1985

ZZ Top – Afterburner

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  • Bass and body are key to the best pressings, along with Rock and Roll energy, and here you will find plenty of all three
  • A syth-rock followup to Eliminator featuring hits including “Sleeping Bag,” “Stages,” and “Rough Boy”
  • “Afterburner presented ZZ Top as dystopian blade runners, ascending to the sterile environs of their space compound instead of running around the desert killin’ varmints.”
  • If you’re a ZZ Top fan, a killer copy of their album from 1985 might just need a home in your collection

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David Lee Roth – Crazy From The Heat

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More Van Halen

  • David Lee Roth’s solo debut finally arrives on the site with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • The sound is rich, smooth, and full — you’ll have a hard time finding a better sounding pressing on the planet
  • 4 stars: “For his first solo effort, David Lee Roth strips away the gonzo guitars that are Van Halen’s trademark and accentuates his lounge-lizard-as-rock-star persona, resulting in an EP that succeeds because of that persona.”

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Sade – Promise

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More Titles Only Offered on Import LP

  • Sade’s Best Album returns with stunning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Both sides of this UK disc are guaranteed to be amazing sounding compared to whatever you’ve heard
  • There’s no denying the power of Sade’s sultry voice when you can actually hear it – she is on fire on this album
  • Her best song is on side one here – Is It a Crime – and the big band arrangement will surely send chills up and down your spine, especially with Triple Plus sound quality

Not many copies manage to have this kind of consistently sweet sound across both sides. Here are the kind of present, breathy vocals this music absolutely requires to work its magic.

If you know this album at all, you know that most pressings are just too damn dark sounding. Sade herself is typically recessed in the mix and veiled; it takes an exceptional copy such as this one to make her voice both present and breathy. (more…)

John Fogerty – Centerfield

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More Roots Rock LPs

  • KILLER sound throughout with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on the first side and solid Double Plus (A++) sound on the second
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more richness, fullness and presence on this copy than others you’ve heard can offer, and that’s especially true for whatever godawful Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently being foisted on an unsuspecting record buying public
  • “… a clutch of terrific songs: that giddy ode to his beloved game, the equally sunny rocker “Rock and Roll Girls,” the snappy Sun tribute “Big Train from Memphis,” the gently swaying “I Saw It on TV,” the rip-roaring “I Can’t Help Myself” and, of course, “The Old Man Down the Road,” a callback to CCR’s spooky swamp rock… a cheerful, glorious comeback.” – All Music

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Motley Crue – Theatre of Pain

  • A superb sounding copy with impressive Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish and the first to ever hit the site!  
  • Both sides here are clean, clear, full-bodied and present with tons of energy and a much nicer bottom end than most copies we played
  • “Mötley Crüe really began to hit their commercial stride with Theatre of Pain, which broke them on MTV with the power ballad “Home Sweet Home” and a remake of Brownsville Station’s “Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room” – All Music

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Simple Minds – Once Upon A Time


  • Stunning sound throughout with both sides earning nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • These sides are big, rich and full-bodied with a huge bottom end and an energy level that’s off the charts
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Simple Minds’ popularity was expounded on songs such as “Alive & Kicking” and “Sanctify Yourself.” This album was one of their best, most likely leading the pack in the band’s album roster, because it exuded raw energy and solid composition not entirely captured on previous albums.”

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John Cougar Mellencamp – Scarecrow

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  • Scarecrow finally makes its Hot Stamper debut here with superb Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound from start to finish – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • This copy rocks like crazy with serious weight down low, huge size and space, and plenty of driving energy
  • Featured on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s, boasting “Scarecrow consolidated the band’s rugged, roots-rock thrash and the ongoing maturation of Mellencamp’s lyrics.”
  • 4 1/2 stars: “A loose concept album about lost innocence and the crumbling of small-town America, Scarecrow says as much with its tough rock and gentle folk-rock as it does with its lyrics… [Mellencamp’s] writing has never been more powerful…”

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Rush – Power Windows

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More Prog Rock

  • Power Windows makes its Hot Stamper debut here with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER throughout – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • This copy rocks like crazy with serious weight down low, huge size and space, and plenty of driving energy
  • “Rush remains faithful to vintage progressive aesthetics but has accepted the challenge of the postpunk upheaval and made notable adjustments… Power Windows may well be the missing link between Yes and the Sex Pistols.”

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Starship – Knee Deep in the Hoopla

  • The debut for the band Starship finally arrives on the site with two Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides and quiet vinyl 
  • We guarantee you’ve never heard this Top Ten hit album from 1985 sound remotely as good as it does here
  • If you want to hear the Tubey Magic, size and energy of the album, a vintage pressing like this one is the only way to do it in our experience
  • Not a hit with the critics, but it does contain two of this band’s biggest singles, both of which rocketed all the way to Number One: “We Built This City” and “Sara”

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R.E.M. – Fables of the Reconstruction

 

  • This insanely good pressing of the band’s third studio album earned Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades for sound on both sides
  • This vintage pressing is well balanced, yet big and lively, with such wonderful clarity in the mids and highs as well as deep punchy bass and a big open and spacious soundfield
  • 4 stars: “… the group does demonstrate considerable musical growth, particularly in how perfectly it evokes the strange rural legends of the South. And many of the songs on the record — including “Feeling Gravity’s Pull,” “Maps and Legends,” “Green Grow the Rushes,” “Auctioneer (Another Engine),” and the previously mentioned pair — rank among the group’s best.”

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