# Symphonic Albums



## Blainetsuds (Feb 12, 2013)

In my quest for great sounding recordings, I came across some symphonic recordings on Amazon. I was interested in the Us and Them Pink Floyd Symphonic CD, performed by The London Philharmonic. Any thoughts on these types of recordings? onder:


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## rgordonpf (Jun 28, 2014)

Hello,

I have a number of these recordings on both vinyl and CD. Some are stupendous and some are duds. If the music is played by a major orchestra like the London Philharmonic or London Symphony Orchestra the musicianship will be impeccable. However, what about the recording and mastering? Was it someone with a reputation and a big budget or was it done on the cheap? Who did the orchestration? Someone with a reputation for orchestration or was it the new boyfriend of the producer's daughter? You probably can't find out this information without spending a lot of time doing research.

So what do you do? On Amazon you can listen to samples of the tracks for the Pink Floyd album. That could be helpful, though not always. In the reviews section on Amazon for this CD there were 42 five star ratings and only 4 one star ratings. I have found that a ten to one ratio between 5 stars and one star to be an indicator that the product is usually very good. Another option is to just buy it. There are two used CDs of this album graded very good on Amazon right now for 53 cents plus the $3.99 shipping charge. Are you willing to gamble $4.52 on a CD that you might or might not like. I have bought many cheap used CDs because I thought the music might be interesting. I have had more duds with this strategy than great finds. However, the joy I get from the great finds more than makes up for the cost of the duds.

I took a flier on this one and was pleasantly surprised.


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## B- one (Jan 13, 2013)

Blainetsuds said:


> In my quest for great sounding recordings, I came across some symphonic recordings on Amazon. I was interested in the Us and Them Pink Floyd Symphonic CD, performed by The London Philharmonic. Any thoughts on these types of recordings? onder:


I have that cd and it sounds great!


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## Blainetsuds (Feb 12, 2013)

Thanks for the reply. Great idea to try used. I will check out your recommendation as well.


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## Blainetsuds (Feb 12, 2013)

Thanks for the reply B-one.


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## goatfarm (Mar 31, 2007)

I have a few of those "Symphonic Pop" cds. Despite the good to excellent SQ they are ultimately disappointing. With few exceptions rock, pop, country, et al., does not transfer well to the symphony orchestra despite the skills of the arranger. The sound of bands like Pink Floyd is, IMHO, not transferable. The reverse is usually true as well, but Emerson, Lake, and Palmer was probably best at this. Choice of material matters. Locally the Indianapolis Symphony summer series always includes a few of these programs. Well attended. The best orchestra/conductor to have done this successfully may have been Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops.


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## Blainetsuds (Feb 12, 2013)

Cool , thanks Greg.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

in my top 5 list ...

http://www.amazon.com/Symphony-Orga...1408201975&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=oliver+latry


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

goatfarm said:


> I have a few of those "Symphonic Pop" cds. Despite the good to excellent SQ they are ultimately disappointing. With few exceptions rock, pop, country, et al., does not transfer well to the symphony orchestra despite the skills of the arranger. The sound of bands like Pink Floyd is, IMHO, not transferable. The reverse is usually true as well, but Emerson, Lake, and Palmer was probably best at this. Choice of material matters. Locally the Indianapolis Symphony summer series always includes a few of these programs. Well attended. The best orchestra/conductor to have done this successfully may have been Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops.


brilliant ... couldnt agree more ... Toccata from Brain Salad Surgery is IMO nothing short of musical genius. Not only in the studio track but the fact that they brought this piece to live performance !! :yikes:


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