Hidden Audiophile Classics


Just about every audiophile has a few "hidden" classics - you know those great sounding recordings that never seem to appear on any super disc or recommended recordings list published in the high end audio press. Well there's no need for them to remain a secret - so how about sharing some of them with your fellow 'philes out here. My first contribution to the this thread is Lyle Lovett's "Step Inside This House" a great sounding 2 CD set from back in 1998 which while well reviewed, never recieved any praises for it's truly excellent sound. A studio recording of Lovett and his "small" band covering other songwriters tunes, the recording sounds like it was done "live" in the studio. The playing is tight and the personel remains fairly constant throughout - which is always a good sign. What are some of your "hidden" gems??
ralphp_nj
here are several, tho i don't know whether they are "classics" to you. they are to me: (1) the roches, "the roches"; (2) harry nilsson, "nilsson sings newman" (30th anniversary ed.); (3) the bobs, "the bobs cover the songs of..."; (4) "the unaccompanied voice: an acapella compilation" (secretly canadian); (5) "e-town live" vols. 1&2 (www.etown.org); (6) stephen stills, "stills alone"; (7) hugh masekela, "hope"; (8) the persuasions, "frankly acapella"; (9) daniel lanois, "arcadie"; (10) david starobin, "newdance". i could go on but i'll leave it to others.
Classical music lovers will be stunned by the sound of the London "Rossini 8 Overtures" with C. Dutoit and the Montreal Symp.---Also Reference recordings early "Walton Facade suite" with the Chicago Pro Musica ensemble RR16CD, and finally for rock fans The Manhattan Transfers' Tonin'-Great music sound and guest soloists like BB King, Frankie Vali, bette Midler, and Phil Collins make this an great listen.
The 4 Seasons;on Bis (#275) Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble.Their Motzart 525 ain't bad either.