Holst: The Planets

Being captivated by John Williams's Original Soundtrack for Star Wars, made me wonder how he brought those magical sounds to life. The Planets gives you the base pretty much of some of the present day Galactic music scores. Each planet has its theme. Hearing this CD places you in correspondence with the solar system. Why fly away on a plane somewhere, when you can kick back on your recliner and listen to this Masterpiece guide you into space.

I purchased this product for a gift. The person that I gave it to loved it. They said that they use it to go to sleep. They are really happy with the product.

For the price, this is actually a very good, dynamic rendition of The Planets. The production quality of the actual media may be iffy, though - when I went to rip it for MP3 the quick way, the brand-new CD introduced many, many gaps. It ended up taking EAC 5 hours on secure mode to finally make a rip without errors.

Good recording by the London Symphony here, under Geoffry Simon. I don't care for the "creative" variations on The Planets that I've heard, and this one seems to hold pretty true to what I consider the "real thing". (which I admit is subjective since I was born half a century after it's original performance)

There is a very large range between the soft and loud passages, which makes it difficult to listen to in noisy environments, but it's all the more emotionally moving that way when heard on a real stereo or when I've got good headphones on.

Nothing particularly sectacular, but a solid performance. If you're not looking for any one CD in particular, this is a good one to have.