I have been very impressed with the Pressings that are belonging to my Wife’s Collection of Bowie Albums bought during the 70’s and 80’s.
Albums recorded using the Q Sound embedded sound management have always been very impressive when the Original Pressing.
Even more relevant to my recent experiences, using the Neil Antin PAVCR manual cleaning method, has proved to transform Albums to a extremely impressive replay. I have stated in the past, the purified quality the Album has attained is Audible.
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@pindac thanks for the suggestions. I have a few Bowie albums I like but don't love, but none of them are Q Sound versions. I'll look for that, and I'll also research the PAVCR cleaning method. Thanks for your time.
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How about a real classic: Elgar Cello Concerto and Sea Pictures, Barbirolli, duPré, Baker, LSO, HMV ASD 655, 1965.
Perhaps the best recording of the cello concerto ever, and Dame Janet Baker was in fine form too. Shivers down the spine quality of sound. There are lots of issues available, and if buying through Discogs it might take a few tries to get a clean copy. There are recent re-issues too, but I find they don't move me as much. There's even a mono 1965 issue (HMV ALP2106) but I haven't heard it - yet.
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@yogiboy @dogberry many thanks, on it!!
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Great thread idea, thank you. I'll submit for your consideration this one that surprised me out of nowhere -- I picked it up as part of a collection that I bought. Like you, this is one that I'd have never considered for myself but now listen to regularly. Stunningly recorded, it just transports you.
Nils Frahm: Spaces
https://www.nilsfrahm.com/works/spaces/
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Oh, and I'll second that Chet Baker album. That's a great one.
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You should try Walt Disney's Fantasia, conducted by Irwin Kostal based on the original soundtrack by Leopold Stokowski. I have the original Stokowski LP too which is great. But Kostal's LP is something else. It completely fills up my listening room withe a sound stage from outside of the left speaker spanning all the way to the outside of the right speaker. Incredible sound-stage depth. Then there is music simply blow you away.
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Spectacular
Respighi, Ancient Airs and Dances, Dorati conducting, on Mercury SRI 75009.
Rachmaninoff, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Rubinstein and Reiner, Living Stereo LSC-2430.
Brooding, Threatening, and Deep
Gorecki, Symphonie No 3, Woytowicz (soprano), Bour (conductor). Released as a sound track of the movie 'Police', Erato ERA 9275. Surprise!
Extra-Terrestrial
Tallis, Spem in Alium, a 40 (forty) part harmony, half of Side 2 of 'The Glories of Tudor Church Music'. The Clerkes of Oxenford, Wulstan (director), Music for Pleasure (aka Classics for Pleasure) (EMI) CFP 40069. Note the stylized line integral symbol on the upper right.
Hykes, Hearing Solar Winds, The Harmonic Choir, Ocora 558 607. Modern composition performed in a medieval stone church, using Tibetan techniques to sing in chords. Named Best Classical Record of 1982, IIRC.
Good luck! And GREAT question!
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Dire Straits album "Love Over Gold" always sounds amazing to me.
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Blood, Sweat & Tears - Child Is Father To The Man. Speakers Corner Records (Columbia) LP Reissue.
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philly,
Your focus is primarily on music content. I will second the recommendation for the Du Pre Elgar Cello Concerto. A must hear performance. I’d recommend finding a great recording of Holst The Planets also. There’s a Mehta conducted one everyone likes though I’ve not heard it.
For Rock I just can’t go past Jimi Hendrix Band Of Gypsys. Simply because they recorded a genius, live at his peak. Maybe not technically the best guitarist but, for a wholly improvised in the moment, never to be repeated glimpse of his brilliance this one shines. Herbal enhancement is in character for this album. Just don’t become a jellyfish(Band Of Gypsys reference).
For beautiful wordsmithing, delightful acoustic guitar and just right accompaniment Bruce Cockburn Dancing In The Dragon’s Jaws.
There are dozens of excellent female artists. No-one I know has ever expressed anything less than shock at the talent of the late Eva Cassidy. Look for the Live album. One more sublime album Elisabeth Schwarzkopf The Four Last Songs.
I have a soft spot for the Bach Cantatas(along with one for Jimi). One of the first he ever wrote Aus Der Tiefe Rufe Ich Herr Zu Dir. I recommend the one conducted by Hans Thamm.
Jeff Buckley Grace. Santana and McLaughlin Love Devotion Surrender. Phoebe Snow self titled.
Let me not forget to mention the sublime Brian Eno Another Green World and Roxy Music Stranded and King Crimson Discipline. The best Bowie album is Heroes.
There’s a lot of great music.
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"Jazz at the Pawnshop" is considered one of the great, near perfect audiophile recordings out there. It's an all-time classic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_at_the_Pawnshop?wprov=sfla1
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Johnny Winter - Captured Live, not the best recorded album but it just brings a smile to my face every time I play it to hear Johnny Winter at the peak of his powers.
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A Clockwork Orange (soundtrack). Search for a clean copy.
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Threshold / Jet Airliner by the Steve Miller Band from the Book of Dreams album - this was the go-to demo for the stereo stores in the mid / late 70s - really, really well recorded...
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Beautiful recordings:Janis Ian "Breaking Silence", Mary Stallings"Fine and Mellow", Dave Brubeck "Time Out'.
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I don’t listen that much to classical on lp because the wide dynamic range of the music is poorly served in this medium—average recording levels have to be set quite low which makes noise, like ticks and pops quite intrusive. Still, there are many very good sounding recordings on vinyl. Every record I have heard on the British label Lyrita was terrific sounding. Among my favorites for sound and content iis Elizabeth Machonchy’s Symphony for Double String Orchestra. I have the EMI recordings mentioned above and they too are good.
Jazz is particularly well served on vinyl, with many of the great recordings sounding better than digital reissues, and many originals sound better than vinyl reissues. If you want to show people how spectacular mono records sound, get a vinyl copy of Sonny Rollins “Saxophone Colossus.” Many original issues are very expensive, but, big labels like Columbia pressed a lot of copies so otiginal issues are not super rare and they are very well recorded. I like, for example, Brubeck’s “Take Five” and Ellington’s “Blues in Orbit” as examples of spectacular stereo recordings from the late 1950’s (it is sad to see how little recordings have improved since then).
For audiophile recordings of every genre, get almost every direct-to-disc recording for vivid and ‘alive” sound. M&K records (e.g. “For Duke” (Ellington numbers), “Fatha” (Earl Hines)), Sheffield Records (e.g. Wagner Ring excerpts, Amanda McBroom “Growing Up in Hollywood Town”) and East Wind (Japanese jazz label, e.g., Great American Jazz Trio “Direct From L.A. “) have amazing sound. Another great Japanese label is Three Blind Mice (e.g., Yamamoto Trio “Midnight Sugar”). The Swedish label Proprius does very good sounding records, although I did not like their famous “Jazz at the Pawnshop” for the performance (not the sound) and played it only once.
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I love ‘Worrisome Heart’ by Melody Gardot and ‘Wood’ by Brian Bromberg. The imaging and engineering on both are excellent. Melody’s voice is silk. With your sub, Brian’s bass will knock your socks off.
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Absolutely stunning is what I understand is the first digital recording made available to the general public, the LP Fredrick Fennell conducting the Cleveland Symphonic Winds on Telarc Stereo 5038. Infectious music by Holst, Handel and Bach with the introduction of the infamous Telarc bass drum that will make your sub stand up and salute. Avoid the CD release, however, it’s horrendous.
Gotta hear Erich Leinsdorf and the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing Wagner on a Sheffield direct disc Sheffield Lab 7. Reference level dynamics and instrumental textures.
Mel Torme and the Buddy Rich Big Band at their absolute peak in “Together Again for the First Time” a 1978 direct to disc album from Century records (CRDD1100), a Grammy winner in 1979. I was lucky to see them live in 1979. Unique in my experience, this album was also released in a “normal” release on Gryphon G-784. Exactly the same performance but the D2D was recorded with 2 mics on the band and a solo mic for Mel while the Gryphon was recorded and with the more typical multi-mic arrangement to tape. Interesting comparison…
Finally, a Harry Pearson favorite on Lyrita, Malcolm Arnold: English, Irish, Scottish, & Cornish Dances. This is music you can play for your friends who hate classical music. The original LP is rare and expensive if you can find one, but the CD, Lyrita SRCD.201, is excellent and still available for like $15 on Amazon.
I just noticed that of all the releases I mentioned, 3 were from 1978, and the Lyrita from 1979. Hmmm…
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Little Feat, Waiting for Columbus. Must be played at 95 dBSP
The ultimate test of system Imaging, Luigi Cherubini's String Quartets, Melos Quartett Stuttgart. Archiv Produktion 2723 044
Bill Evans Riverside Recordings, Analog Productions 45 RPM box set. Waltz For Debby never sounded so good.
Fourplay, Between the Sheets. Smoooooth Jazz at its best. Amazing production
Mark Lettieri, The Baritone Sessions One and Two. The intensity of a young stud.
Primus, The Brown Album. Les Claypool's bass thunders. Again 95 dBSP at least and I hope your subwoofers have fuses!
Edgar Winter, Brother Johnny. This is what Johnny Winter's albums should have sounded like all along. Amazing tribute album. Rock N Roll Hoochie Koo
Pentangle, Finale Amazing 3 record live set recorded british style. The players jump right out of your speakers. VIN180LP120
Kate Bush, Before the Dawn. Another totally amazing British Live album
Johannes Brahms. The Four Symphonies, Von Karajan DGG 479 7429 A live recording German style, precision.
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Dire Straits, brothers in arms
Frank Zappa, Apostrophe
Pierre Moelen's Gong, Time is the key
Serge Gainsbourg, histoire de Melody Nelson
Red hot chili peppers, Blood sugar sex magik
Johnny Cash, The man comes around
David Bowie, Blackstar
Talking heads, Stop making sense
Kevin Ayers, Diamond jack
Randy Pie, Magic ferry
Roxy music, Avalon
All these are of exceptional sound quality. I have many more but but this will have to do. Note that every album has better vinyl versions. They are all different. In general, the original version from the country of origin is best, but not always. It's too time consuming to list here. Part of the fun is the search.
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Pink Floyd Animals (remaster)
Pink Floyd Meddle (remasters
Any of MoFi’s Dire Straits 45 rpm releases
MoFi’s Eagles Hotel California (45 rpm)
Some Other Time - Bill Evans (45 rpm)
Wayne Shorter -Adams Apple (Blue Note)
Most 45 rpm releases sound amazing
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Spectacular Renaissance music: La Spagna, directed by Paniagua . Two masterings, mine are on BIS. Values went to $1000 before re-release.
Christmas music (like you’ve never heard it before): Laudate Domino on Proprius.
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I am currently putting Unconscious Collective's "Pleistocene Moon" on Tofu Carnage Records into Sunday morning rotation. Same Genre, more or less: Godspeed You! Black Emperor's catalog, and The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die catalog. The Dear Hunter also has some nice recordings, more Prog-ish.
I like to "Play It Loud" stuff Mahavishnu "Birds of Fire". Also Billy Cobham's "Spectrum" and "Obscured By Clouds" (Tommy Bolin AND Billy Cobham fan boy ;). And Zappa's "Hot Rats"
I have a copy of George Antheil's "Ballet Mechanique" a 1955 Mono on Columbia Masterworks that I bought in Mint condition, which is what I play on the dedicated mono system. I also enjoy his "Symphony No. 4 1942/ Estancia" on Everest (in mono), but not an outstanding player...just good
I like big band, Benny Goodman's "Carnegie Hall" is a keeper, several versions to choose from (Sing! Sing! Sing! well, sings). I like the Cowboy Bebop records from The Seatbelts, and The Seatbelts in general. I also like The Toshiko Akiyoshi- Lew Tabackin Big Band, and their solo projects. I prefer the Japan issues.
I picked up the recent "Evening at the Village Gate" by Coltrane and Dolphy. The original recording on tape was a tough source to start with, but I like it as an artifact of a time and place, which asks that one put his or her Golden Ears aside for a brief time and enjoy your Manhattan, smoke your Lucky Strike and watch the light play on her pearls; knowing this is a Once In A Lifetime night.'
More often, for me it is the music and the performance, and not so much the technology involved in reproduction. I spend much more on media than I do equipment. I'm just an emotional guy, not so analytical.
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Thank you all so much for the incredible suggestions! Blown away! I was up late last night streaming the suggestions that came in yesterday afternoon/evening, and loved all of them! Elgar, Nils Frahm, that Chet album, Fantasia, Respighi, Rachmaninoff, Gorecki - stayed up way later than I intended and loved every minute of it. Ordered the Elgar and Fantasia albums on vinyl, and will enjoy listening and hunting down all the others you've sent. Sincere thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I can now see having a section of my collection devoted to the responses in this post, organized under "Truly Stunning" -- keep the suggestions coming, thanks!!
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I recently purchased the Analouge Productions UHQR The Doors LA Woman disc. I honestly don’t know how a 53 year old recording can sound this good on a 33 1/3 vinyl disc, simply mind blowing! Surface noise was non existent, dynamic range was outstanding as was frequency response. Overall, the best vinyl pressing I have ever heard. Also worth mentioning, packaging and associated printed material for the new disc is simply outstanding, as good as it gets IMHO
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I have too many speicific records to recommend, so instead will give you labels and series to focus on:
Analogue Productions - most of their releases are excellent, they are releasing popular albums under the Atlantic label under their Atlantic 75 series. My favorites so far are Core, the Yes Album, and If I Could Only Remember My Name. They also have high end "UHQR" releases. These are pricey and you'll have to decide whether they are worth the price.
Rhino has a new series called Rhino High Fidelity, with some great AAA releases.
Mobile Fidelity of course has some great sounding records as well, most with a digital step.
Also, I would not shy away from looking for originals, especially if the particular album has not been reissued by a label focused on high quality sound. There's a rabbit hole you can go down to find the best pressings. From the 70s, records that have Masterdisk, Kendun, Sterling in the runouts are typically good.
You can also focus on good mastering engineers. Older ones that come to mind are Robert Ludwig and George Peckham. Newer ones that are excellent are Kevin Gray, Chris Bellman, Bernie Grundman and Ryan K Smith.
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Two that come to mind immediately:
Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station (vintage pressing)
Marillion - Misplaced Childhood (vintage pressing)
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"Mad Dogs and Englishmen".
Cocker's live album is killer (both sonically and musically).
DeKay
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+ 1 relayer101
I'll add the 3 releases of Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 , "Stravinsky" CSO Solti , Nina Simone "Emergency Ward! " , Jefferson Airplane " Volunteers" , I have a few more so I'll just say any release by Speakers Corner .
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Bourgeois I know but… on my little system in my little room Beethoven #6 – Karl Bohm. Some kind of reissue from the original tapes, don’t recall the details. I have several of this piece and this one has the most detail. Listen at least once/twice a week. Broad and sweeping – best most dynamic “storm” but it is the quieter parts that are the most pleasant. DG 2530 -142.
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Great question and remarkable suggestions! A few LP’s that fit the “play it for anyone” category:
Grant Green - Idle Moments, Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series. Truly remarkable performance captured by Rudy Van Gelder.
Dvorak - Piano Quintet in A, Op. 81 + Bagatelles, Op. 47 for Two Violins, Cello and Harmonium. Rudolf Firkusny and the Juilliard Quartet. Who can resist Bagatelles with a Harmonium! All kidding aside, one of my favorite chamber recordings.
Vaughan Williams - Elgar's Enigma Variation and Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis. William Steinberg conducting the Pittsburg Symphony. My version is labeled “Capital STEREO The Full Spectrum of Sound”. A beautiful recording.
So many great recordings, so little time!
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Great question and remarkable suggestions! A few LP’s that fit the “play it for anyone” category:
Grant Green - Idle Moments, Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series. Truly remarkable performance captured by Rudy Van Gelder.
Dvorak - Piano Quintet in A, Op. 81 + Bagatelles, Op. 47 for Two Violins, Cello and Harmonium. Rudolf Firkusny and the Juilliard Quartet. Who can resist Bagatelles with a Harmonium! All kidding aside, one of my favorite chamber recordings.
Vaughan Williams - Elgar's Enigma Variation and Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis. William Steinberg conducting the Pittsburg Symphony. My version is labeled “Capital STEREO The Full Spectrum of Sound”. A beautiful recording.
So many great recordings, so little time!
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I always get goose bumps when I listen to my original vinyl album Faith by the Cure. Once you start side one you will need to finish the album. Everything was done so well. :)
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One of the best sounding records I've got is ABC's 'Lexicon of Love', with Trevor Horne's masterful sonic production....
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How do the albums sound compared to a digital master of the same album?
LPs make me cringe.
If I were to go vintage, it would be reel-to-reel, but finding music would be difficult - so I’d have to record it from a digital source.
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I second the ABC @larsman
An amazing recording!
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Not sure if you like Elton John but the Super Disk version of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is very good and not that pricey.
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@ phillyspecial
since you brought up Santana you might want to try to find the first 3 and only released by ARS Joerg Kessler - CBS 30595 Germany 2001 .
These sound better than MFSL and CBS Half Speed Master Sound .
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A lot of very good suggestions here that should keep you busy and in audio nirvana. Since no one else has done so, I’d like to advise you not discount the Blues genre as there are some very good recordings therein as well. Two that quickly come to mind are:
Muddy Waters - Folk Singer
Lightnin’ Hopkins - Goin’ Away
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Analog Productions has great quality versions.
The classic Getz/Gilberto with The Girl From Ipanema. Fun, classy, great sound.
The Wonderful Sounds of Female Vocals. When some of these songs came on radio in the day I'd turn them off in a heartbeat such as Diamonds and Rust. Today it is my go to recording to showcase my system.
Radiohead Kid A Mnesa. A trip in serious listening. Very dynamic.
Cisco version of Steely Dan Aja. Any quality version of Alan Parsons I Robot.
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This thread will only die when vinyl itself finally goes away completely, and even then…
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Analogue Productions consistently made very good reissues. Same with Classic Records, King (Japanese) and Cisco (Japanese).
Mobile Fidelity is a bit mixed, but, many are very good. I particularly like a very early Mobile Fidelity reissue of Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown."
When I am demonstrating what vinyl can do, I put on the following:
Ricki Lee Jones: "Girl at Her Volcano"-"Under the Boardwalk"
Clark Terry (Analogue Productions reissue)"Alternate Blues"-Alternate 1
Duke Ellington (original six-eye Columbia) "Blues in Orbit"--"Three J's Blues"
Great Jazz Trio "Direct from LA"--"Night in Tunisia"
Yamamoto Trio "Midnight Sugar"--"Midnight Sugar"
Amanda McBroom "Growing Up in Hollywood Town"--"The Rose"
Bill Berry "For Duke"--"Take the A Train"
Kraftwerk "Electric Cafe"--"Telephone Line"
Thomas Dolby "Aliens Ate My Buick"--"Pop Culture"
Little Feat "Waiting for Columbus"--"Willin"
Weavers "Reunion at Carnegie Hall -1963"--Guantanamera
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@larryi 1+ on Under the Boardwalk.
@thegoldengoose I would have to assume you have not heard a top notch rig playing a good pressing. ou would be amazed how quiet a good cartridge/phono stage combination can be. Certainly, digital files are easier, but some of us like the challenge and do not mine the inconveniences. The problems with R to R are the programming is extremely limited, very expensive and reels take up a lot of space.
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Jeff Beck Truth 2 X 45 rpm LP.
The first few Chicago LP's sound great.
ELP Lucky Man LP .
Almost any Direct to Disc album but the music can sometimes sound dated.
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I love to shock people by playing late 1950's and early 1960's stereo recordings that can hold their own in sound quality against anything recorded since then.
The Ellington "Blues in Orbit" is one example I have listed above (the original six-eye Columbia I own sounds better than the SACD/CD reissue that I also have)
Armstrong--"Satchmo Plays King Oliver" 1960 (I have a terrific sounding reissue).
Brubeck "Take Five" 1959 (six-eye Columbia)
Mozart Clarinet Concerto-Peter Maag/Gervase de Peyer) 1959 (originally on Decca, I have a King Records reissue)
I also have several Benny Goodman records on original six-eye Columbias that are killer good in terms of recording quality.
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