This album consists of a rethinking, circa 1996 or so, of the original Bach readings on "Switched on Bach"  (1).  I was a kid when I found that and two other recordings from the 60s in a bin at K-Mart.  They pretty much changed my life, or at least the musical direction of my life.  I was and still am a big fan of those recordings.  Fairly recently, WC also took the old masters from those original recordings and completely scrubbed them and they sound sparkling and fresh and good as new.  Not this one, sadly.  This strange, ponderous album duplicates the tracks on the first SO-B, and in addition to revising them entirely, she supposedly updates them using new technology.  I'm sorry but I'll stick with the old technology.  As I was listening to this, I kept checking to see if my speakers were plugged in properly.  Alas, they were.  This album sounds like when one ear of your headphones isn't working.  And this seems to be by design.  It's nearly unendurable and I only gave it the second star because, she's earned it elsewhere.  But it's simply astounding that she would have jumped the shark here so thoroughly.  If you are interested, I would highly recommend the box set of the remasters of SO-B 1 & 2; The Well Tempered Synthesizer, and the Switched on Brandenburgs, which are hopefully hyperlinked here:&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Switched-On-Boxed-Set/dp/B00002DDS5/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Switched-On Boxed Set</a>
This album consists of a rethinking, circa 1996 or so, of the original Bach readings on "Switched on Bach"  (1). I was a kid when I found that and two other recordings from the 60s in a bin at K-Mart. They pretty much changed my life, or at least the musical direction of my life. I was and still am a big fan of those recordings. Fairly recently, WC also took the old masters from those original recordings and completely scrubbed them and they sound sparkling and fresh and good as new. Not this one, sadly. This strange, ponderous album duplicates the tracks on the first SO-B, and in addition to revising them entirely, she supposedly updates them using new technology. I'm sorry but I'll stick with the old technology. As I was listening to this, I kept checking to see if my speakers were plugged in properly. Alas, they were. This album sounds like when one ear of your headphones isn't working. And this seems to be by design. It's nearly unendurable and I only gave it the second star because, she's earned it elsewhere. But it's simply astounding that she would have jumped the shark here so thoroughly. If you are interested, I would highly recommend the box set of the remasters of SO-B 1 & 2; The Well Tempered Synthesizer, and the Switched on Brandenburgs, which are hopefully hyperlinked here:&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Switched-On-Boxed-Set/dp/B00002DDS5/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt? ie=UTF8">Switched-On Boxed Set</a>