Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

I've spun this title Roughly one bazillion times since it was first released. I also had a Pioneer quad receiver, feeding four full-range floorstanders. I'm familiar with SQ limitations compared to CD4.

Wellllll... Truth be known, these songs (or something much like them, were originally written by Alex Ligertwood (future Santana singer) who was intended to front this new JBG. Details are fuzzy, but Beck's manager (seemingly from the school of Peter Grant) didn't like AL for the group, and squeezed him out. Not sure of the timing, but the songs remained; however, they were altered enough (lyrics?) to rationalize moving credits to Beck. Sucks for AL, but Tench is a better singer.

? I've got the Japan SACD, and assumed the surround was a transfer of the original 4.0 mixes; the booklet credits list Japanese engineers. I assumed this mostly because the surround mix so faithfully recreated what I had on LP. (Yes I know, decades ago, but a bazillion spins.) There is certainly center channel activity. Doesn't matter, as it gets the job done in glorious fashion.

What's considerably more impressive is the stereo layer. This is far and away The Best 2-ch version of Rough And Ready. Nothing else is close, and I've owned more than a couple. Now this memory is definitely fuzzy, but I seem to remember the SQ stereo playback being richer than the regular US LP which I also had.

Again, doesn't matter. Sonically, this SACD gets my highest recommendation.

And it does artistically as well. When it first showed up, I was stunned at how different – and good – it was compared to what I might have expected. The secret ingredient was Max Middleton. Page definitely upstaged JBG with Led Zeppelin, but rather than get butthurt about it, Beck just shrugged and set out to do Other Stuff. It was at that point that I realized Beck's attribute: virtuosic explorer. Zep is/was huge and they deserved their run, but Beck's catalog is a wonderland of creativity.

Singers are overrated.

 

I don't think I know them at all but I do need to try out a DV title at some point. I've always considered Eagles to be rock that bordered on country at times. Is Pure Prairie League more country that borders on rock?

 

its country rock...if u like the Eagles DV also has a Poco disc u may like

 

I’d put them somewhere between the Eagles and Union Station - they work in that range.

 

The DV Poco disc is great. And deffo errs on the rock side of country rock - some great riffs in there. The quad mix is top notch.

 

Gentle Giant - The Power and the Glory

Hot damn! Steven Wilson does prog in 5.1 like no other. A virtually perfect mix.

 

The mix is great, and I reckon the video is a neat bonus

 

Ordered, with the other Tomita and a Bartok and a Shostakovich.

 

Forget Yourself

Studio album by
The Church
Released 27 October 2003
Recorded Spacejunk Studios, Australia
Genre Alternative rock, neo-psychedelia, psychedelic rock, dream pop
Length 67:45
96:51 (U.S.)
Label Cooking Vinyl, spinART
Producer Tim Powles, The Church and Nic Hard

Forget Yourself is the fifteenth album by the Australian alternative rock band The Church, released in October 2003.[1] It was recorded at drummer Tim Powles' Spacejunk studios in Australia and features many straight-to-tape recordings with few overdubs.

Around the time of Parallel Universe's (late 2002) release, the Church returned to the studio to record another album, eventually entitled Forget Yourself. Rather than fleshing the songs out over a long, gradual process, the band decided to keep the music as close to the original jam-based material as possible. Stylistically, this made for a much rawer sound, primarily recorded live and with minimal overdubs. As had become routine since Sometime Anywhere (May 1994), songs saw numerous instrument changes between members, with Powles playing guitar on "Sealine" and Willson-Piper switching to drums on "Maya."

John D. Luersson at AllMusic described the album as "a timeless, magical disc that is easily as strong as anything from their 1980s peak", adding that "the real brilliance peeks through on lush numbers like 'Telepath,' 'Maya,' and 'June,' all boasting the ethereal moments that made early discs like Remote Luxury and Heyday fan favorites."[2] The album peaked in the top 50 on Billboard component chart, Top Independent Albums.[2]

• Steve Kilbey – lead vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, guitar
• Peter Koppes – guitars, keyboards, bass guitar, backing vocals
• Tim Powles – drums, percussion, backing vocals, guitar
• Marty Willson-Piper – guitars, bass guitar, backing vocals, drums

1 Sealine 5:06
2 Song In Space 5:24
3 The Theatre And It´s Double 4:34
4 Telepath 4:56
5 See Your LightsVocals – Marty Willson-Piper 4:14
6 Lay Low 4:13
7 Maya 3:45
8 Appalatia Vocals – Peter Koppes 4:09
9 June Written-By – Trumpmanis 4:05
10 Don´t You Fall 3:10
11 I Kept Everything 4:01
12 Nothing Seeker 4:22
13 Reversa 4:41
14 Summer 7:02

DVD-Video Song In Space
---------------------------------------
The Church seemed to become known on the international scene around 1988. Their song Under The Milky Way seemed to touch a chord in folks, and it was in the Donnie Darko movie.... and for some reason the modern world seems to discover music in movies and tv shows .... I have discovered a couple of bands through movies and tv, and it's fine doing that, but to some degree the extent of that these days blows my mind.... folks used to buy albums and discover bands, but anyway I digress.

In Australia The Church hit the charts in 1981 off their first album Of Skins And Heart, with their first big single The Unguarded Moment (I'm going to link any songs I mention because this is a great band, and folks really should give them a try). This was followed by the album The Blurred Crusade, and the hit single Almost With You.

Steve Kilbey and Peter Koppes had met in a glam band in the mid seventies, and then ran into each other again in 1980, where they decided to put a three piece band together called "The Church Of Man". The name was shortened to The Church, and in mid to late 1980 Marty Wilson-Piper originally from Liverpool, England saw one of the band's gigs and met Kilbey backstage and soon after joined the band, and the classic two guitar line up that stayed together all through up until very recently was formed.

The Unguarded Moment went to number 22 on the Australian charts and shortly after the band recorded the ep Too Fast For You, with Richard Ploog their new drummer forming the first solid line up the band had. The debut album went gold, and that is no mean feat. I Australia it was actually very hard to get attention, because radio stations tended to play international artists over Australian artists, and it was only in the mid to late eighties where the Australian music industry took pride in Australian artists, and even then it was limited to the big names. Thankfully shows like Countdown and radio stations like Double J, which morph into JJJ used to give a certain amount of exposure to Australian music and the scene thrived.

The band were very influenced by sixties Psychedelia and the second album Blurred Crusade was produced and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. The album went into the top ten and the single hit 21 on the charts ... it seems like it did better at the time, because there really was a buzz about this band at the time.
The band took off on a tour of Australia and the album was released in Europe, getting enough sales for them to tour Europe in October 1982. Unfortunately Capitol refused to release the album in the US, because they stated that it didn't have enough radio friendly tracks on it..... which I find laughable. The label suggested that the and take a leaf out of The Little River Band's book, and make more radio friendly music, which I also find laughable. I like the Little River Band, I have all their albums, but The Church were a completely different band, and I find it comical that someone would believe that their music wasn't radio friendly..... anyway.

With their third album Seance the band had Nick Launay on production and the band were unhappy with his production and demanded he remix the album and get rid of the gated reverb on the drums, the album was remixed, but the band were still not completely happy with the result. The Single Electric Lash was released. The band was having all sorts of problems with record companies releasing material, but like most Aussie bands, they pigheadedly stuck to their guns, we're like that. Although the album didn't do as well as the two prior the band was starting to get some critical acclaim and was doing well on alternative radio and charts and such.

82-84 saw three ep's released - Sing Songs, remote Luxury and Persia. Maybe These Boys was a minor radio hit were I come from, but essentially the band were developing and growing. They were fighting the system and trying to follow their muse, or whatever we want to call it, and this would in many ways pay dividends, with the band growing, developing and changing, and surviving up until the present day.

In 1985 the Heyday was released (1986 in the US) and the band got some good press from it, Rolling Stone saying that it was a more electrified version of Love's Forever Changes. Kilbey was often seen as the bands weak point by the critics, suggesting that his voice wasn't good enough and that the band would do better with another vocalist. In reality Kilbey just sang at a lower pitch than the more popular singers. Anyhow, having abstained from drugs and taking up yoga and all sorts of changes in his life Kilbey's voice on this album bloomed, and the warmth and range of his singing increased a lot. The single Tantalized did quite well for the band and many see this album as a sort of resurgence, but really the band had been making excellent music all along, they just weren't really too bothered about being trendy and hip, just making the music that they wanted to.

There is a fantastic compilation, called Hindsight 1980-1987, that is still available, and is a great overview of this early period.

Sadly Heyday didn't sell as many units as it should have done, and EMI dropped the band.
They moved to L.A. for a short time to record another album, and try and resurrect their career. With Waddy Watchel and Greg Ladanyi, and according to Kilbey: "It was Australian hippies versus West Coast guys who know the way they like to do things. We were a bit more undisciplined than they would have liked"
The stress of living in the US influenced their recording, and left Kilbey feeling out of place: "The Church came to L.A. and really reacted against the place because none of us liked it. I hated where I was living. I hated driving this horrible little red car around on the wrong side of the road. I hate that there's no one walking on the streets and I missed my home. All the billboards, conversations I'd overhear, TV shows, everything that was happening to us was going into the music". Album tracks such as "North, South, East and West," "Lost," "Reptile", and "Destination" bore the imprint of the faces, scenery, and daily life of the group's new, temporary home.
The album was Starfish and it contained the song which broke the band on the world stage via the song Under The Milky Way. Reptile is also a great song off the album

Starfish was the bands first top fifty US album, and they toured quite heavily to promote it, and it paid dividends.
The band started arranging with John Paul Jones, of Led Zeppelin fame to produce their next album, but yet again the record company stepped in and vetoed this, making the band return to Waddy Watchel, to try and repeat the success.... I sometimes think record companies just don't understand music at all.... anyway.
The resultant album was Gold Afternoon Fix .... This album was even more uncomfortable for the band and returning to what had been an awkward mismatch in the first place caused even more tension. The Drummer Ploog, in light of all the tension disappeared into addiction and couldn't reach the mark for recording the drums, and his tracks were replaced by programmed drums on all but three tracks.
One of the things the band was famous for, was their atmospheric soundscapes and were Starfish had been a more live-ish sounding album Gold afternoon Fix fitted more with their natural way of doing things, and reached 12 on the Australian album charts. This was helped a lot by the hit Metropolis.

The band were quite disappointed in the Gold Afternoon Fix album, although they still play songs from this album, they felt the album was just kind of jammed together, and it further shows that a band need to be allowed to follow the direction they have in mind, and not some preconceived record company directive and guidelines.... This is shown out beautifully by the next album Priest = Aura.
Under less pressure to be commercially successful the band returned to Sydney.... their were some drug issues, but that can sit to the side for now ... Jay Dee Daugherty stepped in on the drums (from Patti Smith's band) and gave the band a bit more of a jazzy drum feel.
Gavin Mackillop came in on production, and the album has a lush layered feel, and really is more in following the band's natural feel and progression.
The album actually didn't do very well at the time, but has since been generally referred to as the band's masterwork .....

This is kind of where I lost track of the band. In the nineties I was following my own muse and failing to break into the music industry lol.... It was great fun, and I had a blast making music, and have dozens and dozens of albums made in various ways that nobody but a few friends and family have heard, but that's cool, I loved it, and wouldn't change it for the world.

Anyway that is a brief rundown on the history of the band up to 1992. As I completely lost touch with them I just ordered most of the albums made after this, because I really do think they are a great band worthy of having in the collection.

That brings us to today's surround album. There had been several line up changes over the years between Priest =Aura and Forget Yourself, but now the core band members of Kilbey, Koppes and Wilson-Piper were together and they decided to make a more raw sounding album, with minimal overdubs ... and this is it.

I have no idea what to expect from this, because I have never heard anything off it, but when I saw an Aussie band had a 5.1 album, and it was the Church, I had to get it.

So lets see what we have here.

This is available on Amazon from about $27 https://www.amazon.com/Forget-Yourself-Church/dp/B00095MKNG
One copy on ebay for about $28 The Church Forget Yourself dualdisc | eBay

So it is kind of difficult to get hold of ....

5.1 Mix Chris Haynes
5.1 Mastering Adrian Van Velson

This is a dualdisc, and I had to get a second hand copy .... as is sometimes the case the description of very good ... isn't altogether true, so I am hoping this plays well, and all the way through .... We'll see what happens.

Sealine
We open with a sound swell that raps around us, and very effectively. So firstly, this is discrete channels, not on of silverlines mono, mastered into 5 channels.
There is nothing seeming to come from the centre speaker.
We have guitars either side.
Vocals up front.
The sound is pretty good, a little lacking in bottom end, but certainly satisfactory.
Certainly immersive, and good but not great sound.

Song In Space
Cymbals in the rears.
Guitar effects in the rears.
Interesting vocal delay effect goes to the rears.
Pulsing guitar on the right towards the rears.
This is atmospheric in its approach. We have a fairly typical kind if church guitar driven music, with Wilson-Piper's effects Maiden guitars, setting up the atmosphere. A completely different style to, but similarly as the Edge in classic U2.
Bvox in rears.
Effects guitar left rear.
Immersive and effective.

The Theatre and its Double
Acoustic guitar up front, and swirling effect guitar rolling around the rears.
It is really quite effective.
Very effective and immersive.
A change of feel
Vocals in the middle of the room.
Guitar sort of moving around the channels, unless it is just the effects.
This has a kind of beautiful psychedelic effect, and the mix really works quite well.
We have two distinctly different sections to the song, that alternate.
Then we come to an instrumental break that is slightly different again.
Really quite effective, and on first listen excellent.

Telepath
We open with a very Beach Boys type vocal harmony.
Guitar left side.
Guitar right rear.
Guitar front left.
Again a nice kind of psychedelic mix.
Certainly discrete, and for me at least, very enjoyable. I really like the bands sound I always have, and it is effective here.
Most Church albums would suit surround

See Your Lights
Guitar swell right rear, slides across the back.
Two counterpoint arpeggio guitars, one left rear, one front.
Riff slides across to right rear.
Vocal effects create an immersive vocal effect front and rears.
Effect guitar right rear.
Guitar left rear.
More swirling kind of psychedelic effects.
I think only the Church really sound like the Church.
I am really enjoying this.
This mix is good and interesting. Certainly immersive.

Lay Low
Kind of orchestral kind of sounds in the rears.
Bass and drums up front.
Guitar left side and another right rear.
This does have a somewhat live kind of sound, but the mix has an ethereal kind of sound and feel, that is almost contrary to a live sound.
It is a very interesting dynamic.
I don't think the production is quite as good as it should be, but it is mainly a sonics thing. The albums sounds pretty good but is slightly in the treble zone, but the mix is nice, and the sound kind if suits the psychedelic styling.

Maya
Guitar right rear across the back to left rear.
Another guitar front left.
Melodic instrument... synth? Left rear.
Again nicely immersive, and the atmospheric style if the band works really well.
I am really enjoying the songs here also.
Pleased to have got this.
Bvox in the sides.

Appalatia
Guitar front left, sending effects all around. Drums shuffle in up front.
Bvox all around.
Again a nice effective mix.
Guitar in rears. Another left side.
I sort of guess Koppes is singing here.
Again a nice immersive mix, effective in the context of the bands soundscape style.
If you like the Church at all, this is worth getting.

June
Atmospherics in rears. Guitar left rear.
Bass and drums up front.
Again a beautiful dreamy atmosphere.
Some minor swirling with the ambient type sounds.
Yea this is really nice, and an effective mix.

Don't You Fall
A guitar left rear. Another right rear.
Dreamy kind of vocals with a delay sort of float around the soundfield.
A guitar comes in the centre channel.
This mix is surreal, but it suits the musical style of the band.
We are surrounded by guitars, but they are effected guitars creating atmosphere.

I Kept Everything
Guitar left rear, feeding to right rear via effects.
Guitar up front.
Again this nice atmospheric sound and feel, that works in this surround environment well.

Nothing Seeker
Again nice atmospheric guitars front, right rear, left rear.
The song proper comes in with guitar front left, and right rear.
Then we get another guitar left side.
Cymbals rear.
This is kind of like Pink Floyd meets The Byrds, with a little alt rock thrown in for good measure.
Another nice interesting mix, and again immersive.

Reversa
Atmospherics come in the rears.
Swell guitar right rear and side.
Song starts with drums and bass front.
Atmospheric guitar across the rears.
Some mild movement effects.
Again nicely immersive.
An effected vocal in the centre channel.
The centre does get used on here, but it isn't the focus. It seems like they have gone for a classic quad type mix, with a modern soundstage, and use the centre for certain focus effects, and it works nicely.

Summer
Again a nice effects swell in rears.
Some cool reverse effects move about a little.
Arpeggio gtr front left.
Cymbal left side.
Really nice atmospheric development, with really nice immersion effect.
Drums come in around the 2:00 minute mark, and the dreamscape of sound is really inviting.
Kilbey recites a poem of sorts to the left rear. The music continues to be immersive.
The poem speaking voice moves to the front and is doubled by a sing voice.
A distorted guitar accents the left rear, taken over by a synth type chord effect, that could be an ebow.
Again dreamy and immersive.
Piano comes in up front.
Really very nice.
We get a long slow fade.

Ok, so first, I really like this album, which is reassuring as I just bought a stack of new Church albums, and I had/have no idea what to expect.
I think anyone that likes the Church will love this. I think anyone that loves surround music, will enjoy this.
This is kind of where Silverline shot themselves in the foot. they have some very good releases, but they released too many fake surround albums, and I really don't understand why. We will look at some of those today, and I certainly wouldn't say "don't get them" , but just be aware of what they are.
This on the other hand is really very well done. The mix is immersive, discrete, and interesting. We have some subtle movement effects, interesting use of the centre channel, full use of all the speakers, sometimes direct instrument, sometimes effects sends.
the disc does seem a little light on the bottom end, but I don't think it detracts from the album at all. To some degree I think with a lot of more modern music we have just gotten used to big fat heavy bottom ends.

I seriously hear this as being a kind of hybrid of Pink Floyd, The Byrds and alt rock kind of thing (perhaps someone has a better way of describing it) .... I guess that's where the band always kind of sat, but they have changed subtly over the years, and are less jangle alt/pop sounding than they used to be.
The band have always had a somewhat psychedelic kind of disposition, an here it seems to come to the fore, and is enhanced by the surround mix.
I am not going to say this is the best surround mix ever or the best sounding album of all time or anything, but this is very solid, and I feel comfortable saying that I think the majority of folks that like the Church's style of music and surround sound will very much enjoy this.

 

Ace of Spades


Studio album by
Motörhead
Released 8 November 1980
Recorded 4 August–15 September 1980[1]
Studio Jackson's Studios, Rickmansworth, England[1]
Genre Heavy metal, speed metal, hard rock
Length 36:42
Label Bronze
Producer Vic "Chairman" Maile[1]

Ace of Spades is the fourth studio album by the band Motörhead, released 8 November 1980, on Bronze Records. It reached Gold status in the UK by March 1981. It was preceded by the release of the title track as a single on 27 October, which peaked in the UK Singles Chart at No. 15 in early November.[2]

It was the band's debut release in the United States, with Mercury Records handling distribution in North America.

• Lemmy – vocals, bass, backing vocals on "Emergency"
• "Fast" Eddie Clarke – lead guitar, lead vocals on "Emergency"
• Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor – drums except on "Please Don't Touch" & "Emergency"
• Kim McAuliffe - rhythm guitar on "Please Don't Touch"
• Kelly Johnson - co-lead vocals & co-lead guitar on "Please Don't Touch"
• Enid Williams - bass on "Please Don't Touch" (NOTE: Enid and Lemmy play bass on the track, making it a six piece for this song)
• Denise Dufort - drums on "Please Don't Touch" & "Emergency" (NOTE: Denise plays all the drums on the EP because Phil had a broken neck at the time)

Production

• Vic "Chairman" Maile - producer, engineer & mixing
• Giovanni Scatola - mastering (2005 remaster)
• Martin Poole - design
• Alan Ballard - photography
• Curt Evans - 2005 cover design
• Joe Petagno - Snaggletooth (Phil's wearing a badge with it on his leathers)

2005 deluxe edition remaster

• Steve Hammonds - release coordination
• Jon Richards - release coordination
• Malcolm Dome - sleeve notes
• Mick Stevenson - project consultant, photos and archive memorabilia

1 Ace Of Spades 2:49
2 Love Me Like A Reptile 3:21
3 Shoot You In The Back 2:40
4 Live To Win 3:38
5 Fast And Loose 3:25
6 (We Are) The Road Crew 3:13
7 Fire, Fire 2:45
8 Jailbait 3:37
9 Dance 2:38
10 Bite The Bullet 1:40
11 The Chase Is Better Than The Catch 4:19
12 The Hammer 2:50

Unfortunately Please Don't Touch with Girlschool isn't on the dvd-audio
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 1975 Lemmy was dismissed from the band Hawkwind after being arrested for possession in Canada....
So being without a musical home Lemmy formed the band Motorhead, taken from the last song he wrote for Hawkwind.

Lemmy's inspiration for the band was MC5, he wanted to make fast and furious rock and that was his touchstone.

His stated aim was to "concentrate on very basic music: loud, fast, city, raucous, arrogant, paranoid, speedfreak rock n roll ... it will be so loud that if we move in next door to you, your lawn will die".

The band's relentless rock music started to get some traction with their second and third album releases Overkill and Bomber, but they became even more prominent with the Ace Of Spades album, and the title track was a bit of a hit.
The classic line up of the band was a three piece
Ian "Lemmy" Kilminster
"Fast" Eddie Clarke
Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor
This line up lasted from 76-82. Sadly Clarke died in 2018, Taylor died in 2015, and Lemmy himself died in 2015.

Although not everyones cup of tea the band certainly made an impact and inspired a lot of the heavier bands that came along later, Metallica being the obvious one.
The band's live album No Sleep Til Hammersmith is generally regarded as an essential live album, and was recorded on the Ace Of Spades tour.

Ace Of Spades and No Sleep Til Hammersmith are the bands two biggest selling albums.

5.1 Mix Mr Haynes
Mastered by Charlie Watts (is this the Stones Drummer? The link says it is)

out of print, but available
Amazon from about $69 https://www.amazon.com/Ace-Spades-Motorhead/dp/B000083MEJ
On Ebay from about $120 motorhead ace of spades dvd audio | eBay

Sadly that seems to be about it.... even with deluxe reissues, they didn't put the 5.1 mix on them.... which is disappointing.


Another Silverline release, and note that it states at the bottom there, that it is mixed from the original multi-track tapes.....

This only has an MLP 5.1, and starts straight off.

Ace Of Spades
Lemmy's vocals are centre channel.
We have a nice sub assist for the bass and kick drum.
The sound quality is really pretty good.
We have layered guitars.
A rhythm guitar left side, that kind of goes across the middle.
The lead guitar is front right, feeding to the right rear.
The main guitar riff kind of slides between the front and rear right, and works quite effectively.
Cymbals in the rears.

Love Me Like A Reptile
Rhythm guitars either side.
Tambourine left side.
This isn't prog rock with multiple instruments and layers, but we have all channels with sound.
The kick drum does have very solid sub support.
The lead guitar is up front.
Although not anything like many of our top line surround mixes, what they have done here, with what they had to use, is effective.

Shoot You In the Back
Again opening riff guitars in the rears.
Again the bass and drums are very solid.
The guitars are essentially what create the surround on here.
With occasional percussive effects in the rears. Here we have a percussive effect slide across the rears.
Lead breaks seem to generally get a front mix, which makes sense.
This is effective for the type of music we are looking at.

Live To Win
The bass opens up left front.
We have gtrs either side.
Cymbals are generally in the rears.
A rhythm gtr front right with an answering rhythm gtr in the rears.
Lead break front right.
We have a nice wall of grunting guitars around us. It is very effective.

Fast And Loose
Gtr riff starts on the rears, bass and drums up front.
This is really quite effective.
Lead guitar comes on up front again, as is really required on an album like this.
Some nice rhythmic interplay between the guitars in the rears.

(We are) The Road Crew
The mix here is pretty much the same set up. It isn't adventurous, but it is effective.
I like this track too, it works really well on the No Sleep Til Hammersmith album.
This is pounding rock, for those of us who love pounding relentless rock.
The lead break at the end gets a bit psychedelic and moves side to side and around. Effective.

Fire Fire
Gtrs in the rears.
We have nice consistency and it sounds good.
Bvox in this song, mixed lowish in the rears.
Gtr lead line across the middle.
All this stuff is fairly straight forward, but effective.

Jailbait
Some studio chat, then we move into the song.
Gtrs in the rears. Bass and drums up front.
Gtr riff comes in up front, with feeds to the rears.

Dance
Again consistent mixing.
Gtrs around us, lead up front. We have bvox in rears again.

Bite The Bullet
Studio chat, a false start.
This mix is a little less effective.
It comes across as a studio outtake

The Chase Is Better Than The Catch
Here we are back to the same basic set up.
Guitars in the rears. Bass and drums up front.
Another rhythm gtr up front.
Lead break up front.

The Hammer
Gtrs across the back. Bass and drums up front.
Riff gtr left side. Short lead up front.

Motorhead were short sharp and to the point. That was their style and that was their whole M.O.
This disc is mixed well for what they had to work with. It is effective in the surround field, and the sound is pretty good I reckon.
the main thing with this at the moment is starting at about $70 for an OOP copy is it worth that much ..... That's a really hard call.... If you love Motorhead, it probably is.
I enjoyed the mix, but it isn't some kind of multilayered prog album, it is a very back to basics kind of metal/hard rock album, and the use of the speakers is good and it is effective, but you aren't going to put this on to freak your friends out with how wild surround sound can be. This is one that you put on, if you love Motorhead and want to hear the album. There are a couple of nice little surround effects with some percussion and the cymbals get surround use, and the thick distorted gtrs are in the surround field with lead breaks up front. It is straight forward hard driving music. Certainly worthwhile in the surround field, but not a title that will get you trying to show 5.1 off to your friends.
That's about as straight forward as I can be about it. I like it, and if it was still $15-20, I would say, "yea, it is worth having". At seventy plus dollars, that is a more questionable reply. I hope that makes sense.

 

Fairytale


Studio album by
Donovan
Released October 22, 1965
November 1965 (US)
Recorded September 1965
Studio Peer Music, Denmark Street, London
Genre Folk
Length 35:17
Label Pye
Hickory (US)
Producer Peter Eden Geoff Stephens Terry Kennedy

Fairytale is the second album from British singer-songwriter Donovan. It was first released in the UK on 22 October 1965 through Pye Records (catalog number NPL 18128). The US version of Fairytale was released by Hickory Records (catalog number LPM 127 [monaural] / LPS 127 [stereo]) in November 1965 with a slightly different set of songs. Peter Eden, Geoff Stephens and Terry Kennedy produced the original album.

• Donovan – banjo, guitar, harmonica, vocals
• Skip Alan (Alan Skipper) – drums
• Brian Locking – bass guitar
• Harold McNair – flute
• Shawn Phillips – guitar, twelve-string guitar
• Peter Eden – producer
• Terry Kennedy – producer
• Ren Grevatt – liner notes

1 ColoursWritten-By – Leitch*
2 To Try For The SunWritten-By – Leitch*
3 Sunny Goodge StreetWritten-By – Leitch*
4 Oh Deed I DoWritten-By – Jansch*
5 Circus Of SourWritten-By – Bernath*
6 The Summer Day Reflection SongWritten-By – Leitch*
7 Candy ManArranged By – Leitch*Written-By – Trad*
8 Jersey ThursdayWritten-By – Leitch*
9 Belated Forgiveness PleaWritten-By – Leitch*
10 The Ballad Of A Crystal ManWritten-By – Leitch*
11 Little Tin SoldierWritten-By – Phillips*
12 The Ballad Of GeraldineWritten-By – Leitch*
Bonus Tracks: Universal Soldier EP
13 Universal SoldierWritten-By – Sainte-Marie*
14 The Ballad Of A Crystal ManWritten-By – Leitch*
15 The War Drags OnWritten-By – Softley*
16 Do You Here Me NowWritten-By – Jansch*
Bonus Tracks: A And B Side Of Original Single
17 TurquoiseWritten-By – Leitch*
18 Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness)Written-By – Leitch*
---------------------------------------------------------------
It seems like Donovan was immediately pressed up against Dylan by the media. I don't know I wasn't there, but it seems historically this is how it went. Personally, I don't really see it, but that's fine and fortunately I pay little to no attention to the media, except for a laugh and release information... but anyway.

This album has a sentimental attachment for me, because I used to sing Colours over skype (among other songs) to my wife, while we were separated by time.

I like Donovan, but I don't really see him as Dylan-esque and frankly I think that impeded his career somewhat. He wrote, played acoustic and sang ... so many folks have done that it is silly to suggest they are all in competition with Dylan. By the time Donovan was making his way passed the shore-break Dylan was moving into rock anyway. A move Donovan himself would make, but Donovan would move lightly psychedelic, rather than the raw rootsy kind of music Dylan was making.

I really enjoyed this album, another Silverline release, and with the inclusion of the Universal Soldier ep, and the single, you get the UK and US versions of the album tied up, plus some extra tracks.... but is it a surround sound mix, or is it a surround sound emulation.... lets check it out.

available on discogs from about $10 Donovan - Fairytale
Amazon from about $16 https://www.amazon.com/Fairy-Tale-Donovan/dp/B00006FN8L
dual disc on Discogs from about $21 Donovan - Fairytale
on ebay from about $16 donovan fairytale dvd audio | eBay
some of those ebay folks are dreaming with prices over fifty bucks, but anyhow ....

5.1 mix Chris Haynes
5.1 Mastering Charlie Watts

Interestingly we have the same guys mixing and mastering here as we did with Motorhead ....

Colours
We have sub assistance on the bass, and it sounds nice.
Bass, rhythmic harmonica, and vocals up front.
Ok .....
This is my third listen, just trying to get a handle on what I am actually hearing here.
I am not sure if this is a discrete mix... don't get me wrong it sounds good. Everything sounds really nice, and I think via some EQ-ing we have a guitar on the left side.
This sounds very nice, and it is in all the channels, but it doesn't seem like a proper discrete mix. Because there are enough instruments for discrete mixing, but I assume it was recorded on three ot four tracks....
It sounds good, but is more like a stereo or mono mix in the centre of the room, than what we have come to expect from a surround mix.

To Try For The Sun
This is much the same, again it sounds very nice, but it isn't discrete.
There is a kind of illusion of surround, and it sounds very nice, but it is a full field mix/master, rather a discrete mix.... as far as I am able to hear.

Sun Goodge Street
The cello kind of sounds to the left side.
The vocals kind of have a reverb feel in the right rear.
Look I think this sounds really good, but I am not convinced it is discretely mixed.

Oh Deed I Do
The effect they achieve here is good, and I like the way it sounds, but i am fairly sure we just have a nice exploded stereo sound.

Circus Of Sour
Same again

The Summer Day Reflection
The guitar sounds left side. The vocal is front but has a sort of right rear reverb sound.
The lead acoustic guitar is up front but has a sound that sound like it feeds an effect to the rears.... but again it seems like a manipulation rather than a discrete mix.
Again it sounds really good, i really like the sound of this disc, but i am almost certain it is not a discrete mix

Candy Man

Jersey Thursday

Belated Forgiveness Plea

The Ballad Of A Crystal Man

Little Tin Soldier

The Ballad Of Geraldine

Universal Soldier
Being the ep, I am checking for any differences.

The Ballad Of A Crystal Man

The War Drags On

Do You Hear Me Now

Turquoise
Checking the single.

Hey Gyp

Ok so I didn't listen to every track, because essentially they are all of similar construct....
I may well be wrong, and please step in all you experts out there but this comes across as being a quite well done faux surround.
I really like it actually, everything sounds immediate and present, I think the sound of this disc is very very good, but it doesn't sound like a discrete mix.
When listening casually, there is sort of a sound of certain instruments coming from the sides or what have you, but if you listen closely they are up the front also. It kind of seems like there are manipulations to suggest surround rather than there being an actual discrete mix.
Having said that though ... I actually like this disc. I think it sounds very good, and it has the original UK album, the Universal Soldier ep, and the b-sides from I think the Sun Goodge Street single.... At $10-15 I think it may be a good buy for the Donovan fan, so long as they aren't expecting any kind of serious surround mix

Anyway, like I say, I am neither a sound expert, nor an audiophile, so I would really appreciate some input from some of our more experienced sound folk, but -
- Yes I really like this
- No I do not think it is discrete surround

 

Gary Numan ‎– Anthology
Label: Silverline ‎– 288090-9
Format: DVD, DVD-Audio, Compilation, Multichannel
Country: US
Released: 2002
Genre: Electronic
Style: Electro



1 Berserker
2 My Dying Machine
3 The Hunter
4 This Disease
5 My Breathing
6 The Sleep Room
7 Machine And Soul
8 In A Glass House
9 I Die, You Die (Live)
10 Me, I Disconnect From You (Live)
11 Cars (Live)
12 Are 'Friends' Electric? (Live)
------------------------------------------
I really like Gary Numan, the Tubeway Army stuff particularly. When Are Friends Electric came out it was so different from anything I was used to, but it really appealed to me. Cars was the global big hit, and has subsequently been covered by others, and also there was a hit in Australia with the song We Are Glass.

Numan often gotten written off as a Bowie clone, but to some degree that seems unfair, as to em at least, he seemed to have his own thing going on musically ... and frankly Bowie had so many personas that many artists could be lumped into that batch reasonably easily.

78 and 79 saw the first Tubeway Army albums - Tubeway Army and Replicas, then in late 79 Numan released his first solo album The Pleasure Principle.
Replicas had Are Friends Electric, Down In The Park and Me, I Disconnect From You, and is a bit of a New Wave classic, certainly worth a listen, I enjoy it. I would actually love a proper surround mix of this album, I think it would sound great.
The Pleasure Principle (79) had the smash hit Cars, and certainly helped Numan get some much needed exposure in the New Wave era.
Telekon (80) came out on lp without the hit single We Are Glass, but it was released on the cassette. The cd has the song included, but it was a stand alone single essentially.
Dance (81) moved ever further into synth type music and wasn't received quite as well.
I Assassin on the other hand did very good business in the UK where synth pop was much more widely accepted.
Numan was no slouch at releasing albums
Tubeway Army

• Tubeway Army (1978)
• Replicas (1979)

Solo

• The Pleasure Principle (1979)
• Telekon (1980)
• Dance (1981)
• I, Assassin (1982)
• Warriors (1983)
• Berserker (1984)
• The Fury (1985)
• Strange Charm (1986)

Just this year he released his Intruders album.
I am not his biggest fan or anything, but interest led me to get the albums up to Warriors, and to some degree for me, it was a case of diminishing returns, but those first few albums are quite excellent, and quite original (to the best of my knowledge).

There are a plethora of live albums and compilations, but I know too little about Numan to really suggest anything to start with. @negative1 - it strikes me that you may me more well versed in Gary Numan than I, if so your input would be appreciated.

I am not even sure if this compilation of sorts is an authorised release, but it is out there, and today is Silverline day, and this came out as a dvd-audio on that label.

available on discogs from about $7 Gary Numan - Anthology
On Amazon from about $10 second hand, and one new copy for about $38 https://www.amazon.com/Anthology-Gary-Numan/dp/B00006FN8T
Available from about $18 on ebay Gary Numan anthology dvd audio | eBay
As usual most of the ebay listings are stupid, and will probably never sell, unless some poor smo doesn't do their research.

5.1 "audio" mixing Rich Fowler
5.1 Mastering Charlie Watts

It is interesting that Silverline like to use "stunning 5.1 surround tag on so many of these early issues they had....

Anyway, lets see what Gary has for us here ...and regardless of what this one sounds like, I would still love those first four or five albums mixed in discrete 5.1 because they really could sound great, and very interesting, but I digress.

Berserker
A nice vocal effect opens us up.
Effective sub assist in the bottom end.
We get effective drum machine percussion in the sides and rears.
This sounds pretty good actually.
It is very middle of the room sounding, and the percussion effects seem to be surround, but when you go to each speakers they are in every speaker, which suggests manipulation rather than discrete mixing. But like Donovan, it sounds pretty good.

My dying machine
This has a very similar sound, and again we are immersed in spind and there is a certain separation created, but I am not sure that it is via discrete mixing.
It does sound pretty good though.

The Hunter
Starts with a sort of swirly effect.
Again this sounds pretty good.
It fills the room and some elements do sound like they are coming from a particular channel.
Essentially though everything is coming out of all the speakers, which suggests a manipulation rather than a discrete mix.
It has an immersive effect, and we even get some interesting whooshes and zooms, but for the most part, it again sounds like everything is based in the middle if the room with effective, and on occasion very effective aural manipulations.
Again I think it sounds full, and it sounds good, but I imagine a proper discrete mix could sound sensational.
Again guys, if i am wrong here, please correct me

Again like the Motorhead and Donovan discs all there is, is MLP 5.1, no stereo or other options.

This Disease
Again we have this middle if the room kind of sound, but we have sounds coming from particular areas.
Again it sounds good, and it is actually quite enjoyable, but not sure it is discrete.

My Breathing
Sfx and a kind of surround effect.
The wash in of the main synth body is very effective.
Again the sub is very effective.
Again that kind of middle of the room effect, with a full sound, and some peripheral sort if signal sends, but it seems unlikely to be from the multitracks due to the styling.
Again it sounds very good, but probably could sound so much better with a proper discrete mix.

The sleep room
The start of this is really very effective.
The percussive effects really do sound mixed. When the full track comes in, it has that kind if middle of the room sound. When the sound cuts back to more sparse instrumentation it has a discrete sound.

I get the impression that they used a program to give a surround effect, or they used some quite subtle eq adjustments to produce the surround effect....
Now I am not saying that is bad at all, as I say it sounds really quite good.

Machine and soul
A synth note and spoken word opening.
Again an effective start.
This seems to favour the right side more.
This is probably the hardest to decipher so far.
The drums sound like they are more right side, and there is a guitar that sounds more up front.
Left rear has sound, but not a lot.
This is an interesting disc as far as the sound goes.

In A Glass House.
Sfx kind of feeding to rears.
A sharp snapping percussion sound just left of front left.
Again a lot seems to be somewhat centre of the room.
Again solid sub, and for the type of music it is, it suits it well.

I die, you die (live)
With this track I don't have vocals in all the channels, so perhaps this was from multis....
Vocals are across the front.
A synth on the left side
A different synth on the right side.
Again this sounds very good

Me, I disconnect from you (live)
Main synth line slightly left side centre.
The sub is slightly too much on this one.
Synth line sounds like it's across the middle.
This sounds quite middle if the room again, but has the sound of being more discrete than a lot of the studio tracks...
I would love to know what they were working with here.

Cars (live)
This sounds similar to the other live tracks.
It is like they used a slightly different technique, so the middle of the room thing is slightly less prominent...
Again it sounds pretty good.

Are Friends Electric? (live)
The crowd is all around, due to the atmospheric synth build up.
I love this song.
The synth in the breakdown, talk section seems mainly rears.

So again, this actually sounds pretty good, aside from some poor fades and such, but I am pretty sure it is some form of manipulated stereo, rather than a proper discrete 5.1 mix.
I may well be completely wrong, but I can only go with what I hear, and so much information seems kind of central to the room, that is seems unlikely to be a discrete mix..... having said that though, aside from, as I say, some poor fades, and a couple of tracks being a little heavy on the sub (most actually being quite good for the type of music it is), this is a good sounding disc.
I think if you are a fan of Gary Numan, this is worth paying $7-10 for, because there isn't anything else of his available in 5.1 to the best of my knowledge.
I really do wish that someone with some 5.1 nouse could get hold of the multi's for those first Tubeway Army and solo albums, because they really could shine in surround, and I like them.
So again, please experts, tell us what is happening with this one. It sounds good, but I am almost certain it isn't discretely mixed, but somehow effected, and manipulated through a surround generator that works from the centre of the room and outward.

 

afaik the story was that as part of their deal with Sanctuary, Silverline (aka "5.1 Entertainment") were due to receive multitrack masters (probably just transfers i guess?) for a number of albums for future 5.1 DVD-Audio release but when these failed to materialise, a lawsuit ensued with Silverline suing Sanctuary.. Sanctuary then countersued alleging groups wanted involvement in the creation of surround remixes but that Silverline had refused.. it all went totally tits up, the suggestion being that in the absence of multi's Silverline resorted to upmixing stuff (which is not a matter of fact, just a guess as to why all the fake 5.1's).. upshot a total mess, with Quaddies starved of new Surround content among the biggest losers.

 

Well we're covering a fair bit of musical ground today, but that always works for me, so in doing so here is

The Dubliners ‎– The Definitive Transatlantic Collection
Label: Silverline ‎– 288078-9
Format: DVD, DVD-Audio, Multichannel, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2002
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk



1 The Wild Rover 3:13
2 The Ragman's Ball 2:09
3 The Holy Ground 2:16
4 Tramps And Hawkers 3:06
5 The Rocky Road To Dublin 2:34
6 Tha Banks Of The Roses 2:14
7 Tha Swallow Tail Reel 2:52
8 Reels: The Sligo Maid / Colonel Rodney 2:32
9 The Woman From Wexford 2:44
10 The Patriot Game 4:24
11 Roisin Dubh 4:15
12 Air: Fa La La Lo 3:40
13 Reel: My Love Is In America 2:04
14 The Kerry Recruit 4:18
15 The Leaving Of Liverpool 4:56
16 Finnegan's Wake 3:05
17 The Sea Around Us 3:00
18 McAlpine's Fusiliers 2:50
19 Hot Asphalt 3:20
20 The Glendalough Saint 3:00
21 Within A Mile Of Dublin 2:00
22 Will You Come To The Bower 4:30
23 Boulavogue 2:51
24 Walking In The Dew 1:20
-----------------------------------------------
Some wiki info on the band, I am not going to pretend I know much about them
The Dubliners were an Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes over their fifty-year career, but the group's success was centred on lead singers Luke Kelly and Ronnie Drew. The band garnered international success with their lively Irish folk songs, traditional street ballads and instrumentals.[1] The band were regulars on the folk scenes in both Dublin and London in the early 1960s, and were signed to the Major Minor label in 1965 after backing from Dominic Behan who was paid by Major-Minor to work with the Dubliners and help them to build a better act fit for larger concert hall venues. The Dubliners worked with Behan regularly between 1965 and 1966; Behan wrote numerous songs for this act including the song McAlpine's Fusiliers created specifically to showcase Ronnie Drew's gravel voice. They went on to receive extensive airplay on Radio Caroline which was part owned by Phil Solomon CEO of Major Minor, and eventually appeared on Top of the Pops in 1967 with hits "Seven Drunken Nights" (which sold over 250,000 copies in the UK)[2] and "The Black Velvet Band". Often performing political songs considered controversial at the time, they drew criticism from some folk purists and Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ had placed an unofficial ban on their music from 1967 to 1971. During this time the band's popularity began to spread across mainland Europe and they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States. The group's success remained steady right through the 1970s and a number of collaborations with The Pogues in 1987 saw them enter the UK Singles Chart on another two occasions.[3]

The Dubliners were instrumental in popularising Irish folk music in Europe, though they did not quite attain the popularity of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in the United States. They influenced many generations of Irish bands, and their legacy can to this day be heard in the music of artists such as The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly. Much adored in their native country, covers of Irish ballads by Ronnie Drew and Luke Kelly tend to be regarded as definitive versions. One of the most influential Irish acts of the 20th century, they celebrated 50 years together in 2012, making them Ireland's longest surviving musical act.[4][5] Also in 2012, the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards bestowed them with a Lifetime Achievement Award.[6] The Dubliners announced their retirement in the autumn of 2012, after 50 years of performing, following the death of original member Barney McKenna.[7] However, the surviving members of the group, continued touring under the name of "The Dublin Legends". As of 2020, Seán Cannon is the only former member still in this group, following Eamonn Campbell's death in October 2017.
-------------------------------------------------

This particular album was released as a Castle compilation in 1997. In 2002 it was rereleased by Castle on cd, and Silverline on dvd-audio...

I haven't had a chance to listen to this yet, but I actually received it free from a record store saying they didn't want to stock surround discs anymore.... The Gary Numan came to me that way as well, and also best of the Foundations. None of them are albums I would have paid thirty bucks for at the time, but if some guy in a record store offers me free new music, I am not going to refuse ... I am a bit of a music slut to be honest...

I love Irish folk music, and I will be honest and say that The Pogues are really the only somewhat Irish folk band in my collection (aside from this disc) but if I am out somewhere and it is playing.... often you would get bands playing stuff like this at the Mundaring Weir Tavern and such places in the Perth hills, and I always found it a pleasant change....

Anyway, I can't tell you anything about these guys, because I am completely ignorant of them.

Available from Amazon for $11.95 https://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Transatlantic-Collection-Dubliners/dp/B00006AGD4
discogs from around $16 The Dubliners - The Definitive Transatlantic Collection
Ebay from about $8 the dubliners definitve transatlantic collection dvd audio | eBay

5,1 mix Kristian Storli and Ken Ramos
5.1 Mastering Charlie Watts

Look I have to know guys, is this THE Charlie Watts? I'm sure someone here knows if he is a mastering guy.

From The Dubliners
recorded live
Ronnie Drew - vocal and guitar. Barney Mckenna - vocal and banjo. Ciaron Burke - flageolet. Luke Kelly vocal and banjo

We open with The Wild Rover, and the type of mix we have is in line with the others in today's run throughs....
Again central to the room kind of sound.
But we get a positional sound.
For example the tin whistle sounds to be to the left side, and a mandolin to the left rear.
That first track was live. The crowd was up the front.

The Ragman's Ball is an almost spoken track, in a true folk tradition, telling the story, with just an acoustic gtr in support with single strum chord changes, again live.

The Holy ground.
The tin whistle again locates itself on the left side.
The vocals are mainly front positioned but seem to feed to the right rear also.

I am guessing these are all live recordings.

Tramps and Hawkers.
The banjo feels a little left, but is essentially room centre. Right rear has a sort of reverb effect from the vocal.

The Rocky Road To Dublin

The Banks Of The Roses

The Swallow Tail Reel
This sounds to have an acoustic guitar left side, and banjo right side. Quite effective.
An instrumental, and if you like banjo, it is very cool.
Again it seems like a stereo track manipulated for surround.

--------

From The Dubliners In Concert
recorded live Dec 4 1964, Cecil Sharp House, London
Ronnie Drew - vocal and guitar. Barney Mckenna - vocal, banjo and mandolin. Ciaron Burke flageolet and harmonica. John Sheehan - fiddle, mandolin and flageolet. Bobby Lynch - vocal and guitar

Reels: Sligo Maid/Colonel Rodney
Fiddle in the middle, guitar left side.

The Woman from Wexford.
The vocals seem to be to the right.
Acoustic front, banjo left of centre.

The Patriot Game
Acoustic left, banjo right
Vocal centre of room?
This actually sounds really good.
We have a seemingly definite placement going on here.

Roisin Dubh
Yes, the tune Thin Lizzy adapted on their Black Rose album (roisin dubh, meaning black rose)
Guitar up front, mandolin's either side rears.
This is interesting, because this sounds like it would have to be discrete.
If it isn't, it is very effective.

Air: Fa La La Lo
Tin whistle right rear.
Acoustic guitar front and mandolin left side.

Reel: My love is in America
This is mainly banjo, the guitar is deep underneath it.

The Kerry Recruit
I think what I refer to as a tin whistle is a flageolet.
Tin whistle in the rears.
Banjo left. Acoustic front.

The Leaving of Liverpool
This has nostalgia for me. I have heard it since I was a pup. We left Wigan, just next to Liverpool when I was 5 .. so it has a strange nostalgia for me.
We have mandolins left side and rears, and acoustic gtr up front.

----------
From Finnegan's Wake
recorded live 26/27 April 1966 at Gate Theatre Dublin
Ronnie Drew - vocal and guitar. Barney Mckenna - vocal and banjo. Ciaron Burke - flageolet. John Sheehan - fiddle, mandolin and flageolet. Luke Kelly vocal and banjo

Finnegan's Wake.
Tin whistle rears
Acoustic gtr front

The Sea around Us
Fiddle in the rears. Acoustic gtr front.

Mcalpine's fusiliers
Tin whistle rears.
Acoustic gtr front. Banjo front. Fiddle middle.

Hot Asphalt
Banjo front, tin whistle rears

The Glendalough Saint
Banjo left.
Tin whistle rears.
Acoustic gtr front.

Within a Mile of Dublin
Banjo forward in the mix centre of room. Acoustic gtr front mixed low.

Will You Come to the Bower
Fiddle left, acoustic front

---------
From More Of The Dubliners

Boulavogue
Acoustic gtr and mandolin.
Mandolin slightly right (middle of the room, mixed high)
Acoustic front.
Fiddle kind of middle of the room.
Tin whistles either side.

Walking in the Dew
Ac gtr up front.

Please excuse my notes on this one ... this is a really hard one to break down, and I am unsure of what exactly that we have.
The songs comes from predominantly three Dubliners albums, and two tracks from a fourth.
For the most part it seemed like this was more of the same, mix wise, as the last couple of discs, and I think the first album represented is. The second album, may well be a stereo separation, but there are a couple of little nuances there, which are either pretty good effects, or it is actually mixed from the multichannel. The third album is the same as the second, but the vocals seem to be recorded a little harshly.
In a few instances the mix is quite intriguing, and on a couple of occasions it seems that we are surrounded by Mandolins and banjo's and such. A lot of it that doesn't really seem to be the case, but certainly some of it. It could be a good surround effect, or it could be a multichannel mix.... I honestly don't know. there is an inconsistency, which perhaps could be directly related to the sources being different albums ....
Aside from the surround mix, there are a couple of instances where certain instruments seem to be mixed too loud, but these are live recordings in the UK from the mid-sixties, so how much can we expect.
This is not state of the art surround mixing, by any stretch of the imagination, but there are some interesting sections.....

If you love, live Irish folk music, and can forgive this some of the limitations of the day, it is pretty decent. I enjoyed it, but also kind of wished it had been a little smoother on the ear.
Not really sure what else to say about this one, and again I will ask one of our experts to come in and decipher/inform, or whatever.

Cheers
Mark

 

The Foundations ‎– The Very Best Of The Foundations
Label: Silverline ‎– 288092-9
Format: DVD, DVD-Audio, Multichannel, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2002
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style:




1 Build Me Up Buttercup
2 Back On My Feet Again
3 Mr. Personality Man
4 Baby Now That I've Found You
5 In The Bad, Bad Old Days
6 Any Old Time
7 My Little Chickadee
8 That Same Old Feeling
9 Take A Girl Like You
10 Baby, I Couldn't See
11 Born To Live, Born To Die
12 I'm Gonna Be A Rich Man
13 Take The Emptiness Away
14 I Can Take Or Leave Your Leaving
----------------------------------------------
I am very familiar with Build Me Up Buttercup, and Baby, Now That I've Found You, they are blasts from the past that I really like.
I don't know if I know another song on here, and I know little about the band.

Here is some wiki info
The Foundations were a British soul band, active from 1967 to 1970. The group was made up of West Indians, White British, and a Sri Lankan. Their 1967 debut single "Baby Now That I've Found You" reached number one in the UK and Canada, and number eleven in the US, while their 1968 single "Build Me Up Buttercup" reached number two in the UK and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. The group was the first multi-racial group to have a number one hit in the UK in the 1960s.[1]

The Foundations were one of the few British acts to successfully imitate what became known as the Motown Sound. The Foundations signed to Pye, at the time one of only four big UK record companies (the others being EMI with its HMV, Columbia Records, and Parlophone labels; Decca; and Philips who also owned Fontana).[2]
--------------------------------------------

This album is available from Amazon from a whopping $4 new (3 left) and $1.60 secondhand https://www.amazon.com/Very-Best-Foundations/dp/B00006HCV4
Ebay has a copy for $9 The Foundations dvd audio | eBay

5.1 mix, production, mastering Rich Fowler

Again no idea what to expect here, and frankly these discs are stressing me out lol

Anyway I love two of the first four songs, so lets see what we have here.

Build me up Buttercup.
We get the vocals and piano seeming to be up front.
Organ kind of across the middle.
The horns seemingly rears.
Some percussion seemingly the rears.
It again has that mono/stereo surround thing going on.

Back on my Feet Again.
Horns on the right side.
I am pretty certain this is simulated surround, but it is ok... where else are you going to get the Foundations in 5.1 lol

Mr Personality.
Horns to the right side again. Guitar kind of centre slightly left.
The sound is pretty good though.
It is again a central mix with effects or a simulator giving it the surround effect.

Baby now that I've found you.
Again the central mix, with whatever trick they have working.
Again it sounds pretty good.

As we go through the album there are several sections that have quite convincing surround imitations, i mean some of them really sound like they may have had the multis, but there is always a little giveaway, and it is that central to the room sound.
That isn't to knock these discs too much. On one hand it annoys me that items like this came out early in the piece clouding the surround image somewhat.... but on the other hand they each have something worthwhile to offer, even if it isn't super hi def surround sound ... They actually sound pretty decent in many ways, when I take off my "I wish they hadn't sabotaged surround sound" mentality.
These are not going to be your go to surround discs, and they aren't competing with Empath, or King Crimson, or Tull or whatever, but these are artists that made a couple of good songs (generalising) and here there is an opportunity now to have a faux surround mix of there stuff, in reasonably good sound quality.
If you love the two hit singles off here, you will probably like the rest of it ok, and at $4 new, it is a fart in a jar really.

 

So Silverline in hindsight wasn't great, but it wasn't as awful as I made it out. It was still a hinderance to the real 5.1 albums standing out in a market that needed something new, and special, and to me surround sound music is/was that, but Sony and Warner played a bigger part in sabotaging surround music than Silverline did.
I'll sit back happily and when I feel like hitting some nostalgia, these discs may now get a chance ... they sort of sat prisoner on my shelf for a lot of years, due to resentment that surround sound didn't take over the world.....
As I say, in reality, they are ok and not half as damaging to surround music as Sony and Warners.... so there ya go

 

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 - 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
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 - Blow By Blow
Beck, Jeff - Wired
Beethoven - 3rd Symphony Eroica
Beethoven - 5th Concerto (Emporer) - Barenboim/Rubenstein
Bjork - Vespertine
Bjork - Medulla
Blackfield - IV thanks @riskylogic
Blackfield - V thanks @riskylogic
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Blood Sweat and Tears - Blood Sweat And Tears
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

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
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 - Stormwatch
Jethro Tull - TAAB 2 thanks @riskylogic
Joel, Billy - The Stranger
John, Elton - Elton John
John, Elton - Madman Across The Water
John , Elton - Honky Chateau
Johnson, Eric - Ah Via Musicom

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - The Traveller
King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King 40th and 50th
King Crimson Islands
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
Kraftwerk - 3d Catalogue - 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 - 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 - Dig Lazarus Dig
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
No Man - Schoolyard Ghosts 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
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
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
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
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

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

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker - Neeme Jarvi
Talking Heads - Fear Of Music
Talking Heads - Remain In Light
Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
Talking Heads - Naked
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Taylor, James - JT
Tears For Fears - Songs From The Big Chair
Temple Of The Dog - Temple Of The Dog
Thomas, Michael Tilson - Orff, Beethoven, Gershwin - Carmina Burana, An American In Paris, Rhapsody In Blue + more
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Damn The Torpedoes
Tomita - Firebird
Townsend, Devin - Empath
Townshend, Pete/Lane, Ronnie - Rough Mix
T Rex - Electric Warrior

Uk - Night After Night
Uriah Heep - Gold From The Byron Era

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 - To The Bone
Wings - Band On The Run
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
Young, Neil - Harvest
Young, Neil - Greendale thanks @riskylogic

Zappa - Quaudiophiliac

 

So lets give you guys some stuff to pick out for next week.

Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South

 

The Best Of Bread (quad)

 

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - there are thirteen left still to check out, so I will pick one if you vote for them

 

Both the Gary Numan and Donovan discs are real disappointments. I still own both but I would rather listen to them in stereo. Gary Numan would be at the top of my list for new excellent multichannel mixes. He is great and a bit underrated.

 

Crowded House - debut

 

Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos

 

Opeth - Sorcerous

 

Steve Hackett - The Night Siren