2003-all

Crying on Classic Records

Hot Stamper Pressings of Pop and Jazz Vocals Available Now

Sonic Grade: C

Another Classic Records Rock and Pop LP reviewed.

Not sure if we would still agree with what we wrote back in 2003 when this record came out, but here it is anyway. 

“This is actually a very good sounding record, unlike the first Orbison that Classic did. It’s also a better album.”

Note that the chances of us doing a shootout for this album are close to nil. Where are you going to find half a dozen clean stereo copies to clean and play? I haven’t seen one in longer than I can remember.

These Roy Orbison records we have done shootouts for and hope to again someday.

(more…)

Workingman’s Dead is Dead as a Doornail on Rhino Records

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Grateful Dead Available Now

UPDATE 2026

This review for Workingman’s Dead was written shortly after the release of the album in 2003.

An audiophile hall of shame pressing and a Heavy Vinyl disaster if there ever was one (and oh yes, there are plenty. Here are some of the more recent examples we’ve played).

The 2003 Rhino reissue on Heavy Vinyl of Workingman’s Dead is absolutely awful. It sounds like a bad cassette.

The CD of the album that I own is superb, which means that the tapes are not the problem, bad mastering and pressing are.

This pressing has what we call ”modern” sound, which is to say it’s clean and tonally correct for the most part, but it’s missing the Tubey Magic the originals and the good reissues both have plenty of.

Is it the worst version of the album ever made? The pressings on the last WB labels are pretty awful, but this awful? Who can say?

(more…)

Giant Steps Is Another in a Very Long Line of Disappointing Rhino Remasters

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of John Coltrane Available Now

UPDATE 2026

This review was written in the early 2000s, long before we had enough data to recognize just what a hack Kevin Gray would turn out to be, remastering one awful sounding record after another for the next twenty years.

His list of failures is surely one of the longest in the business. Of course, we can only guess about most of them, as we are not in the business of playing junk Heavy Vinyl. We much prefer the business we are in: selling the best sounding vintage pressings of the greatest albums of all time.

Reviewing an awful pressing such as this is simply a service we offer to help audiophiles from throwing away their money, at least those audiophiles who have not bought the hype surrounding this incompetent engineer’s consistently shameful work.

Scroll down to see proof that somebody actually paid 80 bucks for this lousy record, along with the rave reviews from a few of those who flushed their money down the toilet. What could be sadder?

Our 2003 Review

Mastered by Kevin Gray, this record has what we like to call ”modern” sound, which is to say it’s clean and tonally correct for the most part, but it’s missing the Tubey Magic the originals and the good reissues both have plenty of.

In other words, it sounds too much like a CD.

(more…)

Latin ala Lee! The Record of the Year for 2003?

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Miss Peggy Lee Available Now

UPDATE 2026

It’s highly unlikely we would still agree with all the good things we had to say back in 2003 about Latin ala Lee! on Heavy Vinyl, but here it is anyway.

Plenty of records that sounded good to me back in the day don’t sound too good to me anymore, for the simple reason that, in this case, since 2003 we’ve managed to make a huge number of changes to the system.

These changes resulted in more accurate and revealing playback, derived mostly from the testing we did with this group of records and others like them. (Here is a personal favorite.)

Unfortunately for all concerned, S&P’s releases from this era (as well as DCC’s) had to fight their way through Kevin Gray’s transistory, opaque, airless, low-resolution cutting system, a subject we discuss in more depth here.

As for the difficult remix, the more remixes I hear, the less I like them. The ones Hoffmann did for Nat King Cole (see here) drive me up a wall.

Our Old Review

The Record of the Year for 2003.

I know how crazy that sounds, but it’s true! If you don’t have a smile on your face fifteen seconds after playing track one, you better check your pulse, cuz, as the famous song has it: Jack, You Dead. Amazingly good sound, courtesy of a fabulous and painstakingly difficult remix by the mastering guru himself, Steve Hoffman. This is popular music for the previous generation — but why should we be denied these long forgotten treasures?

(more…)