Hard Times Ahead

[71 dB]

I recommend Ricochet and Poland: The Warsaw Concert for some of their best classic material and Lily on the Beach for their late work, never mind all the film scores they created as a group and individually.

Thanks for the advices Grazioso!

Ricochet: Yes, I will definitely buy this one sooner or later as well as Phaedra, Rubycon and pretty much all the 70's albums (not sure about Green Desert & Cyclone).

Poland: The Warsaw Concert: I borrowed from a friend this one. Poland is ok, Barbakane better. Horizon is my favorite here.

Lily on the Beach: I'll check this out...

I wasn't going to buy any of the the film scores unless I find one I really like.

EDIT: I listened soundclips of Lily on the Beach and unfortunately I didn't get excited. TD seems to have lost the touch during the 80's while modern dance music explosion happened. TD's "dancable" tracks like "optical race" are a bit corny, their specialty is the long other-wordly psychedelic ambient tracks.

[gomro]

I think I will cut down buying classical CDs for a while, perhaps year 2008. I have recently got into Tangerine Dream an because the output of that group is HUGE I need to allocate funds for them. I have hundreds and hundreds of classical CDs. Why not listen to them instead of buying more? Tangerine Dream is the kind of music I don't have much yet.

Well, good luck with that. Though their output is huge, they went down a path that caused me to lose interest in them decades ago. For my money, if you have
Zeit
Alpha Centauri
Atem
Phaedra
Rubycon
Stratosfear
Encore
Ricochet
Tangram
Force Majeure
Exit
Cyclone
Sorcerer
White Eagle
Hyperborea
You've got all the Tangerine Dream anyone needs. IMHO, of course.

[71 dB]

Well, good luck with that. Though their output is huge, they went down a path that caused me to lose interest in them decades ago. For my money, if you have
Zeit
Alpha Centauri
Atem
Phaedra
Rubycon
Stratosfear
Encore
Ricochet
Tangram
Force Majeure
Exit
Cyclone
Sorcerer
White Eagle
Hyperborea
You've got all the Tangerine Dream anyone needs. IMHO, of course.

Thanks! 

Well, that's pretty much the list I am considering of collecting. Yes, TD seems to have gone downhill but the hardcore fans say the recent output (e.g. Madcap's Flaming Duty) is pretty good again. Anyway, I think TD has gone too mainstream and "normal". The 70's was when they where ahead of their time, creative, interesting and unique... 

[andy]

I moved from the US to Canada 4 months ago and this is dramatically cut my cd purchases back since cds are ridiculously expensive here and there's not as convenient internet shopping. At first I didn't like it at all, but then I started to go through my old cds... I "only" have about 100 classical cds, but I've found plenty of time for rediscovery there. Especially since most of my cds are of 20th/21st century compositions which take many listens to fully appreciate. SO this is my advice:

When you do buy something,

1. buy a cd with works from a modern composer. I don't know about you, but I get bored with a Mozart symphony or a Brahms concerto very quickly because they are easy to figure out and very repetitive
2. buy works that you don't already have a recording of... this way, you can maximize the newness of each cd and it will take you longer to get bored with.

And finally, internet radio is a blessing. I've been listening to SymphonyCast since moving to Canada and love it... provides me with a couple of hours of new music free each week. 

[marvinbrown]

  I couldn't have come to this thread at a worst time.  As far as my CD acquisitions are concerned I have reached the stage where I have officially lost all control!  I am acquiring CDs/DVDs at a rate faster than I can listen to and watch. It didn't use to be this way,  I used to buy no more that 3 CDs per month and for a long time my collection lingered in the 300s.  I have now passed the 500 CD mark with no end in sight....needless to say I am not very optimistic about the future, a lack of discipline usually leads to unfavorable if not distastrous results! However, I have decided, whether unwisely or not, not to do anything about this problem.  I suspect that I am just going through a "phase" as it were. A phase that I hope will one day end on its own.  I have gone through "phases" in the past with other aspects of my life. I suspect this one will be no diffrerent.  The unpleasant thought that I might be in denial has crossed my mind several times but there is still so much music missing from my collection that I am not about to quit just yet!

  I still need to get the following:

  Brahms COMPLETE piano trios
  Brahms COMPLETE Chamber music
  Mozart COMPLETE piano sonatas
  Beethoven's songs
  Bach's Suzuki Cantatas (so many I want this is ongoing!)
  Bach's Organ works (beyond the obvious popular ones!)
  Bach's Easter Oratorio
  Bach's Magnificent
  Bach's Art of fugue (various arrangements I only have these on harpsichord and would like to hear different arrangements for them!)
  Mascagni's Iris  (don't ask me why I just want it!)
  Schubert's COMPLETE Symphony Cycle
  Schubert's Chamber music especially Death and the Maiden, Trout etc.
  Verdi's I Lombardi and a few of his earlier operas as well
  Handel's Messiah (I only have this in cassette)
  Debussy's COMPLETE Paino work
  R. Strauss' Arabella and a handfull of other operas and orchestral works
  Mozart's serenades (so many missing from collection I'd like to get a boxset of COMPLETE recordings)
  Gluck's Orfeo (though I have not decided whether to go for the Italian or French version, original or revised versions)
 
 
  and the list goes on and on and on!

  Impossible to stop buying, impossible!  Hard times for me indeed!

  marvin


     

   

[Harry]

  I couldn't have come to this thread at a worst time.  As far as my CD acquisitions are concerned I have reached the stage where I have officially lost all control!  I am acquiring CDs/DVDs at a rate faster than I can listen to and watch. It didn't use to be this way,  I used to buy no more that 3 CDs per month and for a long time my collection lingered in the 300s.  I have now passed the 500 CD mark with no end in sight....needless to say I am not very optimistic about the future, a lack of discipline usually leads to unfavorable if not distastrous results! However, I have decided, whether unwisely or not, not to do anything about this problem.  I suspect that I am just going through a "phase" as it were. A phase that I hope will one day end on its own.  I have gone through "phases" in the past with other aspects of my life. I suspect this one will be no diffrerent.  The unpleasant thought that I might be in denial has crossed my mind several times but there is still so much music missing from my collection that I am not about to quit just yet!

  I still need to get the following:

  Brahms COMPLETE piano trios
  Brahms COMPLETE Chamber music
  Mozart COMPLETE piano sonatas
  Beethoven's songs
  Bach's Suzuki Cantatas (so many I want this is ongoing!)
  Bach's Organ works (beyond the obvious popular ones!)
  Bach's Easter Oratorio
  Bach's Magnificent
  Bach's Art of fugue (various arrangements I only have these on harpsichord and would like to hear different arrangements for them!)
  Mascagni's Iris  (don't ask me why I just want it!)
  Schubert's COMPLETE Symphony Cycle
  Schubert's Chamber music especially Death and the Maiden, Trout etc.
  Verdi's I Lombardi and a few of his earlier operas as well
  Handel's Messiah (I only have this in cassette)
  Debussy's COMPLETE Paino work
  R. Strauss' Arabella and a handfull of other operas and orchestral works
  Mozart's serenades (so many missing from collection I'd like to get a boxset of COMPLETE recordings)
  Gluck's Orfeo (though I have not decided whether to go for the Italian or French version, original or revised versions)
 
 
  and the list goes on and on and on!

  Impossible to stop buying, impossible!  Hard times for me indeed!

  marvin     
   

As long as you have the money to pay for it, and does not bring you in the poorhouse like me, all is well.....

[Que]

I still need to get the following:

  Brahms COMPLETE piano trios
  Brahms COMPLETE Chamber music
  Mozart COMPLETE piano sonatas
  Beethoven's songs
  Bach's Suzuki Cantatas (so many I want this is ongoing!)
  Bach's Organ works (beyond the obvious popular ones!)
  Bach's Easter Oratorio
  Bach's Magnificent
  Bach's Art of fugue (various arrangements I only have these on harpsichord and would like to hear different arrangements for them!)
  Mascagni's Iris  (don't ask me why I just want it!)
  Schubert's COMPLETE Symphony Cycle
  Schubert's Chamber music especially Death and the Maiden, Trout etc.
  Verdi's I Lombardi and a few of his earlier operas as well
  Handel's Messiah (I only have this in cassette)
  Debussy's COMPLETE Paino work
  R. Strauss' Arabella and a handfull of other operas and orchestral works
  Mozart's serenades (so many missing from collection I'd like to get a boxset of COMPLETE recordings)
  Gluck's Orfeo (though I have not decided whether to go for the Italian or French version, original or revised versions)

Marvin, I can only see musically sensible wise choices. I mean: Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Mozart, Strauss. You can't go wrong there - all great stuff.
But in terms of spending this forum is incredibly dangerous... Soon we'll need a "GMGers Anonymous"....

Seems you've hit on Bach BIG time, which is of course VERY fortunate. 

Q

[marvinbrown]

As long as you have the money to pay for it, and does not bring you in the poorhouse like me, all is well.....

 Harry, money is not the issue now. I am just concerned because I think I am headed in Mark's direction.  Remember how he said that he had 300 unopened CDs and he was asking himself if he really needs all those CDs.  I am currently starting to feel the same way- but I still want more I can not explain what I am feeling.  My family and friends already think I have too much! I have stopped telling them about my acquisitions because of comments I have been hearing from them.

  Que, yes J.S. Bach is very, very tempting.  I think he is going to be the composer who will ultimately "break my bank account!!"
 marvin  

[Harry]

 Harry, money is not the issue now. I am just concerned because I think I am headed in Mark's direction.  Remember how he said that he had 300 unopened CDs and he was asking himself if he really needs all those CDs.  I am currently starting to feel the same way- but I still want more I can not explain what I am feeling.  My family and friends already think I have too much! I have stopped telling them about my acquisitions because of comments I have been hearing from them.

  Que, yes J.S. Bach is very, very tempting.  I think he is going to be the composer who will ultimately "break my bank account!!"
 marvin  

Don't worry about the heaps of cd's yet unplayed, I will venture as far as 400 right now, still waiting to be played, and it does not bother me.
Mark is a bad example, he could not handle the stress of it all, and lost coherence alltogether.
That you want more is understandable, and not necessarily a bad thing, afterall you love music right?
My family declared me nuts when I bought the complete piano works by Chopin, and since that moment they are trying to get me in the madhouse!
The Cantates by Bach from the forces of Suzuki is indeed a treasure, I have them all minus the latest, Volume 37, because Robin Blaze goes Solo there, and that my friend is not good for my nerves.

[71 dB]

My family declared me nuts when I bought the complete piano works by Chopin, and since that moment they are trying to get me in the madhouse!

Somehow that does not surprise me.  You're NUTS my friend but in the most positive way!

[Harry]

Somehow that does not surprise me.  You're NUTS my friend but in the most positive way!

Well thank you! I am happy to report that my friends think so too, but then they are all collectors of classical music......

[Grazioso]

EDIT: I listened soundclips of Lily on the Beach and unfortunately I didn't get excited. TD seems to have lost the touch during the 80's while modern dance music explosion happened. TD's "dancable" tracks like "optical race" are a bit corny, their specialty is the long other-wordly psychedelic ambient tracks.

It all depends how seriously you want to explore their work: I agree that the late works don't merit too much attention, but from what I remember of that output (it's been many years), Lily is one of the "best of the rest". As for the film scores, again, if you really want to explore TD, that's a major part of their output, though I was never impressed there. Their truly best stuff, imo, was the mid-70's works you mentioned (Phaedra, Rubycon, Ricochet, etc.). A slightly later release I enjoyed was 1981's Exit--less ambient, more hard-driving, to be sure, but featuring some catchy tracks.

[Grazioso]

  Harry, money is not the issue now. I am just concerned because I think I am headed in Mark's direction.  Remember how he said that he had 300 unopened CDs and he was asking himself if he really needs all those CDs.  I am currently starting to feel the same way- but I still want more I can not explain what I am feeling.  My family and friends already think I have too much! I have stopped telling them about my acquisitions because of comments I have been hearing from them.

The problem is, if you let yourself fall into the trap of unbridled acquisition, it can only grow and pall. You'll find that your desires are unlimited, and you'll end up constantly chasing after what you don't have instead of enjoying what you do. You'll infect yourself with the false, negative feeling that what you have is not adequate and that supplementing it with "just one more" will magically make it all better. That mode of behavior and thinking can end up being dramatically unhealthy both spiritually and financially, and if it's not CD's, it'll be something else. There's excitement in the chase, to be sure, but the hunt is ultimately rather empty when all you're doing is seeking compact discs. 

The unpleasant thought that I might be in denial has crossed my mind several times but there is still so much music missing from my collection that I am not about to quit just yet!

Do you want to collect music or listen to it? Are you truly happier when you add a new CD to the existing stack on your shelf?

[marvinbrown]

The problem is, if you let yourself fall into the trap of unbridled acquisition, it can only grow and pall. You'll find that your desires are unlimited, and you'll end up constantly chasing after what you don't have instead of enjoying what you do. You'll infect yourself with the false, negative feeling that what you have is not adequate and that supplementing it with "just one more" will magically make it all better. That mode of behavior and thinking can end up being dramatically unhealthy both spiritually and financially, and if it's not CD's, it'll be something else. There's excitement in the chase, to be sure, but the hunt is ultimately rather empty when all you're doing is seeking compact discs. 

Do you want to collect music or listen to it? Are you truly happier when you add a new CD to the existing stack on your shelf?

  I totally see the logic behind your argument.  I guess during the past couple of months I have become  more interested in discovering new music I don't have than appreciating the music I do have.  The chase is very exciting....and hence I am in danger of falling into that pattern you described in your post above.  I do listen quite a bit to the music I do have but mostly to my favorites such as Wagner and Verdi and Bach and Beethoven and Mozart. Other composers do not get enough attention I am afraid.  I will admit that I have purchased CDs/DVDs recently, to which I have only listened to/watched once, and only once!  That's not good!  Not sure how the future will develop as  I have no desire whatsoever to stop purchasing CDs.

  marvin       

[Anne]

Marv,

You mentioned wanting Gluck's Orfeo; get the DVD with Janet Baker.  It is glorious!  The conductor makes it sound the best Gluck of any that I have.

You also mentioned early Verdi.  Again a DVD - this time from La Scalla.  Title is Atilla* and Sam Ramey is the bass.  It is so good the shivers go down the spine.  I have been on multiple BB's and this DVD always gets lots of praise.  Wendell will tell you the same thing.

*  I give up trying to remember the spelling of this word; it's either Attila or Atilla.

[marvinbrown]

Marv,

You mentioned wanting Gluck's Orfeo; get the DVD with Janet Baker.  It is glorious!  The conductor makes it sound the best Gluck of any that I have.

You also mentioned early Verdi.  Again a DVD - this time from La Scalla.  Title is Atilla* and Sam Ramey is the bass.  It is so good the shivers go down the spine.  I have been on multiple BB's and this DVD always gets lots of praise.  Wendell will tell you the same thing.

*  I give up trying to remember the spelling of this word; it's either Attila or Atilla.

  thanks anne  .

  marvin

[Don]

It's about 8 months since I started this thread, so I thought I'd get you up to date on how I'm doing with reduced acquistions.  Actually, doing fine.  I still get MusicWeb discs free; that's great.  Also, I have a friend in Moline who sends me a few discs each month.  Almost forgot - I now subscribe to the Naxos Library Service, and that's a godsend.  Lastly, I do buy about four discs per month - those are the ones I want badly.

Adding it all up, life is very good.  I have read the previous postings on this thread about buying obsessions, etc.  From my perspective, it's all a matter of finances.  As long as one doesn't harm the family's financial needs, I see no problem with quantity buying.  I just happened to reach the point where the quantity had to go down quickly and significantly.

[karlhenning]

. . . Adding it all up, life is very good.

Excellent, Don! Joyous listening to you!

[marvinbrown]

Marv,

You mentioned wanting Gluck's Orfeo; get the DVD with Janet Baker.  It is glorious!  The conductor makes it sound the best Gluck of any that I have.

You also mentioned early Verdi.  Again a DVD - this time from La Scalla.  Title is Atilla* and Sam Ramey is the bass.  It is so good the shivers go down the spine.  I have been on multiple BB's and this DVD always gets lots of praise.  Wendell will tell you the same thing.

*  I give up trying to remember the spelling of this word; it's either Attila or Atilla.

  Anne did a quick search on amazon.co.uk and found the Baker recording, however it is Region 1 only  , here in the UK we are region 2.....thankfully however I was able to find it at HMV  !

  marvin

[marvinbrown]

It's about 8 months since I started this thread, so I thought I'd get you up to date on how I'm doing with reduced acquistions.  Actually, doing fine.  I still get MusicWeb discs free; that's great.  Also, I have a friend in Moline who sends me a few discs each month.  Almost forgot - I now subscribe to the Naxos Library Service, and that's a godsend.  Lastly, I do buy about four discs per month - those are the ones I want badly.

Adding it all up, life is very good.  I have read the previous postings on this thread about buying obsessions, etc.  From my perspective, it's all a matter of finances.  As long as one doesn't harm the family's financial needs, I see no problem with quantity buying.  I just happened to reach the point where the quantity had to go down quickly and significantly.

  Glad to hear Don that you were able to keep your purchasing impulses "in check" so to speak.  I wish someday I could have your will power- but at the present time I'm in "shop 'till you drop" mode!

  marvin