Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Tears For Fears Available Now
UPDATE 2026
Below you will find an excerpt from the commentary we wrote for an early Shootout Winning pressing we played many years ago.
There is one quality that the best copies always have and that the worst copies always lack: Frequency Extension, especially on the top end.
When you get a copy like this one, with superb extension up top, the grit and edge on the highs almost disappears. You can test for that quality on side one very easily with the percussive opening to Shout.
If plenty of harmonics and air are present at the opening, you are very likely hearing a high quality copy.
Side one here has smooth, sweet, analog richness and spaciousness I didn’t think was possible for this recording. The bass is full and punchy. When it really starts cooking, like in the louder, more dynamic sections of Shout or Mothers Talk, it doesn’t get harsh and abrasive like practically every other copy I’ve heard.