100 or two

Here you will find a group of records we think every audiophile should get to know, along the lines of “the 1001 records you need to hear before you die,” with the accent on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life.

Each of the albums linked here is a good example of a record you may not know well, but could very well find great enjoyment in getting to know better. These are titles that have stood the test of time, in most cases many, many decades after their first release.

The Eagles / On The Border – A Must Own Country Rock Classic

More of the Music of The Eagles

  • An original British SYL copy with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout this criminally underrated California Country Rock classic – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • If you’ve never heard one of these early pressings, you have simply never heard this album sound the way it should, mastered with the correct polarity, for one thing
  • We’re huge fans of the album here at Better Records; it’s some of the most sophisticated, well-crafted, heartfelt music these guys ever made, and that’s saying a lot coming from us – we’ve been big fans for decades
  • We’ve recently compiled a list of records we think every audiophile should get to know better, along the lines of “the 1001 records you need to hear before you die,” but with less accent on morbidity and more on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life. On the Border is a good example of a record most audiophiles don’t know well but should.

Many of you have probably forgotten how good this album is (assuming you were ever familiar with it in the first place) probably because the typical domestic copy you would have played back in the day is fairly hard on the ears. Most pressings, even the British ones, barely hint at the kind of sound you’ll hear on this vintage UK pressing (the only kind we sell of course).

The LIFE and ENERGY of this pressing are going to knock you right out of your seat. Most copies leave you with a headache, but this one will have you begging to turn up the volume.

Tubey Magical acoustic guitar reproduction is superb on the better copies of this album. Simply phenomenal amounts of Tubey Magic can be heard on every strum, along with richness, body and harmonic coherency that have all but disappeared from modern recordings (and especially from modern remasterings). (more…)

The Pretenders – Learning To Crawl

More of the Music of The Pretenders

  • An excellent pressing of the band’s third studio album with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it from start to finish – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • It takes years to get a shootout for this album going – three to five is my best guess, so get while the gettin’s good if you’re a fan of the most muscular rock album this band ever recorded
  • Side one of this (very specific) German pressing was richer, clearer and more energetic than most others we played, and side two was not far behind in all those areas
  • 5 stars: “Three albums into her recording career, Chrissie Hynde found herself having to put the past to bed and carve out a new beginning for herself with Learning to Crawl, but she pulled it off with a striking mixture of courage, strength, and great rock & roll; with the exception of the instant-classic debut album, it’s the Pretenders’ finest work.”

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David Bowie – David Live

More of the Music of David Bowie

  • A David Live like you’ve never heard, with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on all FOUR sides
  • One of our favorite live recordings – a great overview of Bowie’s career through 1974
  • “1984,” “Rebel Rebel,” “Sweet Thing” and “Rock and Roll With Me” come alive in performance like you have never heard before
  • A-List players of the day deliver sonic treats, including multiple horn players, multiple percussionists, all-male chorus background vocals, the searing fuzzed-out guitar leads of Earl Slick, piano and Mellotron by Mike Garson, and the amazing Herbie Flowers on bass
  • We’ve recently compiled a list of records we think every audiophile should get to know better, along the lines of “the 1001 records you need to hear before you die,” with an accent on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life. David Live is a good example of a record audiophiles may not know well but we think might benefit from getting to know better
  • If I were to compile a list of Must Own rock and pop albums from 1974, this album would definitely be on it

When you listen to an outstanding copy of this Bowie classic, you will have no trouble picturing yourself in the audience with a front row center seat. And the great thing about a record like this is that you can be in the front row of this very concert whenever you want!

The other top live album is, of course, Waiting For Columbus, and the two have much in common. Most importantly, the songs played live on both albums are consistently better than their studio versions. (This is especially true on the Little Feat album. Little Feat was not a studio band and their live arrangements — with the Tower of Power horns — just murder the studio ones.)

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Bonnie Raitt / Sweet Forgiveness

More of the Music of Bonnie Raitt

  • Sweet Forgiveness returns to the site for the first time in over two years, here with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades from top to bottom
  • These are just a few of the things we had to say about this amazing copy in our notes: “rich and weighty vox”…”jumping out of the speakers”…”tubey drums and bass”…”big and rich and 3D”…”dynamic and relaxed”
  • Full-bodied and warm, with harmonically rich guitars as well as real immediacy to Bonnie’s heartfelt vocals, this is the classic sound of the Seventies
  • The sound is big, bold, clear, rich and dynamic, which wouldn’t mean anything if the music weren’t good, but this actually happens to be Bonnie’s best album in our opinion, with Home Plate a close runner-up

I learned recently that John Haeny is one of the two engineers on this album, which goes a long way toward explaining the excellent 70s analog sound. He worked on The Pretender, Don’t Cry Now, and many of the early and quite wonderful sounding albums Judy Collins did for Elektra in the earlier part of the decade. This guy knows sound. (more…)

Genesis / A Trick Of The Tail – A Must Own Prog Masterpiece

More of the Music of Genesis

  • This early UK Charisma import boasts solid Double Plus (A++) grades from top to bottom
  • Here’s an outstanding Trick of the Tail that blows the typical pressing out of the water!
  • The sound is big, bold and open, breaking free from the compressed and cloudy sound the average copy offers
  • Here is the deep, note-like, well-articulated bass that the MoFi and 95% of all the other pressings don’t have
  • 4 1/2 stars: “[The] album returns the group to the fanciful fairy tale nature of its earlier records…this is about the sound of the band playing, not individual songs, and it succeeds on that level quite wildly…”
  • This is our pick for the band’s best sounding album. Roughly 150 other listings for the best recording by an artist or group can be found here on the blog.

It was a thrill to finally hear this album sound great after all these years. The cymbals are clean and silky, the vocals are present, the bass has real weight and the overall sound is balanced and natural! You’ve got to clean and play a TON of copies to have any hope of finding one that’d come anywhere near this one.

At the end of the second track on side one, Entangled, there is a wonderful sounding choral effect which Alan Parsons liked so much he decided to use it liberally on his own recordings. He’s famous for having admitted to analyzing classic rock records, then taking the best bits and pieces, cobbling them together and producing the “music” that he is known for. I prefer the original bits and pieces myself. (more…)

Stevie Wonder – Fulfillingness’ First Finale

More of the Music of Stevie Wonder

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  • An early Tamla pressing of Stevie Wonder’s 1974 Soul Masterpiece with solid Double Plus (A++) sound on both sides – fairly (and unusually) quiet vinyl too
  • This record is rarely pressed on good vinyl and very hard to find without marks that play, so if you’re looking for the quietest copy we can find with exceptionally good sound, this is it!
  • Finding the right balance between Tubey Magical richness and transparency is the trick, and we think this copy strikes that balance about as well as any pressing we’ve heard
  • “Boogie On Reggae Woman” and “You Haven’t Done Nothing” were the big hits but the other tracks on the album are where the real Stevie Wonder magic can be found
  • 4 1/2 stars [but we give it 5]: “The songs and arrangements are the warmest since Talking Book, and Stevie positively caresses his vocals on this set, encompassing the vagaries of love, from dreaming of it (‘Creepin”) to being bashful of it (‘Too Shy to Say’) to knowing when it’s over (‘It Ain’t No Use’).”
  • We’ve compiled a list of records we think every audiophile should get to know better, along the lines of “the 1001 records you need to hear before you die,” but with less of an accent on morbidity and more on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life. Fulfillingness’ First Finale is a good example of a record most audiophiles don’t know well but should.
  • If you’re a Stevie Wonder fan — and what audiophile wouldn’t be? — this title from 1974 is clearly one of his two best in our opinion, right up there with his Masterpiece, Innervisions.

We’re big fans of Stevie here at Better Records, but it’s always a challenge to find good sound for his albums. Tons of great songs here, including the ones everybody knows, Boogie On Reggae Woman and You Haven’t Done Nothing. Both sound WONDERFUL on this pressing.

But…

For the first time in my life, over the course of the last ten years or so I’ve really gotten to know the album well, having found a CD at a local store to play in the car (and now I also have a cassette to play in my Walkman while working out).

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Bernstein – The Music of Leonard Bernstein / Rogers

More Orchestral Spectaculars

  • A STUNNING pressing with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout – a true Orchestral Demo Disc from 1970
  • Here is a vintage London Phase 4 import pressing with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them on both sides – a true Orchestral Demo Disc from 1961
  • The Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story” sound stunning here – big, rich and Tubey Magical
  • The performances are wonderful – energetic yet lyrical when the score requires it
  • Vibrant orchestrations, top quality sound and fairly quiet surfaces combine for an astounding listening experience
  • We’ve identified a number of Orchestral Demo Discs of superior quality, and they can be found here

This London Phase 4 British import has some of the most spectacular sound we have ever heard reproduced from disc. The sound is so BIG and BOLD that it handily puts to shame 95% or more of all the Golden Age Shaded Dogs, London Bluebacks, Mercury Living Presences, EMIs and Deccas we’ve ever played. If we had a Classical Top 100 list, this record would belong in the Top Ten, right near the top judging by what we heard when we played it.

If you have a system with the speed, power, and size to play this record properly (yes, you will need all three and a whole lot more), it’s hard to imagine it would not qualify as one of the best sounding orchestral recordings you’ve ever heard.

Demo Disc barely begins to do it justice. What sound. What music. What a record!

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Ry Cooder – Self-Titled

More of the Music of Ry Cooder

  • This vintage Reprise pressing of Ry Cooder’s 1970 debut was doing most everything right, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • If you want to hear the brilliant Lee Herschberg‘s All Analog Recording skills brought to bear on so many different instruments serving an assortment of sonic textures, this is the copy that will let you do it
  • 4 stars: “Cooder’s debut creates an intriguing fusion of blues, folk, rock & roll, and pop, filtered through his own intricate, syncopated guitar; Van Dyke Parks and Lenny Waronker’s idiosyncratic production… Cooder puts this unique blend across with a combination of terrific songs, virtuosic playing, and quirky, yet imaginative, arrangements.”
  • This is clearly Ry Cooder’s best sounding album. Roughly 150 other listings for the Best Sounding Album by an Artist or Group (sounds like a Grammy Awards category, doesn’t it?) can be found here.
  • This is a Must Own Title from 1970, a great year for Rock and Pop music, perhaps the best ever

The music reminds me a lot of early Little Feat, which is a good thing. The sound is somewhat similar as well, which is to say that it is natural and musical, nothing like the hyped-up hi-fi sound of his TAS-listed album Jazz — and that’s a good thing as well.

There are some great songs here, including My Old Kentucky Home, One Meat Ball and How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live. It may even be his best album. (more…)

Cruising With Ruben & The Jets – A Desert Island Disc for Yours Truly

More of the Music of Frank Zappa

  • This early Blue Label Verve LP boasts INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from first note to last
  • Both sides here are exceptionally clean, clear and present with a big bottom end, an abundance of energy and lots of space around all of the players
  • The new CD – with its modernized sound and wrong-headed re-recorded rhythm tracks – is a bad joke next to the best early pressings
  • “To the unexperienced, songs like ‘Cheap Thrills,’ ‘Deseri,’ and ‘Jelly Roll Gum Drop’ can sound like an average doo wop song. A closer look reveals unusual chord sequences, Stravinsky quotes, and hilariously moronic lyrics — all that wrapped in four-way harmony vocals and linear piano triplets.

Is the thought bubble on the cover the real story behind the album?

Is this the Mothers of Invention recording under a different name in a last ditch attempt to get their cruddy music on the radio?

Amazing sound for this record of greasy love songs and cretin simplicity to offer to audiophiles and music lovers alike from all corners of the world. We absolutely LOVE this album here at Better Records, or at least that portion of Better Records that remembers it from high school still loves it (which would narrow it down to a subset of just me I guess, but who’s counting?).

Anyway, it’s a classic of twisted doo-wop that belongs in your collection, and a real Desert Island Disc for yours truly. At least we think you should give it a chance anyway; hearing it sound this good might just make a believer out of you.

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Schumann and Grieg Piano Concertos / Lupu / Previn

More of the Music of Grieg

  • With solid Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last, this vintage London pressing of this wonderful classical Masterpiece is doing just about everything right
  • These sides boast full brass and an especially clear, solid, present piano, one with practically no trace of vintage analog tube smear
  • Dynamic, huge, lively, transparent and natural – with a record this good, your ability to suspend disbelief will require practically no effort at all
  • Back in the days when the TAS Super Disc list meant something, this record was on it and deservedly so
  • Our two favorite recordings of the Grieg Piano Concerto are this one and Rubinstein’s for RCA in 1962
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performances with the highest quality sound. This record is certainly deserving of a place on that list.

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