Top 25 Kevin Gray Audiophile Mastered Vinyl

Kevin Gray is one of the worlds best mastering engineers working for important audiophile companies like Analogue Productions, Blue Note and Speakers Corner . What are his best sounding pressings?
This video contains the following records, in a different order:
Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon 30th Anniversary EMI
Lee Morgan The Cooker Blue Note Tone Poet
Yussef Lateef The Blue Lateef Speakers corner
The Nat King Cole Story Analogue Productions 45 RPM
Fleetwood Mac Rumours 45 RPM Warner Music
Chet Baker Sings Blue Note Tone Poet
Nat King Cole Where Did Everyone Go? 45 RPM Analogue Productions
Homemade Ice Cream 45 RPM Analogue Productions
Buddy Holly Self Titled MCA
Lynyrd Skynyrd 2nd Helping 45 RPM Analogue Productions
Charles Mingus Blues & Roots 45 RPM Analogue Productions Atlantic 75 Series
John Lee Hooker It Serves You Right to Suffer 45 RPM Analogue Productions
Black Sabbath Rhino High Fidelity
Bill Evans Sunday at the Village Vanguard & Waltz For Debby 45 RPM UHQR Analogue productions
Chet Baker The Legendary Riverside Albums Box Craft Recordings
The Beach Boys Pet Sounds Stereo 45 RPM Analogue Productions
Ornette Coleman The Shale of Jazz to come 33 RPM Speakers Corner
Paul Chambers Bass on Top Blue Note Tone Poet
Charles Mingus The Clown 45 RPM Analogue Productions Atlantic 75 Series
John Coltrane Bluetrain Blue Note Tone Poet Mono & Stereo
Norah Jones Come Away With Me Blue Note & Analogue Productions
Lightenin’ Hopkins Goin’ Away Analogue Productions
Jethro Tull Stand Up 45 RPM Analogue Productions
Willie Dixon Willie’s Blues Analogue Productions 33 RPM & 45 RPM
Albert King Born under a Bad Sign Speakers Corner
#kevingray #audiophile #lp #45rpm #33rpm #bluenote #tonepoet #speakerscorner #analogueproductions #rhino #craftrecordings #atlantic75 #charlesmingus #johnleehooker #uhqr #billevans #chetbaker #jethrotull #thebeachboys #norahjones #ornettecoleman #leemorgan #natkingcole #fleetwoodmac #rumours #buddyholly #lynyrdskynyrd #blacksabbath #jazz #folk #country #blues #rock #hardrock #heavymetal #chicagoblues #rocknroll #vinylreview #vinylcommunity #pinkfloyd #darksideofthemoon
#mastering

[@puddle5ofmud599]

UHQR Dark Side of the Moon yes please . Great show cheers.

[@top5records796]

Thank you!

[@hkraytai]

You did it! Finally a video on mastering engineers.

[@top5records796]

Top 25 Robert RL Ludwig Mastered Vinyl kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2TbopeYfMugg8U ;-)

[@richardriley4415]

Informative and interesting. I have about half of those including your #1 pick. New Subscriber.

[@top5records796]

Thank you! Happy to have you on board!

[@ianmelville452]

I would like to add the self titled album by Joan Armatrading which Kevin mastered and came out on Intervention in 2020. It was always a brilliant sounding album even back in the day but this version is truly definitive. You can feel the music right into your bones!

[@stuartjmorrow]

I don't think you mentioned it but for Bill Evans Sunday at the Village Vanguard, Kevin Gray also did the recent (and cheaper) OJC version of this. Not a UHQR, but it's a fraction of the price.

[@Vitally14]

I agree, that stereo mix of pet sounds is sublime! From what I understand it is a more recent mix and for decades the only stereo mix was the lousy duophonic stereo mix, so for a long time the mono was the way to go

[@callumburns6467]

Loved the vid as always! What sleeves do you use out of curiosity?

[@dirkbusche54]

Thanks a lot!! I did order yet Yusef Lateef. Even the CD of this album, that I have, sounds so great.

[@top5records796]

Awesome! Let me know what you think of the Lateef pressing!

[@dirkbusche54]

@ Yes, I will do it. And compare it with the CD.

[@johnosullivan2017]

Totally agree on the 45rpm Rumours. You don't know Gold Dust Woman till you've heard this press. Also up there for me are AP Dusty in Memphis and CSN Couch. The latter is so much better than the DSD MFSL.

[@ianmelville452]

Sorry forgot to say good work on your highlighting of Speakers Corner who are oftem overlooked by many reviewers and yet they have an excellent catalogue and at decent prices. Indeed if you are a fan of Soul & Funk music they are one of the very best reissue companies with their AAA roster of LPs.

[@Vincenz123]

Have you ever heard the Kevin gray master of Electric Warrior? It’s fucking amazing

[@BentendoFR]

This is a good list! I’m curious if you could ever get your hands on the Analogue Productions versions of the Creedence Clearwater Revival albums he mastered from the early 2000s. They’re EXPENSIVE, but a lot of people say those are the best pressings of those albums

[@top5records796]

Thank you! I saw Green River of those at the Record Fair in The Brabanthallen last week for 90,-. But with Analogue Productions being as popular as they are today those would be obvious choices for a repress!

[@BentendoFR]

Guess their contract expired before they could. Vinyls weren’t popular in the early 2000s as they are today

[@19lmsp]

​@@BentendoFR They repressed them in 2014. Chad said a while ago that it would be unlikely they were repressed, but fingers crossed, for AP has a good business relation with Craft (who has the rights). I agree those cuts are nothing short of revolutionary as the originals sound so boxy. PS: The Cosmo and Bayou SH/KG were released as standard reissues a few years ago and can be found for relatively cheap ;)

[@top5records796]

Okay! They are on my list to hunt down!

[@19lmsp]

Nice list for sure! In a legendary career you are bound to come across a few duds, but with KG you can count them by the hand. The man's brilliant and my top 5 would be: DSOTM, Elton's Madman Across the Water, Aja, Pet Sounds mono and the Creedence cuts. For jazz records, really love Blue Train stereo, Duke's Big 4, Chet Sings, The Bill Evans box and Night in Tunisia 45. Many more deserve the spot, but looking forward for everyone's opinion.

[@top5records796]

Thanks! Really awesome! For which label was the Madman Across The Water?

[@musicforlife6903]

Lmsp i hope the Aja you mencioned is the Cisco version because the 82 or 83 KG version of Aja really sucks

[@19lmsp]

@@musicforlife6903 ahah spot on! It is the Cisco for sure.

[@19lmsp]

@@top5records796 DCC

[@top5records796]

Thanks! I’ll check it out!

[@HoomanR17]

Thanks for this list. I really appreciate and enjoy your comparison videos and while I imagine you started your video with a tongue and cheek comment, I must disagree with your premise that if KPG is in the deadwax that it is a guarantee of an amazing sounding record. I've owned and continue to own many KPG reissues and OG pressings. I've sold many KPG mastered reissues not to any fault of KPG , but perhaps because of the quality of the master tapes. Sometimes its not worth getting a KPG pressing when you can buy an OG for a fraction of the cost. Having said that I will share couple of unknown KPG mastered records, one a reissue and the other OG that sound really good .. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan Sundazed 2012 pressed at QRP MONO, sounds as good if not better than the OG Mono. Second is an original pressing/mastering by KPG 1976 Gerry Garcia's Diga Rhythm Band - Diga. Enjoy!

[@top5records796]

Interesting! Which ones didn’t you enjoy?

[@HoomanR17]

@@top5records796 Cant' fully remember them all, some Donovan reissues, even the 1983 Buddy Holly - For The First Time Anywhere felt mediocre. I don't think its worth comparing bluenote classic/tonepoets to RVG.. in different category all together depending on what you're looking for - I tend to prefer OG Blue notes over current KPG re-issue - I have many KPG as stand-ins only till I find nice OGs. The Bob Dylan one I mentioned is the only one that I can say, I played the reissue and a 50yr old OG back to back and it sounded almost as "fresh" sounding.. Van Morission's Astral week is another one where the KPG version is very close to the OG and nice having a clean static free surface.

[@Carrera6rennsport]

Kevin mastered Diga in 1976, literally a kid. he wasnt yet 'great' and didnt have the console he works with now. Not a great example IMO.

[@HoomanR17]

@@Carrera6rennsport its a generally well recorded record and agree, its not part of his current fame and system.

[@GastonBulbous]

Kevin Gray is brilliant at mastering jazz records with a satiny feel and lots of detail in the drums, but honestly, his work on rock records has been hit-and-miss. On albums like Galaxie 500's On Fire, the guitars are muted, sucking a lot of the energy out of the music, and his lacquers for the 2009 180g reissue of Talking Heads:77 added yet another bad mastering to the pile of criminal acts that have been done to this classic. For a rock reissue, Bernie Grundman is your man. His work on the Linda Ronstadt and Rod Stewart box sets is stunning, causing you to take a breath and re-evaluate the greatness of these records. His jazz records are all outstanding, too, all effortlessly natural and musical. Bernie Grundman is the greatest living mastering engineer.

[@zookbaby793]

GIGO

[@Element115-75]

Kevin Grey remastered Ministry’s Land of Rape and Honey and that sounds so good! He did an amazing job on it

[@therealhishaam]

What happened to Steve Hoffman? I don’t hear about his mastering work anymore. Too busy managing the forum?

[@top5records796]

That is the big question! No idea what happened.

[@jonathanpeters5027]

He retired.

[@mikejeffries8630]

I can’t imagine anything much worse than a double 45rpm DSOTM.

[@top5records796]

Really? Why?

[@fizzlebomber674]

who is that, your brother in law?

[@top5records796]

Who?