Hot Stamper Pressings of Elvis Costello’s Albums Available Now
UPDATE 2026
In 2008 we did our first shootout for Punch the Clock. This is what we had to say at the time about the album and the pressings that won our shootout.
Note that we used to like the German pressings better than the Brits back then but no longer do. The best German pressings in our last shootout earned grades of 1.5+ to 2+, even though they were mastered by the same engineer. All the British copies we played had better sound.
This is one of my favorite Elvis Costello albums. I remember loving the sound of my old import copy from twenty years back. Now I know better: that most of them leave something to be desired. Did I have good one? Who can say? Everything is different, and revisiting old sonic favorites can sometimes be a bit of a shock. (Of course this is especially true for all the old MOFIs I used to like. Now most of them make me gag.)
Elvis: Still The King
By the way, we played a domestic copy of this album, just for fun you might say, and sure enough it was a real mess. Boosted highs, poor bass definition and copious amounts of grit and grain — 70s Columbia at their best, what else is new? The first album and Spike are the only Elvis records I know of that sound good on domestic vinyl. Forget the rest.
[Spike not so much anymore.]