[eric343]

The two rules of music buying:
1. Don't buy at Costco
2. Don't buy boxed sets.

Well, ages ago I violated both of those by getting the "Mozart Collection: 100 Masterpieces" (Laserlight Digital) at Costco, and I finally realized how completely awful it is as a recording. Waaaay overblown boomy bass, sibilance, you name it. Eeek!

 

[MagusG]

But eric, 100 MASTERPIECES!
-Mag

 

[Odi_et_Amo]

Laserlight performances are, indeed, terrible. So are most you find for sale near check-out counters.

Naxos or the super-budget divisions of the major lables (i.e., EMI, DG, Decca) are usually good performances.

Buy a copy of the Penguin Guide; it's worth the purchase price many times over.

And shun any recording by the Antwerp Second String Trombone Players of the Rustikgevandhaus Radio Symphonic Philharmonia Tweedle-dee'ers or some such group.

Good Bets:

1. Vienna Phil
2. Berlin Phil
3. New York Phil
4. Chicago SO
5. Cleveland Orch

 

[Luvya]

Poor you. I wouldn't even consider touching those things. Well, you are a smart guy, you will learn I am sure.

 

[joelk]

Ouch! Just the thought of having to listen to all of that Mozart even in good performances!

 

[MusicLover]

Some advice for you: don't buy anything from Excelsior. It just sucks.

 

[archosman]

Why is everyone coming down on Laserlight performances? The only thing they're guilty of is being expensive coasters...

 

[grinch]

i always find it amusing that people think the whole "that cd costs that much for a reason" rule applies to just pop music.

i never buy classical music, and i swear part of the reason is my inability to be able to pick out good recordings/performances. plus even if i knew what to look for, the classical section of music stores is always in complete disarray.

 

[FalconP]

Laserlight does churn out a decent recording once in a while: I have a Laserlight CD of Bulgarian choral music (a live performance by the Women Choir of Sofia) which is very good in musicianship and decent in sound -- but the liner note is non-existent.

And, typical to this label, the cover art sucks

Another Laserlight I have is an anthology of the Clancy Brothers -- the sound quality is roughly equal to a cassette tape,

Good stuff from Laserlight is exception rather than the rule. Try them out only when the price is low (my Bulgarian CD costed around 65 US cents) and you're feeling lucky -- the odds are very much against you.

For super-budget classical music, Naxos and Brillant Classics are safer bets -- but there are duds in these labels too, so do your research.

And attention World-music fans -- Avoid the budget label called Legacy International (not to be confused with Legacy Recordings, the Sony-Columbia subsidary that has remastered several old recordings by the Chieftains, Laura Nyro, among others). CDs from Legacy International are often by performers of dubious credential, invariably poor in sound quality, and their brief liner notes contain nothing but empty rhetorics.

 

[Nutty]

I own one Laserlight CD nowadays, and it's non-domestic (ordered from the UK and manufactured somewhere in Europe). It's a Miles Davis concert from Paris in 1960 entitled Olympia Mar. 20th 1960. Strangely enough, I consider it one of the best albums in my jazz collection. Not only is the sound suprisingly good, I feel I should make a special note about John Coltrane's performance. Around the time of this tour, Coltrane was getting ready to leave Miles' quintet. I don't know if it was because he was bored or if he was just trying to piss Miles off, but Coltrane does some of the most insanely intense soloing on this CD that I've ever heard. In fact, his playing is so unconventional and "out there" that the audience ends up booing him during every solo!

Anyway, this CD has become such a unique part of my collection that I thought this thread would be a good place to interject and recommend it to any jazz fans here. I picked it up from amazon.co.uk for anybody that's interested...

Oh, and for the record, every Laserlight CD I've bought here in the U.S. has been crappy...

 

[fewtch]

I have a 1989 Laserlight CD with Beethoven's 5th. I don't think I've ever heard a performance of that symphony I didn't like... that and Scheherazade are admittedly my favorites (ok, 'pop classical' or whatever, call it what you will.

). I like Brahm's 4th as well... there are others (particularly anything Bach), but I'm not a huge classical fan, let's face it.

Actually, I could listen to 20 different performance of either Beethoven's 5th or Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade in a row (let's stagger them), and enjoy each one for its particular nuances, even for its particular errors. Sort of like the good old DSOTM audiophoolia, where you could fall asleep and dream every note from start to finish, yet still enjoy it.