{"product_id":"loggimothe_2602-1","title":"Loggins and Messina - Mother Lode - Hot Stamper","description":"\u003cp\u003eVintage covers for this album are hard to find in exceptionally clean shape. Most of the will have at least some amount of ringwear, seam wear and edge wear. We guarantee that the cover we supply with this Hot Stamper is at least VG.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis vintage Columbia 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 Mother Lode 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:%221974%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1974\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\u003eWhat We're Listening For On Loggins and Messina\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat typically separates the killer copies from the merely good ones are two qualities that we often look for in the records we play: transparency and lack of smear. Transparency allows you to hear into the recording, reproducing the ambience and subtle musical cues and details that high-resolution analog is famous for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLack of smear is also important, especially on a recording with so many plucked instruments. The speed and clarity of the transients, the sense that fingers are pulling on strings -- strings that are ringing with tonally correct harmonics -- is what makes these L\u0026amp;M records so much fun to play. The better copies really get that sound right, in the same way that the better copies of Cat Stevens' records get the sound of stringed instruments right.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere is a more comprehensive breakdown of what we were listening for when evaluating a Folk Pop\/Rock album such as Mother Lode.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eClarity and Presence\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany copies are veiled in the midrange, partly because they may have shortcomings up top, but also because they suffer from blurry, smeary mids and upper mids. With so many mandolins and guitars on practically every song, dull, dead-sounding L \u0026amp; M pressings can't begin to communicate the musical values in this superb recording.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith a real Hot Stamper the sound is \u003ci\u003etotally involving\u003c\/i\u003e, and so is the music! You hear the breath in the voices, the pick on the strings of the guitars and mandolins -- these are the things that allow us to suspend our disbelief, to forget it's a recording we're listening to and not living, breathing musicians.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTop End Extension\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost copies of this album have no extreme highs, which causes the guitar harmonics to be blunted and dull. Without extreme highs, the percussion can't extend up and away from the other elements. Consequently, these elements end up fighting for space in the midrange and getting lost in the mix.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTransparency\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough this quality is related to the above two, it's not as important overall as the one below, but it sure is nice to have. When you can really \"see\" into the mix, it's much easier to pick out each and every instrument in order to gain more insight into the arrangement and the recording of the material.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeeing into the mix is a way of seeing into the mind of the artist. To hear the hottest copies was to appreciate even more the talents of all the musicians and producers involved, not to mention the engineers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBass\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo rock or pop record without good bass can qualify as a top quality Hot Stamper. How could it? It's the rhythmic foundation of the music, and who wants a pop record that lacks rhythm?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe best copies have prodigious amounts of fairly deep, note-like, well-controlled bass. If you have a high-fidelity full-range system, this is some serious Demo Disc quality pop sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\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","brand":"Loggins and Messina","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51446403203368,"sku":"loggimothe","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/3415\/2295\/files\/loggins.jpg?v=1754409238","url":"https:\/\/better-records.com\/products\/loggimothe_2602-1","provider":"Better Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}