- Both sides here are out of this world — incredibly full-bodied, musical and Tubey Magical with a massive bottom end
- “On his debut album, For You, Prince shows exceptional skill for arranging and performing mainstream urban R&B and funk…” – All Music
- If you’re a fan of Prince’s, a killer copy of his album from 1978 belongs in your collection
no-demo-disc
Spirit – The Family That Plays Together
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- The band’s sophomore release finally makes its Hot Stamper debut here with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on both sides
- A very difficult album to find with good sound and audiophile quality surfaces
- Both sides have presence, size and space we guarantee you have never heard on this album in all your born days
- I Got A Line On You was the big hit and it really rocks on this copy
- 4 1/2 stars: “On this, the second Spirit album, the group put all of the elements together that made them the legendary (and underrated) band that they were. Jazz, rock & roll, and even classical elements combined to create one of the cleanest, most tasteful syntheses of its day.”
This is a record I grew up with and like to think I know well. I’m a huge fan of the band. For audiophiles the first album and Clear are better recordings. This one has its problems, but so does Twelve Dreams and that album belongs in any rock collection worthy of the name.
The sound on the better copies isn’t unlike a good Jefferson Airplane record. It’s crazy psychedelic ’60s music with a LOT going on, and I’m guessing it was pretty hard to get the raw power of this band onto tape. (more…)
The Beach Boys – In Concert
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In Concert
- Wonderful Double Plus (A++) sound on all four sides – this is only the second copy to ever hit the site, and it’s a good one!
- Fairly quiet on the fourth side – Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus – the other three sides plays Mint Minus Minus
- “Beach Boys in Concert was the final live album to be issued — excluding archival vault releases — capturing the seminal American combo as a viable, hard-working rock & roll band with timeless material instead of the parody that Mike Love so perfectly embodied during their final years. This is the way the Beach Boys deserve to be remembered.” – 4 Stars
We’ve raved about a number of live albums over the years. Some of the better sounding ones that come readily to mind (in alphabetical order) are Belafonte at Carnegie Hall, David Live, Johnny Cash At San Quentin, Donny Hathaway Live, The Jimi Hendrix Concerts, Performance – Rockin The Fillmore, Live Wire – Blues Power, Waiting For Columbus, Get Your Ya-Ya’s Out and Live at Leeds. I would be proud to have any of them in my collection.
The Beach Boys In Concert will never join that rarefied list, but the better copies are clearly giving us a picture of the band pleasing their fans in the early ’70s, right here in the good old U.S. of A.
Note that we have never heard good sounding copies of either of the two previous Beach Boys concert albums, so for a live recording of The Beach Boys this is pretty much going to be it. (more…)
Joe Walsh – The Smoker You Drink…
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- A superb copy of Walsh’s sophomore release with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish
- This copy has Walsh sounding clear and present, with much less grit to his vocal
- The bass is tight and punchy, with real weight to the bottom end
- More importantly than all of those, Joe’s guitars are meaty, grungy and huge – that guitar sound is the sine qua non of Classic Riff Rock, and this copy delivers plenty of it
- 4 1/2 stars: “The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get features some of the most remembered Joe Walsh tracks, but it’s not just these that make the album a success. Each of the nine tracks is a song to be proud of. This is a superb album by anyone’s standards.”
Joe Walsh – But Seriously, Folks…
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- A hard album to find with sound like this AND quiet surfaces, but here one is@
- We guarantee there is dramatically more richness, fullness and presence on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true for whatever godawful Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently being foisted on an undiscerning record buying public
- 4 1/2 stars: “As far as studio albums go, But Seriously Folks is Joe Walsh’s most insightful and melodic… The album’s introspective outlook glides through rejuvenation (‘Tomorrow,’ ‘Over and Over’), recapturing the simple pleasures of the past (‘Indian Summer’), mid-career indecision, and a melancholy instrumental.”
Prince – Controversy
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More Soul, Blues, and Rhythm and Blues
- This copy of Prince’s fourth studio album boasts outstanding Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on both sides
- Prince’s albums will never be demo discs, but the best pressings give you the sound that he was going for in the studio, and you can’t ask for more than that
- These vintage Prince albums are getting hard to find nowadays – prices have doubled and tripled in the last year or two
- “Controversy emerged in 1981 at a pivotal time not just for Prince, but for America. It’s often regarded as a bridge between Dirty Mind and 1999, but it’s fascinating record in its own right.” – Pitchfork (9.0)
The best copies sound pretty much the way the best copies of most Classic Rock records sound: tonally correct, rich, clear, sweet, smooth, open, present, lively, big, spacious, with breathy vocals and little spit, grit, grain or grunge. That’s the sound of analog, and the best copies of Controversy have that sound. (more…)
The Monkees / The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees – Yes, Some Copies Actually Do Sound Good
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- KILLER sound throughout for this original Colgems pressing with both sides earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or very close to them – the vinyl is fairly quiet for a vintage Monkees record too
- The key to any Monkees record is the midrange, and here is the low-distortion, rich, breathy, present, Tubey Magical sound that no other side one had in such abundance
- Daydream Believer was the big hit and it is absolutely killer here
- “Featuring more than half of its material written by band members, The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees ranks as a favorite among longtime fans… it’s one of the band’s finest records, a great representation of the era and an even better pop album.” – Ultimate Classic Rock
Alice Cooper – Killer
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- Cooper’s fourth studio album finally arrives on the site with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on side one mated to an outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound on side one
- Bigger and bolder, with more bass, more energy, and more of the “you-are-there-immediacy” of ANALOG that sets the best vintage pressings apart from reissues, CDs, and whatever else you care to name
- 4 1/2 stars: “With Killer, they became one of the world’s top rock bands and concert attractions; it rewarded them as being among the most notorious and misunderstood entertainers, thoroughly despised by grownups.”
John Cougar Mellencamp – Uh-Huh
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- You’ll find STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from first note to last on this original pressing of Mellencamp’s 1983 release – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
- The sound is HUGE – wide, deep, and open, with a solid bottom end and rhythmic energy to spare
- 4 1/2 stars: “… the first half — with the dynamic rocker ‘Crumblin’ Down,’ his best protest song, ‘Pink Houses,’ the punky ‘Authority Song,’ the melancholy ‘Warmer Place to Sleep,’ and the garage rocker ‘Play Guitar’ — makes the record his first terrific album.”
Jimmy Witherspoon – Witherspoon / Mulligan / Webster At The Renaissance
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This is an original Hi-Fi Records Mono LP from 1959. Jimmy is joined on stage by Gerry Mulligan and Ben Webster, with support from Mel Lewis, Leroy Vinnegar and Jimmy Rowles. Now that is some group of top jazz talent.
The sound is decent, but the music is the real thing, as you can imagine from the list of players. There’s also some slight groove distortion which is almost unavoidable on vintage pressings such as this.