The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

This is the second time that the words have been drowned out by sound effects and music. If you want to add music and effects do so at half the volume of the narrator. I wasted my time and money since I obviously wanted to hear the words in an "audio book" NOTE: "BOOK" IS THE OPERATIVE WORD!

It's just so sad but the background sound effects overpower the voices. Seagulls and ocean waves are nice but I really wanted to hear Richard Burton, ya know?

This is w/out question the poorest possible recording ever made. I concur 110% w/the other reviewers. The words are completely undecipherable because of the sound effects. Mr. Burton's voice and accent add charm but it sounds like it was made inside a Cambell soup can. There is no amount of treble/bass adjustment you can possible make to negate this production. By all means, save your money, look elsewhere, perhaps in the public domain. I personally think Audible.com should remove this item. It is worthless and not in keeping with their standards. If it was possible to give it a negative number, I would.

Aweful! The music drowns out the narrator (who is actually good) and the special effects are so bad that the listener is too distracted and annoyed to follow the poem. And, the narrator is speaking in old English but the music is New Age with drums, piano, etc. At times the sound is upbeat when the story is telling about death! What?! Absolute disrespect for the poem; the producer and sound mixer were not considerate of the poem. Plus, it has too many breaks, long stretches of music without any narration, weird dramatic echoes of repeated phrases, and terrible selections of music. This company doesn't deserve my money, because in my opinion they ruin a great piece of poetry.

The narrator and the poem are good.

Nothing. He did a good job. It was the production that was bad, with the music and special effects.

Cut out the music, special effects, and long breaks! Then I would buy this book again.

Please produce this poem differently.

Why on earth this narration has been vandalized by overlaying it with electronic Muzak is a great mystery, but it is clear that it has been senselessly ruined.

The whole poem is memorable.

No narrator could overcome the terrible production

Of course not a word.

What a shame.

The majesty of Burton's voice and acting is drowned out by a strange selection of "music."

this is one of my favorite stories and the narrator was good but why was there music in it? It seriously ruined it for me

Richard Burton's voice is perfect for the Mariner. Lyrical and horrific at once.

The weight of the consiquences of the Mariners actions are clearly agonizing. Burton draws out each painful regret.