AAA Vinyl

Original blues vinyl pressings are cousins to jazz and soul LPs in terms of scarcity and availability in super-clean condition, just a few of the reasons why they are often super-expensive propositions in the collector’s marketplace. That all makes these four truly outstanding Acoustic Sounds-pedigreed reissues from Verve/UMe and Craft Recordings’ Bluesville series all the more important — in effect, bringing a quartet of classic LP rarities back into more widespread availability in a high-quality manner. Read Mark Smotroff’s Short Cuts combo review to see which of these four 180g 1LP AAA releases from John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mississippi John Hurt, and Lonnie Johnson With Elmer Snowden belong in your collection. . .

As noted in our coverage of the press event that happened in NYC back in December 2024, Miles Davis’ Birth of the Blue assembles, “in a single release, music recorded in 1958, one year prior to the landmark Kind of Blue.” Read Ken Micallef’s review to see if this AAA 180g 1LP release from Analogue Productions lives up to its advance billing. . .

You can see it in their eyes, but is it really any surprise to learn that we are finally getting the much-anticipated 200g 45rpm 2LP UHQR edition of Steely Dan’s rightly acclaimed March 1975 album Katy Lied on January 31, 2025? Read on to see all the UHQR tech/spec details, plus news regarding the companion 180g 1LP edition. . .

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. . .

In the Beatleverse, it is generally well known and quite accepted that the mono mixes of the early Beatles recordings are considered superior to the stereo counterparts for many reasons. Thus, a new box set assembling 21st century recreations of the U.S. Beatles albums in their original monaural sound has a special sort of appeal — and that’s where the 1964 U.S. Albums in Mono 180g 8LP box set, which was released by Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe on November 22, 2024, comes into play. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if The Beatles’ 1964 U.S. Albums in Mono 180g 8LP box set is fab enough to put on your holiday-purchase list, or if you should buy each album individually. . .

The phrase “auspicious debut” is often overused when discussing many an upstart band’s first album — but when it comes to Talking Heads, it’s a phrase that certainly fits the bill whenever you’re both discussing and listening to the fledgling punk/new wave NYC quartet’s first LP, September 1977’s Talking Heads: 77. And now, this important debut album gets its full box set due today, November 8, 2024, with Rhino’s 4LP + 4 7-inch singles-comprised Talking Heads: 77 – Super Deluxe Edition box set, with the original album therein remastered AAA all the way. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s review to see why 77 is another vital vinyl box set to add to your collection — plus see his suggestion for the official, more affordable alternate option of half the box’s contents if your bankbook is currently lacking. . .

Have mercy! Rhino High Fidelity (a.k.a. Rhino Hi-Fi) does it again with today’s special box set release — namely, ZZ Top’s From The Top: 1971-1976, a limited-edition vinyl reissue collection containing the first five LPs from that little ol’ band from Texas — ZZ Top’s First Album (1971), Rio Grande Mud (1972), Tres Hombres (1973), Fandango! (1975), and Tejas (1976). Read on to learn about the source materials, the SRP, and where you can get From the Top exclusively. . .