1978

Emmylou Harris – Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town

More Country and Country Rock

  • This copy was doing practically everything right, earning killer Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades from start to finish – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • Both of these sides are big, rich and sweet with exceptionally breathy vocals, excellent clarity and plenty of bottom end weight
  • Old Timers like me remember the ridiculously bright and phony-sounding Mobile Fidelity pressing — one of their much-too-frequent embarrassments from back in the day
  • Our Hot Stampers will of course sound dramatically different, with tonally correct mids and highs and none of the blobby bass that is the unavoidable sonic signature of half-speed mastering
  • 4 stars: “Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town is a transitional effort that bridges the curveballs of Emmylou Harris’ earliest solo work with the more traditional country albums that comprise the bulk of the second phase of her career.”
  • If you’re a fan of Emmylou’s, this one from 1978 is surely one of her better albums

The sound that Emmylou and her producers were going for here is clean, detailed and low distortion, which is exactly what the best pressings like this one deliver! What really sets the good copies apart, though, is the natural, relaxed quality of the vocals. Emmylou sounds like a real person, with none of the harsh, sterile sound that ruins so many pressings. Check out the duet with Willie Nelson on “One Paper Kid” — both vocalists sound wonderful. That’s the sound you want. (more…)

Bill Berry and His Ellington All-Stars – For Duke

Hot Stamper Audiophile Recordings

Reviews and Commentaries for Direct to Disc Recordings

  • An original M&K Real Time pressing with stunning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound from first note to last – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • Tubier, more present, and more alive than practically all other copies, with more of that “jumpin’ right out of the speakers” quality that only The Real Thing (The Real Thing being An Old Record) ever has
  • “. . . this album features a true all-star lineup. Each artist solos in this heartfelt tribute session. . . one of those rare albums that you can enjoy over and over without losing your smile.”

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Prokofiev / Lt. Kije (45 RPM)

More Orchestral Spectacular Recordings

  • With INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides, this Japanese import copy is guaranteed to blow the doors off any other recording of Lt. Kije you’ve heard – and it plays as quietly as any copy ever will (and far better than most)
  • This wonderful LP boasts our favorite performance for this popular 20th century work
  • Big, clear, present and transparent, with a HUGE bottom end, you better believe that this is some Demo Disc sound
  • When the brass is the way it is here – rich and clear, not thin and shrill – you have yourself a top quality DG pressing
  • 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

*NOTE: There is a mark that plays 18 times (10 moderate, 8 light) at the start of side 1. There is also a mark that plays 7 times at a moderate level at the end of side 2.

This Japanese 45 RPM remastering of our favorite recording of Prokofiev’s wonderful Lt. Kije Suite has DEMONSTRATION QUALITY SOUND. For starters, there are very few records with dynamics comparable to these. Since this is my favorite performance of all time, I can’t recommend the record any more highly.

Once the needle has dropped you will quickly forget about the sound and simply find yourself in the presence of some of the greatest musicians of their generation captured on some of the greatest analog recordings of all time.

This pressing fulfills the promise of the 45 RPM cutting speed so much in vogue these days. We had a pile of these 45s to play through. When we came upon this one halfway through our shootout, it was so big, so clear, so dynamic, so energetic, so extended on the top and bottom, we almost could not believe what we were hearing, especially compared to the others copies we played. There are very few records with dynamics that can compare with these.

The bass drum (drums?) here must be heard to be believed. We know of no Golden Age recording with as believable a presentation of the instrument as this. The drum is clearly and precisely located at the back of the stage. Even better, it’s as huge and powerful and room-filling as it would have been had you attended the session yourself. That’s our idea of hi-fidelity here at Better Records! Since this is my favorite performance of all time, I can’t recommend the record any more highly.

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Jules and the Polar Bears / Got No Breeding – A Forgotten Classic from 1978

Hot Stamper Pressings of Albums from 1978 Available Now

More of Our Favorite Titles from 1978

We dropped the needle on this one and heard EXCELLENT SOUND, which is not always what you hear when you play the average copy of this album.

And the music is GREAT. I’m a giant fan of this band, which never got the public acclaim they deserved, although they were critic’s darlings from day one. If you like adventurous pop, this should be right up your alley. If you’re the kind of person that was into the Talking Heads in the ’70s, this band is every bit as original and compelling. 

This album checks off a few of our favorite boxes:

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Bob Dylan – Street-Legal

More Bob Dylan

More Rock and Pop

  • With STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them on both sides, this copy is one of the BEST we have ever heard
  • You get clean, clear, full-bodied, lively and musical ANALOG sound from first note to last
  • We would be foolish to make claims for “audiophile quality” sound on this album – it is what it is, but the best copies are head and shoulders above anything else you’ve heard
  • 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
  • “In the UK…Michael Watts of Melody Maker proclaim[ed] it Dylan’s ‘best album since John Wesley Harding.’ NME’s Angus MacKinnon hailed it as Dylan’s ‘second major album of the ’70s.'” – Wikipedia

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Chopin / Scherzo No. 2 / Auer – Direct to Disc

More of the music of Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)

More Direct-to-Disc Recordings with Hot Stampers

This is an IMMACULATE RCA Direct-to-Disc LP with SUPERB SOUND! This recording is every bit as good as the famous RCA Beethoven Direct Disc and ten times as rare. You will have a very hard time finding a better sounding solo piano recording.  [Or so we thought in 2008.]

76 Pieces of Explosive Percussion / Direct to Disc

Hot Stamper Direct-to-Discs Available Now

Hot Stamper Percussion Records Available Now

A poor man’s Bang-Baaroom with a stage full of percussionists playing a variety of instruments.

This LP presents a realistic, three-dimensional soundstage and an amazing array of percussion.

There’s also some incredibly deep bass drum work.  

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Pat Metheny Group – Self-Titled

More Pat Metheny

  • An early pressing of the group’s debut studio album, with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from first note to last – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • This copy has more CLARITY, ENERGY and DYNAMICS than any pressing of the album you have ever heard, guaranteed
  • And the bass is monstrous – finally the kick drum is really kicking, breaking through the mix
  • We don’t know how you feel about ECM recordings in general, but we tend to think they are pretty lifeless and boring. Not so here!
  • 5 stars: “The music is quite distinctive, floating rather than swinging, electric but not rockish, and full of folkish melodies…[it] grows in interest with each listen.”

This WHITE HOT Stamper of arguably his best album lets the music come to LIFE in a way that no other pressing in our shootout managed to do. We don’t know how you feel about ECM recordings in general, but we tend to think they are pretty lifeless and boring.

Not so here!

This is the sound of the Master Tape — worlds better than what most record lovers have ever had the privilege of hearing. If you want to know how good this album can sound, it’s first come, first served. There’s only one, folks, and this is it.

This copy has more of the clarity, energy and dynamics than any pressing of the album you have ever heard, guaranteed. Where is the muck? The blurry bottom end? The smear? All gone.

And the bass is monstrous. Finally the kick drum is really kicking, breaking through the mix.

Lively and fun, who knew any Pat Metheny album could sound like this?

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David Grisman – Hot Dawg

More David Grisman

  • David Grisman’s 1978 release finally returns to the site with STUNNING Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound throughout, just shy of our Shootout Winner – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • These sides are clear and lively, with the all-important Tubey Magic that was missing from many of the copies we played
  • Transparency, speed and freedom from smear are key to the best copies – this one showed us just how good the record can sound
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Grisman’s lively ‘Dawg’s Bull’ and guitarist Tony Rice’s upbeat ‘Devlin’ set a high standard at the opening of the album, yet the remaining tracks continue to meet the high watermark of the first two songs.”

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Waylon Jennings – I’ve Always Been Crazy

More Waylon Jennings

More Country and Country Rock

  • An original RCA Victor pressing with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound on both sides – remarkably quiet vinyl too
  • You won’t believe how natural, rich, tonally correct and Tubey Magical this copy is – until you play it, of course
  • Waylon Jennings’ albums were not made for audiophiles, and many of them in our experience don’t sound very good, so it came as a welcome surprise that this recording from 1978 had just the kind of vintage analog sound we look for
  • 4 stars: “… a solid recording, still possessing the piss and vinegar of Jennings’ best work… necessary for any fan of outlaw country in general and Jennings in particular.”

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