1980

The Jacksons – Triumph

More Michael Jackson

  • If you’ve heard one of our amazing Hot Stamper pressings of Off the Wall – the best sounding record Michael Jackson ever made – then you know exactly the Tubey Magical sound of the best copies of Triumph
  • 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
  • 4 stars: “Released during the summer of 1980, just as the hits from Michael’s Off the Wall were sliding off the charts, Triumph became the Jacksons’ first Top Ten pop album since 1972’s Lookin’ Through the Windows…”
  • If you’re a fan of The Jacksons, this is one of their best.
  • The complete list of titles from 1980 that we’ve reviewed to date can be found here.

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Jimi Hendrix – Nine to the Universe

More Jimi Hendrix

More Rock Classics

  • This Hendrix instrumental compilation has Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides
  • The five jams contained herein may be for fans, but if you count yourself among those who bow before the amazing improvisational guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix, this is going to be the best sounding copy you will likely ever hear
  • In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave Nine to the Universe a “B+” and called it “bracing progressive” rhythm and blues showcasing Hendrix’s most jazz-oriented improvisations
  • According to music scholar Craig Hansen Werner, “Nine to the Universe was one of the few works that suggested the direction Hendrix and [Miles] Davis would have explored had they worked together.”

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Van Halen – Women And Children First

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Reviews and Commentaries for Van Halen

  • Full-bodied, smooth analog sound is the key to the best Van Halen pressings, and here both sides have it 
  • One of our favorite engineers, Donn Landee, worked his magic here (together with Ted Templeman) and the results are superb
  • 4 1/2 stars: “After two pure party albums, the inevitable had to happen: it was time for Van Halen to mature, or at least get a little serious … This is the first Van Halen album to consist entirely of original material and there’s some significant growth here to the writing…”

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The B-52s / Wild Planet

This recording, like the band’s first album, reminded me of a really good Don Landee / Ted Templeman production, the kind you hear on JT or Simple Dreams or the better Doobie Brothers albums — with a difference.

Like the abovementioned albums, everything is laid out clearly: there’s a space created for every part of the frequency spectrum from the lowest lows to the highest highs, with nothing crowding or interfering with anything else. The production is professional, clean, clear and REAL sounding everywhere you look.

But…

It’s rare for those albums to sound as PUNCHY and LIVELY as the best copies of Wild Planet do. The B-52’s first album has that sound in spades. The producers and engineers apparently knew a good thing when they found it and succeeded in leaving well enough alone here (at least on the better copies; the mediocre copies are always going to be missing some of the life of the music).

Chris Blackwell of Island Records produced the album, taking the band down to Nassau to record it, with one of our favorite knob-twirlers, none other than Rhett Davies, on board as engineer.

The result is one of the Best Sounding Albums of 1980.

Rich, smooth, natural sound in the ’80s? Not many have managed to pull it off, but these guys did.

What to Listen For

A big, solid, punchy kick drum. It’s prominent in the mix on the best copies and really drives the music. (more…)

Willie Nelson and Ray Price – San Antonio Rose

More Willie Nelson

More Country and Country Rock

  • San Antonio Rose finally makes its Hot Stamper debut here with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER throughout
  • If you don’t know Ray Price — and not many of you do I bet — this album will serve as an excellent introduction to one of the All Time greats of country music
  • The sound here is richer, with much less transistory grain, and more of the All Important Tubey Magic than most other copies we played
  • 4 stars: “Comparing the vocalists as they trade verses is one of the best aspects of this Nelson duet series and, in this case, the styles of the singers are perfectly matched.”

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Shostakovich – Symphonies Nos. 6 and 11 / Berglund

More of the music of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

  • This stunning double album makes its Hot Stamper debut here with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or very close to it on all FOUR sides of this original EMI pressing
  • The notes on every side say practically the same things – big, solid, weighty, punchy, dynamic, clear, musical, balanced
  • We don’t always hear those qualities on the TAS List Super Disc records we play in our shootouts, but we sure heard them on this one! (It has been off the list for a long time now, but back in the ’80s this is the pressing audiophiles were after.)
  • With sound this good, your ability to suspend disbelief will require practically no effort at all

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Jackson Browne – Hold Out

More Jackson Browne

More Singer-Songwriter Albums

  • Jackson Browne’s sixth album finally returns to the site with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish
  • Big, rich, energetic, with tons of Analog Tubey Magic, this early pressing has exactly the right sound for this music
  • “An exploration of the pull of work. stardom and bittersweet expectations.” – Rolling Stone

We had a huge stack of copies but most of them left us entirely cold. A mediocre copy of The Pretender is still a decent sounding record, but the average pressing of this one is just not going to get the job done. We suffered through some of the blandest records to hit the table in ages in the shootout, but I’m pleased to report that a small group of copies actually managed to impress.

So many copies we played were just thick and veiled, keeping Jackson’s vocals in the speakers stuck in a cloudy haze. Most of our copies lacked texture entirely, which really sucked the life out of the music. It’s a good thing this album sold so well in its day, because it took a TON of copies to find a few that actually sounded like the Jackson Browne we know and love from The Pretender, Late For The Sky and the wonderful first album. (more…)

Black Sabbath – Heaven and Hell

More Black Sabbath

More Rock Classics

  • Sabbath’s first album with Dio finally makes its Hot Stamper debut, with outstanding Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides
  • With Martin Birch (Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple) producing, the band put their recent bad albums with Ozzy behind them to record this 4 1/2 Star return to form
  • Forget whatever Heavy Vinyl LP they’re making these days – if you want to hear the Tubey Magic, size and energy of this Heavy Metal Classic from 1980, a vintage pressing like this one is the way to go
  • “The Sabs found a worthy replacement in former Elf and Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio, and bounced back to issue their finest album since the early ’70s… The band sounds reborn and re-energized throughout… One of Sabbath’s finest records. “

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Emmylou Harris – Roses In The Snow

More Emmylou Harris

More Country and Country Rock

  • Roses in the Snow finally returns to the site with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or very close to it from start to finish – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • The immediacy of the vocals is startling — Emmylou is IN THE ROOM with you, belting out these heartfelt, emotional songs. If that doesn’t give you chills, I don’t know what will!
  • We’ve done several shootouts for this album now, and we’ve completely fallen in love with both the music and the sound – when you hear a copy like this, it’s easy to see why
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Combining acoustic bluegrass with traditional Appalachian melodies (and tossing one contemporary tune, Paul Simon’s “The Boxer,” into the mix), Roses in the Snow ranks among Emmylou Harris’ riskiest — and most satisfying — gambits.”

Both sides have wonderful clarity and transparency. Emmylou’s vocals are breathy with lots of texture, the stringed instruments have the proper amount of pluck and twang, and the bass is Right On The Money. Yee-haw! (more…)

Supertramp – Paris

More Supertramp

  • A Killer Copy: Triple Plus (A+++) on side two, nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) on side one, and Double Plus (A++) on the rest
  • This British original pressing may have been mastered in America but it sure sounded better than most of the domestic vinyl we played
  • Key elements in the sound of the best pressings were size, richness, Tubey Magic and energy, and these sides have a sizable helping of all four
  • Amazon reviewers love the album – 86% of them as of this writing have given it Five Stars

Listen to side two of this copy to hear exactly what the best sounding copies can do! (more…)