craigb
Pedro's back!

 
Hooray.
 
I'll blow up some balloons.
 
 

Speaking of rediscovering old (1882!) stuff, my most recent purchase was a recording of the 1812 Overture. No, the recording's not from 1882 - I wouldn't have the gear to play it - but it still qualifies as a Golden Oldie.
 
Talk about over-listening to a piece; this was the first record I ever wore out, when I was 11 years old. What I didn't realize back then was that I'd been listening to what at the time was regarded as the definitive recording of this piece. All I knew was that I liked it.
 
I have since bought at least four different versions of 1812. All were disappointing. Most were played too fast. Apparently, that's been a trend over the last few decades, speeding up classical pieces to fit our short attention spans. The Overture is supposed to have tempo changes, perhaps an antiquated concept in the age of quantization.
 
So I was delighted to find this version, which not only pulls the notes out at a more leisurely pace, but is actually an alternate spin on the old classic, adding a choir that wasn't in the original score. It was recorded by Decca, which in my experience means crystal clarity and a wide but natural-sounding panorama. There's a reason they call that microphone configuration a "Decca Tree". The brass is bright without being harsh, and the strings are as lush as any Hollywood production. And yes, it has real cannons and carillon.
 
Give it a listen...it's very dynamic so the volume's a little low in places - just crank it up!
 

 
As is my custom, I ordered the CD (for a paltry $6.78) and ripped it to FLACs for late-night headphone listening. The Overture is short, so the disk also includes three other Tchaikovsky pieces that are also pretty well done. One of them I'd never heard before, so double bonus.

chuckebaby
I made the mistake of downloading Pink Floyd's Dark side of the moon.
It's like a drug, I cant stop listening to it. I have always appreciated Pink Floyd but never really got in to any of their albums or anything. However the Dark side of the moon is absolutely a master piece. A Gem.
 
Its hypnotic, dark and creative as far as songwriting goes.
Sonically it is even more impressive. Im just blown away by David Gilmour's guitar sound. The way he gets that dirty sound but yet the tone is amazingly clean. And all this done way before the days of digital recording.
I always questioned Allan Parsons claim to fame. But now I know why. this is brilliant.

i've been listening to this album,
on a regular basis, since the first week of march 1973.
 
my buddie's older brother bought it, and would let us listen to it in the big living room with the really nice stereo.
 
a big plus-
he had a set of those KOSS Pro 4a over the ears headphones with the liquid filled ear pads...... whoa.
he had a long curly cord, so you could sit anywhere you wanted in the room and listen in the cans.
 
 
for me, the whole band was a genius on this album...
but what makes it special for me, is Richard Wright.
 

Richard Wright's playing on Endless River is beautiful. Some of his best work to date. Same with Gilmour too. 

My first exposure to PF was an 8-Track of Piper At The Gates Of Dawn which was Sid Barrett at full tilt. I found some parts interesting but mostly a bunch of noise. DSOTM was the one that made me a believer. Wish You Were Here is still unbeatable for lyrics, music and production - IMHO. The Wall is also great. I like most all of the PF albums just some more than others.
 
I challenge anybody to not be moved by The Great Gig In The Sky. Gal has got an incredible set of pipes!

 
I too wish I could hear it again for the first time.

craigb
Unless the option doesn't exists (like the latest Mostly Autumn special double album), I'm all digital now.  However, I always buy the full album and, frequently, different versions if there's a reissue with double the songs for example.
 
I find that sometimes I like one of the "songs no one has heard of" better than the so-called "hits."

I seldom buy individual tracks, I will always go for the full album. But I prefer to have the physical media, but I will buy downloads from Bandcamp if I can get FLAC or WAV.

I play music from the last few years more than the "classics" these days, bands like Panic Room, Big Big Train, Mostly Autumn, Karnataka, Magenta and the recent output from Marillion getting the most plays.

I have enjoyed Steven Wilson's remixes of some of my favourite 70s Prog albums and I always have time for Floyd, DSOM was one of the greatest but I think they peaked with Wish You Where Here. I also enjoy Pulse alot.

patm300e
I have the SACD Dark side of the Moon.  It is great just to lie down in the middle of my room and let it consume me sonically from all sides!  What a ride!

Absolutely (assuming you *are* talking about listening to the surround mix).  This is without any doubt the most spectacular surround recording I have ever heard.  Tastefully done yet full of delightful surround surprises.


However, do not waste your hard earned cash on the surround mix of Wish You Were Here.  That one, I am convinced, was made from a 2-channel master and the surround effects are lame, limited and highly disappointing.  Given I shelled out something like 35 bucks because I wanted another Pink Floyd surround SACD, I'm not at all a happy camper.

Rain

bitflipper
 
I love discovering bands that I'd never bothered listening to before...a few years ago I watched a documentary about Rush that prompted me to buy some of their albums. Now I am a fan. Especially the older stuff, before they discovered that the threshold knob on a limiter can be set to -60 dB. 
 

I only really discovered Rush 2 or 3 years ago - I'd always disliked them before that. 
 
I'd always wondered why Voivod, one of my favorite metal bands, wanted to work with producer Terry Brown so badly. Listening to Moving Pictures on the studio monitors helped me understand... All those albums recorded at Morin Heights w/ Brown and engineer Paul Northfield are impeccable.
 
Too bad that when Voivod finally managed to work with Brown they recorded their worst album...
 
Nowadays, I don't listen to pop music that much but I'm slowly learning to appreciate Genesis. I think it's great that I have yet to discover albums such as The Lamb Lies Down and Selling England. I feel lucky - ample supplies of awesome music to discover for the rest of my days, no matter what's being released these days.

IMHO, Selling England was probably their masterpiece.

Bristol_Jonesey
 
IMHO, Selling England was probably their masterpiece.

Definitely my favourite of the PG era, and being a gardener, also my favourite rock album sleeve

For me, Dark Side is the epitome of Pink Floyd's career.  Certainly they had other great, even brilliant tunes, but as a complete album, nothing comes close to DSOTM.... and I'd be hard pressed to name another band who has an album that approaches DSOTM in it's brilliance and creativity and superb writing and recording. 
 
Perhaps the Who, with Tommy & Quadrophenia, but that's apples to oranges. Or ELO's Out of the Blue.