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Pressing guides,
compared.

Which vinyl pressing should you buy? We compare original pressings, reissues and audiophile editions against independent reviews and listener reports, then give a straight answer.

Abbey Road

13 min read

Best Abbey Road Vinyl Pressing: UK -2/-1 vs 2019 Remix, Pro-Use and MFSL

The Beatles’ Abbey Road has been pressed on vinyl for more than half a century, but choosing the right copy is not as simple as buying the oldest or most expensive version.

The Beatles

Aja

12 min read

Best Steely Dan Aja Vinyl Pressing: Original AB-1006 vs Cisco, MoFi, UMe and UHQR

Steely Dan’s Aja is easy to find on vinyl. Choosing the right pressing is considerably harder.

Steely Dan

Appetite For Destruction

12 min read

Best Appetite for Destruction Vinyl Pressing: Original 1987 vs 2008 and 2018 Remaster

Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction has appeared on vinyl in several very different forms.

Guns N' Roses

Back In Black

10 min read

Best Back in Black Vinyl Pressing: 1980 RL Original vs 2003 Reissue

Back in Black has remained continuously available on vinyl through original 1980 issues, later repressings, the 2003 George Marino remaster and recent coloured anniversary editions.

AC/DC

Jagged Little Pill

10 min read

Best Jagged Little Pill Vinyl Pressing: Original vs Rhino vs MoFi

Choosing the best vinyl pressing of Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill is not as simple as buying the newest or most expensive edition.

Alanis Morissette

10 min read

Best Sgt. Pepper Vinyl Pressing: 2014 Mono vs Original UK and 2017 Remix

There is no single Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band pressing that suits every buyer because the major vinyl editions do not all contain the same mix.

The Beatles

Metallica

12 min read

Best Metallica Black Album Vinyl Pressing: 1991 Original vs 2008 45 RPM vs 2021 Remaster

Metallica’s self-titled 1991 album is not difficult to find on vinyl. The difficult part is deciding which version deserves your money.

Metallica

Born In The U.S.A.

9 min read

Best Born in the U.S.A. Vinyl Pressing: Original RL vs 2014 Reissue and 2024 Red Vinyl

Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. is easy to find on vinyl, but its pressings do not all present the album in the same way.

Bruce Springsteen

Boston

12 min read

Best Boston Debut Vinyl Pressing: Wally Original vs Friday Music, MoFi and Legacy

Boston’s self-titled 1976 debut was pressed in enormous numbers, so finding a vinyl copy is not difficult. Finding the right copy requires more care.

Boston

Brothers In Arms

12 min read

Best Brothers in Arms Vinyl Pressing: Original RL vs MoFi, Abbey Road and More

Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms is easy to find on vinyl. Choosing the right version is harder.

Dire Straits

Crime Of The Century

8 min read

Best Crime of the Century Vinyl Pressing: Original UK vs Speakers Corner and MFSL

Supertramp’s Crime of the Century has several respected vinyl editions. The main choices include the initial 1974 UK CBS pressing, Speakers Corner, the Canadian A&M Audiophile Series, Mobile Fidelity’s standard and UHQR editions, the 2014 Ray Staff remaster and the 2025 Abbey Road half-speed release

Supertramp

The Dark Side Of The Moon

13 min read

Best Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon Vinyl Pressing: Original UK vs 2003, MoFi, Japanese and 2016

Few albums have been pressed on vinyl as many times as Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. That gives buyers plenty of choices, but it also creates confusion.

Pink Floyd

Hotel California

9 min read

Best Hotel California Vinyl Pressing: Kevin Gray vs DCC, Original and MoFi

Hotel California has several vinyl editions with serious collector support. The main contenders are the original 1976 US STERLING LH pressing, the 1990s DCC edition, Kevin Gray’s 2009 Rhino reissue, the later Bernie Grundman standard reissue and Mobile Fidelity’s 2023 UltraDisc One-Step.

Eagles

Hounds Of Love

12 min read

Best Kate Bush Hounds of Love Vinyl Pressing: UK, Japanese, Audio Fidelity and 2018 Compared

Hounds of Love is unusually well suited to vinyl. Side one delivers five tightly arranged pop songs, while side two becomes The Ninth Wave, a continuous suite built from voices, percussion, folk instruments, samples and quieter atmospheric passages. The side break is not just a format limitation; it

Kate Bush

Houses Of The Holy

12 min read

Best Houses of the Holy Vinyl Pressing: UK Pecko vs Robert Ludwig and Classic Records

There is no completely uncontested choice for the best vinyl pressing of Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy.

Led Zeppelin

9 min read

Best Led Zeppelin II Vinyl Pressing: Robert Ludwig RL vs UK Plum, Classic Records and 2014 Remaster

Led Zeppelin II has one of the most famous pressing stories in rock vinyl. The original US cut by Robert Ludwig is prized for its bass, dynamics and immediacy, but clean copies are expensive and not every early-looking record contains Ludwig’s mastering on both sides.

Led Zeppelin

9 min read

Best Nirvana Nevermind Vinyl Pressing: ORG/Pallas vs Original, Back to Black and 30th Anniversary

Nirvana’s Nevermind has been reissued often enough that buyers regularly encounter several records with similar artwork, the same barcode and very different claims about mastering or pressing quality.

Nirvana

MTV Unplugged In New York

12 min read

Best Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York Vinyl Pressing: ORG vs 25th Anniversary and Pallas

Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York has been issued on vinyl many times, but the differences between those releases are not always obvious.

Nirvana

OK Computer

9 min read

Best Radiohead OK Computer Vinyl Pressing: Original Parlophone vs 2008, 2016 XL and OKNOTOK

Radiohead’s OK Computer has several vinyl editions that look similar but do not necessarily use the same mastering or manufacturing chain. Buyers commonly encounter the 1997 Parlophone original, a 1998 180g repress, European and US reissues from 2008, the 2016 XL edition and the expanded 2017 OKNOTO

Radiohead

Purple Rain

12 min read

Best Purple Rain Vinyl Pressing: Original vs Kevin Gray, 2017 Remaster and 2025 One-Step

Prince and the Revolution’s Purple Rain is easy to find on vinyl. Choosing the right pressing is harder.

Prince And The Revolution

Rumours

13 min read

What Is the Best Pressing of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours on Vinyl?

There is no shortage of vinyl copies of Rumours. You can buy an original from 1977, a common modern reissue, an audiophile 33 RPM edition or a two-record version running at 45 RPM.

Fleetwood Mac

The Beatles

9 min read

Best Beatles White Album Vinyl Pressing: 2014 Mono vs UK White Vinyl and 2018 Remix

Choosing the best White Album pressing requires separating the original mono mix, original stereo mix and Giles Martin’s 2018 remix.

The Beatles

Songs From The Big Chair

12 min read

Best Tears for Fears Songs from the Big Chair Vinyl Pressing: UK vs US Sterling, MoFi and 40th Anniversary

Tears for Fears’ Songs from the Big Chair sold enough copies that original vinyl is still widely available. That should make buying one simple. In practice, collectors face several competing options: the original UK Mercury pressing, US copies mastered at Sterling Sound, the Mobile Fidelity Silver L

Tears For Fears

Thriller

15 min read

Best Thriller Vinyl Pressing: Japanese 25·3P-399 vs Original US and MoFi

Michael Jackson’s Thriller is one of the easiest major albums to find on vinyl. Choosing the right pressing is considerably harder.

Michael Jackson