Joe Walsh The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get 180g 45rpm 2LP

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In between his stints with the James Gang and the Eagles, Joe Walsh tackled his second solo studio album The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get which became his most successful solo outing. The 1973 LP continued the heavy and light rock mix of tracks found on his previous release, Barnstorm.

Analogue Productions has done reissue justice to the album that AllMusic decries "features some of the most remembered Joe Walsh tracks, but it's not just these that make the album a success. Each of the nine tracks is a song to be proud of. This is a superb album by anyone's standards."

To obtain the best sound possible they turned to Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio to remaster this superb album from the original analog tapes. Next they plated the lacquers and pressed LPs on 180-gram audiophile vinyl at Quality Record Pressings. Top it all off with a deluxe Stoughton Printing gatefold tip-on jacket and you've got the makings for audiophile joy.

But would they stop there? Hardly. Now with their 45 RPM release, the best-sounding version of this rock music gem gives listeners an even richer sonic experience. The dead-quiet double-LP, with the music spread over four sides of vinyl, reduces distortion and high frequency loss as the wider-spaced grooves let your stereo cartridge track more accurately.

This amazingly eclectic rock album has Joe's smash "Rocky Mountain Way," his hit "Meadows," plus "Bookends," "Wolf; Dreams" and more! Walsh's abililty to swing wildly from one end of the rock scale to the other is unparalleled and makes for an album to suit many tastes.

Praise for the 33 1/3 version of The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get:

"(Side one) ends with the appropriately titled 'Happy Ways,' a Latin-tinged guitar-fest with lovely chunky bass lines that sounds absolutely glorious on this Analogue Productions pressing. The zing of steel string guitar almost sounds dead on the CD and tired on my ancient vinyl pressing, so this is clearly not one of those remasters that's based on an umpteenth generation copy of the tapes. ... You owe it to yourself to hear this album - and it will not sound any better than this spectacular pressing." - Jason Kenedy, Hi-Fi+, Issue 148, Recording 8/10, Music 10/10

"An outstanding new 180gm LP reissue from Analogue Productions, with improved sound thanks to a sparkling new remaster by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, makes it clear that this 1973 release remains — with the possible exception of 1978's But Seriously, Folks... — the undisputed highlight of Walsh's solo career. ... Another week, another beautiful-sounding, wonderfully packaged reissue from Analogue Productions." - Robert Baird, Stereophile.com, May 2017