Shostakovich – The Age of Gold – Another Mediocre Classic Records Pressing
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Sonic Grade: D
Another Classic Records LP debunked.
It’s been quite a while since I played the Classic pressing, but I remember it as fairly typical of their mediocre-at-best catalog, tonally fine but low-rez and lacking space, warmth and above all Tubey Magic. I don’t think I’ve ever played an original or a VICS reissue that didn’t sound better, and that means that the best grade to give Classic’s pressing is probably a D: below average.
We have a section for all the Classical Records we have reviewed on the site to date.
We also have a section for all the Heavy Vinyl Classical Records we have reviewed on the site.
We have a number of Commentaries specifically addressing issues we’ve encountered when playing classical recordings.
Astrud Gilberto – Look To The Rainbow
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- An outstanding copy with nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound on side two and a side one that’s close to it
- This kind of spacious, warm, rich, Tubey Magical analog sound is gone forever – you have to go back to 1966 to find it
- Creed Taylor (the CTI man) produced, Gil Evans did most of the arrangements, Rudy Van Gelder and Val Valentin engineered – what’s not to like?
- 4 1/2 stars: “This was a beautiful bossa nova record of Astrud Gilberto’s vocal stylings… “
The Rolling Stones – Between The Buttons on Decca
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- An excellent copy with Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish – one of the better copies from our recent shootout
- 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 copy is one of the few that will show it to you
- 5 Stars: “… one of their strongest, most eclectic LPs, with many fine songs that remain unknown to all but Stones devotees.”
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? (more…)
What We Listen For: The Spirit and Enthusiasm of the Musicians
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Another in our series of Home Audio Exercises.
This discussion, brought about by a Hot Stamper shootout we conducted for Revolver many years ago (2007!), touches on many issues near and dear to us here at Better Records: pressing variations, system upgrades, dead wax secrets, and the quality we prize most in a recording: LIFE, or, if you prefer, energy.
At the end of the commentary we of course take the opportunity to bash the MoFi pressing of the album, a regular feature of our Beatles Hot Stamper shootouts. We’re not saying the MoFi Beatles records are bad; in the overall scheme of things they are mostly pretty decent. What we are saying is that, with our help, you can do a helluva lot better. Our help doesn’t come cheap, as anyone on our mailing list will tell you. You may have to pay a lot, but we think you get what you pay for, and we gladly back up that claim with a 100% money back guarantee for every Hot Stamper pressing we sell.
The Story of Revolver, Dateline October 2007
White Hot Stampers for Revolver are finally HERE! Let the celebrations begin! Seriously, this is a very special day for us here at Better Records. The Toughest Nut to Crack in the Beatles’ catalog has officially been cracked. Yowza!
Presenting the first TRULY AWESOME copy of Revolver to ever make it to the site. There’s a good reason why Hot Stamper shootouts for practically every other Beatles album have already been done, most of them many times over, and it is simply this: finding good sounding copies of Revolver is almost IMPOSSIBLE. The typical British Parlophone or Apple pressing, as well as every German, Japanese and domestic LP we’ve played in the last year or two just plain sucked. Where was the analog magic we heard in the albums before and after, the rapturously wonderful sound that’s all over our Hot Stamper Rubber Souls and Sgt. Peppers? How could Revolver go so horribly off the rails for no apparent reason? (more…)
King Crimson – In The Wake Of Poseidon – Heavy on the Mellotron
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More Copies of In The Wake Of Poseidon
- King Crimson’s second studio album debuts on the site with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER on both sides
- This pressing is Big and Tubey, with clear, breathy vocals, especially critical to the success of the a capella opening track, “Peace – A Beginning”
- This lovely original Island Pink Label British Import LP has a beautiful textured cover and plays as quiet as we can find them, Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus throughout
- 4 1/2 stars: “The record…, however, has made an impressive show of transmuting material that worked on stage (“Mars” aka “The Devil’s Triangle”) into viable studio creations, and “Cadence and Cascade” may be the prettiest song the group ever cut.”
If you love the sound of a vintage All Tube recording of the mellotron — whether by Led Zeppelin or The Moody Blues — you will find that Robin Thompson has got hold of a very good sounding one here. Thompson is of course the engineer for the first King Crimson album, so his recording skills as regards the instrument are well established.
Note that the British Island pressings for this album as well as the first are by far the best sounding, assuming you have a good one. What is interesting about early Island LPs is just how bad some of them are. And let me tell you, we’ve paid the price in time and money to find out just how bad some Island Pink Labels can sound. (more…)
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours – Listening in Depth
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- A KILLER copy with Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides
- Tubey Magical Analog – The sound is open, spacious and transparent, with a huge three-dimensional soundfield
- When you hear it sound as good as it does here, you’ll know why we consider Rumours a Better Records Top 100 Demo Disc
- 5 stars: “Each tune, each phrase regains its raw, immediate emotional power—which is why Rumours touched a nerve upon its 1977 release, and has since transcended its era to be one of the greatest, most compelling pop albums of all time.”
When you hear a good copy of Rumours, it’s very easy to understand why this is one of the best-selling pop music albums of all time. Just about everyone knows how great these songs are, but I bet you didn’t know they could sound like this!
It’s tough finding Hot Stamper copies of this album. With over 75 sets of stamper numbers for each side, it’s an extremely taxing project, even for us! We know some of the better stampers and have been acquiring them since then in preparation for this shootout.
Demo Disc Sound
This is a rock album — it needs to be played LOUD and it needs to be played on a DYNAMIC system. Case in point: consider how quietly The Chain starts out and how loud it is by the end. Those kinds of macro-dynamics are very rare on a pop recording. Rumours has the kind of dynamics you just don’t hear anymore, which is why the killer copies are a such a THRILL to play on a big dynamic system fitted with a top-notch turntable! (more…)
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours – Nautilus’s Digitally Remastered Half Speed Junk Vinyl
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Sonic Grade: D
Hall of Shame pressing and another Half Speed debunked.
Compressed and thin, for all I know the CD might be better than this barely passable audiophile pressing.
King Crimson – Lizard – Heavy on the Mellotron
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- An excellent sounding copy with Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish
- Every bit the sonic equal of the first album, if you colorful Big Production Jazzy Prog Rock (with mellotron!) is your thing you can’t go wrong here
- This early UK pressing plays as quietly as any we have ever heard – Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus
- “Lizard is very consciously jazz-oriented — the influence of Miles Davis (particularly Sketches of Spain) being especially prominent — and very progressive, even compared with the two preceding albums.”
Chris Kimsey Is One of Our Favorite Engineers
CHRIS KIMSEY is one of our favorite recording and mixing engineers. Click on the link to find our in-stock Kimsey engineered or produced albums, along with plenty of our famous commentaries.
Many can be found in our R ock and Pop Top 100 List of Best Sounding Albums with the Best Music (limited to titles that we can actually find sufficient copies of with which to do our Hot Stamper shootouts).
