Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

Not trying to hijack, but some of you might appreciate this, while we're on the subject of the Talking Heads.

There was a Boston area band called The Fools that did a wacky satire on Psycho Killer, called Psycho Chicken. Here is the clean version:



David Byrne was supposedly not amused by it.

 

Larks' Tongues in Aspic


Studio album by
King Crimson
Released 23 March 1973
Recorded January – February 1973
Studio Command Studios, Piccadilly, Westminster, London, England
Genre Progressive rock
Length 46:36
Label Island (UK)
Atlantic (US and Canada)
Producer King Crimson

Larks' Tongues in Aspic is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock group King Crimson, released on 23 March 1973 through Island Records in the UK and Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. This album is the debut of King Crimson's fifth incarnation, featuring original member and guitarist Robert Fripp and new members John Wetton (vocals, bass), David Cross (violin, Mellotron), Jamie Muir (percussion), and Bill Bruford (drums). It is also a key album in the band's evolution, drawing on Eastern European classical music and European free improvisation as central influences.

• Robert Fripp – electric and acoustic guitars, Mellotron, Hohner pianet, devices
• John Wetton – bass, vocals, piano on "Exiles"
• Bill Bruford – drums, timbales, cowbell, wood block
• David Cross – violin, viola, Mellotron, Hohner pianet, flute on "Exiles"[20]
• Jamie Muir – percussion, drums, "allsorts" (assorted found items and sundry instruments)

Additional personnel

• Richard Palmer-James – lyrics
• Nick Ryan – engineering
• Tantra Designs – cover design

1. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One" David Cross, Robert Fripp, John Wetton, Bill Bruford, Jamie Muir 13:36
2. "Book of Saturday" Fripp, Wetton, Richard Palmer-James 2:53
3. "Exiles" Cross, Fripp, Palmer-James 7:40
4. "Easy Money" Fripp, Wetton, Palmer-James 7:54
5. "The Talking Drum" Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bruford, Muir 7:26
6. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part Two" Fripp 7:07
----------------------------------------------------------------
So far we have done In The Court Of The Crimson King, Islands, Red, Beat, Thrak and The Power To Believe. To me they are all excellent albums and excellent mixes, and this series is probably the high watermark of quality, content and cost, in some kind of attempt to balance it all out over the broad picture.

Lark's Tongues is an interesting one, because it is one of the last King Crimson sets I got. I had Islands and In The Court back in my record days, and I had heard bits and pieces of others via a mate of mine who had all their seventies stuff..... for some reason this album .... I don't know, it kind of intimidated me. I am not really an avant garde type person, and for some reason I had it in my head that this was going to be a terribly difficult album to connect with.
I am far from a Crimson expert, and I tentatively bought some of the Crimson 5.1 albums, and held off on others, and slowly ended up getting them all. Some albums took longer to slot into place than others, and some just instantly clicked with me.
Much to my surprise this album just instantly clicked with me, and I am not familiar enough to get too carried away with the statement, but in some respects this album was my favourite of all their albums, but I need to take into account the apprehension.... and sometimes that ends up working in favour of the amount you like something.
So at the very least I will say this is a really solid album that I enjoyed so much more than I expected to. At the very most, this may be my favourite, or at least one of my favourite albums in the catalog.

Discogs has
the Japanese dvd-audio for about $40 King Crimson - Larks' Tongues In Aspic
the uk/europe copy from about $11 King Crimson - Larks' Tongues In Aspic
the Us copy from about $16 King Crimson - Larks' Tongues In Aspic
A 2016 Japanese copy for $117 King Crimson - Larks' Tongues In Aspic
There is also the Lark's Tongue complete recordings set with 13 cd's a dvd and a bluray from $97 King Crimson - Larks' Tongues In Aspic (The Complete Recordings)
Amazon has 20 new copies left for $21 https://www.amazon.com/Larks-Tongue...aspic+dvd+audio&qid=1600615397&s=music&sr=1-1
The big box in stock Sept 28 for $119 https://www.amazon.com/Larks-Tongue...aspic+dvd+audio&qid=1600615450&s=music&sr=1-2
Burning Shed has the big box in stock for 89 pounds Larks' Tongues In Aspic - 40th Anniversary Edition
The Schizoid Shop has the dvd-a for $25 King Crimson - Larks' Tongues In Aspic - 40th Anniversary Editions (CD/DVD-A)

5.1 Mix Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp
Mastered by Simon Heyworth and Robert Fripp, assisted by Andy Miles

Lark's tongues In Aspic pt1
Marimba? come in either side. With a synth sound left rear, and another sound joins that.
This is a really nice intro, and it works beautifully in surround, immersive and balanced.
The left rear has a somewhat white sound thing going on as the marimba fade out, and a pulsing synth comes in up front, that slowly circles to the left and back.
Fripp has an intense guitar in the right side towards rear.
Then the power kicks in.
We have staccato string sound from the left side to the ftont.
The wall of rock is across the front, and a lead guitar swims in the rear.
Then a guitar moves across the front to the right.
We move into a percussive section with a couple of single note guitars either side, percussion all round.
The drums and percussion get a lot of space in the surround field.
Fripp's rhythmic assaults are across the back while the wah bass sots up front.
The sound is really very clear and good, and the dynamics are excellent.
We move to a passive section with the violin, mainly up front, slightly left.
We move to a solo violin front left, and then percussion and sfx come in the rears.
This track is a journey, and works remarkably well.
We get the violins around us. One front one either side, and percussion in the rear.
A pulse comes in up front, and the dynamics are remarkable.
People talking up front
Staccato violin front, melody violin left rear.
Then we gently burst into a melancholic almost folk section that swells all around us, and disappears into bell-like sounds either side.

Book Of Saturday
Guitar left of ftont left.
Vocal front.
Reverse guitar between centre and left rear.
Violin in the rear.
We move I'll into another verse and have the original guitar left of front left.
Reverse guitar left rear, violin right rear.
Then there is reverse guitar right rear.
These are quite involved mixes, with a lot of subtly moving elements really adding to the texture.

Exiles
Swells of sound all around us.
Various sfx come from different spots, and there is an intensity building.
Percussion left side.
Then an acoustic strum in the rears takes us into a mellow beautiful track.
Guitars in rears.
Mellotron right rear.
Drums just forward of front and centre, but with good spread and cymbals rolling into the sides.
A violin plays right rear.
A guitar left side towards rear.
Mellotron comes back in the right rear.
This has many layers, and again the dynamics are excellent, and the mix is going on all around us and certainly immersive, and for me it works really well.
A piano comes in across the front.
Strings in the sides.
This is in some ways a very unusual album, but it is really very aurally inviting and draws you in via the music and dynamics.... and the music is like shifting sands.
Fripp plays a very cool lead up front.
Drums on left side then we move into an all encompassing crescendo, which leads to the ending.
Excellent.

Easy Money
Percussive elements all round .
Grungy guitar right rear.
Keys left rear.
Clean guitar and vocal up front.
Percussion left rear.
Sfx on rears.
Cymbals all around.
Such an interesting mix.
Guitar right rear.
Mellotron across the middle and sfx going on all about the place.
A groove comes in with guitar right side, mellotron either side rears. Percussion all round.
Again an unusual but captivating mix.
A sound effect swirls across over the arpeggiated guitar right side.
Bvox come in all round.
This is a very cool track.
Laughter in the rears

Talking Drum
The wind found swells around us.
Synth-like doppler fly sfx come in, rears.
Percussion comes in up front, then seem to fade slightly, the wind returns.
Then we get what found like a distant cello, but is likely guitar.
A violin comes in left side, and right side.
It plays on an eastern sounding theme.
Again a lot of dynamic as the power rises with violin left side and guitar just right of ftont right.
Then the drums kick in, and a solid wah type bass up front.
What was virtually an ambient piece is seemingly, suddenly a wholly immersive fusion type track, and again the dynamics in this are a big part of its appeal.
Again nicely immersive, and the dynamic swell ends with instrument screams in the rear.

Lark's Tongues In Aspic pt2
We open with a cool disjointed groove.
Drums front.
Guitar right side
Violin left side.
Then we get a more mellow section.
Violins either side.
We have this oddball blues beat, with a duet of part classical part fusion thing going on over it.
Then we move back onto the disjointed groove, that is broken up by walking riffs, and then back into the somewhat dream-like section
Again the immersion and balance are very good.
We get sfx in either side rears, and it is really very effective
A breakdown with gtr up front, snare right rear and violin left rear with sends all round.
This is an involved and involving mix.
We get a big crescendo like a wind up finish encompassing us. Then we slide to a finish tone with a surrounding effect in the front and both rears and then a voice ends the album... I think he says "can I get one more..." but it is all just too much to take in while trying to describe.

I personally think all the Crimson sets are essential. even if someone likes a specific period of the band ... generally there are the early and mid seventies people, the eighties people and the later, sort of heavy rock people ... I think if you enjoyed any particular period of the band, that the surround mixes can open doors into the different eras of the band, that in someways stereo can't.
This is of course an unusual album, but as I discovered the first time I heard it, that doesn't always mean in an antisocial, standoffish way. this is quite an inviting album for all its unusual aspects.
The blends of styles, the exceptional use of dynamics. The wandering musical landscapes. they all blend together beautifully and give you the sense of a musical journey.
It is almost impossible to listen to this properly while trying to translate what I am hearing, and I wouldn't put much store in what I wrote up there, because there are just too many movements in the soundscape. There are times when particular areas of the field have the main section, but then we get something very different come in and it changes up on you.
I find the mix to be balanced, dynamic, and almost always immersive ... like I say there are these transitional periods on the album, but even in some of the spots where there isn't a mass of instruments in the back, we have these cool percussion, or effects tracks working in and around the soundfield.

I reckon this is very worth getting. I am not sure that it had the impact musically that it did the first listen, but that isn't unusual when you first hear something so different and there is a relieved apprehension that embraces the music more tightly ...

Anyway I am not sure if any of that makes sense, but essentially this is really good.

 

The Fools was one of those “coulda beens” bands. Very good musicians, a terrific frontman and great humor. All of their gigs were a happy party.

 

The Mavericks, Trampoline

Beautifully performed and recorded sophisticated country style music anchored by incredible Raul Malo vocals.
It was recorded 1998 and MCA Nashville put out a version in “DTS Entertainment 5.1“ . (My guess is early 2000’s, no date I could find on the disc)

Just picked this up, brand new, from Amazon $29.00

Pristine and detailed sound quality, wide open, top shelf, high end Nashville sound. This is demo quality to show off surround to a modern country fan.

That said, if you are looking for a warm, organic country sound, you won’t find it here. This is slick, slick, slick sounding stuff, and that’s a compliment, but might be a touch sterile for some ears.

That said, this is a record that takes great advantage of what surround offers so fans of the format really should have this example of what could have been.

 

Mirage


Studio album by
Fleetwood Mac
Released 18 June 1982
Recorded November 1981–March 1982
Studio Le Château in Hérouville, France,
Larrabee Sound Studios and the Record Plant
(both in Los Angeles, California)
mixed at
George Massenburg Labs
in West Los Angeles, California
Genre Pop soft rock
Length 42:52
Language English
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut, Ken Caillat

Mirage is the 13th studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 18 June 1982. This studio effort's soft rock sound stood in stark contrast to its more experimental predecessor, 1979's Tusk. Mirage yielded several hit singles: "Hold Me" (which peaked at #4 on the US Billboard Pop Chart, remaining there for seven weeks), "Gypsy" (#12 US Pop Chart), "Love in Store" (#22 US Pop Chart), "Oh Diane" (which reached #9 in the UK), and "Can't Go Back" (issued on 7" and 12" in the UK).

• Lindsey Buckingham – guitar, vocals, additional keyboards, lap harp on "Empire State"[11]
• Stevie Nicks – vocals
• Christine McVie – keyboards, vocals
• John McVie – bass guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion

Additional musician

• Ray Lindsey – additional guitar on "Straight Back"

Production

• Produced by: Richard Dashut, Ken Caillat, and Fleetwood Mac
• Engineered by: Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat
• Assistant Engineers: David Bianco, Carla Frederick

1 Love In Store Music By, Lyrics By – Christine McVie, Jim Recor 3:17
2 Can't Go Back Music By, Lyrics By – Lindsey Buckingham 2:46
3 That's Alright Music By, Lyrics By – Stevie Nicks 3:12
4 Book Of Love Music By, Lyrics By – Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut 4:02
5 Gypsy Music By, Lyrics By – Stevie Nicks 5:03
6 Only Over You Music By, Lyrics By – Christine McVie 4:23
7 Empire State Music By, Lyrics By – Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut 3:03
8 Straight Back Guitar [Additional] – Ray Lindsey Music By, Lyrics By – Stevie Nicks 4:11
9 Hold Me Music By, Lyrics By – Christine McVie, Robbie Patton 3:46
10 Oh Diane Music By, Lyrics By – Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut 2:59
11 Eyes Of The World Music By, Lyrics By – Lindsey Buckingham 4:12
12 Wish You Were Here Lyrics By – Colin Allen Music By – Christine McVie 4:52
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So far we have done Fleetwood Mac 1975 and Rumours.
We have Tusk, and Say You Will to go, and don't be put off by Say You Will being later it is an excellent album.

Today though we have Mirage.
Fleetwood Mac aren't my favourite band, but they have a fantastic catalog of music going back to the beginning of the blues era in the sixties, through the Bob Welch and Christine McVie driven middle period, and then to what some consider the classic line up, and some consider the pop line up that brought Buckingham and Nicks into the fray, when Welch moved on to a solo career.
I personally like all the eras, but I can't lie, it was the Fleetwood Mac and Rumours albums that made me aware of the band and later Albatross and Oh Well led me to the earlier incarnations of the band.
For me, my interest kind of dies at Mirage. Tango In The Night was very good, but it didn't really interest me, and then there is the Say You Will anomaly of just an excellent album, seemingly out of nowhere, after I lost interest in them.

Fleetwood Mac and Rumours are absolutely classic albums, and Tusk is somewhat divisive as people are all over the field about it. I personally like Tusk, and look forward to a chance to revisit it soon.
Mirage had two very big singles on the album in Gypsy and Hold Me, but somewhere along the line Love In Store became one of my favourites.
I have listened to this album a few times, but it is probably one the the Mac albums I am least instantly familiar with. I know I like the album, but it is one of those albums whereby I don't remember most of the songs until I am listening to them.

I am looking forward to giving it a listen today, because it has been a long time, and I think I have only heard this a couple of times in the four years I have had it.
I was somewhat annoyed with Fleetwood Mac for doing the box sets.... and even more annoyed when a lot of the audio tracks were just dolby digital ... They had lined up Tusk to be a dvd audio, but when stinky Warner brothers pulled the format, the disc never got released. I think if you are going to put out a new format and the public in good faith are going to buy the equipment to play it, you should put out all the .... software , I guess, that you can in order to give those that supported your idea plenty of variety ... anyway, I'm heading down a rabbit trail ...

I think this is just dolby digital, but I'll correct that when we get the disc in the player if I'm wrong.

In the box you get the original album/remaster on the first cd. 20 outtakes and jams on the second disc. The 13 track Live at the Forum in 82 on the third cd. The dvd with the surround track and the 96/24 stereo track. Also the record.

Discogs have one copy of the box for $119 Fleetwood Mac - Mirage
Amazon has one copy left for about $99, and a couple s/hand from $85 https://www.amazon.com/Mirage-Deluxe-3CD-1LP-1DVD/dp/B01FCQJC14

So this one is pretty thin on the ground at the moment.

5,1 mix Ken Caillat and Marc Daniel Nelson
Mastered by Craig Anderson

Dts 5.1!

Love In Store
Drums and organ up front.
Gtr left rear. Another guitar left rear.
Percussion rears.
Cymbal swells rears.
Lead guitar front.
Another guitar right side.
Nice dynamics, certainly seems to breathe well.
Extra fast strum acoustics in the rear.

Nicely immersive and balanced. One guitar seemed slightly hot, but not distractingly so.

Can't Go Back
Percussion rears. Drums front.
Tuned percussion front.
Bvox in the sides.
Acoustic guitars across rears
Melody instrument left front, tuned percussion front right.
Really nice mix, very immersive and balanced, and it kind of pulls you onto the song.

That's Alright
Guitar right side towards rears.
Guitar left side towards rears.
Organ just to the right.
We have a subtle sub on the kick.
Another organ left side.
This is almost a country tune, with 80's pop clothes.
Really good mix.

Book Of Love
Drums left side. Organ right side. Mandolin right rear.
Acoustic guitar left side.
Slight unusual mix,but certainly not bad, and certainly immersive...
Kind of sounds like there are two kits, there is one up front too.
Bvox rears.

Gypsy
This came out when I was about 13 or 14 ... and I think Stevie could have done anything, and I would have liked it.
This us a great song though, and seemed like a huge hot from where I was.
The vocals are across the front, and in the centre. The snare is in the centre.
Keyboard and ghostly backing vocal left side towards rear.
Shaker left rear.
Bvox left side also.
There are various little guitar parts, and they work really well.
Mandolin riff left side.
Lead outro, mixes well, front, and both sides.
Great song, really nice balanced, immersive mix

Only Over you
This comes in thick with Christine's vocal up front. Synths and guitars in the sides towards the rears.
Acoustics come in in the rears.
It seems slightly louder than the other songs.
Cymbals in the rears.
Very immersive, very dense.
Bvox in a 180 arc sides and front.

Empire State
Drums up front.
Mandolin? rears. Either side, very effective.
Bvox rears.
This is a pulsing track, that works really well.
Nice lead guitar up front.
Excellent mix

Straight Back
Guitar left side keys right side, and across the back.
Percussion rears. Hats left side.
Bvox rears.
Lead guitar right side, slides slowly across to the left.
Excellent mix

Hold Me
Piano opens us up left of front left.
Solid bass up front.
Christine left front Lyndsey front right.
Walking melody line guitar right side.
Another piano right of front right.
Muted guitar clock, front right.
Lead guitar front... then there are an outbreak of guitars around us. Really nice layered production.
Excellent mix.

Oh Dianne
Old rock and roll type turnaround.
Guitar rears, and either side.
Bvox rears.
Nice solid bass up front with sub assist.
Again some really nice layers here, and they are used to fill the surround area well.
Another nice mix

Eyes Of The World
Vocalising in various spots, front and right rear, with muted arpeggio guitar.
Then the song comes in.
Percussive guitar right side.
Bvox rears.
Acoustic guitars either side rears.
Again the bass sounds nice.
Again the beautiful production and layering just makes this sound really nice.
We get a vocal either side singing rhythmic arpeggios.
Then we move to gtr front two acoustics in rears, and a dynamic build into a lead break.
Excellent mix.

Wish You Were Here
Piano across front.
Gtr left rear.
Nice drum sound.
Bvox all round.
Another keyboard right rear.

Cool Water
Acoustic gtrs and vocals all round.
This is very cowboy-tune-like.
It is very cool and again, very good.

Firstly, this is a very good album. The band, just like they did on Tusk, experiment a little. In a recent thread someone was saying that Tusk is hardly Beefheart, so why say it is experimental, and that's a fair call, but I think to some degree, Fleetwood Mac stayed within the realm of the pop/rock world, but just tried quirky little things that a lot of mainstream bands generally wouldn't.... so no, they aren't avant garde, but yes, they do step outside the box a little and keep it interesting.
The mix here is very good, and the Dts surround track is better than a dolby digital one would generally be.
I can't see that anyone would be disappointed in this at all. Top quality production and mixing with good songs ... pretty much what one looks for in an album....
Sadly as with many releases these days, the question to ask is do you want a box. Is the mix worth getting for you.

The live cd from 1982 tracklist
CD3-1 The Chain 6:58
CD3-2 Gypsy 4:33
CD3-3 Love In Store 3:14
CD3-4 Not That Funny 9:01
CD3-5 You Make Loving Fun 3:41
CD3-6 I'm So Afraid 6:22
CD3-7 Blue Letter 4:38
CD3-8 Rhiannon 7:07
CD3-9 Tusk 5:34
CD3-10 Eyes Of The World 3:46
CD3-11 Go Your Own Way 6:51
CD3-12 Sisters Of The Moon 8:03
CD3-13 Songbird 3:34

There are other things worth having in here, and currently being able to get it for around a hundred bucks, seems to be par for the course for the surround buyer.
Whether I will ever play any of the records in my Fleetwood Mac sets, I just don't know, and do I think I would have preferred the option to just get the surround album on sacd on its own, well, yes really.
The whole Super Deluxe Edition box set thing is really very cool, but frankly it is starting to get to be a pain in my ass, because I buy all these boxes and listen to the surround disc, and I want the surround disc, but I am left with no option but to buy the box ... I guess this is the dilemma of a now streaming world ... we do everything online so that our every action, whether googling something to cook, giving research data to the facebook people, or now, even what kinds of music we are listening to at any given moment are being collated and documented for advertising companies and any other interested party to target us directly .... anyway I am getting rabbit trailed there ...

This is a very good album, with a very good mix, and what is actually a very good box.....

 

I'm a little worse for wear today, so I'm going to leave it there. apologies if I waffled too much.

Again I am going to put some choices up, on the grounds that if I ever get my Quadio box, it will be first cab off the rank the following Sunday

 

Obviously choose whatever you like, but for a change of scene slightly, I am going to put some very good surround music collections up this week. They are videos, but essentially I have them as very good surround sound compilations.

Paul McCartney - The McCartney Years

 

The Tea Party - Illuminations

 

Queen - Greatest video Hits

 

Police - Every Breath You Take the videos

 

John Lennon- Lennon Legend

 

Peter Gabriel - Play the videos

 

The Beatles - Love

 

Another Side Of Bob Dylan

 

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Tender Prey

 

Opeth - Sorcerous

 

Reference to the albums

Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic
Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare
Alan Parsons Project - Tales Of Mystery and Imagination
Alan Parsons Project - Eye In The Sky
Alan Parsons Project - Ammonia Avenue
Alison Krauss and Union Station - New Favourite
Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South
Allman Brothers Band - Live At Fillmore East
Allman Brother Band - Eat a Peach thanks @Galactus2
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here thanks @riskylogic
Anathema - Weather Systems thanks @riskylogic
Anathema - Distant Satellites thanks @riskylogic
Anderson, Ian - Homo Erraticus
Anderson, Ian - TAAB 2
Argent - In Deep thanks @riskylogic
Ayreon - The Source thanks @riskylogic

Band - Music From Big Pink ... I did this twice ... must occasionally sleep lol
Barclay James Harvest - GoneTo Earth
Bass Communion - Loss thanks @riskylogic
Beach Boys - Sunflower
Beach Boys - Surf's Up
The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album)
The Beatles - Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Be Bop Deluxe - Futurama
Be Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish
Beck, Jeff (group) - Rough and Ready
Beck, Jeff (Group) - Orange
Beck, Jeff - Blow By Blow
Beck, Jeff - Wired
Beethoven - 3rd Symphony Eroica
Beethoven - 5th Concerto (Emporer) - Barenboim/Rubenstein
Birdsong At Morning - A Slight Departure thanks @risky logic
Bjork - Vespertine
Bjork - Medulla
Blackfield - IV thanks @riskylogic
Blackfield - V thanks @riskylogic
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Blood Sweat and Tears - Blood Sweat And Tears
Blood Sweat and Tears - Mirror Image/New City thanks @riskylogic
Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties
Blue Oyster Cult - Agents Of Fortune
Bowie, David - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
Bowie, David - Young Americans
Bowie, David - Station To Station
Bowie, David - Stage
Browne, Jackson - Running On Empty
Bruce- Jack - Shadows In The Air thanks @riskylogic
Bruford - Feels Good To Me thanks @riskylogic
Buddy Miles Express - Booger Bear thanks @riskylogic

Caravan - In The Land Of Grey And Pink thanks @riskylogic
Charles, Ray - Ray Sings, Basie Swings
Church - Forget Yourself
Clapton, Eric - Give Me Strength The 74/75 Recordings
Clapton, Eric - Slowhand
Clapton, Eric - Reptile
Clapton, Eric - Back Home
Cobham, Billy - Spectrum
Cobham, Billy - Spectrum (Quad) thanks @-dave--wave-
Coltrane, Alice/Santana, Carlos - Illuminations
Crosby, David - If Only I Could Remember My Name
Crowded House

Davis, Miles - Sketches Of Spain
Davis, Miles - In A Silent Way
Davis, Miles - Bitches Brew
Davis, Miles - Live Evil
Davis, Miles - Tutu
Deep Purple - Machine Head
Deep Purple - Stormbringer
Dekker, Desmond - Anthology thanks @riskylogic
Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward
Depeche Mode - Black Celebration
Depeche Mode - Violator
Depeche Mode - Delta Machine
Derek and the Dominos - Layla and other assorted love songs
Derringer, Rick - All American Boy and Spring Fever thanks @riskylogic
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
Donovan - Fairytale
Doobie Brothers - The Captain And Me
Doors - Strange Days
Doors - Waiting For The Sun
Doors - The Soft Parade
Doors - LA Woman
Doors - Best Of thanks @riskylogic
Drake, Nick - A Treasury
Dream Theater - Distance Over Time
Dubliners - Definitive Transatlantic Collection
Dukes Of Stratosphear - Psurroundabout Ride
Dylan, Bob - Blonde On Blonde
Dylan, Bob - Slow Train Coming

Eagles - Hotel California
ELO - debut album
Emerson Lake And Palmer - Tarkus
Emerson Lake And Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery

Fagen, Donald - The Nightfly
Fahl, Mary - From The Dark Side Of The Moon thanks @riskylogic
Ferry, Bryan - Boys and Girls
Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac (1975)
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Fleetwood Mac - Mirage
Foreigner - Foreigner
Foundations - Very Best Of
Franklin, Aretha - best of

Gabriel, Peter - Up
Gallagher, Rory - Big Guns (Best Of)
Gaye, Marvin - Lets Get It On
Genesis - Overview of all thanks @MikeF63
Genesis - Foxtrot
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Genesis - And Then There Were Three
Genesis - Duke
Gentle Giant - Three Piece Suite
Gentle Giant - The Power and The Glory
Gentle Giant - Interview
Gilmour, Dave - On An Island
Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead
Guns And Roses - Appetite For Destruction

Hackett, Steve - Voyage Of The Acolyte thanks @riskylogic
Hackett, Steve - Broken Skies, Outspread Wings thanks @riskylogic
Hackett, Steve - At The Edge Of Light
Hancock, Herbie - Sextant
Hendrix, Jimi - Electric Ladyland

Inxs - Kick
Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death

Jeff Beck Group - Rough And Ready
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick
Jethro Tull - A Passion Play/ Chateau d'Herouville
Jethro Tull - Minstrel In The Gallery
Jethro Tull - Too Old To Rock and Roll ...
Jethro Tull - Heavy Horses
Jethro Tull - Stormwatch
Jethro Tull - TAAB 2 thanks @riskylogic
Joel, Billy - The Stranger
Joel, Billy - 52nd Street
John, Elton - Elton John
John, Elton - Madman Across The Water
John , Elton - Honky Chateau
John, Elton - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Johnson, Eric - Ah Via Musicom

Kansas - The Absence Of Presence thanks @riskylogic
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - The Traveller
King, Carole - Tapestry
King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King 40th and 50th
King Crimson Islands
King Crimson - Lark's Tongues In Aspic
King Crimson - Red
King Crimson - Beat
King Crimson - Thrak
King Crimson - The Power To Believe
Knopfler, Mark - Sailing To Philadelphia
Knopfler, Mark - Shangri La
Kooper, Al (with Bloomfield and Stills) Super Sessions
Kraftwork - 3d catalog - Autobahn
Kraftwerk - 3d Catalog - Man Machine

Led Zeppelin - Song Remains The Same
Lennon, John - Imagine, Ultimate Edition
Living Colour - Collideoscope
Love And Rockets - Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven thanks @riskylogic
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Southern Surroundings

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire
Manheim Steamroller - Fresh Aire 8 thanks @riskylogic
Marillion - Script For A Jester's Tear
Marillion - Misplaced Childhood
Marillion - Brave
Marillion - Afraid Of Sunlight
Marley, Bob - Legend
Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell
Monk, Thelonius - Supreme Jazz
Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed
Moody Blues - In Search Of The Lost Chord
Moody Blues - A Question Of Balance
Moody Blues - Seventh Sojourn
Morrison, Van - Moondance
Mussorgsky, Modeste - Carlo Ponti - Pictures At An Exhibition+
Motorhead - Ace Of Spades
Mozart - 40th Symphony
Mozart - Rene Jacobs - Le Nozze Di Figaro (The Marriage Of Figaro)

 

Nektar - Journey To The Centre of The Eye Thanks @riskylogic
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues/Lyre Of Orpheus
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
No Man - Schoolyard Ghosts Thanks @riskylogic
No Man - Together We're Stranger Thanks @riskylogic
Numan, Gary - Anthology

Oldfield, Mike - Ommadawn
Oldfield, Mike - Five Miles Out
Oldfield, Mike - Crises thanks @Sordel 's overview
Oldfield, Mike - Return To Ommadawn thanks @riskylogic
Opeth - Deliverance / Damnation thanks @riskylogic
Opeth - Pale Communion
Opeth - In Cauda Venenum

Pat Metheny Group - Imaginary Day
Pineapple Thief - Dissolution
Pineapple Thief - Your Wilderness and 8 Years Later
Pineapple Thief - Versions Of The Truth
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
Pink Floyd - Endless River
Pixies - Doolittle thanks @Galactus2
Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream
Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (deluxe version 1) - Update on fixed copy
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing thanks @riskylogic
Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet
Presley, Elvis - 30 #1 hits
Pure Prairie League - Two Lane Highway/If The Shoe Fits thanks @riskylogic

Queen - A Night At The Opera
Queen - The Game
Queensryche - Tribe thanks @riskylogic

REM - Green
REM - Automatic For The People
REM - Monster
REM - Around The Sun thanks @riskylogic
Renaissance - Turn Of The Cards thanks @riskylogic
Return to Forever - Musicmagic thanks @riskylogic
Rich, Charlie Behind Closed Doors
Riverside - Love, Fear And The Time Machine thanks @riskylogic
Riverside - Wasteland
Rolling Stones - Goat's Head Soup
Roxy Music - Roxy Music
Roxy Music - Avalon
Rundgren, Todd - Liars - Thanks @riskylogic
Rush - Fly By Night
Rush - 2112
Rush - A Farewell To Kings (Wilson version)
Rush - Hemispheres
Rush - Moving Pictures
Rush - Signals
Rush - Snakes And Arrows

Santana - Abraxas
Santana, Carlos - Miles, Buddy - Live thanks @riskylogic
Santana - Lotus
Shankar & Gingger - One In A Million thanks @riskylogic
Simple Minds - Sparkle In The Rain
Sly And The Family Stone - Greatest Hits
Soord, Bruce - All This Will Be Yours
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Squire, Chris - Fish Out Of Water
Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle
Storm Corrosion (Wilson and Åkerfeldt) thanks @riskylogic

Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food
Talking Heads - Fear Of Music
Talking Heads - Remain In Light
Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
Talking Heads - Little Creatures
Talking Heads - Naked
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Tangerine Dream - Ricochet
Taylor, James - JT
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker - Neeme Jarvi
Tears For Fears - Songs From The Big Chair
Temple Of The Dog - Temple Of The Dog
Tesseract - Polaris thanks @riskylogic
Thomas, Michael Tilson - Orff, Beethoven, Gershwin - Carmina Burana, An American In Paris, Rhapsody In Blue + more
Thompson, Richard - Rumour And Sigh
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Damn The Torpedoes
Tomita - Firebird
Toto - IV
Townsend, Devin - Empath
Townshend, Pete/Lane, Ronnie - Rough Mix
T Rex - Electric Warrior

Uk - Night After Night
Uriah Heep - Gold From The Byron Era
Uriah Heep - Best Of vol II

Velvet Underground - Re-Loaded

Wakeman, Rick - Six Wives Of Henry The Eighth
Waters, Roger - Amused to Death
Wayne, Jeff - War Of The Worlds
Weather Report - Tale Spinnin'
Who - Tommy
Who - Quadrophenia
Wilson, Steven - The Raven That Refused To Sing
Wilson, Steven - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
Wilson, Steven - 4 1/2
Wilson, Steven - To The Bone
Wings - Band On The Run
Wings - Venus And Mars
Wishbone Ash - Bare Bones thanks @riskylogic

XTC - Drums And Wires
XTC - The Black Sea
XTC - Oranges and Lemons

Yes - The Yes Album
Yes - Close To The Edge
Yes - Tale Of Topographic Oceans
Yes - Relayer
Young, Neil - Harvest
Young, Neil - Greendale thanks @riskylogic

Zappa - Quaudiophiliac

 

The 1975 self-titled album is the only one that solely offered Dolby Digital for the 5.1 mix - I'm guessing the reason for this is that they had already authored a DVD-A/V way back in the mid-2000s, and chose to only use the DVD-V portion for the disc in the box set (since WEA no longer supports DVD-A). Many if not most of Warner's DVD-As from the early-to-mid 2000s didn't include a DTS audio option on the standard DVD layer. Why spend the time/money to author a new disc when you already have one sitting around? They did the same thing with the recent box sets of STP's Core and Hootie & The Blowfish's Cracked Rear View - just grab the standard DVD layer of the old DVD-A/V and re-use it.

Tusk probably never made it to the DVD-A authoring stage years ago, so they had to create a new disc from scratch for the box and chose to use DTS 96/24 for the 5.1 mix (as with the Jethro Tull sets) instead of Dolby Digital.

For me, the bigger issue with the self-titled, Tusk, and Rumours 5.1's is the relative lack of dynamic range, at least when compared to the original stereo mixes. They don't sound 'bad' to me by any means, but why are the quieter songs so loud? I feel like there should be a greater difference in volume between songs like "Beautiful Child" and "Think About Me". Still, I'm glad to have these 5.1 mixes out rather than languishing in the vaults. The Mirage 5.1 was done specifically for the box (rather than being an old shelved mix from the DVD-A era), so it's not quite as crushed.

 

I did this one on the video thread already:

Gabriel, Peter – Play / Video Collection

It does have an excellent surround mix.

 

That's cool

 

I doubt Byrne was at all bothered by this. He has a good sense of humor. I can't see him being bothered one way or the other.

 

Thanks to all you guys who bit the bullet on Goats Head Soup. Thats a big chunk of change for a mediocre surround mix. Think I’ll take a pass unless these start showing up for way under $100.

 

Some great albums to choose from this week. I have chosen for :

Paul McCartney - The McCartney Years
Queen - Greatest video Hits
Police - Every Breath You Take the videos
John Lennon- Lennon Legend
Peter Gabriel - Play the videos
The Beatles - Love

 

If they do a Greatest Album Top Trumps, I want to draw Hand. Cannot. Erase. because it should have maximum stats for just about everything. It's high in my top five for the decade it came out, and it follows that it is also in my top ten for the century it came out. And it's the only SW album in that list. (You guys know by now that I like SW, right?) Listening to this album is always an event and I invariably listen to it all the way through.

“First Regret” begins with the sound of rain, children playing, and then that big mounting noise cut off by the song that I'd compare to the start of Dark Side Of The Moon. A synth ping-pongs while a heavily modulated piano plays off to the centre left; a second piano comes briefly in rear left. Loads of bottom end and electronic noises including treated sounds of children play. A keyboard string pad announces the transition to “Three Years Older”, then the guitar riffs & rhythm instrumental section set off into what feels to me like a counterpart (not musically but in terms of function) to the Tommy overture. After two and half minutes we get some very Pink Floydesque instrumental touches before SW's naked vocals accompanied intermittently by a small vocal group. The bass sound great. The refrain bursts into the upbeat section again on the word “you”: this is a great section, with fine guitar work. A vaguely “Hornsbyesque” piano feature goves rise to another very Pink Floyd vocal section. Just shy of minute seven we get a piano arpeggio and acoustic guitars ... very detailed, and note the bass again. Then, suddenly, we get a Hammond solo which is ferociously Prog into a wah-wah pedal guitar solo that pans around at the end. Electronic percussion and then Marco's back on drums. An actual bass solo in the tenth minute and a still ending to the song. Whew! That's a busy opening to the album and a real statement of intent.

“Hand. Cannot. Erase.” begins with a chiming electric guitar and electronic percussion. I love this song: it's the best argument for SW to continue working in a vaguely Pop direction. (Count it out though ... I think that the song intersperses 9/4 bars (subdivided 6/3) into a 4/4 (subdivided 5/3) time signature to really throw off a popular audience) When the drums crash in it's like we're in a Coldplay song, but the circling chord on the electric guitar keeps it special. Over too soon.

“Perfect Life” was the first thing we heard from the album. It made a bad impression with its electronic textures, spoken word and metronomic percussion but - heard in the context of the album as a whole - it works well enough: in fact it sounds a little bit like a band namechecked in the spoken section ... This Mortal Coil.

Buckle up for “Routine”: the first of the album's anguished songs and one whose narrative caused understandable confusion when the album came out because only makes sense if you read the text in the superdeluxe edition. We begin with grand piano and hushed vocals for about a minute before a synth pad comes in and then we get electronic piano, the piano playing a music-box theme, and Ninet's vocals. Second verse fills out the textures, and then we get the boy chorister who opens up an acoustic guitar & synth section that is beautifully balanced, with held flute notes. Guthrie gets the opportunity to try out some Gilmouresque lead guitar. The full band crashes in before the end of the fifth minute, setting up the climax of the song with Ninet full-throated and curtained in huge reverb up until her cri de coeur. After that, the rest of the song is really an outro ... its gentleness does little to mitigate the operatic emotions of the foregoing.

“Home Invasion” has a rather Progressive Metal intro before the vintage keys and Marco in full flight for a Jazz Rock section that recalls “Luminol” from The Raven The Refused To Sing. When it comes, the song (with again a very Pink Floyd feel in the chorus) is a lowpoint for the album and acts almost as a spacer for the more heavyweight material. SW's critique of the internet here is as trite as all his other attacks on materialist culture (yes, I'm looking at you, “Personal Shopper”). Fortunately, “Regret #9” (which is essentially a new section of the same song) is a step in the right direction with its Prog keyboard solo given real space to soar. The guitar solo is busy but very much a part of the overall texture. Children play again, and we have soft piano notes and what sounds like a dobro or banjo.

“Transience” starts with a guitar arpeggio that reminds me of Roy Harper's “Frozen Moment” but the guitar in the verse is just great, doubling Wilson's vocals. The chorus gives us some much-needed lightness but the song is over before you know it.

Uh-oh, things got dark again with “Ancestral”, surely the centrepiece of the album. Deep electronic percussion troubles the subwoofer (Portishead springs to mind) and Wilson's sinister vocals are set at a distance before Theo's flute gets some much-needed exposure. Strings have considerable impact during an instrumental break and when the “Come Child” section hits it hits enormously hard, setting up Guthrie for a fine guitar solo in an enormous, quasi-orchestral soundscape. Ninet vocalises in the far distance then we get two of her singing in separate registers before we hit the instrumental section that begins with what always appear to me to imply knocking at the door. More music box music, this time on what sounds like a celesta synth tone and then some Proggier riffage while Marco goes all “Animal” on us. Just into the tenth minute we get some spacier improvised work between Adam and Theo. It's a shame that this song doesn't have more vocals but it's difficult to argue with the instrumental work.

“Happy Returns” is the emotional climax of the album, given great force by the pathos of the true story that inspired the album. There is the sound of rain again and a glitchy synth tone that resolves itself into the ping-ponging sound that opened the album. Piano right, acoustic guitar left, SW vocalises distantly. When the singing starts it's a fine vocal from Wilson. (One of the reasons that I don't listen to this album very often is that I find it so depressing, despite the fact that there are hints of a happy ending here.) The soaring strings and choir make a real difference to the song, and the rather sunny end to the song (kicked off by that “Hey” from one of the musicians) rounds off what might otherwise have been a crushingly desolate album. “Ascendent Here” is the album's quasi-ambient postlude.

With its obvious debt to Pink Floyd, this album has “classic” written across it in a larger font than these forums provide: that's both a plus and, arguably, a minus since SW stands on the shoulders of giants here. But this is a 10/10 album and one worth obsessing about if you're that sort of listener.