{"product_id":"eaglelongr_2604-3","title":"Eagles - The Long Run - Super Hot Stamper (With Issues)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e*NOTE:\u003c\/strong\u003e There is a stitch that plays at a light to moderate level and intermittently throughout the first 1\/2 of track 1 on side 1, \"The Long Run.\" There is another stitch that also plays at a light to moderate level and intermitently throughout the first 1\/2 of track 1 on side 2, \"Heartache Tonight.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e*NOTE:\u003c\/strong\u003e This record was not noisy enough to rate our M-- to EX++ grade, but it's not quite up to our standards for Mint Minus Minus either. If you're looking for quiet vinyl, this is probably not the best copy for you.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe last song on side two, \"The Sad Cafe,\" is also a standout. Others, as they used to say in school, 'need improvement.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut five Killer Eagles songs is nothing to sneeze at. This is an album that belongs in your collection, even if you choose to only listen to the best material on it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis vintage Asylum pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records can barely BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn't showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to \"see\" the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It's what vintage all analog recordings are known for -- \u003ci\u003ethis sound\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it -- not often, and certainly not always -- but maybe one out of a hundred new records do, and those are some pretty long odds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat The Best Sides Of The Long Run Have To Offer Is Not Hard To Hear\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe biggest, most immediate staging in the largest acoustic space\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe most Tubey Magic, without which you have \u003ci\u003ealmost\u003c\/i\u003e nothing. CDs give you clean and clear. Only the best vintage vinyl pressings offer the kind of Tubey Magic that was on the tapes in \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%221979%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1979\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTight, note-like, rich, full-bodied bass, with the correct amount of weight down low\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNatural tonality in the midrange -- with all the instruments having the correct timbre\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTransparency and resolution, critical to hearing into the three-dimensional studio space\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo doubt there's more but we hope that should do for now. \u003ci\u003ePlaying the record is the only way to hear all of the qualities we discuss above,\u003c\/i\u003e and playing the best pressings against a pile of other copies under rigorously controlled conditions is the only way to find a pressing that sounds as good as this one does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProblems Or Not?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost copies have a smeary, veiled, stuck-in-the-speaker quality that makes for some painful listening. Cardboard drums. Non-existent ambience. No energy. (Unless you get one of the hard, edgy, thin ones -- we're not sure which is worse.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis one is a whole different story, with the kind of big, punchy, full-bodied sound this music absolutely demands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat's Bill Szymczyk's problem anyway, you might ask. Can't the guy record an album any better than this after being in the studio for all these years?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYes, he can. Don't make the mistake of judging his work by the typical bad pressing of it, the kind that Elektra was churning out by the millions back in the day. Believe me, the master tape must be AWESOME if the sound of some of the records we played is any indication (which of course it is).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat We're Listening For On The Long Run\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLess grit -- smoother and sweeter sound, something that is not easy to come by on The Long Run.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA bigger presentation -- more size, more space, more room for all the instruments and voices to occupy. The bigger the speakers you have to play this record the better.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore bass and tighter bass. This is fundamentally a pure rock record. It needs weight down low to rock the way \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22bill-szymczyk%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBill Szymczyk\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e wanted it to.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePresent, breathy vocals. A veiled midrange is the rule, not the exception.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood top end extension to reproduce the harmonics of the instruments and details of the recording including the studio ambience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLast but not least, balance. All the elements from top to bottom should be heard in harmony with each other. Take our word for it, assuming you haven't played a pile of these yourself, balance is not that easy to find.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur best copies will have it though, of that there is no doubt.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe True Test For Side One\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWant to know if you have a good side one on your copy? Here's an easy test. Timothy B. Schmit's vocal on \"I Can't Tell You Why\" rarely sounds right. Most of the time he's muffled, pretty far back in the soundstage, and the booth he's in has practically no ambience. On the good copies, he's not exactly jumping out of the speakers, but he's clear, focused, and his voice is breathy and full of emotional subtleties that make the song the heartbreaking powerhouse it is.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is why you need a Hot Stamper. Most copies don't let you \u003ci\u003efeel\u003c\/i\u003e the song. Not like this one does. And the rest of the band is cookin' here as well. From the big, full-bodied bass to the fat, punchy snare, this side is doing pretty much everything we want it to.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eVinyl Condition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMint Minus Minus is about as quiet as any vintage pressing will play, and since only the right vintage pressings have any hope of sounding good on this album, that will most often be the playing condition of the copies we sell. (The copies that are even a bit noisier get listed on the site are seriously reduced prices or traded back in to the local record stores we shop at.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose of you looking for quiet vinyl will have to settle for the sound of other pressings and Heavy Vinyl reissues, purchased elsewhere of course as we have no interest in selling records that don't have the vintage analog magic of these wonderful recordings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you want to make the trade-off between bad sound and quiet surfaces with whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing might be available, well, that's certainly your prerogative, but we can't imagine losing what's good about this music -- the size, the energy, the presence, the clarity, the weight -- just to hear it with less background noise.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Eagles","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51729997791528,"sku":"eaglelongr","price":74.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/3415\/2295\/files\/eaglelongr.jpg?v=1738004558","url":"https:\/\/better-records.com\/products\/eaglelongr_2604-3","provider":"Better Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}