CDs to make your system sing!
Bartok's Concerto For Orchestra - Solti/Chicago SO
Clear Spot - Captain Beefheart & Magic Band
Prairie Wind - Neil Young
West Side Story - Andre Previn
Surf's Up - David Thomas & Two Pale Boys
Remain In Light - Talking Heads
Tusk - Camper Van Beethoven
Hot Shots II - The Beta Band
Luna - The Aliens
Scratch My Back - Peter Gabriel
Elysium - Pet Shop Boys
Gaucho - Steely Dan
Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys
To name but thirteen.
It never occured to me that David Thomas did stuff outside of Pere Ubu - a big thanks!
To the OP - stuff other people's suggestions & take music you know well, both well-recordered & poor.
I don't know if you've checked out the David Thomas LP yet, but it's brilliant to my ears. I'm a huge fan of the title track in all it's Beach Boys & Brian Wilson versions and yet the DT incarnation adds something very special to an already otherworldly song.
Bartok's Concerto For Orchestra - Solti/Chicago SO
Clear Spot - Captain Beefheart & Magic Band
Prairie Wind - Neil Young
West Side Story - Andre Previn
Surf's Up - David Thomas & Two Pale Boys
Remain In Light - Talking Heads
Tusk - Camper Van Beethoven
Hot Shots II - The Beta Band
Luna - The Aliens
Scratch My Back - Peter Gabriel
Elysium - Pet Shop Boys
Gaucho - Steely Dan
Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys
To name but thirteen.
It never occured to me that David Thomas did stuff outside of Pere Ubu - a big thanks!
To the OP - stuff other people's suggestions & take music you know well, both well-recordered & poor.
I don't know if you've checked out the David Thomas LP yet, but it's brilliant to my ears. I'm a huge fan of the title track in all it's Beach Boys & Brian Wilson versions and yet the DT incarnation adds something very special to an already otherworldly song.
I saw DT at South Hill Park, Bracknell probably nearly 20yrs ago. It wasn't a good gig & running down his guitarist on stage was rather unprofessional. However, he has one of the best voices I know, He worth watching on YouTube.
I think you should go all out and get the most beautifully recorded, most flawless, most pounding, and to my mind, most expressive version of Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto there is - one of the most anticipated classical albums of 2000 - Volodos with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. It's stunning; i'd LOVE to hear it through an amazing system.
Good luck! It's a hell of a ride
I think you should go all out and get the most beautifully recorded, most flawless, most pounding, and to my mind, most expressive version of Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto there is - one of the most anticipated classical albums of 2000 - Volodos with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. It's stunning; i'd LOVE to hear it through an amazing system.
Good luck! It's a hell of a ride
Take the MUSIC YOU LOVE. Surely you buy a HiFi to listen to that.
Not necessarily. I've met people whose main interest is the means & not the end. I knew someone who'd change his system constantly & I mean on a monthly basis! Other people spend £1000s & have a tiny collection of music to play. I used to snort at such folk but realised that if people want to spend large sums & are cloth-eared - it was their affair & not mine!
I've heard some amusing arguements that many "audiophiles" spend most of their time obsessing over cables to ever actually listen & enjoy music. A few people even admit that their equipment is more important - rare honesty that deserves respect. One friend opined that any real music lover doesn't need expensive gear to access the soul of music & that people like me were missing the whole point of music! It's when someone says "Of course I love music!" I think: of course you do.
I think you should go all out and get the most beautifully recorded, most flawless, most pounding, and to my mind, most expressive version of Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto there is - one of the most anticipated classical albums of 2000 - Volodos with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. It's stunning; i'd LOVE to hear it through an amazing system.
Good luck! It's a hell of a ride
Very nice. I have this version of "Rach 3": http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rachmaninoff-Piano-Concertos-Classical-Masters/d...
So do I 
it's good isn't it! (er I have rather a lot of versions of Rach 3, like about 32 I think). Kissin/boston & volodos/berlin are my faves
For 1960s/early 70s folk, I'd recommend "Light Flight" by Pentangle, a compilation of the band's best tracks. Nicely remastered sound but not too exaggerated.
For contemporary folk music, perhaps something from Blackmore's Night like "Fires at Midnight". Also decently recorded and mastered but again, not too in-your-face.
Sorry, I don't listen to dance music, though I grew up listening to early Tangerine Dream.
Good luck!
So do I it's good isn't it! (er I have rather a lot of versions of Rach 3, like about 32 I think). Kissin/boston & volodos/berlin are my faves
Brilliant. 
There is a lot of great knowledge on this forum, that doesn't surface half enough.
Well recorded and produced albums are all very well but surely it is the music and performance that matters most, OK the lesser quality of the reording can get in the way and be distracting. Some of the best recorded albums for me are rather boring. The other problem is cds do vary quite a bit even the same album, you may find say the USA 1984 issue is so much better than say the Europe 1990 one, generally the Japan issues are higher quality. You can look on sites like Dynamic Range Database which will give you an idea of the quality. Generally in the last 10 years record companies have gone for loudness over DR, because they think they sell more.
- « first
- ‹ previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Login to post comments
Yes, but it's easier to love music that's well recorded.
And for someone that really loves music to the extent that they love lots of different types of music a well recorded album from almost anyone is more enjoyable as an event than a poorly recorded album from their favourite artiste.