Best vinyl purchases based on pressing, studio production, sound quality and enjoyment.


As you all know this question has been asked a million times on a million sites BUT each time it’s asked, it can be very helpful to those trying to find great vinyl that is quiet, produced well and touches the heart each time it’s played.

I’ve only been into vinyl for 6 months now and have purchased 250 albums, 99 percent new, recent pressings, reissues. So within the last year, what are 10 of your favorite album purchases based on pressing, studio production, sound quality and pure enjoyment??? Here’s my top 20:

1. The Wonderful Sounds of Female Vocals. (Various artists, 200 gram QRP)
2. Willie Nelson- To all the Girls (Various artists 180 gram Legacy)
3. Dead Can Dance- Into the Labyrinth (180 gram Mobile Fidelity reissue)
4. Rickie Lee Jones- Rickie Lee Jones (180 HQ Pressing Warner Bros reissue)
5. Stevie Ray Vaughn- The Sky is Cryin (200 gram Analogue productions 45rpm reissue)
6. Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon (2016 reissue)
7. Renee Flemming- The Beautiful Voice (Decca 20th anniversary gatefold)
8. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong- Ella and Louis (Analogue productions Mono reissue)
9. Eva Cassidy- Nightbird (Blix Street Records 180 gram)
10. Doors- All the new reissue 45’s from Analogue Productions, 200 gram
11. Cash- The Man Comes Around (American Records, QRP, 180 gram)
12. Shelby Lynne- Just a Little Lovin (QRP, Analogue Productions, 45 rpm, 200 gram)
13. Vanessa Fernandez- When the Levee Breaks (Groove Note, 45 rpm, 180 gram)
14. Nils Lofgren- Acoustic Live (Analogue Productions, QRP, 200 gram)
15. Neil Young- Live at Massey Hall (Reprise, 180 gram reissue)
16. Tony Bennett- I Wanna Be Around (Mobile Fidelity, 180 gram reissue)
17. Linda Ronstadt- What’s New (Analogue Productions, QRP, 200 gram, reissue)
18. Cat Stevens- Tea for the Tillerman (Analogue Productions, QRP, 200 gram reissue)
19. Muddy Waters- Folk Singer (Analogue Productions, QRP, 200 gram reissue)
20. Fleetwood Mac- Tango in the Night (Rhino, 180 gram, 2017 reissue)

Ps: You can go beyond 1 year if needed.


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Grateful Dead / Reckoning / 1st Pressing
Magnolia Electric Company / What Comes After The Blues / SC
The Mothers / The Grand Wazoo / 1st Pressing
Slint / Spiderland / Latest Remaster
Cubist Blues / LITA 126
Low / Drums & Guns / SP736
Robert Hunter / Tiger Rose / 1st Pressing
Song: OHIA / Ghost Tropic / SC40
Bardo Pond / Dilate / 1st Pressing
Stone Jack Jones / Love & Torture / 1st Pressing
I'm going to look into these artists @boxer12 as I've only heard of the Dead from your list. 

Fleetwood Mac - original pressing
Bruce Cockburn Waiting for a Miracle - import
Herb Albert The Beat of the Brass - Original
Rachmaninoff 3rd Symphony and Easter Overture - Classic Reissue
Sir Adrian Boult Concert Favorites Chesky 180 Gram
Pink Floyd The Wall original US is good
Black Sabbath Master of Reality-2nd press US
RCA Gala Wilkinson recording - Classic reissue
Delibes Sylvia - Original London

Some I share with guests on a regular basis are:

1. Sade- Best of Sade (Sony Legacy, 2016 reissue)
2. Eric Clapton- Unplugged (Reprise, 180 gram)
3. Natalie Merchant- Paradise is there (Nonesuch, 180 gram)
4. Johnny Cash- Solitary Man (U.K.pressing, Camera Records, 180 gram)
5. Otis Redding- Otis Blue (Analogue Productions, 45 rpms, QRP, 200 gram reissue)
6. Nina Simone- Little Girl Blue (Analogue Productions, QRP 200 gram reissue)
7. Jacqueline Du Pre- Elgar: Cello Concerto/Sea Pictures (Warner Classics)
8. Anne Bison- Blue Mind (Fidelio Audio, 180 gram)
9. Whitney Houston- Whitney Houston (Arista, 1985)
10. Rickie Lee Jones- Traffic from Paradise (Analogue Productions, QRP, 200 gram)

@chakster There's 30!