TOD
North by Northwest: Wow, what a history. I just looked to see which CD I have, and unfortunately it's just the Rhino. I did buy that first "digital LP" the moment I saw it at Tower Records. Memory tells me this was in 1982, maybe 1983. I was so thrilled to discover the record, but what a bizarre listening experience it was. I believe I played it through once and put it away. I took it out some time later and gave it another try, and put it away again. The listening experience was actually exhausting! Like BK said, the sound is so distant - UNTIL you get to something loud, and then it threatens to blow your speakers out. Is such a dynamic range "realistic"? Maybe on somebody's meter, but not in the way we perceive music in reproduction. So it's probably been close to 30 years since I listened to it, and I'll have to take it out again sometime when the mood strikes. No promises on how soon that will be.
Psycho: I discovered the London Phase 4 recording of the Herrmann/Hitchcock thrillers just before moving from Cleveland to L.A., and I played that LP to death in the first year or more that I had it. As I was later to find with Herrmann's re-recordings of soundtracks, the tempo in nearly every selection was on the slow side, but to have the music issuing through my speakers was nevertheless thrilling. A few years later, something interesting and fun happened: One night I had a dream that I was in a record store and there was the soundtrack to Psycho! The next day, which must have been a weekend when I normally did this, I was in Westwood and going into Vogue Records for a leisurely browse. And what did I find there, but Herrmann's newly-released complete re-recording of the score? Was I still dreaming? The black-and-white with red accent cover art was even reminiscent of the dream. I of course bought it and rushed home to hear it. Tempos still slow, but how incredibly wonderful to have every cue (or nearly so) from the film. I'm not making up that story. I always say I'm not psychic in the least, but I think I've had that dream thing happen on another occasion or two as well.