{"product_id":"nelsostard_2610-3","title":"Nelson, Willie - Stardust - Super Hot Stamper","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Georgia On My Mind\" is a \u003cu\u003edemo\u003c\/u\u003e \u003cu\u003equality\u003c\/u\u003e track on this album. You aren't going to believe all the ambience on this copy. The top end is gorgeous -- sweet, delicate, and silky with loads of extension. The sound is extremely hi-res without sacrificing any of the warmth that makes this music so special.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJust listen to the rimshots and the bell in \"Georgia On My Mind\" -- we guarantee you have \u003ci\u003enever\u003c\/i\u003e heard those instruments sound so present, clear, and immediate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWillie's voice is natural and tonally correct, with all the breathy texture you could ever hope to hear. The acoustic guitars and Booker T.'s organ are perfection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat The Best Sides Of Stardust 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:%221978%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1978\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\u003eAwareness\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the better copies, we became aware of aspects of the music as well as the recording that we hadn't paid attention to during the previous hours of Stardust play. All the elements were there, but not \u003ci\u003ethere\u003c\/i\u003e, right in front of us, laid out clearly for all to hear.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe music may not have changed, but our appreciation of it sure did. Here was the real Willie Nelson backed by \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22booker-t-jones%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBooker T.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e and the boys. Now we could hear just how much love these guys have for this music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat's what the better copies do -- they show you just how magical these very special performances must have been, laid down onto analog tape over forty years ago. Clearly both the music and the sound of this record are timeless.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat We're Listening For On Stardust\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 would 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 note-like 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\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\n\u003ch3\u003eTrack Commentary\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003eTracklist\u003c\/strong\u003e tab above will take you to a select song breakdown for each side, with plenty of What to Listen For advice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOther records with track breakdowns can be found \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22track-commentary%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehere\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Must Own Willie Nelson Album (One of Many)\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe consider Stardust the Man's \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22vocal-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 vocal collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOthers that belong in that category can be found \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22core-vocal-collection%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehere\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nelson, Willie","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67896186437928,"sku":"nelsostard","price":349.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/3415\/2295\/files\/nelsostard.jpg?v=1791219904","url":"https:\/\/better-records.com\/products\/nelsostard_2610-3","provider":"Better Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}