Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Who Available Now
Back when we were carrying a select group of Heavy Vinyl pressings in 2005, Who’s Next on Classic Records was one of the ones we recommended.
We felt the Classic Records pressings of this album and the others mentioned below were a good value for those who had thirty bucks to spend on a record.
By 2007 we had already changed our minds about Who’s Next on Classic — and a whole lot more.
The following was written in the early 2000s. Some of the commentary has been added or modified.
Who’s Next has been remastered for audiophiles many, many times, more often than not quite badly in our opinion.
To be fair, we should point out that our opinion has changed quite a few times over the course of the last twenty years.
This then is our story.
MCA MASTERPHILE
Back in the days when I was foolishly in the thrall of half-speed mastered audiophile pressings, I thought that the MCA Masterphile was king. That was probably the mid to late ’80s.
BRITISH TRACK LABEL ORIGINALS
By the early 90s I had discovered how good the Black Label Original British Track pressings could be and started preferring those. A bit murky but Tubey Magical, full and rich, precisely the way a good British Rock recording (Faces, Jethro Tull) should be.
JAPANESE AND GERMAN
Of course by then I had played numerous Japanese and German pressings, none of which sounded right to my ears, then or now. The Japanese did what they like to do to most of the records they master, from whatever dub tapes are sent to them: they brighten up the sound.
When I had much darker, less-revealing system, the Japanese pressing did better than most of the other pressings I played.
But it was wrong, and the better my stereo got the more wrong it sounded. This process comes under the general heading of audio progress
MCA HEAVY VINYL
In 1995 the MCA Heavy Vinyl version came out, mastered by Kevin Gray. I quite liked it at the time but no longer do; it’s brightened up, opaque, airless and much of the fine detail of the recording is missing, all due to the crude cutting system Kevin employed at the time. It’s also notoriously badly pressed, resulting in stitches in the vinyl that are audible on practically every copy. (more…)
This review is from the late 2000s I would guess.
Our advice nowadays would be to go for the British Track pressings. They’re the most likely to have reasonably good sound.
Wow — an original Black Label Track British Import pressing that plays QUIET and sounds about as good as any compilation of this material can hope to sound. We had about a half-dozen copies to compare against each other and none of them were as good as this one. I really doubt you can do much better. Like any comp the sound ranges from track to track, but relative to the other copies we played we award this one a conservative overall sonic grade of A+ to A++.
Those of you who follow the site won’t be surprised to learn that some of the best sound on here is found on the tracks that Glyn Johns worked on.
This one comes in the original cool cover that’s die-cut to appear ripped. The later covers fake the effect. (more…)
Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Who Available Now
Our shootout from 2010 had us singing the praises of a domestic Decca pressing for side two. For the last few shootouts we’ve done, no Decca has been remotely as impressive. We think the best Decca copies might earn a grade of 1.5+, possibly even 2+, but none will ever win another shootout.
The reason we are confident that we wrong in the past and are right now is simply this: There is one stamper that always wins our shootouts these days, and in 2010 we had not yet discovered it.
Our Review from 2010
TWO AMAZING sides on QUIET vinyl — a stunning A+++ Off the Charts, Hard To Beat, Shootout Winning side two mated to a superb A++ to A+++ side one! This week we sat down for an all day MASSIVE shootout for Who’s Next, a true Glyn Johns Classic and undeniably one of the greatest rock albums of all time.
This Decca Colorband Original pressing BLEW OUR MINDS with phenomenal sound from start to finish — check out the BIG, BOLD, Rock ’em Sock ’em bottom end energy! No other pressing we played had this kind of POWER down below. If you’re ready to really rock out with The Who, this White Hot Stamper is your ticket to ride.
The sound is WONDERFUL from start to finish. There’s no grain to speak of and dramatically less smearing and veiling than most of the copies we played it against. The presence is startling — turn it up good and loud and The Who will be right there thrashing around in your listening room! The bottom end, on both sides, has the kind of weight that’s absolutely essential to this music.
We’re talking BIG ROCK SOUND and quiet vinyl, a rare combination in our experience, our experience of course coming from dozens and dozens of British Tracks and Polydors, German Polydors, Decca originals, MCA reissues, a few imports from other countries (Japan, thin and bright), and last but far from least, The Classic 200 gram pressing. (More about that later.)