Complex sentence: The LPs were expensively produced and retailed at a very high price but reviews of the time were divided between critics who found the stereo sound immensely vivid and others for whom it was over-modulated to the point of distortion.
Split into simpler sentences: The LPs were expensively produced and retailed at a very high price. Reviews were divided between critics who found stereo sound vivid and detractors who found it over-modulated to the point of distortion.