1973

The Eagles / Desperado

More Eagles

  • Both TAS-approved sides of this original White Label Asylum pressing were giving us the big and bold sound we were looking for, earning INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them
  • This copy has huge amounts of Tubey Magic, a strong bass foundation, and plenty of space around the guitars and voices – man, that is our sound!
  • Unfortunately, both of the shootout winners were not without issues, as you can see below, so those of you looking for one with audiophile surfaces will have to circle back with us in a year or so
  • This is the second-best sounding Eagles record of all time, no doubt thanks to their brilliant engineer and producer, Glyn Johns
  • “A solid country-rock classic… the music stands the test of time, especially when Desperado is heard in its entirety, from start to finish.”

Acoustic guitar reproduction is key to this recording, and on the best copies the harmonic coherency, the richness, the body and simply phenomenal amounts of Tubey Magic can be heard in every strum.

What to Listen For on Desperado

Too many instruments and voices jammed into too little space in the upper midrange during the loudest passages. When the tonality is shifted-up, even slightly, or there is too much compression, there will be too many elements — voices, guitars, drums — vying for space in the upper area of the midrange, causing congestion and a loss of clarity.

With the smoother, more solid sounding copies, the lower mids are full and rich; above them, the next “level up” so to speak, there’s plenty of space in which to fit all the instruments and vocals (lead and backing) comfortably, without having to pile them up one on top of another as is so often the case with densely mixed pop recordings. On the better copies, the upper midrange does not get overwhelmed and congested with too many elements fighting for too little space.

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America – Hat Trick

More of the Music of America

  • Hat Trick is back on the site for only the second time in twenty months, here with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from start to finish
  • Both sides here are wonderfully rich, full-bodied and spacious, with sweet and breathy vocals
  • Marks and problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • “Hat Trick, the trio’s third effort in as many years, is an admirable and ultimately successful attempt at fleshing out a sound that at one time consisted almost entirely of crisp acoustic guitar interplay, two-fingered elementary piano progressions and saccharin-sweet three-part harmonies… [it] should hopefully dispel America’s once notorious reputation as a ‘pubescent Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.'” – Cameron Crowe, L.A. Times
  • If you’re an America fan, this self-produced title from 1973 has much to recommend it

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David Clayton-Thomas – Self-Titled

More Rock and Pop

  • This original copy (the first to ever hit the site) boasts two KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides or close to them
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this incredible copy in our notes: ” big and tubey and weighty”…”wide vox”…”3D and sweet and tubey”…”jumping out of the speakers”…”fully extended from top to bottom”
  • You get clean, clear, full-bodied, lively and musical analog sound from first note to last
  • Don’t waste your money on whatever dead-as-a-doornail Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – if you want to hear the Tubey Magic, size and energy of Clayton-Thomas’s 1973 release, a vintage pressing like this one is the only way to go

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Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure

More Roxy Music 

More Brian Eno

  • With two INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides, we guarantee you’ve never heard For Your Pleasure sound this good
  • Roxy and their engineers and producers manage to capture a deliciously Tubey Magical keyboard sound on their first two albums that few bands in the history of the world can lay claim to
  • It took us a long time to figure what pressings had the sound we were looking for, more than a decade, bit it was worth the wait because For Your Pleasure now sounds the way you want it to sound – big and bold
  • There are some bad marks (as is sometimes the nature of the beast with these Classic Rock records) on “Grey Lagoons,” but once you hear just how amazing sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and pops and just be swept away by the music
  • 5 stars: “… another extraordinary record from Roxy Music, one that demonstrates even more clearly than the debut how avant-garde ideas can flourish in a pop setting.”
  • If you’re a Roxy fan, For Your Pleasure has to be considered a Must Own Title of theirs from 1973

Spacious, dynamic, present, with HUGE MEATY BASS and tons of energy, the sound is every bit as good as the music. (At least on this copy it is. That’s precisely what Hot Stampers are all about.)

Strictly in terms of recording quality, For Your Pleasure is on the same plane as the other best sounding record the band ever made, their self-titled debut.

Siren, Avalon and Country Life are all musically sublime, but the first album and this one are the only two with the kind of dynamic, energetic, powerful sound that Roxy’s other records simply cannot show us (with the exception of Country Life, was is powerful but a bit too aggressive).

The super-tubey keyboards that anchor practically every song on the first two albums are only found there. If you want to know what Tubey Magic sounds like in 1972-73, play one of our better Hot Stamper Roxy albums.

Roxy and their engineers and producers manage to capture a keyboard sound on their first two albums that few bands in the history of the world can lay claim to. I love the band’s later albums, but none of them sound like these two. The closest one can get is Stranded, their third, but it’s still a bit of a step down. (more…)

John Prine – Sweet Revenge

More John Prine

More Singer-Songwriter Albums

  • With solid grades from top to bottom, this vintage copy of Prine’s third studio LP (only the second to ever hit the site) is doing just about everything right – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • This side one is big and rich, with remarkable clarity and three-dimensional space, the kind of sound that most other pressings only hint at, and side two is not far behind in all those areas
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…Prine’s irreverence is consistently thrilling, making this one of his best.”

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Al Stewart – Past, Present & Future

More Al Stewart

More British Folk Rock

  • With INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades from top to bottom, we guarantee you’ve never heard Past, Present & Future sound this good – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Both sides of this original UK pressing are rich and Tubey Magical, with powerful, note-like bass, incredible transparency and plenty of energy
  • We shot out a number of other imports and the midrange presence, bass, and dynamics on this outstanding copy placed it head and shoulders above the competition
  • Don’t waste your money on the sub-generation domestic pressings, they are clearly made from dubbed tapes
  • “…the record where Al Stewart truly begins to discover his voice [and] finally found his muse, focusing his songwriting and intent to a greater extent than ever before.”

It took us ages to track down copies of this album that didn’t sound flat, boring, and stuck in the speakers. We played a large number of Brit and domestic copies, and while both versions can sound lovely on the best pressings, there are certainly plenty of bad sounding versions out there from both countries.

This is the album that comes before Modern Times, Year Of The Cat and Time Passages in the Al Stewart discography, so if you’re a fan of any of those albums we imagine you’ll find a lot to like here.

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Frank Zappa and The Mothers – Over-Nite Sensation

More Frank Zappa

  • Over-Nite Sensation returns to the site for the first time in over three years on this original Discreet pressing that boasts two INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this amazing copy: “Very rich, breathy and dynamic,” “Silky, spacious, and present,” “Tubey, jumping out [of the speakers],” “Punchy and solid drums,” “Huge, rich and silky top end.”
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more space, richness, vocal presence, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true if you made the mistake of buying whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently on the market
  • Most pressings of this album are just awful, if you can even find one that’s clean enough to bother playing, which is why it’s been years since our last shootout
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Love it or hate it, Over-Nite Sensation was a watershed album for Frank Zappa, the point where his post-60s aesthetic was truly established; it became his second gold album, and most of these songs became staples of his live shows for years to come.”

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Billy Joel – Piano Man

More Billy Joel

  • Boasting two superb Double Plus (A++) sides, this vintage Columbia pressing was giving us the sound we were looking for on Joel’s sophomore release
  • The vocals are full-bodied and breathy, the bottom end is clean and punchy, and there’s more richness than on most other copies we played
  • It’s cleaner, clearer and more open, with the kind of vocal presence needed to make the title track come to life
  • 4 stars: “Piano Man makes it clear that [Joel’s] skills as a melodist can dazzle.”

We’ve been trying to find great copies of this one for ages, but it is tough. So many copies we played were thin, dry and grainy — sonic issues that really get in the way of enjoying this music.

The Piano Is Key

On the better copies of the album, the sound of the piano is solid, full-bodied, with both weight and warmth, just like the real thing. The copies of the album with a piano that sounded lean or hard always ended up having problems with the other instruments as well. (This should not be surprising; the piano was designed to be the single instrument most capable of reproducing the sound of an entire orchestra.)

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Graham Nash / Wild Tales – A Forgotten Folk Rock Classic

More Graham Nash

  • Boasting two superb Double Plus (A++) sides, this copy of Nash’s underrated sophomore solo album is doing just about everything right
  • The sound is Classic 1973 Analog – smooth, rich, warm and tonally correct, with real energy and the kind of natural sound that’s a hallmark of the better Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young recordings
  • Filling out the band: Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Dave Mason, Neil Young, David Lindley and too many others to list
  • “Nash speaks from his heart on Wild Tales and those that are willing to get past its sparse arrangements will be able to accept it for the masterpiece of folk-rock that it is.”

This is a criminally underappreciated album, and perhaps that has to do with just how poor the average copy sounds. When you get a copy like this one you cannot fail to appreciate how powerful and deeply emotional these songs are. Drop the needle on the title track or “Grave Concern” to see what we mean.

The sound has the life and energy of rock and roll. This is Graham fronting a band, and on the better copies the recording and the music both work together to make them sound like these guys have been playing together forever. This is not the Big Production that Nash’s first album was. Been there done that; who needs the headache?

A Forgotten Classic

Like Nash’s first album, no one pays much attention to this music nowadays, but Better Records is going to try to remedy that situation by making available to the audiophile public numerous copies of this album, every one of which is guaranteed to turn you into a fan. This is not new music, but it may be new music to you, so “discovering” it will be every bit as much fun for you in 2023 as it was for me in 1973.

This is not an audiophile record. It ain’t never going to make the TAS List or get a mention by anyone in the Audiophile Press. This is a record for music lovers who care about good sound. If you’re reading this, that’s you. Us too, and proud of it.

From one audiophile to another, this is a great record that belongs in your collection.

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The Rolling Stones – Goats Head Soup

More Rolling Stones

  • A vintage copy (one of only a handful to hit the site in two years) with excellent Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides
  • We guarantee the sonics are dramatically bigger, richer, fuller, and livelier than any pressing you have ever heard or you get your money back – it’s as simple as that
  • Who knew the record could sound this good? Certainly not us until about seven years ago – we had no luck with this album for decades before that (and we bet you are in the same boat)
  • “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…”
  • If you’re a fan of The Stones, this is a classic from 1973 that belongs in your collection.

The better 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).

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