*sigh*

OK, I'll jump on it, but gingerly...

My personal "worst folk albums" are usually some of the cheaper compilations you'll find in the discount bins at the music stores.

For me, it's not so much the song selection, but the nearly deceptive marketing. I picked up what looked to be a GREAT compilation entitled "All the Best from the London Pub". Having had decent luck with the series before (some of their Irish discs are really good. OK, ONE of them...), I bought it after lightly perusing the title list.

Unfortunately, I missed the very very small "as performed by the 101 strings orchestra" on the back...

Same thing with a 3-CD "American Folk" collection, but that one there was no warning. Out of the three, two are decent - one is a solo piano musical rendition, the other is also instrumental but with banjo, base and acoustic guitar added to the piano.

The third though... Nice thought, but it's one guy with a moderately skilled voice, playing over some REALLY overly peppy arrangements on what I think is an old Casio electronic keyboard.

However, it's all part of what I call "folk roulette" - you spin the disc, and occasionally it comes out good and you find something worth a lot more than you paid. But, as with the real roulette, most of the times the odds are on the bad side of ugly against you... At least they were cheap.

M