1977

Steely Dan – Aja

More of the Music of Steely Dan

  • Incredible sound for Steely Dan’s magnificent Jazzy Pop breakthrough album, with both sides earning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • 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 of its sides and a price tag of $150, what else can you call it but another Analogue Productions rip-off?

Folks, there’s not much I can tell you about this copy of Aja that’s going to make you want this record, other than to say this: If you’re in the market for a superb pressing of what’s gotta be the most beloved Steely Dan record they made, look no further. It’s right here. (more…)

Laurindo Almeida – Virtuoso Guitar

More of the Music of Laurindo Almeida

  • A killer copy of this 45 RPM direct to disc recording featuring Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Some of the tubiest, warmest acoustic guitar sound you could ask for from a “modern” record – this is the sound of analog done right
  • It has the kind of sound we prefer, with none of the razor sharpness that you get on some direct to disc recordings
  • One of the best Almeida albums we know of and probably the best Crystal Clear title (which we know isn’t saying much)

Volume Is Key

This recording has very little processing or EQ boost, and the studio is somewhat dead sounding (all too common in the late 70s). That combination can mean only one thing: If you don’t play this record loud enough, it will not sound right.

The famous Sheffield S9 is exactly the same way. It sounds dead and dull until you turn it up. When you do, lookout — it really comes alive.

The best pressings can sound shockingly like live music, something one just does not hear all that often, even when one plays records all day long as we do.

(more…)

Brian Eno / Before And After Science – The Last of the Must Own Eno Records (We Regret to Say)

More Arty Rock Records

  • This vintage Island pressing boasts solid Double Plus (A++) sound from the first note to last
  • Even with so many quiet passages, this copy held up very well all the way to the end
  • Here you will find that rare combination of silky highs and deep low end, with huge amounts of space in the middle, three qualities among many that make this album an especially magical listening experience
  • I know whereof I speak – I must have played this album at least two hundred times in the 48 years that have passed since I first bought my copy
  • If you’re a fan of Art Rock or Prog Rock or just like something a little different, this is an album that belongs in your collection
  • 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: “Despite the album’s pop format, the sound is unique and strays far from the mainstream. The music on Before and After Science at times resembles Another Green World (“No One Receiving”) and Here Come the Warm Jets (“King’s Lead Hat”) and ranks alongside both as the most essential Eno material.”

Side one, the rock side, strongly relies on its deep punchy bass to make its material come to life and rock (or should we say art rock?). Eno’s vocals are clear and present with virtually no strain. Phil Collins’ drumming is energetic and transparent and perfectly complemented by Percy Jones’ simultaneously acrobatic and hard-driving bass work. (more…)

Caldera / Sky Islands

More Jazz Fusion

  • KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them bring Caldera’s amazing sophomore LP to life on this vintage Capitol pressing
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this killer copy in our notes: “huge and weighty drums and bass”…”fully extended from top to bottom”…”jumping out of the speakers”…”big low end”
  • Demo Disco sound – this copy was just bigger and richer than any other we played, with rock solid energy to beat them all
  • If you like percussion instruments of all size and shape jumping out of your speakers, this is the record for you
  • Not only is this a phenomenally well-recorded album, it’s also one of the best Jazz Fusion albums of all time, and easily takes top honors in the sub-category of Latin Jazz Fusion

This White Hot Stamper Caldera album has Demo Disc sound, big and bold, wall to wall and then some! Listen to the monster drum at the opening of “Sky Islands” — it’s not deep like the bass drum in an orchestra, but it’s solid, punchy and way up front in the mix where it really grabs your attention right from the get go. It’s the perfect introduction to a band that wants to get in your face and knock you over with the power and energy of their music. The immediacy of the recording is like standing at the front of the stage where the music is its loudest and clearest, exactly where I like to be.

(more…)

Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue

More of the Music of The Beach Boys

  • Seriously good sound for this cult classic, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them
  • It’s doing just about everything right — clean, clear and natural sounding with plenty of extension on both ends (particularly on side one)
  • 4 1/2 stars: “The set’s 12 songs reveal a songwriter who was looking to stretch out on his own and engage a vision of music that stood far outside what the Beach Boys were capable of handling or executing… This album is a classic, blissed-out, coked-up slice of 70s rock and pop that is as essential as Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours…”

We recently discovered how amazing this fun album can sound when you have a good pressing, and this White Hot Stamper copy certainly qualifies. The sound is solid and lively with amazing immediacy. There’s lots of tubey magic and the vocals sound just right. Most copies we’ve played weren’t this clean, clear, open or transparent.

We thought the album kind of had an understated Harry Nilsson vibe, so if you’re a fan of his music and enjoy the Beach Boys, this one should be right up your alley. (more…)

David Bowie – Low

More of the Music of David Bowie

  • Boasting killer Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades on both sides, this vintage pressing of Bowie’s rock Masterpiece is practically as good a copy as we have ever heard, right up there with our Shootout Winner – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Huge amounts of studio space can be heard on this copy, along with the Tubey Magical richness only the better UK pressings can offer
  • We shot out a number of other imports and this one had better midrange presence, bass, and dynamics than practically any other copy we played
  • 5 stars: “Though a handful of the vocal pieces on Low are accessible – ‘Sound and Vision’ has a shimmering guitar hook, and ‘Be My Wife’ subverts soul structure in a surprisingly catchy fashion – the record is defiantly experimental and dense with detail, providing a new direction for the avant-garde in rock & roll.”
  • If you’re a fan of the man, this is a Top Title from 1977 that belongs in your collection

As I’ve mentioned on the site numerous times, I spent a good portion of the 70s playing art rock records like Taking Tiger Mountain, Siren, Crime Of The Century, Deceptive Bends and scores of others. I remember being blown away when Low came out, and with this shootout we had a blast hearing just how good a killer Hot Stamper UK pressing can sound on the much more highly-evolved stereo system (equipment, room, set-up, tweaks, electricity, etc.) we have today.

It’s difficult to find a pressing that gets both sides of this album right, perhaps in part because the two sides are so different. Side one of this album features the more traditional (not really the right word, but it will have to do) Bowie rockers like “Sound and Vision” and “Be My Wife,” while side two sounds more like the instrumental synth music of Kraftwerk and Eno.

(more…)

Queen – News of the World

More of the Music of Queen

  • This vintage British EMI import was giving us the big and bold sound we were looking for, with a STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side two
  • If you’re looking for sonics that jump out of your speakers, a killer Hot Stamper pressing is guaranteed to have that quality, because that’s what we’re looking for too
  • The emotional power of these songs is communicated so completely through this copy that the experience will be like hearing it for the first time
  • “…it’s massive, earth-shaking rock & roll, the sound of a band beginning to revel in its superstardom.”
  • If I were to compile a list of my favorite rock albums from 1977, this album would definitely be on it
  • If you’re looking for sound that jumps out of your speakers, a killer Hot Stamper pressing is guaranteed to have that quality, because that’s what we’re looking for too

Side one starts out with Queen’s back-to-back anthemic classics, “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” Does it get any better for a Queen fan? Hell no!

The stomps and claps that introduce the former should make you feel like you are in a stadium full of people with a single goal — to rock you. Those stomps and claps need weight and clarity, an unusual combination. One without the other is not going to cut it.

The record needs to be able to reproduce the room everybody is in, while still conveying the tremendous impact and power. Most domestic pressings are severely lacking in these areas. This kind of anemia can be frustrating — you want to rock but the sound won’t let you.

(more…)

The Kinks – Sleepwalker

More Records Mastered By Robert Ludwig

  • An outstanding pressing of the Kinks’ triumphant return to the charts (and one of only a handful of copies to hit the site in years), with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them on both sides
  • The sound on this side one is full-bodied, lively and smooth – RL’s mastering contributes the big bottom end you want for this music, and side two if not far behind in all those areas
  • “Juke Box Music” represents Ray Davies’s fun and engaging pop sensibilities at their best
  • Rolling Stone raved that “The Kinks’ playing on Sleepwalker is easily their most powerful since ‘Lola.'”

We really enjoy the music of The Kinks here at Better Records, but most of the time the sound of their records is too mediocre (or worse) for serious audiophile listening. I love You Really Got Me as much as the next guy, but it’s insanely tough to find killer copies of old records like that. (Every now and then we manage, but regular visitors to the site know how infrequent that is.)

This album may not rank with Village Green or Arthur, but it’s well-recorded and there are a number of enjoyable tracks. After Muswell Hillbillies The Kinks recorded a number of weak concept albums, but Sleepwalker is a step back in the right direction. If you are a big Kinks fan, I’m sure you’ll enjoy hearing what this album can do on a seriously good pressing.

(more…)

Linda Ronstadt – Simple Dreams

More of the Music of Linda Ronstadt

  • An original Asylum pressing with seriously good Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last
  • Linda’s best sounding recording and a proud member of our Top 100 – this is the album that showed us she could do it all
  • Val Garay does it again, filling the grooves with his trademark super-punchy, jump-out-the-speakers, rich and smooth ANALOG sound
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…reconfirms [Rondstadt’s] substantial talents as an interpretive singer…and [her] powerful performance makes the record rival Heart Like a Wheel in sheer overall quality.”
  • If you’re a Linda Ronstadt fan, this undeniable classic from 1977 is surely a Must Own
  • Simple Dreams is our pick for Linda’s best sounding album. Roughly 150 other listings for the Best Recording by an Artist or Group can be found here.

This is clearly one of Linda’s best albums and I would have to say, based on my fairly extensive experience with her recorded output, that it is in fact the best sounding record she ever made. I love Heart Like a Wheel, but it sure doesn’t sound like this, not even on the Triple Plus copies that win our shootouts. (It is her best album, though.)

I confess to having never taken the album seriously, dismissing it as a commercial collection of pop hits with about as much depth as the L.A. River — but I was wrong, wrong, wrong.

This is a great sounding album on the right pressing, not the compressed piece of grainy cardboard we’ve all been playing for years, unaware of the tremendous sound quality lurking in the grooves of other copies; the ones that were blessed with the right stampers, the right vinyl and a healthy amount of fairy dust wafting over the press that day.

That’s what Hot Stamper shootouts are all about — finding those copies, the ones no one knows exist. (No one but us it seems; who else would think to put this album in their Top 100?)

This Is a Real Band

Until a Hot Stamper found its way onto our turntable, we had absolutely no idea the album could sound like this, or that the music was so good.

The first thing that came to mind when I looked inside the fold open cover and saw all the guys who back Linda up on the album is that this is a real rock band. These are not a bunch of studio cats punching a time card. These guys know how to rock; just listen to the way they come blasting out of the gate on “It’s So Easy.” Linda is with them all the way, giving one of the best performances of her career.

Song after song, this super-tight band with the hot female lead (!) show that they can rock with the best of them. And do beautiful ballads (“Blue Bayou”) too.

Folks, I hereby testify that a Hot Stamper copy of this very album gave me a newfound respect for Linda beyond her work on Heart Like a Wheel. This is the album that shows she can do it all, as the All Music Guide points out, and I’m a believer.

(more…)

Cheap Trick – In Color

More of the Music of Cheap Trick

  • A vintage copy of Cheap Trick’s sophomore release with a KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to an excellent Double Plus (A++) side one
  • Both of these sides are rich and smooth like good analog should be, with plenty of energy and rock and roll drive
  • Spaciousness, richness and freedom from grit and grain are key to the best pressings, and here you will find all three
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…the songs and music on In Color are as splendid as the band’s debut.”

(more…)