1977

Bee Gees et al. – Saturday Night Fever

More 5 Star Albums

  • KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it brings this 70s classic to life on these vintage pressings
  • There’s real Bee Gees vocal magic here – “Stayin’ Alive,” “How Deep Is Your Love,” “More Than a Woman,” “Jive Talkin’,” and more
  • One of the most underrated tracks that holds up surprisingly well after all these years is “A Fifth of Beethoven,” and it sounds stunning here on this Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) side two – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • It’s no walk in the park to find a copy with sonics this good, but here it is
  • Marks 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
  • 5 stars: “Saturday Night Fever is virtually indispensable as a Bee Gees album, not just for the presence of an array of songs that were hits in their own right but because it offered the Gibb brothers as composers as well as artists…”
  • If you’re a Bee Gees fan, this title from 1977 is surely a Must Own

This copy of the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack has truly killer sound throughout, and that ain’t no jive talkin’! We collected a bunch of these and put them through the shootout process and were delighted to find out that some of the material on here can sound wonderful on the best pressings.

Like any compilation, some songs are going to sound better than others. The good news here is that most of the tracks you’d hope to be impressive actually are: “Stayin’ Alive,” “How Deep Is Your Love” and “Disco Inferno” are among the better-sounding songs here.

Find your favorite song on here, drop the needle, and see if the dramatically improved sound doesn’t bring back some special memories, and maybe even inspire you to bust a move!

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Heart – Little Queen

More of the Music of Heart

  • A Little Queen like you’ve never heard, with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on both sides of this original Portrait pressing – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • “Barracuda” and “Love Alive” are bar none two of Heart’s best songs and they are guaranteed to blow your mind on a copy with sound like this
  • It’s the rare copy that has the energy, dynamics, deep bass, punchy drums and meaty guitars that you get on this pressing
  • A Rock and Pop Top 100 album with Demo Disc sound on a very special pressing such as this – it will rock your world
  • 4 1/2 stars: “After acquiring a substantial following with Dreamboat Annie, Heart solidified its niche in the hard rock and arena rock worlds with the equally impressive Little Queen.”

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Steely Dan – Aja

More of the Music of Steely Dan

  • Killer sound for Steely Dan’s magnificent Jazzy Pop breakthrough album, with both sides earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them
  • Punchy, full and smooth, with the kind of rhythmic energy that brings out the jazzy funk in the music
  • A Better Records Rock and Pop Top 100 album and a true Demo Disc on a pressing that sounds as good as this one does
  • If I were to make a list of my favorite rock and pop albums of 1977, this album would definitely be right at the top
  • Considering how dismal the releases by Cisco Music and Mobile Fidelity were, it seems that no one outside of Bernie Grundman has managed to get Aja sounding right on vinyl, and that was 47 years ago
  • The sound is as heavily processed, artificial and overly glossy as practically anything produced in the 70s, which means that its Mid-Fi appeal is all but assured
  • For those of you on the Higher Fidelity end of the spectrum, our best Hot Stampers get everything sounding as right, balanced and natural as Aja can possibly sound
  • Unfortunately for those of you who don’t like paying our prices or doing your own shootouts, Bernie’s new UHQR leaves a lot to be desired. With mediocre-to-bad sound on all four sides and a price tag of $150, what else can you call it but another Analogue Productions rip-off?
  • 4 1/2 stars: “With Aja, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen’s obsession with sonic detail and fascination with composition reached new heights. A coolly textured and immaculately produced collection of sophisticated jazz-rock, Aja has none of the overt cynicism or self-consciously challenging music that distinguished previous Steely Dan records … a shining example of jazz-rock at its finest. “

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The Brothers Johnson – Right on Time

More Soul, Blues, and R&B

  • Boasting two STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides, this vintage A&M pressing could not be beat
  • A tough shootout, as no other copy earned a 3+ grade on either side, which simply means that when you find a top copy, it sets such a high standard that everything else ends up getting marked down
  • The sound is huge – big, wide, deep, and open, with a punchy bottom end and rhythmic energy to spare, as well as cleaner, smoother, sweeter upper mids and a more extended top
  • Analog at its Tubey Magical finest – you’ll never play a CD (or any other digitally sourced material) that sounds as good as this record as long as you live
  • 4 1/2 stars: “An enjoyable and even infectious collection that, in its sophistication, certainly avoids being just some sort of dry run for [Quincy] Jones … producing Michael Jackson’s wildly successful Off the Wall and Thriller albums…”

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James Taylor – JT

More of the Music of James Taylor

  • A vintage copy of Taylor’s 1977 breakthrough album that was doing practically everything right, earning STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them on both sides
  • It’s a superb recording – a member of our Top 100, in fact – but it takes a pressing like this to show you just how big and lively it can sound
  • The big hits “Your Smiling Face” and “Handy Man” both sound great here – thanks, Val Garay!
  • Don’t waste your money on any copy that doesn’t have TML stampers on both sides – they never sound any good
  • Interestingly, this time around even the worst side of any TML pressing earned a (1.5+) Hot Stamper grade
  • If you are using the Prelude Record Cleaning system on the right machines, you can’t go wrong with the early pressings of this title (although you can go much more right if you do a shootout and find a top copy like this one)
  • Marks 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
  • 4 stars: “JT was James Taylor’s best album since Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon because it acknowledged the darkness of his earlier work while explaining the deliberate lightness of his current viewpoint, and because it was his most consistent collection in years.”
  • If I were to compile a list of my favorite rock and pop albums from 1977, this album would definitely be on it

The good copies really rock on songs like Honey Don’t Leave L.A. or I Was Only Telling A Lie, yet have lovely, delicate vocals on ballads such as Another Grey Morning or There We Are (two of our favorite songs on the album).

Just turn up the volume and play the opening to Honey Don’t Leave L.A. — this is James Taylor and his super-tight studio band at the peak of their powers. Russ Kunkel hits the drum twice, then clicks his sticks together so quickly you can hardly notice it, then goes back to the drums for the rest of the intro.

On the best copies, the subtleties of his performance are clearly on display. Until the right copies came along, we had never even noticed that stick trick. Now it’s the high point of the whole intro.

Here are more of our favorite records with exceptionally punchy bass and here are more of our favorite records with exceptionally punchy drums.

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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…)

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Street Survivors

More Southern Rock

  • This vintage copy with the rare “flames” cover was giving us the big and bold sound we were looking for, earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on both sides – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Forget whatever dead-on-arrival Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – if you want to hear the Tubey Magic, size and Southern Rock energy of this surprisingly well recorded album from 1977, an early pressing such as this one is the only way to do it
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… it’s a hell of an album. The band springs back to life with the addition of guitarist Steve Gaines, and Van Zant used the time off the road to write a strong set of songs… If the original band was fated to leave after this record, at least they left with a record that serves as a testament to Skynyrd’s unique greatness.”
  • If you’re a Southern Rock fan, this undeniable classic from 1977 is surely a Must Own

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Jethro Tull – Songs From The Wood

 More Folk Rock

  • This original UK pressing of Tull’s tenth studio album boasts INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades from top to bottom – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Both of these sides are amazingly big and full with wonderfully breathy vocals and deep punchy bass
  • No other copy in the shootout earned 3 pluses on any side other than this killer copy right here — this was a tough shootout!
  • Forget the domestic originals and reissues, they’re medicore at best and more than likely awful
  • Forget whatever dead-as-a-doornail Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days too – if you want to hear Tubey Magic, huge size and powerful energy, a vintage UK pressing like this one is the only way to go
  • 4 stars: “Far and away the prettiest record Jethro Tull released at least since Thick as a Brick and a special treat for anyone with a fondness for the group’s more folk-oriented material.”

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Neil Young – American Stars ‘N’ Bars

More of the Music of Neil Young

  • Boasting KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from top to bottom, we guarantee you’ve never heard Neil’s 1977 release sound this good
  • Side one of this album was recorded just before Comes A Time and it clearly shows – the music is country-flavored and relaxed
  • Side two’s material was recorded throughout the 70s and has more of the dark, heavy sound that we know and love from albums such as Zuma and Tonight’s The Night
  • Incredible sound for some really great songs, including “Like A Hurricane” and “Star Of Bethlehem”
  • 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
  • If you’re a Neil Young fan, this 1977 album should fit nicely in your collection

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The Doobie Brothers – Livin’ On The Fault Line

More of the Music of The Doobie Brothers

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  • This copy was doing practically everything right, with both sides earning STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them
  • Both of our Shootout Winning top copies had vinyl no quieter than you see here
  • This shootout is always a struggle, not for top quality sound, which we can find, but for audiophile quality vinyl, which is hard to come by
  • The best songs here can hold their own with anything from Minute by Minute and Takin’ It to the Streets
  • A sophisticated, soulful pop album from the Michael McDonald era with far too many great songs to list
  • Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs, but once you hear just how incredible 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
  • 4 stars: “Some of the most challenging and well-developed music of the band’s career.”
  • We’ve discovered a number of titles in which one stamper always wins, and here are some others

If you’re a fan of this brand of sophisticated, soulful pop music, this is as good an album as any from the Michael McDonald era. We think the best songs here can hold their own with anything from Minute by Minute and Takin’ It to the Streets. And with Hot Stamper sound, now you can actually enjoy the album as an audiophile quality recording

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