Your Not-So-Obvious Best Fidelity LPs
I’ve spent over three years building up to the system I have now. I’m really happy with it and my wife and I love sitting in our listening room spinning various vinyl most evenings. Rather than researching and testing gear, I want to spend this year adding great recordings to our collection.
So what are the albums you have that every time you play it you're continually amazed at its fidelity? You might have spent $80 on it or just $1 or maybe it was a hand-me-down decades ago. Any genre really.
And if we can please avoid the most obvious choices (which are truly wonderful) such as Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Diana Krall, etc. I’m looking for albums, (vinyl only please) that probably fly under the radar for most folks.
I'll start….
James Taylor - Dad Loves His Work - this was just given to me by a friend a couple of weeks ago as he had an extra copy. I have plenty of JT albums but I didn’t have this one yet. As soon as I put it on I could tell it was special.
Edie Brickell - Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars - My wife requested this one so I found a NM copy on Discogs for a reasonable price. This kind of blew my socks off. Sounds really wonderful and present and the music still holds up.
Counting Crows - August and Everything After - I surprised my wife with this one as it’s one of her favorite albums. They really nailed the recording and pressing on this one. It’s quite impressive.
Ben Folds - What Matters Most - He’s one of our favorite songwriters but trying to find a copy of anything of his or Ben Folds Five for under $80 is nearly impossible. This album was released just last year and they obviously paid special attention to the recording quality. Sounds just phenomenal.
Steely Dan - Northeast Corridor - Obviously everyone knows how amazing their studio recordings are but this album might be unknown to some as it came out just a few years ago. I bought it on a whim knowing nothing about it. It’s amazing. As if they would release an album with less than stellar fidelity. If you’re a Dan fan, this album is a no-brainer.
REM - Automatic for the People - Completely hypnotic. Stunning recording.
OK, that’s enough from me.
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”
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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. |
