2. analog
  3. 138086-11220

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
whart's avatar
whart
3,057 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.



bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,892 posts
 
wow whart, Brian Davidson! I haven't thought of him in years. I saw him live when The Nice came to San Francisco in '68. For those who don't know, The Nice was the group Keith Emerson was in before ELP, and I kinda liked their first album at the time of it's release.
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
Gaite Parisienne Offenbach Boston Pops - Classic Reissue
Byron Janis/Fritz Reiner Liszt Todtentanz Rachmaninoff Concerto No 1 Classic Reissue
The Reiner Sound - Classic Reissue
The Pines of Rome - Original Shaded Dog
Italian Pleasures - Sheffield labs
Moscow Sessions -Sheffield Labs
Petrouchka Stravinsky - Chesky Reissue
Solti The Planets - London Original
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
Guantanamera - The Sandpipers Original
The blue note reissues from Music Matters are quite good if you like Jazz.
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
The Classic reissues are probably not as easy to find some of them as they are out of business but Analogue Productions has reissued most if not all and they are probably as good if not better than the Classics.
More to discover