TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : ****Excellent ***Good **Fair *Poor : COMPACT DISCS

“Steal This Disc.” Various artists. Rykodisc. This sampler is a steal even if you don’t follow its scampish title advice (influenced, no doubt, by Abbie Hoffman’s “Steal This Book”). Probably the lowest-priced CD yet at $6.98, “Steal This Disc” contains 21 selections (72 minutes and 45 seconds) from this outstanding CD-only label’s high-quality albums. There’s some emphasis on country-folk (one of Rykodisc’s CDs is a 63-minute collection of Rounder Records artists called “Rounder Folk”) but also here are Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, George Thorogood, the Residents, John McLaughlin and Devo. The sound of the recordings (some digital, some analog) is generally very good. *** 1/2