- With solid Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish, this copy is doing most everything right – fairly quiet vinyl too
- This early import pressing showed us a Spike we never knew existed – there was so much energy and presence that it just came jumping out of the speakers and simply refused to mind its manners. Elvis should be proud. Why don’t more records sound like this?
- “Any King’s Shilling” on side two with its authentic Irish instrumentation (fiddle, uilleann pipes, Irish harp, bodhran) has Demo Disc quality sound of the highest order
- One of the best batches of songs Elvis (and his buddy Paul McCartney) ever wrote – the combination of such good sound and such good music makes this the last of the great Elvis records from an audiophile perspective
- Problems 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
1989
Stevie Ray Vaughan – In Step
More of the Music of Stevie Ray Vaughan
- SRV’s penultimate release from 1989, here with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from start to finish – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
- Both of these sides have that big, bold electric blues sound, with plenty of energy and presence that’s surely missing from whatever 180g reissue is being foisted on the unsuspecting record buying public today
- Mastered by Bernie Grundman, if you can believe it, a man we’ve had plenty to say about over the years (most of it not flattering), but whose work here proves the man did know how to cut great records at one point in his career
- 5 stars: “The magnificent thing about In Step is how it’s fully realized, presenting every facet of Vaughan’s musical personality, yet it still soars with a sense of discovery. It’s a bittersweet triumph, given Vaughan’s tragic death a little over a year after its release, yet it’s a triumph all the same.”
Bonnie Raitt – Nick Of Time
- Incredible sound for Bonnie’s 1989 Masterpiece, with both sides of this original copy earning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades – just shy of our Shootout Winner
- There was a time when these Capitol pressings were sitting in the bins all over town, but those days are gone, my friend
- Some of the sweetest, richest, most analog sound we’ve heard from any record Don Was produced – “Have A Heart” is a Demo Disc quality track
- 4 1/2 stars: “Producer Don Was used Raitt’s classic early-70s records as a blueprint, choosing to update the sound with a smooth, professional production and a batch of excellent contemporary songs. In this context, Raitt flourishes; she never rocks too hard, but there is grit to her singing and playing, even when the surfaces are clean and inviting. A great comeback album that made for a great story.”
- Yes, the sound is heavily processed, with the kind of gloss that we’ve come to expect from Don Was, but these qualities take nothing away from the consistently high quality of the songwriting and production
- If you like the vintage smooth sound of this album, there are plenty of Hot Stamper pressings currently available that offer it
The sound here is powerfully big and bold, with meaty, deep bass (such a big part of the rockers here, “Thing Called Love” being a prime example).
When you hear it like this — something probably pretty close to what he heard during the control room playback for the final mix — it actually makes sense. It works. It’s not exactly “natural,” but natural is not what they were going for, now is it?
We play albums like this very loud. I’ve seen Bonnie Raitt live a number of times, and although I can’t begin to get her to play as loud in my listening room as she did on stage, I can try. To do less is to do her music a profound disservice.
Van Morrison – Avalon Sunset
More of the Music of Van Morrison
- Here is a vintage Polydor import pressing (one of only a handful of copies to ever hit the site) with solid Double Plus (A++) sound throughout
- Both of these sides give you the richness, Tubey Magic, clarity and resolution few copies can touch
- “Van Morrison scored one of his biggest commercial successes with Avalon Sunset, a record highlighted by the gorgeous ‘Have I Told You Lately,’ one of his most heartfelt love songs and a major radio hit which helped introduce his music to a new generation of listeners.”
Miles Davis – Aura
More of the Music of Miles Davis
- This 2-LP set of Miles’s last Columbia label recording debuts on the site with superb Double Plus (A++) sound on all FOUR sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
- You’d be hard-pressed to find a copy that’s this well balanced, big and lively, with wonderful clarity in the mids and highs
- Backed by a full orchestra, and with John McLaughlin on guitar, Aura is unlike anything else in Davis’s catalogue – it’s a unique musical journey worth taking for those of a more adventurous nature
- Won a Grammy Award in 1990 for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance.
- “The music is an amalgam of classical impressionism, European new music, jazz, rock, electronic, and other genres. As a tribute and separate orchestral work, it’s quite moving and beautiful, full of moody interludes and evocations of nuance, color, texture, and dynamic.”
John Lee Hooker – The Healer
More Electric Blues
- Here is a vintage copy with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout
- On the best pressings like this one, you get something approaching the warmth and unforced clarity of analog we audiophiles crave
- With Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos, Canned Heat and others
- Four Stars in Rolling Stone: “Brilliant, 100-proof blues… the spirit that animates this album is the ageless voice of John Lee Hooker and his boogie-man blues. He has conjured up a renewed world blues with the canniness of the hoodoo healers and root doctors who first gave birth to the Delta blues.”
These guys (and one gal!) are definitely LIVE in the studio. The amount of studio reverb may be a bit much for some, but we think it works for this music. (more…)
Shawn Colvin – Steady On
More Women Who Rock
- Colvin’s debut release returns to the site after a thirteen month hiatus, here with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout this original Columbia pressing
- These are just a few of the things we had to say about this amazing copy in our notes: “huge and weighty and full”…”jumping out of the speakers”…”very full and lovely vox, breathy”…”fully extended from top to bottom”
- 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: “Steady On is a triumph … there are the songs that flow so effortlessly into one another that to remove even one would seemingly upset the entire balance of the cosmos as we know it.”
Tears For Fears – The Seeds Of Love
More of the Music of Tears For Fears
- Boasting two incredible Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sides, this vintage import copy of the band’s Pop Masterpiece is close to the BEST we have ever heard, right up there with our Shootout Winner – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
- We guarantee the sound is dramatically bigger, richer, fuller, and livelier than any pressing you have ever heard, and on this record that is saying a LOT
- A tough record to find in audiophile playing condition – copies with vinyl this quiet and with no audible marks were neither easy nor cheap to source from overseas
- The band’s Magnum Opus, a Colossal Production to rival the greatest Prog, Psych and Art Rock recordings of all time (Whew!)
- 4 stars: “Thanks to the duo’s uncompromising stubbornness, expansive creative vision, and Dave Bascombe’s final production, The Seeds of Love has dated better than either of its predecessors and is inarguably Tears for Fears’ masterpiece.”
The B-52’s – Cosmic Thing
More of The B-52’s
More New Wave
- An original Reprise pressing with two superb Double Plus (A++) or BETTER sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
- The sound is lively, punchy, and powerful – with all due respect, it should murder whatever copies you may have
- Both of these sides are dramatically bigger and richer, and they also have more vocal presence and hard-rockin’ energy than a lot of the others we played in our recent shootout
- 4 stars: “Working with producers Don Was and Nile Rodgers, the B-52’s updated their sound with shiny new surfaces and deep, funky grooves — it was the same basic pattern as before, only refurbished and contemporized. Just as importantly, they had their best set of songs since at least Wild Planet, possibly since their debut.”
Eric Clapton – Journeyman
More Eric Clapton
More British Blues Rock
- A superb import copy with Double Plus (A++) sound on both sides
- Forget the commonly dry-sounding domestic copies – the pressings mastered in Germany and the UK were the only ones good enough for us to put in a shootout
- Rich, lively, spacious – the right pressings are surprisingly good-sounding for a recording from 1989
- The big hit was “Pretending,” but “Bad Love” (both went to Number One) won the Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal
- 4 1/2 stars: “… a laid-back and thoroughly engaging display of Clapton’s virtuosity. On the whole, it’s the best studio album he’s released since Slowhand.”