Score

Stopped by the local Goodwill and picked up some great records in even greater shape for a mere $.99 each.  Included is some classic eighties stuff, the most interesting being the classic "Worlds Apart" by Saga.  Those of you who remember the first few years of MTV (before it sucked, and it DOES suck huge now, my three year-old niece could crush any argument to the contrary with ease, so stop watching it) might recall 'On the Loose" which was a big video hit from that album.  Even more interestingly, Rupert Hine produced the record- is he the guy of the "Pina Colada" song fame?  Is there someone in Centereach who knows the answer to that?  Anyway, I also got "Songs from the Wood" by Jethro Tull and the Emerson, Lake and Powell album- a group typically known as Emerson, Lake and Palmer.  Palmer is Carl Palmer, who might be seen now as the drummer for Asia (The Asia Bluray is GREAT I highly recommend it.  They do a killer version of King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King." John Wetton can really sing- imagine if he had replaced Peter Gabriel after he left Genesis. and Steve Hackett had stayed on as well- no "Invisible Touch" album)  This particular EL-P record has a version of Gustav Holst's "Mars: The Bringer of War" on it that is pretty neat.  I'll have to devote an entire post to ELP because I'm a great fan and should at some point discuss the DVD-Audio version of Brain Salad Surgery, an album that makes a very strong case for hi-res surround.  Listened for a few hours tonight, and the setup is really coming together.  I have a fairly cheap turntable and cartridge, the Rega P1 with glass platter and Ortofon 2M Red, but the phono stage of my Sony TA-F444ES integrated amp has been recently re-done (it's a 1984 vintage amp) and is really coming into its own.  The beauty of vinyl (and you shouldn't believe all the ridiculous hype that certain members of the audio press are putting out about it being better than quality digital sources) is that some of its inherent limitations and distortion actually flatter the terrible recordings of classic rock discs.  Combine vinyl with a good tube amp and even the shrillest crap can have a pleasing mellow quality, especially if you're an old coot who can't hear the upper registers anyway.  Now I'm getting close to ripping on some of the mainstream audio press, so I better stop here before something happens and I disappear in the night. . .