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Simply Red / Stars

More of the Music of Simply Red

  • Here is an original import pressing of the band’s fourth studio album (only the second copy to ever hit the site) with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER on both sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Richer, warmer, more natural, more relaxed – this is what vintage analog is all about, that smooth sound that never calls attention to itself and just lets the music flow
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…Stars is Simply Red’s best album since their debut. It’s smoother and more polished than their previous work, yet Mick Hucknall is singing better than ever…”

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Gordon Lightfoot / Summer Side of Life

More of the Music of Gordon Lightfoot

  • A vintage copy of Gordon’s wonderful 1971 release with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout
  • So transparent, open, and spacious that nuances and subtleties that escaped you before are now front and center
  • Everything you want in the sound of a good Folk Rock album is here in abundance – enjoy!
  • Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings, but once you hear just how incredible sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and pops and just be swept away by the music
  • “. . . an album that has him curling up with both his guitar and his kind, fragile voice . . . With Gordon Lightfoot’s honest, unhindered composure now becoming well-known in the U.S. and not just in Canada, Summer Side of Life helped strengthen his songwriting and refine his delicate vocal style, which, in turn, made 1972’s Old Dan’s Records and 1973’s Don Quixote two of his best albums.”

Tubey Magical Acoustic Guitar reproduction is superb on the better copies of this recording. Simply phenomenal amounts of Tubey Magic can be heard on every strum, along with richness, body and harmonic coherency that have all but disappeared from modern recordings (and especially from modern remasterings). (more…)

Richie Havens – Alarm Clock

More of the Music of Richie Havens

  • Alarm Clock is back on the site for only the second time in over three and a half years, here with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it from first note to the last – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Side one is super open and transparent with excellent bass and lots of depth to the soundfield, and side two is not far behind in all those areas; this copy had more top end and more vocal presence than most others we played it against (also particularly on side one)
  • This one went all the way up to #29 when it came out in 1971, a far better showing than Haven ever had on the charts before or again
  • Side one kicks off with a great cover of “Here Comes The Sun,” and on a copy like this it sounds out of this world

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Various Artists – Paris 1917-1938 / Dorati

More Music Conducted by Antal Dorati

  • Boasting two INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides, this original Maroon Label pressing of these delightful orchestral works is certainly as good a copy as we have ever heard
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at, and the crazy thing is we bought this one sealed, unplayed, so don’t expect to find one quieter than this, they didn’t know how to make them any quieter
  • The sound is big and open, and like so many Mercury recordings with the London Symphony, it’s rich and full-bodied, not thin and nasally as is so often the case with their domestically recorded releases
  • In many ways this album would certainly serve quite well as an audiophile Demo Disc – the timbre of the wide array of instruments used is right on the money
  • For those who haven’t been to our Skeptical Audiophile blog, this is a good example of a record which has the same stampers on every copy we played, but only one sounded the way this one does
  • The good stampers and the bad stampers are the same stampers, more evidence that the only way to find a pressing this good is to have a pile of cleaned copies and play them one at a time
  • This record was previously on the TAS Super Disc list but has since been dropped, which is only fitting since the current crop of nitwits running the show there has been watering the list down with one crappy title after another — many on Heavy Vinyl — since HP passed in 2014

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Beethoven – Symphony No. 4 / Ansermet

More of the Music of Ludwig van Beethoven

  • A vintage London pressing of Ansermet and the Suisse Romande’s wonderful performance, here with big, rich, Tubey Magical Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound throughout – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • Both of these sides have an abundance of energy, loads of detail and texture, remarkable transparency and excellent clarity – all qualities the best classical pressings have in abundance
  • The texture on the strings is captured perfectly – this is an area in which modern pressings fail utterly, and without good string reproduction, especially in the lower registers, a Beethoven symphony is simply not a pleasurable experience when reproduced on highly resolving equipment

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Rick Wakeman – Journey to the Center of the Earth

More Proggy Rock

  • Rick’s sophomore release debuts on the site with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides of this original British A&M import pressing
  • The sonics here are big, full, and rich with an abundance of energy, beautifully showcasing the diverse contributions of Wakeman’s synthesizers
  • Forget the dubby domestic pressings (or whatever crappy new reissue is around) – this the only way to hear the master tapes’ huge, lively and Tubey Magical qualities
  • Marks and 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
  • 4 stars: “Journey to the Centre of the Earth is one of progressive rock’s crowning achievements.”

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The Human League – Dare

More New Wave

  • Superb sound throughout this original UK Virgin pressing, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • We shot out a number of other imports and this one had the midrange presence, bass, and dynamics that were missing from most other copies we played
  • Forget the dubby domestic pressings and whatever crappy Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – the British LPs are the only way to fly on Dare
  • 5 stars: “Dare! captures a moment in time perfectly – the moment post-punk’s robotic fascination with synthesizers met a clinical Bowie-esque infatuation with fashion and modern art, including pop culture, plus a healthy love of songcraft. The Human League had shown much of this on their early singles, such as “Empire State Human,” but on Dare! they simply gelled, as their style was supported by music and songs with emotional substance.”

This vintage import pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records can barely BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound.

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Paul McCartney & Wings – Back to the Egg

More of the Music of Paul McCartney

  • The band’s final release makes its Hot Stamper debut with solid Double Plus (A++) grades throughout this British import pressing – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Both of these sides are big and rich, with remarkable clarity and three-dimensional space, the kind of sound that most other pressings only hint at
  • Forget the dubby domestic pressings and whatever crappy Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – the UK LPs are the only way to fly on Back to the Egg

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America – Holiday

More of the Music of America

  • The band’s fourth studio album appears on the site for only the second time ever, here with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from top to bottom
  • Big, spacious and present, with boatloads of the Tubey Magical richness these recordings need in order to work
  • Produced by George Martin and engineered by Geoff Emerick, it’s the recording debut of America’s longtime drummer, Willie Leacox
  • “With ‘Tin Man”s wonderfully polished soft pop ease and the wispiness of ‘Lonely People,’ the band was able to recapture the same formula that put early hits like ‘A Horse with No Name,’ ‘I Need You,’ and ‘Ventura Highway’ in the Top Ten …this album as a whole ascertained that the group was definitely showing their true potential once more.”

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Mahler – Symphony No. 1 / Solti

More Classical and Orchestral Recordings

  • Boasting two huge, powerful and tubey Double Plus (A++) sides or BETTER, we guarantee you’ve never heard Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 sound remotely as good as it does on this vintage London pressing
  • The sonic are big and rich, lively and open, with an abundance of depth and huge climaxes that hold together
  • Everything that we listen for in a great classical recording can be heard on this copy – it’s immediate, dynamic, very low distortion, spacious, and alive
  • We had one original unboxed Decca, and what a disappointment it was after hearing so many great sounding London pressings
  • Mastered by Stan Goodall, it was not remotely competitive on either side with the work of Harry Fisher
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performances with the highest quality sound. This record is certainly deserving of a place on that list.

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