that the tonality in the midrange is correct, and what could be more important than a good midrange? It’s where the music is. (more…)
The Rolling Stones – Their Satanic Majesties Request
- This elusive Rolling Stones classic boasts KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish
- Before the raging bluesy rock of Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed, with loads of psychedelic madness, this is some crazy Stones music, and a lot of fun on a pressing that sounds as good as this one
- Exceptionally quiet for a vintage Decca Stones album, this one plays Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus, as quiet as any copy we have ever played
- 4 stars: “Never before or since did the Stones take so many chances in the studio… a fascinating anomaly in the group’s discography”.
This is the Stones at their most experimental, so there are plenty of strange effects and trippy arrangements. Only the best copies manage to make sense of it, but when you find one this music is a lot of fun.
If you’re looking for the raging bluesy rock of Sticky Fingers and Let It Bleed, you’ll find some of that here but also a lot of psychedelia too. You do get some great rockers though — Citadel, 2000 Man, and 2000 Light Years From Home to name a few. She’s A Rainbow is the poppiest song here, and on this copy it sounds WONDERFUL. (more…)
The Rolling Stones – Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!
- You’ll find outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER on both sides of this Decca UK pressing – fairly quiet vinyl too
- With rock and roll energy and you-are-there presence, turn this one up good and loud and you will find yourself at the Stones concert of a lifetime
- The live performances of Sympathy For The Devil, Midnight Rambler, and Honky Tonk Woman are MAGICAL from these shows – the Stones in 1970 were taking their music to a whole new level
- 4 1/2 stars: “Recorded during their American tour in late 1969, and centered around live versions of material from the Beggars Banquet-Let It Bleed era… Often acclaimed as one of the top live rock albums of all time…
The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet
- An outstanding vintage British pressing of this exceptionally well-recorded Stones album from 1968, with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it on both sides
- The long lost Tubey Magic of these early pressings has them sounding better than we ever thought possible back in the day
- This is the way Beggar’s Banquet should sound and it doesn’t take a pair of golden ears to hear it
- One of a select group of Rolling Stones Must Own titles we prize above all others – Sticky Fingers and Let It Bleed round out the trio
- 5 stars: “Basic rock & roll was not forgotten, however: ‘Street Fighting Man’… was one of their most innovative singles, and ‘Sympathy for the Devil’… was an image-defining epic.