Not as good as orchestral and synthesizer versions
If this is your first exposure to the Planets, you may think that Holst has written some nice music, but you probably won't realize what a masterpiece the Planets is. One thing that makes it such a masterpiece is its effective use of tone colors. To do it justice, it should be played by an orchestra or on a synthesizer. To listen to it with only one tone color is like watching [url=http://www.asciimation.co.nz/]an ASCII animation of Star Wars[/url] instead of the real thing, or at least like watching it on a small black and white TV set. If you already love the Planets, you might want to get this CD for the occasional break from orchestral or synthesizer versions. But if you're new to the Planets, don't start with this album. Begin with an orchestral version, or, as I did, with Tomita's synthesizer version. As a side note, I didn't download the last track. I substituted Jeno Jando playing [url=http://www.emusic.com/album/10871/10871678.html]Pictures at an Exhibition[/url] on the piano.
