{"product_id":"jethraqual_2607-3","title":"Jethro Tull - Aqualung - Super Hot Stamper","description":"\u003cp\u003eFolks, for hard-rockin’, Tubey Magical, 70s Arty Proggy Rock in \u003ci\u003eanalog\u003c\/i\u003e, it just does not get much better than Aqualung. You need the right pressing to bring it to life though, and this one is certainly up to the task.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22Tubey-Magical-Acoustic-Guitars%22\"\u003eTubey magical acoustic guitar\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e reproduction is superb on the better copies of this recording. Simply phenomenal amounts of Tubey Magic can be heard on every strum, along with richness, body and harmonic coherency that have all but disappeared from modern recordings (and especially from modern remasterings).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis vintage Reprise 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 Aqualung 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:%221971%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1971\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\u003eMartin Barre’s Guitar Wizardry\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClarity\/resolution are important to getting the most out of this album. The subtle harmonics of the gently strummed acoustic guitar at the opening of \"My God.\" The air in Anderson’s flute throughout the album. The snap to Bunker’s snare. And how about all the fuzz on Barre’s fuzzed-out guitar on the song \"Aqualung\"? Sure, there’s guitar fuzz on the typical pressing, but there’s \u003ci\u003eso much more\u003c\/i\u003e on the truly elite copies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen you can hear it right the sound of that guitar really makes you sit up and take notice of just how amazing Barre’s solos are. The guy is criminally underrated as both an innovator and technically accomplished guitarist. The distortion is perfection and so is the playing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is what a Hot Stamper is all about: more life, more energy, more character to the music, all brought about by better sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd the other key to the sound is bass. Most copies of this album lack bass. They either lack bass or they lack highs. It’s the rare copy that has both.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat We're Listening For On Aqualung\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eEnergy\u003c\/strong\u003e for starters. What could be more important than the life of the music?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThen: \u003cstrong\u003epresence and immediacy\u003c\/strong\u003e. The vocals aren't \"back there\" somewhere, lost in the mix. They're front and center where any recording engineer worth his salt -- \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22robin-black%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRobin Black\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e in this case -- would have put them.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe Big Sound\u003c\/strong\u003e comes next -- wall to wall, lots of depth, huge space, three-dimensionality, all that sort of thing.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThen \u003cstrong\u003etransient information\u003c\/strong\u003e -- fast, clear, sharp attacks, not the smear and thickness so common to these LPs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTight punchy bass\u003c\/strong\u003e -- which ties in with good transient information, also the issue of frequency extension further down.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNext: \u003cstrong\u003etransparency\u003c\/strong\u003e -- the quality that allows you to hear deep into the soundfield, showing you the space and air around all the instruments.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eExtend the top and bottom\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003ci\u003evoila\u003c\/i\u003e, you have The Real Thing -- an honest to goodness Hot Stamper.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMother Goose and Locomotive Breath\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDrop the needle on \"Mother Goose\" for some serious Tubey Magical analog. The reproduction of the flute and the acoustic guitars on the better copies shows you just how well the album was recorded. The drums are huge, punchy, and natural, and the immediacy of Anderson’s vocals is striking.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike we’ve noted so many times before, this British band, like many of their brethren, had their master tapes sent to America to make our much-maligned domestic pressings. I maligned them myself, wrongly I now realize. It takes an amazing stereo and a top-quality Hot Stamper pressing to get this music to work its magic. If you are lucky enough to have those two things, you will not believe how good this album sounds, so much better than you ever thought possible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s not perfect, but with the right pressing, you can hear why Anderson, his bandmates, the engineer and producer all thought they had put a real winner down on tape. They had, but it took us a long time to find a good LP and be able to play it right.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those of you who have the MoFi, here’s a little “challenge.” That may not really be the right word. Truth be told, it’s actually more of a test, but I’m guessing most people don’t like being tested by their record dealers, so let's stick with “challenge” for the time being.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlay this song and listen to it critically. If you don’t find anything seriously objectionable about the sound, if you don’t find the kind of MoFi EQ we decry at every turn, then something, somewhere, is very, very wrong. This song is a mess, and on an accurate, resolving stereo system, it should sound like a mess.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eVinyl Condition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMint Minus Minus and maybe a bit better 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\n\u003ch3\u003eClassic Rock from Jethro Tull\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Must Own Rock Record\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe consider this album (along with Stand Up) a \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22rock-masterpiece%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMasterpiece\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e. It's a Demo Disc quality recording that should be part of any serious rock collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOthers that belong in that category can be found \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22core-rock-collection%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehere\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Tough Record to Play\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAqualung is a \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22difficulty-of-reproduction%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003edifficult record to reproduce\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e. Do not attempt to play it using anything other than the highest quality equipment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnless your system is firing on all cylinders, even our hottest Hot Stamper copies -- the Super Hot and White Hot pressings with the biggest, most dynamic, clearest, and least distorted sound -- can have problems. Your system should be thoroughly warmed up, your electricity should be clean and cooking, you've got to be using the right room treatments, and we also highly recommend using a demagnetizer such as the Walker Talisman on the record, your cables (power, interconnect and speaker) as well as the individual drivers of your speakers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a record that's going to demand a lot from the listener, and we want to make sure that you feel you're up to the challenge. If you don't mind putting in a little hard work, here's a record that will reward your time and effort many times over, and probably teach you a thing or two about tweaking your gear in the process (especially your VTA adjustment, just to pick an obvious area many audiophiles neglect).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jethro Tull","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52157158064424,"sku":"jethraqual","price":499.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/3415\/2295\/files\/jethraqual_abc5b115-e30e-4ebf-9c34-f79c2da6a6b0.jpg?v=1704062129","url":"https:\/\/better-records.com\/products\/jethraqual_2607-3","provider":"Better Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}