1977

The L.A. 4 – Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte (33 RPM)

More of the Music of the L.A. 4

  • Boasting two outstanding Double Plus (A++) or BETTER sides, this East Wind 33 RPM Japanese import pressing will be very hard to beat – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Side one was sonically very close to our Shootout Winner – you will be amazed at how big and rich the sound is
  • This is one of the better sounding versions with all 7 tracks we’ve played
  • Lee Herschberg recorded these sessions direct-to-disc – he’s the guy behind the most amazing piano trio recording I have ever heard, a little album called The Three
  • Both of these sides give you the richness, clarity, presence and resolution few copies can touch
  • This 33 RPM version features all seven of the original tracks – “C’est What” and “Corcovado” were omitted from the shorter 45 RPM pressing

(more…)

Les Brown – Goes Direct to Disc

More Large Group Jazz Recordings

More Reviews of Century Direct to Disc Records

  • Excellent sound throughout this original Great American Gramophone Company (later Century Records) pressing, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Great energy, but the sonics are relaxed and tubey sweet at the same time, never squawky, with plenty of extension on both ends – that’s analog for ya!
  • Both sides here fulfill the promise of the Direct to Disc recording technology in a way that few – very, very few – Direct to Disc pressings can
  • Try “Tickle Toe” and “Gonna Fly Now” on side two to hear the best combination of excellent sonics and superb musicianship

(more…)

Santana – Moonflower

More Santana

More Records That Sound Better Loud

  • With INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on sides two and three, and superb Double Plus (A++) sound on sides one and four, this copy of Santana’s 2-LP live album will be very hard to beat – exceptionally quiet vinyl
  • These sides are rich, full-bodied and Tubey Magical with a big punchy bottom end
  • Turn it up and you will hear sound that is incredibly powerful and natural with remarkable presence, energy and weight down low
  • “Santana, which was renowned for its concert work dating back to Woodstock, did not release a live album in the U.S. until this one… Moonflower went Top Ten and sold a million copies, the first new Santana album to do that since 1972 and the last until Supernatural in 1999.”

(more…)

Tom Waits – Foreign Affairs

More Tom Waits

  • Foreign Affairs is back on the site after a six month hiatus, here with a KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side two
  • These are just a few of the things we had to say about this incredible Triple Plus side one in our notes: “tubey sax and bass”…”vox jumping out [of the speakers]”…”sweet and rich and 3D”…”deep bass”
  • This early Asylum label pressing will put Tom Waits right in front of you, with a batch of great session players behind and to the side, all playing live in the studio
  • “Foreign Affairs is one of the most unjustifiably overlooked titles in Waits’ catalog. It holds its appeal – and sounds less dated – than many of his more popular entries.”
  • “Produced and engineered by Bones Howe, Foreign Affairs was recorded live in studio by a quintet that included West Coast jazzmen Jack Sheldon on trumpet, saxophonist Frank Vicari, bassist Jim Hughart, and drummer Shelly Manne.”

(more…)

Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (Import)

More Fleetwood Mac

Reviews and Commentaries for Rumours

  • Here is a British import pressing of Fleetwood Mac’s magnum opus with seriously good Double Plus (A++) grades throughout
  • Tubey Magical analog – the sound is open, spacious and transparent, with a huge three-dimensional soundfield
  • A Better Records Top 100 title – when you hear it sound as good as it does here, you’ll know why we’ve long considered Rumours an Audiophile Demo Disc
  • If you own the album on two 45 RPM discs (you know the one), allow us to send you a copy that will beat the pants off that modern mediocrity – this one
  • 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.”
  • A list of Must Own rock from 1977 would have to have this album on it, somethere near the top I would think

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. (more…)

Pink Floyd / Animals

More Pink Floyd

More Recordings Engineered by Brian Humphries

  • This vintage UK copy was giving us the big and bold sound we were looking for, with an INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side one
  • The best sounding pressing are British reissues, a discovery we made about ten years ago — nothing can touch them
  • For those who appreciate the concept, nothing we have played to date can touch them, but tomorrow we could find a stamper with even better sound – who can say what tomorrow may bring?
  • Forget the dead-as-a-doornail Heavy Vinyl and the domestic pressings too – only these Brits have the Tubey Magical Midrange that this Pink Floyd album needs
  • “Of all of the classic-era Pink Floyd albums, Animals is the strangest and darkest, a record that’s hard to initially embrace yet winds up yielding as many rewards as its equally nihilistic successor, The Wall. Animals is all extended pieces, yet it never drifts — it slowly, ominously works its way toward its destination. For an album that so clearly is Waters’, David Gilmour’s guitar dominates thoroughly …it surges with bold blues-rock guitar lines and hypnotic space rock textures.”

(more…)

Peter Gabriel – Self-Titled No. 1 (Car)

More Peter Gabriel

  • With two INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides, this British pressing was giving us the sound we were looking for on Peter Gabriel’s solo debut album
  • Rich, smooth, sweet, full of ambience, dead-on correct tonality – everything that we listen for in a great record is here
  • Features his autobiographical lead single and radio staple to this day, “Solsbury Hill”
  • Clearly the hardest of the first five PG records to find with good sound and decent vinyl, which is why these seldom make the site
  • None of our top copies did not have condition issues or ticky vinyl – for this album it is best to assume the vinyl won’t be quiet; it helps to avoid some of the disappointment that inevitably comes
  • Speaking of which, there are some bad marks (as is sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs) on “Down the Dolce Vita,” 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
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…much of the record teems with invigorating energy (as on ‘Slowburn,’ or the orchestral-disco pulse of ‘Down the Dolce Vita’), and the closer ‘Here Comes the Flood’ burns with an anthemic intensity that would later become his signature in the 80s.”

(more…)

Kenny Loggins – Celebrate Me Home

More Loggins and Messina

  • With a STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to an outstanding Double Plus (A++) side one, this vintage pressing is practically as good a copy as we have ever heard (and one of the few to ever hit the site)
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this incredible Triple Plus side two in our notes: “breathy and transparent”…big and tubey”…”extended up top”….”so 3D and rich!”
  • Both sides here are rich, full and Tubey Magical with a massive bottom end and lots of space around the instruments
  • It’s also one of the only Loggins solo albums we’ve ever liked; it’s a favorite from back in the day
  • 4 stars: “Loggins is in good form throughout the record, and if even only the title track entered his readily-acknowledged canon, this has a fine, sustained mood: a soft late 70s vibe that makes it a nice artifact of its time, as well as one of his stronger records, as illustrated by its platinum status — something it achieved without any blockbuster singles.”

This killer copy shows you just how good this record can sound, which is surprisingly good, considering how many copies of the album are just plain awful. Finally, most of the grit, grain, and transitory opacity have fallen away, leaving in its place the rich, full-bodied and Tubey Magical ’70s sound one would expect.

As obvious as it may sound (especially to anyone on this site), the master tape is a whole lot better than the average copy of the record would have you believe. This copy is proof positive. Without a doubt this is one of the best pressings of the album we have ever heard.

The better copies take top honors for rhythmic energy and real frequency extension both high and low. Most copies have no real top end; if you own one give it a listen and we think you’ll agree with us.

Great bass, plenty of Tubey Magic, clarity and richness — practically no other copy in our shootout could do what this one was doing.

(more…)

The Three / Self-Titled (45 RPM)

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Piano

  • Amazing sound throughout this Japanese import pressing, with both sides earning KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them
  • The transients are uncannily lifelike – listen for the powerful kinetic energy produced when Shelly whacks the hell out of his cymbals
  • My favorite piano trio jazz album of all time — every one of the tracks is brilliantly arranged and performed
  • 4 stars: “One of Joe Sample’s finest sessions as a leader” – with Shelly Manne and Ray Brown, we would say it’s clearly his finest session, as a leader or simply as the piano player in a killer trio
  • Some of the other records we’ve discovered with top jazz piano sound can be found here
  • More amazing sounding piano recordings, of every kind of music, can be found here

If you want to hear the full six tunes recorded by The Three at that famous Hollywood session (which ran all day and long into the night, 4 AM to be exact), our 33 RPM pressings are your best bet.

If you want absolutely amazing, mind-blowing, you-are-there sound, a Hot Stamper 45 is the only way to go.

The music is so good that I personally would not want to live without the complete album. The Three is, in fact, my favorite piano trio jazz album of all time. Very one of those six tracks is brilliantly arranged and performed (if you have the right takes of course; more about that later).

This album checks off a number of important boxes for us here at Better Records:

(more…)

James Taylor – JT

More of the Music of James Taylor

  • This outstanding copy of Taylor’s breakthrough album from 1977 boasts excellent sound 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!
  • This and Sweet Baby James are the man’s best recordings, and his best albums too, but he has so many great albums that it almost seems unfair to him to point that out
  • 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.

(more…)