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Best vinyl purchases based on pressing, studio production, sound quality and enjoyment.

As you all know this question has been asked a million times on a million sites BUT each time it’s asked, it can be very helpful to those trying to find great vinyl that is quiet, produced well and touches the heart each time it’s played.

I’ve only been into vinyl for 6 months now and have purchased 250 albums, 99 percent new, recent pressings, reissues. So within the last year, what are 10 of your favorite album purchases based on pressing, studio production, sound quality and pure enjoyment??? Here’s my top 20:

1. The Wonderful Sounds of Female Vocals. (Various artists, 200 gram QRP)
2. Willie Nelson- To all the Girls (Various artists 180 gram Legacy)
3. Dead Can Dance- Into the Labyrinth (180 gram Mobile Fidelity reissue)
4. Rickie Lee Jones- Rickie Lee Jones (180 HQ Pressing Warner Bros reissue)
5. Stevie Ray Vaughn- The Sky is Cryin (200 gram Analogue productions 45rpm reissue)
6. Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon (2016 reissue)
7. Renee Flemming- The Beautiful Voice (Decca 20th anniversary gatefold)
8. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong- Ella and Louis (Analogue productions Mono reissue)
9. Eva Cassidy- Nightbird (Blix Street Records 180 gram)
10. Doors- All the new reissue 45’s from Analogue Productions, 200 gram
11. Cash- The Man Comes Around (American Records, QRP, 180 gram)
12. Shelby Lynne- Just a Little Lovin (QRP, Analogue Productions, 45 rpm, 200 gram)
13. Vanessa Fernandez- When the Levee Breaks (Groove Note, 45 rpm, 180 gram)
14. Nils Lofgren- Acoustic Live (Analogue Productions, QRP, 200 gram)
15. Neil Young- Live at Massey Hall (Reprise, 180 gram reissue)
16. Tony Bennett- I Wanna Be Around (Mobile Fidelity, 180 gram reissue)
17. Linda Ronstadt- What’s New (Analogue Productions, QRP, 200 gram, reissue)
18. Cat Stevens- Tea for the Tillerman (Analogue Productions, QRP, 200 gram reissue)
19. Muddy Waters- Folk Singer (Analogue Productions, QRP, 200 gram reissue)
20. Fleetwood Mac- Tango in the Night (Rhino, 180 gram, 2017 reissue)

Ps: You can go beyond 1 year if needed.


128x128knollbrent

Showing 3 responses by whart

whart's avatar
whart
2,976 posts
 
Run, don’t walk, to buy a copy of Brian Davison’s every which way on Mercury. Pay for a M- copy (you should be able to find it on Discogs for around $30). Sounds like early Traffic, hard rock, blues shouter, jazz motifs, excellent music, first rate recording.
Other records I’d recommend for music that are decent recordings:
Blast Furnace- S/T (Danish reissue from a couple years ago)
Lucifer’s Friend S/T- German Philips (don’t bother with the reissue)
Herbie Hancock- Crossings - the Speakers Corner reissue from a year or so ago;
If you like spiritual jazz, virtually any of the Pure Pleasure re-do’s of the Strata East catalog;
Gil Scott Heron, Winter in America- Strata East (one of the more ubiquitous Strata East records that still doesn’t cost an arm and a leg- great soulful funk/jazz spoken word poetry);
Opeth- Damnation, from the reissued twofer of Deliverance/Damnation (the lyrical, melodic side of Opeth);
Sabbath- Heaven and Hell (Dutch Vertigo- dramatically better than either the US or UK pressings)
John Martyn- Solid Air (UK Island pink rim)
Chris Whitley- National Steel (US promo version of Living with the Law, fewer tracks, better sound- if you want Living with the Law, buy the original Columbia, not the Music on Vinyl version).
King Crimson Toronto 2016- live recording, very close approximation of the band as currently configured, extremely well recorded.
Have fun.



whart's avatar
whart
2,976 posts
 
@knollbrent -- at the risk of sounding snarky (i'm not), try to venture beyond the audiophile approved stuff.  Sure, it sounds good, but there's a lot more to music than the stuff that gets released by the small handful of labels that release (and re-release) the warhorses. Much interesting music never gets reissued or is reissued by non-audiophile labels because it doesn't have a guaranteed market. 
I hit a point some years ago where I realized that I had thousands of records that I bought over the years that were sonically impressive, but left me unmoved, musically. Once I started to search out music beyond the "safe" choices covered by the audiophile press, I learned much more about my taste and the music itself. Then you can dig down for the best sonic examples of the particular recordings you like-- in many cases, it won't be an all analog remaster done by Bernie or Kevin, but there's an awful lot of music beyond the tried and true audiophile approved playlists. 
whart's avatar
whart
2,976 posts
 
If you dig peak Linda Ronstadt, you might explore Andrew Gold, who worked with her on a number of those great albums. He was a producer, arranger, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who is almost forgotten today. He came from very successful music biz parents and his work reflected some of the best of the LA '70's pop rock scene. Extreme talent, sadly passed at a relatively young age. 
More to discover