Hot Stamper Pressings of Elvis’s Albums Available Now
My notes for the one and only UK pressing I’ve played in many years, the one with Porky is the dead wax, note its many weaknesses:
Really loud and full.
Too loud and hot vocal.
Strains a lot.
You know what the sound of this record reminds me of?
An old 45 RPM 7″ single. Remember those?
It’s not unusual for 45 RPM singles from back in the day to be very loud, very compressed, and they often have much-too-hot vocals designed to jump right into your lap.
Mono mixes sometimes have some of that same lowest-common-denominator sound.
This mix is stereo but it sounds like it’s coming right out of a jukebox.
No doubt Mr. Peckham was told to make the record sound that way, and he did his job very well.
But audiophiles looking for good sound should heed this warning and avoid the UK LPs of the album. It’s a joke next to the domestic pressings with the right stampers. (The right stampers are hard to find but you will never hear a good sounding early pressing unless you have a copy with the stampers that sound right, a tautology to be sure but one worth noting.)