AAA Vinyl

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Michael Fremer  |  Sep 10, 2015
If you've already got a version of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" that you like, I'm not suggesting you need a "second opinion" though in my world any well-produced, good-sounding musically worthwhile and well-performed D2D record is a treasure worth owning

Michael Fremer  |  Mar 30, 2020
If you're saying Monk's creative juices had begun to dry up by the time he signed with Columbia Records and released this 1963 label debut album you'll get no argument from me. But Monk, all of 46 when this was recorded, had a secret weapon: his rock'n'roll band of the hard-blowing Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, John Ore on bass and Frankie Dunlop on drums.

Michael Fremer  |  Oct 26, 2016
Recording direct-to-disk is difficult enough. The entire side has to be cut in one long take. Consider a big band vocal album like this, which has four songs per side. The orchestra and singer have to be ready as soon as the cutting stylus hits the lacquer and then they have to perform flawlessly on each track, pausing but a few seconds between songs.

Mike Mettler  |  Oct 29, 2025

Well, it’s one for the money (pause), two for the show (pause) . . . and I bet you know the rest. Seeing how we’re fast approaching the 70th anniversary of the song those opening lines adorn — Carl Perkins’ perennial rockabilly classic, “Blue Suede Shoes” — the timing couldn’t be any better for an audiophile-centric reissue of this January 1956 single. To that end, Intervention Records have just announced that the first vinyl release in their new Intervention Sun Records Hi-Fi Series will be the album that “Blue Suede Shoes” ultimately landed on — 1957’s Dance Album of Carl Perkins — and it’s expected to ship in December 2025. Read on to see how the historically important AAA 180g 45rpm mono LP Dance Album reissue came to be. . .

Mark Smotroff  |  Feb 16, 2024

Craft Recordings’ new four-disc 40th anniversary deluxe edition box set celebrating the timeless, self-titled April 1983 debut LP from Violent Femmes, Milwaukee’s pioneering folk-punk trio, has as its centerpiece an AAA version of the original LP along with one additional LP full of demos and another LP with choice of-era live material, plus a bonus 7-inch single. Read Mark Smotroff’s review of this near-undefinable, infectious slab of post-new-wave, post-punk classic combined with a sizable collection of bonus material all adds up to a worthwhile analog spinning-and-listening investment. . .

Michael Fremer  |  Jul 23, 2020
Rhino will release on September 4th two new early Fleetwood Mac box sets: an 8 CD set Fleetwood Mac 1969-1974 that includes 7 studio albums plus an unreleased 1974 concert, and two versions of an all analog 4 LP+ 7" single set cut from the original master tapes by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering.

Michael Fremer  |  Apr 26, 2016
Analog Spark, a Razor and Tie imprint headed by Mark Piro just announced some great upcoming AAA releases headlined by the iconic Bernstein/NYP recording of "Rhapsody in Blue" and "An American in Paris" cut by Ryan K. Smith using for the first time the original three track master tape.

Mike Mettler, Mark Smotroff  |  Dec 23, 2025

Oh, where did the time go. . .? It’s been yet another year of acquiring, archiving, cleaning, spinning, and listening to LP after LP, and box set after box set — and sometimes, even some EPs and 45s got into that mix as well! Naturally, before the big mid-week holiday festivities take over our front-of-mindsets, we here at AP feel it’s the exact right time to determine the best of what we’ve heard on vinyl during the past 12 months — and we’ll be covering our favorites of the year in two installments. Between the two of us — i.e., 1) Mike Mettler, your intrepid AP editor, and 2) chief LP reviewer, Mark Smotroff — we have listened to multiple-hundreds’ worth of albums on vinyl in 2025 apiece, so check out Part 1 to see what our 10-plus favorite archival reissue LPs of the year are. . .

Mike Mettler, Mark Smotroff  |  Dec 30, 2023

Looks like another year has gone by with a seemingly endless release-cycle parade consisting of scores of brand-new LPs from both known artists and untested newcomers alike, along with a myriad of archival vinyl reissues and overstuffed box sets galore — a good number of them presented in the much-preferred AAA form to boot. With the calendar set to turn over to 2024 any day now, that means it’s high time to assess the best of what we’ve heard on wax during the past 12 months. Read on to see AP editor Mike Mettler and chief LP reviewer Mark Smotroff’s respective lists of the top archival and new LP releases of 2023. . .

Mike Mettler, Mark Smotroff  |  Dec 20, 2024

Another year of LP acquiring, cleaning, listening, archiving, and spinning, and archiving has come and gone — and not necessarily always in that order, either! — so, naturally, before the big holiday week takes hold of our respective calendars, we here at AP feel it’s the exact right time to determine the best of what we’ve heard on vinyl during the past 12 months. Between the two of us — i.e., 1) Mike Mettler, your intrepid AP editor, and 2) chief LP reviewer, Mark Smotroff — we have listened to multiple-hundreds’ worth of albums on vinyl in 2024 apiece, so read on to see what our 20-plus favorite reissues and new LPs of the year are. . .

Michael Fremer  |  May 03, 2021
It's the best selling jazz album ever, one of the most influential too, arguably the one that produced a shift from riffing on chord based tunes to modal excursions that gave musicians newfound improvisational freedom. Cynics and the selfish will react to yet another Kind of Blue reissue by claiming that "everyone" already owns a copy but of course that's not true. And no one owns a 200 gram UHQR Clarity vinyl copy pressed one at a time on a manual Finebuilt press.

Michael Fremer  |  Mar 25, 2022
The original British pressing of Are You Experienced? (Track 612 001) was a tepid looking and sounding monophonic affair and despite the label’s name, the jacket didn’t list the tracks, nor did the front offer the band’s name.

Simon Guile  |  Aug 18, 2021
With a career spanning more than six decades, Herbie Hancock is one of the most treasured names in jazz. From his early days with Blue Note, to his last release (2010’s The Imagine Project), there are more than a few of his impressive 46 albums that people consider to be favourites. My personal favourite however, is the fusion classic, 1973’s Headhunters.

Mark Smotroff, Mike Mettler  |  May 01, 2026

Analogue Productions have recently released a tremendous 200g 2LP 45rpm UHQR version of The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s December 1967 album, Axis: Bold As Love in both stereo and mono. Read Mark Smotroff’s review of the stereo edition (and AP editor Mike Mettler’s extended footnotes) to find out why it’s worth the investment, and then carry on into Mettler’s footnotes to see why the mono edition is also top-shelf. . .. . .

Mike Mettler  |  May 15, 2024

Gaucho is the fifth entry in Analogue Productions' comprehensive 200g 45rpm 2LP Steely Dan UHQR reissue series, and this one has been sourced from a 1980 analog tape copy originally EQ'd by Bob Ludwig, who also mastered the original album itself. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s in-depth review to find out if the new Gaucho UHQR improves upon the original release’s Grammy-winning sonics. . .

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