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Eric Clapton – August

More of the Music of Eric Clapton

  • Clapton’s 1986 release makes its debut on the site, with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout this vintage Duck pressing – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more richness, fullness, vocal presence, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true if you made the mistake of buying whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently on the market.
  • “Phil Collins and Eric Clapton joined together for a second collaborative effort with the November 1986 release August. They shared producing chores as Collins pop sensibilities combined with Clapton’s blues/rock foundation to provide a solid and satisfying listening experience… It remains a good effort by one of rock music’s guitar gods.”

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Arnold – Guitar Concertos / Bream

More Living Stereo Recordings

  • Amazing sound throughout this original Shaded Dog pressing, with both sides earning INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades
  • 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
  • These sides are wonderfully full-bodied, rich and present, using state-of-the-art All Tube Living Stereo recording technology that was so advanced in 1961 it thought it could transport a living, breathing Julian Bream directly from his studio into your listening room
  • It turns out that with today’s playback systems and cleaning technologies, the dream of being in the “living presence” of the performers has become a reality
  • Bream’s guitar sounds sweetly natural, not overly detailed and the orchestra is exceptionally well recorded, as we would expect from a good RCA of this period

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Tammy Wynette – Bedtime Story

More Country and Country Rock

  • Bedtime Story debuts on the site with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout this original Epic pressing
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this amazing copy in our notes: “sweet and open”…”vox so present and breathy and dynamic”…”huge, deep and rich bass”…”huge, punchy, and tubey”
  • Both of these sides are full-bodied and lively, with exceptionally solid, present and breathy vocals, and plenty of vintage Tubey Magic
  • Marks 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
  • “In many ways, Tammy Wynette deserves the title of ‘the First Lady of Country Music.’ During the late 60s and early 70s, she dominated the country charts, scoring 17 number one hits. Along with Loretta Lynn, she defined the role of female country vocalists in the 70s.” – AMG Biography

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The Pentangle – Self-Titled

More British Folk Rock

  • The Pentangle’s Masterpiece returns to the site for the first time in years, here with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades on both sides of this early UK Transatlantic pressing – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • The unprocessed quality found throughout the album has its audiophile credentials fully in order, especially in the area of guitar harmonics, as well as drums that sound like real drums actually sound
  • The true foundation of the music is provided by two legendary guitar heavyweights, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, with Jacqui McShee’s almost unbearably sweet vocals soaring above them
  • This is one of the Holy Grail titles we have been trying to find on Transatlantic UK vinyl in clean condition for more than a decade, with almost nothing to show for our efforts until now
  • We can find Pentangling — they made a lot of those and for a compilation they sound great on the best pressings
  • But this record is in an entirely different league altogether — I suspect it will be many years before we can do it again
  • “It is one of the best albums one will ever hear, and as the liner notes say, ‘Play this record to those you love.'” – Rolling Stone

This is an honest-to-goodness Demo Disc. When for a (thankfully) brief time back in the 70s I was selling audio equipment, the song “Pentangling” was a favorite demo cut to play in the store. The sound of the string bass and snare drum are amazingly natural; I don’t know of any other pop album from the era that presents the vibrant timbre of those two instruments better.

This record easily qualifies for our Top 100 List, it’s that good (but unfortunately too rare to make the cut).

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The Jam – Setting Sons

More Rock and Pop

  • Setting Sons appears on the site for only the second time ever, here with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them throughout this vintage Polydor pressing – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Both of these sides have energy and presence that positively jumps out of the speakers, two of the qualities that we prize most highly in our Hot Stampers, and two of the things (among many) that Heavy Vinyl does so poorly
  • It’s the rare copy that’s this lively, solid and rich… drop the needle on any track and you’ll see what we mean
  • 5 stars: “Setting Sons often reaches brilliance and stands among the Jam’s best albums….”

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Johnny Cash – Hello, I’m Johnny Cash

More of the Music of Johnny Cash

  • Hello, I’m Johnny Cash debuts on the site with solid Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides of this original Stereo 360 pressing
  • The vocal presence and freedom from coloration will put a very real sounding Johnny Cash front and center right in your very own listening room
  • Rich, smooth, sweet, full of ambience, dead on correct tonality, and wonderfully breathy vocals – everything that we listen for in a great record is here
  • 4 stars: “The energy that Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three captured on the legendary Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison live record can probably never be duplicated. That being said, Hello, I’m Johnny Cash comes very close, blending slow talking-blues songs with steam-engine-paced country rockers. This forgotten album may be one of the five best in the Cash discography.”

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Crazy Horse – Loose

More Country and Country Rock

  • The band’s sophomore LP debuts on the site with seriously good Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on both sides of this vintage Reprise pressing – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • The sound here is rich and full-bodied with much less grain and much more Tubey Magic than most of the other copies we played
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more space, richness, presence, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard or you get your money back – it’s as simple as that

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Fleetwood Mac – Future Games

More of the Music of Fleetwood Mac

  • With two STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides or close to them, this copy is guaranteed to blow the doors off any other Future Games you’ve heard
  • You’ll find huge sound on this copy – it’s big, bold and lively – this is clearly the right sound for Future Games
  • Fleetwood Mac practically invented Space Rock, which reached its apotheosis in 1973 on Mystery to Me (my favorite by the band)
  • A criminally underrated album unlike anything you’ve heard and a Better Records favorite for more than 40 years
  • It’s also a record that has disappeared off the face of the earth – we would love to do more shootouts for the album, but we just never see them anymore (more…)

Mendelssohn / Chopin – Cello Sonatas / Starker / Sebok

Mercury Living Presence Records Available Now

  • Starker and Sebok’s virtuoso performances debut on the site with the rich, dynamic, and tubey sound we were hoping for, earning INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades throughout this original Plum Label Mercury pressing
  • Both of these sides are big, full-bodied, clean and clear, with a wonderfully present and solid piano, and plenty of 3D space around it
  • The cello is present and immediate, with sound that is remarkably textured, full and harmonically natural
  • Not only is this the best sounding copy we have to offer from our recent shootout, but we are happy to report that the vinyl is reasonably quiet for a vintage Plum Label Mercury stereo pressing, with no marks that play or problems with the inner grooves

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Dvorak – Slavonic Dances / Martinon

More of the Music of Dvorak

  • Martinon and the LSO’s lively performance of Slavonic Dances debuts on the site with big, rich and Tubey Magical Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Living Stereo sound throughout this original Shaded Dog pressing
  • These sides are clear, full-bodied and present, with plenty of space around the players, the unmistakable sonic hallmark of the properly-mastered, properly-pressed vintage analog LP
  • We’ve been trying to get this shootout going for many years – some of the pressings we’ve come across have been absolutely some of the best sounding Living Stereo titles we’ve ever played
  • If we ever create a Living Stereo Top Ten, this album will be a serious contender of the honor
  • This record will have you asking why so few Living Stereo pressings actually do what this one does. The more critical listeners among you will recognize that this is a very special copy indeed. Everyone else will just enjoy the hell out of it.
  • Marks and 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

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