The Union - Elton John/Leon Russell 2LP

The pressing quality on this 2LP is genuinely impressive, dead quiet between tracks and Elton's vocals sit right in the room with you. Hearing him and Leon trade lines on these T-Bone Burnett productions feels like eavesdropping on two old friends.

I put this on expecting a nostalgia trip and instead got a genuine gift — Elton and Leon trading verses like two old friends who never lost it. The pressing itself is dead quiet, and the harmonies on the quieter tracks sit so far forward you can hear the room they recorded in.

T-Bone Burnett's production keeps the mix warm and uncluttered, so the piano and Russell's gravelly harmonies sit right up front. The 2LP pressing sounds fantastic, no surface noise at all.