Audiophile Vinyl

Spinal Tap
The End Continues
Interscope Records 00602478558207 LP

You’ll want to skewer me for this, but gags aside – and there are plenty – this is a mighty fine rock LP. Although the film, coming 41 years after the sublime This Is Spinal Tap ‘mockumentary’, received mixed reviews, the soundtrack is something else. Reworkings of old tunes including ‘Big Bottom’ and ‘Stonehenge’ are matched by wry new songs, while depth is added by guests including Paul McCartney, Elton John, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. And, hey, Michael McKean was in The Left Banke. In-jokes abound, including the cover pose which will resonate with Boomers; it’s even photographed by Henry Diltz. If you are in on the joke, this won’t disappoint. KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Alanis Morissette
Jagged Little Pill
Mobile Fidelity UD1S 2-059 (two 45rpm One Step LPs)

Morissette issued two OK albums before Jagged Little Pill in 1995, but this was a radical stylistic change from its precursors. This is the singer the world knows as a luxuriously voiced, edgy, slightly grungy Gen X chanteuse of limitless intensity. Perfecting the art of distaff kvetching a decade before Taylor Swift, and with far greater panache, here Morissette delivers a stunning collection of melodies which haven’t aged an iota, balancing fuzz-drenched passages with delicate interludes. Yes, the whining gets tiresome – ‘You Oughta Know’ is best enjoyed by ignoring the lyrics if you’re a male averse to being hen-pecked – but this LP rocks 30 years on. KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Fleetwood Mac
Mirage
Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-570 (two 45rpm LPs)

Fleetwood Mac could not be expected to better 1975’s Fleetwood Mac nor 1977’s Rumours; neither would they repeat the more difficult Tusk, which preceded this. Instead, they delivered this set in 1982, a dozen sublime tunes just hard enough not to be dubbed ‘soft rock’, the writing shared amongst Buckingham, McVie and Nicks to a degree of truly proportional representation. It must have come as a relief to fans who were side-tracked or confused by Tusk and it gave us great singles including ‘Hold Me’, ‘Gypsy’, ‘Love In Store’ and ‘Oh Diane’. For a group with such a fractured, fractious, and bitter story, they always managed to sound coherent. An absolute gem. KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Jeff Beck/Jeff Beck Group
Truth/Cosa Nostra Beck-Ola
Parlophone 5021732725257/5021732725240 (coloured vinyl)

The first two of Beck’s solo efforts from 1968/’69 enjoy renewed collector’s status here with coloured vinyl. They beg a question about whether the vinyl should be clear, black or tinted, but there’s a variable: these have been remastered, too, and the sound quality is superb. Beck created a genre – adventurous blues-and-jazz-based hard rock – which paved the way for Led Zeppelin, whose debut followed Truth by nearly six months. These still sizzle 56 years on, and for some, lead singer Rod Stewart has never sounded so good. Truth is in my permanent Top 10, while its take of ‘Ain’t Superstitious’ betters anything heavy rock produced in its wake. KK

Sound Quality: 90%