Your Not-So-Obvious Best Fidelity LPs

@dorkwad now that's a list!  Totally agree on the ones I own as well.  I was just listening to side B of Dreamboat Annie last night.  I have a repress of Tumbleweed but it sounds fantastic.  Looks like I may have some more items in the shopping cart soon.

@paulietunes 

You're welcome!

While folk music is far from my favorite genre and the several truly great sounding albums I am about to list are not musically my favorites, they are nonetheless enjoyable and the recordings are stunning; it must be the Carnegie Hall venue:

"Belafonte at Carnegie Hall," 1959 RCA

"Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall," 1960 RCA

"Weavers Reunion at Carnegie Hall 1963" Vanguard and Analogue Productions reissue (I have both, the AP version might be slightly better).

Again, these recordings prove that stereo recording techniques have not improved since those times.

larryi,

I absolutely agree with your observation on Sheffield recordings.  The thing I like most about them is no "engineering" or audio manipulation of what was played.  It's a direct path from a single point stereo mic to the cutting lathe.  As often as possible (which isn't often) I like to hear what was played, rather than some engineer's impression of what he thinks it should sound like.

I like those you added, particularly Kate & Anna - I have a couple copies.

I like several of those (haven't heard the others) on Dorkwad's list, especially Eva Cassidy's "Live at Blues Alley".

Only a couple others to mention at this time because there are too many:

Stanley Clarke's "Journey to Love" (with Steve "In Gadd we trust" on drums).  A favorite of mine for almost 50 years.

Radka Toneff - "My Funny Valentine" ..from the album Fairytales (Odin Records1982).  Other than a Miles Davis instrumental, (imnsho) you haven't heard MFV until you've heard this one.

and last, but not least - The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (Donald Johanos) - Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances Op 45 - VOCALISE OP 34

@itsjim 

I agree with you on Journey to Love--also very good sound.  I was at Paul Heath Audio on N. Clark St. in Chicago and brought that album with about 1977.  One of the Bull's players (Johnson--6'11") came in and wanted to know who that album was.  We listened to the whole first side together and he loved it as much as I.  He was not a starter then and only was on the team a couple years.  It was pretty cool though.

The Eva Cassidy album is one of the greatest live albums ever recorded—beautiful sound and great performance.  I have the Toneff album and I agree about it being a great sounding album.  The My Funny Valentine and the Moon’s a Harsh Mistress tracks are particularly nice.

Janis Ian 'At Seventeen'.

I really like "At Seventeen," and consider its good sound as a bonus.  Her "Breaking Silence" album is even better in recording quality, but I still prefer "At Seventeen."

More pop/rock albums with good sound:

Warren Zevon (self titled)

Chris Isaak "Heart Shaped World"

Thomas Dolby "Aliens Ate My Buick"

Kraftwerk "Electric Cafe"

Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" is commonly cited as a great sounding album.  It has, to me anyway, great music and pretty good sound, but, it is not their best sounding album (there are also too many issues of the album to sort through, the one I like is a German quadriphonic version that I heard only playing in stereo, but it beat out the Mofi version and the original US release).  To me, "The Wall" is their best sounding album and "Wishing You are Here" is another great sounding album.

Paul Simon's "Graceland" is another often cited great sounding album, and I agree on the assessment.  

I know people have gone off the deep end criticizing MoFi One-Step records because they were made from digital masters.  I don't agree with the critics; every one of the One Steps I heard were good sounding regardless of the choice of masters.  

It’s fun getting an LP because you like the music and being really surprised how good it sounds.  

I found an original U.S. ‘Frisco Mabel Joy by Mickey Newbury for 25 cents at a thrift store about a decade ago.  
The sound quality almost seemed like a joke, i.e. “I can’t actually be hearing what I’m hearing right now.” I knew the music was tremendous, but the idea that the engineering/mastering would be so good seemed like a joke.  
One of those thrilling, “holy s**t!!” moments.

I got an original U.S. 12” single of “Cat People” by Giorgio Moroder / David Bowie years ago for peanuts. I didn’t listen to it, just bought it. Years later I had a very good music setup, for some reason decided to throw that 12” on and sat there amazed at what I was hearing.

I remember playing an original US pressing of Neil Young’s Harvest I had just bought (with the ‘fuzzy’ texture sleeve and the cool inserts, got it for real cheap) and going, “whoa! Didn’t expect this!” I remembered the CD I had as a teen (I wasn’t around in the vinyl days…I’m 41) as being unremarkable sonically. Not this puppy.  

Same thing with an original US Berlin by Lou Reed. Loved the CD as a teen.  
Got a cheap original vinyl copy in my 30s. Lou’s voice was this big, three-dimensional apparition, sitting right there in the center, felt like I could reach out and touch it, the instruments were big, rich, lush and grand and clear. Didn’t expect all that.

And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out by Yo La Tengo was one of my favorite albums in high school. I got an original vinyl pressing (this one was not cheap) a few years ago at Amoeba. I remembered the 2000 CD sounding alright. This, however, was really something.

Digging through miles of “Easy Listening” vinyl LPs at a record store, LPs that had been on this massive shelf in the back room for decades, inches of dust on them, (the kind you ‘taste’ while sorting through), I found a bunch of original ‘60s Sinatra LPs. In terms of sound quality, September of My Years (I was able to score at least one copy of both the mono and the stereo, for a grand total of some $2 or something) was stunning. The record store guys saw me a lot, so they were cool about giving me deals. I would go in there and they’d say, “hey, this came in and I thought of you, so I set it aside.” It was a bunch of original ‘50s & ‘60s-era Sinatra LPs. I came to find that I should never be surprised by the sound quality of those Capital & Reprise LPs.  
But that initial exposure to both the original mono and stereo copies of September of My Years was just blow-yer-hair-back great. The music, obviously speaks for itself. Incredible.  
There must not have been much of a market for those LPs, as those guys darn near gave them away. There was once an original ‘57 mono of In the Wee Small Hours on the shelf for some $8 or something. Pretty good condition, sounded real fine after a thorough cleaning via Audio Intelligent 3-part /16.5 vacuum machine.  
He even gave me a discount on the sticker because I one 1 or 2 other LPs in my stack.  
Went and saw on Discogs it goes for upwards of $200.

Mahler123 mentioned Joni Mitchell. 
I have early copies of all her LPs from ‘68-‘75 and they all sound great. I’m particularly impressed with the sound of The Hissing of Summer Lawns.

There are a lot more but I’ve gushed too much.

Sorry, one more: larryi mentioned those live Carnegie Hall Belafonte LPs.  
I have to concur.  
Also, Belafonte recorded the song “My Old Paint” in ‘63, and this vocal track is on my short list of “All-Time Best Sounding Vocal Tracks.” 

One of my favorite records is one I found in the $1.00 section of a used record store.  It is the very first recording of Ariel Ramirez's "Missa Criolla." (first Vatican approved mass in the vernacular following Vatican II).  The recording is on the Phillips label (the copy I found was on Argentinian Phillips, which is particularly appropriate because Ramirez is from Argentina).  The music is fantastic and the sound of the recording is quite good too.  There are many copies available for as little as $2.00 or so:

@simonmoon

Thanks for remindng us about the Nonesuch label. Although not sonically consistent throughout its catalog, when those guys got it right, they produced recordings that still stand up to many of today's best. And the fact that the NS catalog included so much new music -- many  pieces by modern composers that were never recorded in any form elsewhere -- is icing.  Lots of unique material available used online at modest prices.

And for something completely different, how about a thread *warning* people about "not-so-obvious LOWEST fidelity LPs"?

To start the ball rolling, I nominate the Sony Legacy reissue of "Jimi Hendrix Experience Smash Hits," remastered from original 2-channel "master tape" by Bernie Grundman and pressed at QRP.  It's horribly brittle, actually unlistenable on a system that leans (much less older Class D amplification). I have numerous Hendrix original pressings & reissues that include many of the same tracks, and the difference is painfully obvious. Caveat this one.

Great stories @tylermunns to go along with the great recommendations!  Thanks for those.  It almost seems like we're beating the system when we can find amazingly recorded LPs for $5 or less.  Pretty much no money for a treasure trove of audio bliss. 

When it comes to reissues, it is sometimes quite hard to say whether the reissue is better or worse than the original--opinions may vary greatly.  When Classic Records reissued some Led Zeppelin albums, I bought them and a friend and I compared them to the original albums.  To me, the reissues sounded richer and nicer than the originals, but, my friend thought they were stripped of the rough, raw sound that made the albums great.  i could see his point, but, I still liked the reissues.  He got rid of his reissue albums.  I should have bought them because some of these albums go for crazy money these days.  

The mention of Nonesuch vinyl makes me think of how good my vinyl copy of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot sounds. I’m pretty sure it’s a reissue but it sounds brilliant.

The original YHF had a beautiful, textured paper jacket.  I liked the recording quality of that album too.  This is good reminder for me to pull it out and give it a spin.  Thanks for the reminder.

Another good sounding album issued during the age of the CD is Lou Reed's "Magic and Loss."  I bought the CD when it first came out and took it with me when I went to the Consumer Electric Show in Las Vegas.  When I asked one exhibitor if he could play it on his system, he pointed his nose in the air and declared that the LP version was MUCH better than the CD, but that there were only five copies of the LP in the USA and he owned two of them.  When I got back from the show, I asked my local used record dealer to keep an eye out for it.  Of course, in time, copies became available in this country.  A few years later, my dealer found a sealed copy; because he knew I wanted it badly, he just gave it to me, free of charge.

Thievery Corporation - Saudade

I am relatively new to this hobby and only have a very modest set-up. When freinds come over, there are few albums that I like to spin that make my rig sound much better than it actually is.

Gene Clark - White Light (Intervention Records)

Lee Hazlewood - Requiem For An Almost Lady (LITA)

Jerry Garcia / David Grisman - Jerry Garcia / David Grisman (Mo-Fi)

Willie Nelson -  Stardust (Mo-Fi)

DMA's - DMA's (MTV Unplugged Melbourne) 

K.D. Lang - Ingenue (Nonesuch)

Soul Media - Funky Stuff ( Deep Jazz Reality)

@paulietunes - Thanks for staring the thread. I hope you get to chase some new vinyl and have hours of great listening with your wife. I know I will (with my wife). 

Cheers

Lucinda Williams "Live @ Fillmore West"

LOU REED - "Perfect Night Live in London."

This recording has a "palpability" that is intoxicating.

Rounder puts out excellent vinyl.  But my favorite label for acoustic music, bluegrass, et al., is Sugar Hill.  Everything I own on that label is amazing.  

Adding a couple notable albums not from Sugar Hill:

Edgeland (Kim Richey)

Tschaikovsky’s 5th Symphony (Sheffield, Moscow Sessions)

Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances (Athena)

Time Passages (Al Stewart, Mo-Fi)

The last three are more obvious.  But the Kim Richey was less expected.  Really excellent both music and recording.  My copy is autographed.  

One of my “new” yet will be all time favorites is Belafonte Sings the Blues on Analogue Productions. It can still be had and is a completely holographic performance, maybe even better than Muddy Waters’ Folk Singer. Belafonte sounds so cool in this one, almost Chet Baker-ish. 

Sealegs,

Yes, Rounder did put out some nice sounding records with interesting music.  One of my favorites is Michael Hurley's "Have Moicy" --very funny lyrics and quite interesting music  This is one of my personal top record in my collection.  Sugar Hill is also an amazing label.  Your other listings are terrific as well.  I like recordings from Athena.

Audioquest, the cable company, put out some really well recorded stuff with amazing soundstaging and "reach out and touch" realism.  Check out, for example, the Tuxedo Cowboys' "Woman of the Heart" album and Robert Lucas' "Usin' Man Blues."

Clarity Records put out only a few albums, but, they were ultra high quality records, some versions had tracks only on one side of the record to maximize pressing quality.  I own Mary Stallings "Fine and Mellow" and Claudio Gomez "Salamandra."

Any Command Classics recordings produce by Enoch Light from 1959 through 1965. Some of the music is a little hokey but the recordings feature great clarity and accurate instrument tonality. The stereo effects are entertaining and sometimes over produced. You can find these on discogs; the best versions are usually the Gatefold pressed on the grey white and white gold original pressings. The 1970's ABC represses are not quite as good. Hope you try it; great entertainment for $15.00 or less.

The Stylistics - Album titled by same

Curtis Mayfield - Curtis

Marvin Gaye - What’s going on, and I want you

Issac Hayes - Shaft LP, Hot Buttered Soul, Black Moses, Joy

The Spinners - Mighty Love

The Ojays - Ship Ahoy

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes - Wake Up Everybody

Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life, Innervisions, Talking Book

Billy Paul - 360 Degrees of Billy Paul

Donny Hathaway - Extension of a man, DH Live

I’m a jazz musician and man, but Soul was the music of my youth, and the musical root of my existence.

If you are looking for Blues, the recent release of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, Playing for the Mayn at the Door is a remarkable set…available as vinyl and CDs.

Telarc- ravels bolero

CBS Masterworks - most recordings are phenomenal- a standout is Leonard Bernstein playing Coplands rodeo- dynamic range is crazy

jethro tull aqualung Steve Wilson mix 

herbie Hancock - empyrean isles- blue note reissue

Patti smith - dream of life

Sinatra at the sands- great live recording 

neil young- everybody knows this is nowhere

creedence - bayou country

crowded house - temple of low men

enjoy!

For reissues, the Japanese company King Records made many terrific records and premium jackets as well.  I have pop/rock, jazz and classical reissues by them that I like a lot (e.g., Steely Dan “Aja”, Beethoven “Spring” violin and piano sonata).

Even the digital CD player and DAC manufacturer Esoteric made great reissues (e.g., Dvorak Symphony No. 5, Kertesz conducting VPO).

@paulietunes  totally with you on that Dan pick, my record store guy recommended it and it was in my top 5 of last years buys.

I’d like to add a couple of my go to’s

John Lee Hooker “The Healer”

The Secret Sisters debut album 

The Melvins “Houdini”

The Cactus Blossoms “Your Dreaming”

Doug McLeod- any on Reference Recordings

Odetta - Blues Everywhere I Go

Keb Mo - Just Like You

Greg Brown - Further In

Keith Richards - Main Offender

Sarah Jarosz - Build Me Up From Bones

I'm loving all of these suggestions!  

Thanks @doyle3433 I'll definitely look those up.

@zimwig - love these as well.  I was able to see Sarah Jarosz in concert here about a year ago when she toured with Marc Cohn and Shawn Colvin.  Such an amazing show and loved hearing her play Build Me Up From Bones!

Love your taste in music @coltrane1 and I'll check out those suggestions.  I've got a bunch of Stevie Wonder and most of them sound wonderful.

@paulietunes , if there was only one record that was an absolutely must have it would be Billy Paul’s 360 Degrees of Billy Paul. Each song is superbly well done, and a hit in its own right. His take on Elton John’s ‘Your Song’ and Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’ were the highlights of my high school days in 1971. Check it out on LP’s from eBay or even a CD. It’s an absolute must have!

And I don’t know if you’ve heard Eva Cassidy, but if you haven’t check her out on YouTube. First time I heard her sing Somewhere Over The Rainbow it brought me to tears. She’s got a voice from the Angels, and many compelling albums worthy of any collection. You and your wife will truly enjoy her!

Hey @coltrane1 on your word, I just bought a copy of 360 Degrees on Discogs!  Can’t wait to give it a listen.  Plus I do love soul and funk.  And I’ll definitely be looking for some Eva Cassidy as you and so many others have recommended her.

Thanks!  I’ll let you know how it sounds in a week or so.

@paulietunes , Congratulations Paulie! If you dig soul check out anything from the Philadelphia International Records catalog released from 1971-1977. The owners of the company, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, were actually superb songwriters and producers themselves, and produced many if not most of the biggest soul hits released during that timeframe. They operated from Philadelphia, and built a multi million dollar corporation producing the greatest hits. Philadelphia had surpassed Motown by hits and music production by this time as Motown had been sold. Just a bit of musical history my brother. Enjoy!

@coltrane1 thank you my friend.  Much appreciated!

Some time ago I bought a SACD player and it had a ripped copy or Mary Chapin Carpenter's Time*Sex*Love That sounds wonderful. I am sure the LP it was ripped from is even better.

10,000 Maniacs Blind Man's Zoo

Peter Gabriel So

Tim Buckley Happy Sad

Jeff Buckley Grace 

Jackson Brown Late For The Sky

Gene Clark

Priscilla Ahn A Good Day

Lera Lynn Plays Well With Others

Cowboy Junkies - Pretty much anything. Whites Off Earth Now and Trinity Sessions Revisited are the best recordings but not my favorites of their songs.

Ditto Mark Knopfler

Kate Bush The Kick Inside

@paulietunes

Thank you for your JT reference.. I dug out my complete collection of his LPs, long ago put away.

Indeed they all sound great, especially the early Warner Brothers.

@rvpiano Happy to help!  One of the great things about this forum is to help each other out.  Would love to keep this thread going with some other top notch fidelity albums.  Please feel free to chime in with your under the radar favorites!

@czarivey , great list. I just ordered Northern Exposure off Discogs for a relatively decent price.  John D is my favorite DJ and has been since I started listening to him in 1999. I have their original Communicate on vinyl and almost every track (12") off his GU Sydney and Hong Kong (used to DJ) but never purchsed Northern Exposure - until now. Thanks!

My list of Not-So-Obvious:

Mad Season: Above - orignal US Columbia pressing -much better than MOV and 2016 (?) reissues.

Tool Fear Inoculum - 5 LP - Drums are insane

Another vote for the Mofi Garcia/Grisman

Framton Comes Alive - Monarch

Talking Heads - Speaking in Tounges - Winchester

RHCP - One Hot Minute - *320*

Kraftwerk - Techno Pop (recent clear reissue is exc)

Al Di Meola and company: Friday Night in SF, Impex

David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name - mofi

Dominque Fils-Aime - anything by her but esp her Red and Blue albums. The new Green also.

Propellerheads Decksandrumsandrockandroll. I bought the US orignal BITD.

Beck Morning Phase - I have a 2014 Europe which sounds amazing. From Amazon!

Thievery Corp - Symphonik. I have most of their others and this one is the best IMO SQ-wise.

Kruder and Dorfmeister - the K&D Sessions, 5 LP Bernie G. 2015

Others but that is a good start.

There are a number very good recordings by Joan Baez,such as “Diamonds and Rust.” I have a particularly good sounding reissue of her “Farewell My Angelina” put out by Cisco Records (an audiophile label that consistently delivers good records.

Another super sounding reissue that I have is Ray Browns “Soular Energy” on Pure Audiophile Records.

Paul Simon - There Goes Rhymin’ Simon , Quadraphonic (I listen on a stereo set up)

This is a great idea for a thread, and have gotten some good titles to check out. By way of background, I have been collecting vinyl for almost 15 years and have a collection of 3000+ titles. There are a lot of treasures to be found hiding in the bargain section.

@laynes ​​​​and @2channel8 thank you for those thorough lists.  I have some of those but I’ll check out some of the others you mentioned.  My copy of Morning Phase also sounds incredible.  

To keep this going, I would add Ry Cooder's soundtrack to the movie "Paris Texas."  Beautifully atmospheric sound.  His other albums are also well recorded--check out "Meeting by the River " and "Paradise and Lunch" (I have, and like, both the original issue and the MoFi reissue).

Many regard Little Feat's "Waiting for Columbus" to be one of the best live rock recordings.  I do think it is great music and a great sounding album, but, the "live" label is a bit misleading because there was use of extensive studio punch-ins for that recording.  I guess it doesn't matter, the album is terrific.

@cundare2 

Thanks for remindng us about the Nonesuch label. Although not sonically consistent throughout its catalog, when those guys got it right, they produced recordings that still stand up to many of today's best. And the fact that the NS catalog included so much new music -- many  pieces by modern composers that were never recorded in any form elsewhere -- is icing.  Lots of unique material available used online at modest prices.

About 6 years ago. I was at a Los Angeles Orange County Audio Society club event at a high end store near LA, Sunny's Components.

Peter McGrath from Wilson Audio was there, during his talk at the event, he was giving a history of his recording live classical performances. After his talk, I approached him and brought up the contemporary classical Nonesuch recordings mentioned earlier. And his eyes lit up.

Turns out, one of his main mentors when he was learning live recording, was one of the recording engineers responsible for several of these Nonesuch modern classical recordings.

McGrath said something to the effect of, "those budget recordings are a real condemnation of modern recordings".

@simonmoon

Wow, very interesting -- that explains a lot.  Thanks for the information.

Miles Davis Quintet - Kind of Blue (MSFL 45 rpm)

Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms (MFSL 45 rpm)

Toto - Toto IV (Columbia LP)

Ten Years After - A Space in Time (new 180g with both original and new mixes)

Blood, Sweat & Tears - BS&T III (especially "Lucretia's Revenge")

Any Mel Torme on Concord Jazz.

Colter Wall