I hesitate to recommend a bimonthly magazine that sets me back about $300 an issue. No, the American Record Guide doesn’t cost $300 (it’s actually a reasonable $7.99 per issue) but as I read the 500 or so classical CD reviews, I find a dozen or more that I just NEED to own. Art Scott recommended ARG to me about 15 years ago and I’ve read every issue since. The reviewers vary in their tastes, but I’ve found a few whose tastes coincide with mine. In addition to the classical CD reviews, there are occasional “Overview” articles that review the best recordings of a composer or a genre. The current September/October 2009 issue has an article on Mahler recordings. ARG has little advertising so most of the expenses are paid by subscriptions or sales of individual copies of the zine. If you’re interested in classical music, I highly recommend American Record Guide. There may be glitzier magazines, but ARG gives you honest, straight-forward reviews. It’s been my selection tool of choice for buying classical recordings.