Latest The Absolute Sound Super Disc List

[MylesBAstor]

[Bill Hart]

Man, I hadn't seen the so-called "HP List" in years. A few observations: some of the old warhorses (a lot, in fact) remain. But, there are substitutions, Chad re-do's of old RCA shaded dogs, a Speaker's Corner re-do of a Mercury (maybe more than one, I just looked quickly). Is that a decided view by the staff that the reissues sound better than the originals? (Sorry to open that can of squigglies).
I have many of the old greats from that list that I bought back in the day, e.g. Gerhardt's The Plague.
Interesting that The Band album that was chosen was a MoFi-- not sure I ever heard that- the original "brown" album cut by Ludwig on the lime green Capitol label was always impressive.
No one is ever going to agree on a list of anything. So, I'm not going to take pot-shots either. I've started listening to classical again recently, so I'm going to start pulling out what I have-
There is a style of modernist piano circa the early 20th Century that I like. I can't quite put my finger on it- some of it is Russian/Soviet, like Scriabin.

[Bill Hart]

In fairness, they call it the Super Disc List, right? Is there even any reference to HP? (I'm the one that called it the "HP List"). But it contains a lot of records that were on that list from the golden era of TAS when Harry reigned supreme.
Correction: the preamble notes the origins of the list with HP and their aim to expand upon that list. I think that's probably fair, though I seem to recall Myles saying that a lot of stuff got on there originally because of others- Sid Marks? Others, apart from HP?

[Rob]

you're correct i'm just being my usual facetious self

If someone says something like "it's on the "HP List" I know exactly what they're talking about.

[rockitman]

There are so many super disks.... in particular on the classical side that this list barely addresses.(only scratches the surface)

[JCOConnell]

I wonder if anyone has put together a complete collection of these discs, that would be pretty impressive.

[MylesBAstor]

Many have a great percentage of the original list. I probably had 99.9% of the discs on Harry's list. Think Larry might have had all of the list as well as a few others too.

Hell I remember the days of going to Princeton Records and customers came in with their latest copy of TAS with the newest list or photocopies of the list. Friends used carry a photocopy of the list in their Filofax because one never knew on their travels when or where you would find a new record store. Those were the days!

[astrotoy]

I have a complete collection of all the records that were ever on HP's lists, beginning with IIRC Issue 6 of TAS. The first few issues had recommended recordings which morphed into the Super Disc List. There were 600 different records on all the lists, including a couple that HP put out on the web which never appeared in the mag. There were some discs that appeared in different pressings. I have the great majority of the different variations, including Japanese versions of albums which HP listed, sometimes as the only listing and sometimes along with other pressings.

Since I have such a big general classical collection, I have a good number of the new albums listed by Valin in this list, though by no means all of them.

Close to 20 years ago I put together a pretty complete list of the TAS Superdiscs which Bruch Kinch printed in a couple of issues of his Primal Vinyl Exchange. People have written me over the years and told me they carried the list with them while record shopping. A couple have very generously given me spare copies of some of the rarest of the recordings on the list - one was the Penn State Glee Club Album, which I got from a Penn State Alum who contacted the Glee Club and was able to pick up a few copies (new) from them directly.

Larry

[Johnny Vinyl]

Once this list becomes a little more diversified and stops hanging on to titles that may sound great, but bores me to tears I'll take it seriously.

[Bill Hart]

Once this list becomes a little more diversified and stops hanging on to titles that may sound great, but bores me to tears I'll take it seriously.

John- to me, it's "take what you can from it, and leave the rest." No one list, by anyone, is going to satisfy; there are these lists of "greatest prog" records as an example, that I'll use as a resource, but I don't necessary like or want everything on such lists. I agree that the original HP List was more about sonics than music, at least to me. Ironically, I'm one of the few people that actually digs "The Look of Love."

[MylesBAstor]

John- to me, it's "take what you can from it, and leave the rest." No one list, by anyone, is going to satisfy; there are these lists of "greatest prog" records as an example, that I'll use as a resource, but I don't necessary like or want everything on such lists. I agree that the original HP List was more about sonics than music, at least to me. Ironically, I'm one of the few people that actually digs "The Look of Love."

Maybe for rock or jazz but not as much for classical music.

[Rust]

"Best of" lists are entertaining but of little practical use to me. As regards to the "Super Disc" list I probably own less than 5% of the recordings if that, and most of that not of the approved pressings/masterings/formats. The list that has appealed to me is the thus far has been the 500 list sporadically appearing in PF although at the rate of five albums a month I may not be around long enough to see the final 5 listed. Only 97 months to go.

[MylesBAstor]

There are a few things that really needed to be changed. Someone really needed to go back through HP's list because there are some LPs that simply don't belong there. For instance, the Don Shirley is horrible. The Antill Corroboree is highly overated. Moscow Sessions? Puhleeze. The Water Lily/Ali Akbar Khan sponsored by TAS. Not in a million years. I only keep it for the music. La Spagna? Meh.....Not anywhere the equal of the Harmonia Mundis. The Chandos Bach/Stokowski. Really? I keep putting these and some others on as my system improving hoping the LPs will improve but no dice. Another I don't get is the Decca Head Cage. There are seven other Decca Heads that are better.

Second, jazz, rock, classical are considered step sisters to classical music. There are maybe just as many great sounding jazz and rock LPs as classical. It's time the list gives them their due and lists them as jazz and rock rather as informal. I find that term insulting to this music.

In the end, one of the biggest take aways of the list for me was expanding my musical horizon.

[1morerecord2clean]

Thought I was the only one without a great opinion of La Spagna.

[dcc]

I guess that HP and TAS barely heard about Leonhardt, Harnoncourt, Kuijken, Bylsma, Bruggen, Ross and the likes as well as record labels like Astrée, Valois, Harmonia Mundi, DHM, Das Alte Werk, SEON, Erato, etc. Ancient music is underrepresented and some of the choices are questionable (Bach's keyboard concertos by Gould, the Gabrielli by Savall is frankly not a good recording). Likewise, chamber music which is a substantial part of the classical music production does not get its fair share.

[MylesBAstor]

I guess that HP and TAS barely heard about Leonhardt, Harnoncourt, Kuijken, Bylsma, Bruggen, Ross and the likes as well as record labels like Astrée, Valois, Harmonia Mundi, DHM, Das Alte Werk, SEON, Erato, etc. Ancient music is underrepresented and some of the choices are questionable (Bach's keyboard concertos by Gould, the Gabrielli by Savall is frankly not a good recording). Likewise, chamber music which is a substantial part of the classical music production does not get its fare share.

I'm not sure that is totally fair. There's only so much music one can listen to! Plus many of the European labels you bring up weren't really imported and distributed in the US then. Nor was it easy like today to get overseas albums. HM probably the most of companies you listed. That doesn't of course explain the current list. But that's why we have boards like AN where you, I and others discuss these obscure and poorly known labels.

Remember also it sound and music, though obviously not all top ranked performances sound the best. Actually Harmonia Mundi is represented on the list. We can maybe argue under represented but I think those on the list were in part the suggestions of one of the music writers Ed Mendelssohn. And a few other early and baroque period recordings.

[dcc]

I'm not sure that is totally fair. There's only so much music one can listen to! Plus many of the European labels you bring up weren't really imported and distributed in the US then. Nor was it easy like today to get overseas albums. HM probably the most of companies you listed. That doesn't of course explain the current list. But that's why we have boards like AN where you, I and others discuss these obscure and poorly known labels.

Remember also it sound and music, though obviously not all top ranked performances sound the best. Actually Harmonia Mundi is represented on the list. We can maybe argue under represented but I think those on the list were in part the suggestions of one of the music writers Ed Mendelssohn. And a few other early and baroque period recordings.

I would expect that such list covers seminal works spanning the whole timeline. To name a few that are missing: Monterverdi's Orfeo, Scarlatti' Sonatas, Corelli's Concertos or Trio Sonatas, Handel's Messiah, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and The Well Tempered Keyboard. How come that Haydn who is the founding father of the classical form of simphony and string quartets is totally ignored? It could be argued that Mozart is underrepresented compared to Beethoven and Malher. Chopin is also missing.

Don't get me wrong. Lists are valuable for discovering music and they are helpful for striking the right balance between sound and interpretation. TAS lists should just be taken with a grain of salt.

[jazdoc]

There's tons of great, well recorded music out there. Unfortunately, the high end press tends to have a rather limited musical palate. Just this decade:

2010
Great Jazz Trio - Hank Jones' Last Recording
Tom Jones - Praise & Blame
Los Lobos - Tin Can Trust
Menomena - Mines
Mimicking Birds
Trentmoller - Into The Great Wide Open

2011
Danger Mouse & Daniel Luppi - Rome
Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Head & The Heart

2012
Amadou & Mariam - Folia
Black Prairie - A Tear in the Eye is a Hole in the Heart
Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
Dave Douglas - Be Still
Vijay Iyer - Accelerando
Jamey Johnson - Living for a Song
Shearwater - Animal Joy
Geoffrey Williams - Yes Is The Answer

2013
Katatonia - Dethroned & Uncrowned
Mark Lanegan - Imitations
Los Lobos - Disconnected in New York
Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer, Different Park
Omaha Diner
Rhye - Woman
Wolf People - Fain

2014
Leonard Cohen - Popular Problems
Seu Jorge - The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions
Stanton Moore - Conversations
Opeth - Pale Communion
Spoon - They Want My Soul

2015
Balthazar - Thin Walls
Eilen Jewell - Sundown Over Ghost Town
Rudresh Mahanthappa - Bird Calls

2016
The Bad Plus - It's Hard
Blood Orange - Freetown Sound
CloZee - Revolution
Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
Brad Mehldau - Blues and Ballads

[Steve Lefkowicz]

I'll be checking a lot of these out on Tidal tonight. Several I already have in one form or another.

[jazdoc]

All on vinyl

Thank you for checking!

[Rob]

I would expect that such list covers seminal works spanning the whole timeline. To name a few that are missing: Monterverdi's Orfeo, Scarlatti' Sonatas, Corelli's Concertos or Trio Sonatas, Handel's Messiah, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and The Well Tempered Keyboard. How come that Haydn who is the founding father of the classical form of simphony and string quartets is totally ignored? It could be argued that Mozart is underrepresented compared to Beethoven and Malher. Chopin is also missing.

Don't get me wrong. Lists are valuable for discovering music and they are helpful for striking the right balance between sound and interpretation. TAS lists should just be taken with a grain of salt.

IIRC, HP has stated he wasn't a huge fan of early classical music, he much preferred large scale works from the romantic period (esp Slavic and Russian composers). As far back as I can remember "HPs list" has been controversial with collectors and vinyl dealers alike, most would tell you there were many other recorded performances of far more importance than the coveted RCAs, Mercs and others on HPs list.

[mkuller]

Wait a minute - Ry Cooder's 'Bop Till You Drop" made the list? How did that happen?

[Rob]

earliest of early digital to boot.