Steppenwolf – Gold: Their Great Hits (Analogue Productions)

Single 33 1/3 RPM LP includes poster insert

Gatefold jacket

Mastering by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio

Mastered from the original analog tapes

200-gram plating and pressing by Quality Record Pressings

“Perhaps the biggest surprise about this 1971 compilation, nearly a half-century after the band’s heyday, is not the quality of the music — that’s obvious — but the sonic impact. Most of us were introduced to this paradigm of gusty, semi-psychedelic rock via AM radio (or a certain hit road movie about two biker/hippies…), so few of us listened to ‘Born To Be Wild’ or ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ over good sound systems. But damn, the sound is solid, visceral, raunchy and detailed. John Kay’s snarl, a wall of guitars, those much-loved pedal effects and 11 sure-fire classics… This reissue is truly a fitting tribute to keyboardist Goldy McJohn, who passed away last August.” — Sound Quality: 85% — Ken Kessler, Hi Fi News, April 2018

Get your motor runnin’ baby — Steppenwolf’s Gold: Their Great Hits took its title literally. The towering rock album success rang in at No. 24 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and became certified gold for record sales in excess of 500,000 units by the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) in April 1971.

AllMusic praised the production and engineering of most of the tracks and called it a “nearly perfect” introduction to the band. Acoustic Sounds and Analogue Productions want to introduce you to the most sonically perfect version of this historic album you’ve ever heard on vinyl. Our 200-gram 33 1/3 RPM reissue was remastered from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Sound and plated and pressed by Gary Salstrom and his crew at Quality Record Pressings, makers of the world’s finest-sounding LPs.

The Canadian-American rock band, named for Hermann Hesse’s mystical novel, rocketed to worldwide fame after their third single “Born to Be Wild” dropped in 1968. The song and Steppenwolf’s version of Hoyt Axton’s “The Pusher” figured prominently in the 1969 counterculture cult film “Easy Rider,” and both show up on Gold’s track list. Two other singles on this stunning album compilation also cracked the Top 10 on the charts: “Magic Carpet Ride” and “Rock Me.”

“Magic Carpet Ride” was released in 1968 on the album The Second. It was written by band members John Kay and Rushton Moreve, peaked at No. 3 in the U.S. and stayed on the charts for 16 weeks, longer than any other Steppenwolf song.

You also get the Don Covay soul cover “Sookie, Sookie,” which got airplay on some soul stations nationwide, as well as rock ‘n’ roll radio. Gold also includes “Hey Lawdy Mama” the hit studio single from Steppenwolf Live.

Steppenwolf enjoyed worldwide success from 1968 to 1972, when clashing personalities ultimately broke up the core group after a farewell concert in Los Angeles on Valentine’s Day, 1972. Today, John Kay remains as the only original Steppenwolf member.

Format – Vinyl Record

1 LP