Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

Explanation of Ratings.

Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South (3/3) Rating
Allman Brothers Band – Live At Fillmore East (2/2) Rating
Allman Brothers Band – Eat a Peach (3/2) Rating
Anathema – We're Here Because We're Here (3/3)
Anathema – Weather Systems (2/3)
Anathema - Distant Satellites (2/3)
Anderson, Ian – TAAB 2 (1/3)
Anderson, Ian - Homo Erraticus (1/3) Rating
Anonymous 4 – Wolcum Yule (2/1)
Argent - In Deep (3/4)
Ayreon – The Source (3/3)
Ayreon - Transitus (2/3)

Bass Communion – Loss (1/2)
Bass Communion – Temporal (1/3)
Beatles, The – A Hard Day’s Night Movie (2/2)
Beatles, The – Help! Movie (2/2)
Beatles, The – Magical Mystery Tour Movie (2/2)
Beatles, The – Yellow Submarine Movie (2.5/2)
Beatles, The – Abbey Road (3/3) Rating
Beatles, The – 1+ (3/0 to 3) Songs are rated individually
Beatles, The - Love (3/3) Rating
Beck, Jeff (Group) – Jeff Beck Group (2/3) Rating
Beck, Jeff (Group) – Rough and Ready (2/3) Rating
Beck, Jeff – Blow By Blow 5.1 (3/1) Rating, Quad (3/3) Rating
Beck, Jeff – Wired (2/3) Rating
Big Big Train – Reflectors of Light Concert (2/3)
Big Big Train – Empire Concert (2.5/3)
Birdsong At Morning - A Slight Departure (2/3)
Birdsong At Morning - Signs And Wonders (2/3)
Blackfield – NYC: Live in New York City Concert (2/3)
Blackfield – IV (1/3)
Blackfield - V (2/3)
Blood Sweat and Tears - Mirror Image (1/3)
Blood Sweat and Tears - New City (1/3)
Blue Öyster Cult – Secret Treaties (3/2) Rating
Bruce, Jack - Shadows In The Air (2/1)
Bruford - Feels Good To Me (2/3)
Bruford, Bill - One Of A Kind (2/2)

Capella Romana - Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia (1/3)
Caravan - In The Land Of Grey And Pink (1/3)
Church - Forget Yourself (2/2) Rating
Clapton, Eric – 461 Ocean Boulevard (2/3) Rating
Clapton, Eric - Slowhand (2/3) Rating
Clapton and Winwood - Live From Madison Square Garden Concert (3/2) Rating
Coltrane, Alice/Santana, Carlos - Illuminations (2/3) Rating

Davis, Miles - Bitches Brew (2/3) Rating
Deep Purple - Machine Head (1/2) Rating
Dekker, Desmond - Anthology: Israelites (1/1)
Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward (2/3) Rating
Depeche Mode - Black Celebration (2/3) Rating
Depeche Mode - Violator (3/3) Rating
Depeche Mode – Delta Machine (1/2) Rating
Derringer, Rick - All American Boy (2/3)
Derringer, Rick – Spring Fever (1/3)
Dido – Live at Brixton Academy Concert (2/2)
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms (2/2) Rating
Dire Straits – Alchemy Concert (3/3)
Doobie Brothers - Toulouse Street quad (2/3) Rating
Doobie Brothers - The Captain And Me quad (3/4) Rating
Doobie Brothers - What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits quad (2/3) Rating
Doors - LA Woman (2/3) Rating
Doors - Best Of (3/3)
Dream Theater – Systematic Chaos (2/2) Rating
Dream Theater - Distance Over Time (2/3) Rating

Eagles - Hotel California (2/3) Rating
ELO - debut album (1/3) Rating
Emerson Lake And Palmer – Tarkus (2/2) Rating
Emerson Lake And Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery (3/4) Rating

Fagen, Donald - The Nightfly (3/3) Rating
Fahl, Mary - From The Dark Side Of The Moon (2/3)
Ferry, Bryan - Boys and Girls (3/4) Rating
Ferry, Bryan – Live in Lyon Concert (3/2)
Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (1/3) Rating
Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics (2/3)
Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac (1975) (2/3) Rating
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (3/2) Rating

Gabriel, Peter – Secret World Live Concert (3/2)
Gabriel, Peter – Play (2.5/3)
Gabriel, Peter – Growing Up Concert (3/2)
Gabriel, Peter – New Blood - Live In London Concert (2/2)
Garfunkel, Art – Breakaway (1/3)
Genesis - Foxtrot (3/2) Rating
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound (3/3) Rating
Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (2/3) Rating
Gentle Giant - Three Piece Suite (2/3) Rating
Gentle Giant - Octopus (2/3) Rating
Gentle Giant – The Power and The Glory (3/3) Rating
Gentle Giant - Interview Quad (2/4) Rating
Gilmour, Dave - On An Island (2/3) Rating
Gilmour, David – Live at Pompeii Concert (2/2)

Hackett, Steve – Voyage of the Acolyte (3/1)
Hackett, Steve – Broken Skies Outspread Wings (2/3)
Hackett, Steve - At The Edge Of Light (1/2) Rating
Hackett, Steve – Selling England By The Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live at Hammersmith Concert (3/3)
Hendrix, Jimi – Electric Ladyland (3/3) Rating
Hancock, Herbie - Sextant (2/3) Rating
Herbie Hancock - Headhunters (2/3) Rating

Inxs - Kick (1/3) Rating
Inxs - Live Baby Live Concert (2/2) Rating

Jakszyk, Jakko - Secrets and Lies (3/3)
Jethro Tull - Benefit (2/3) Rating
Jethro Tull – Aqualung (3/3) Rating
Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick (2/3) Rating
Jethro Tull - A Passion Play (3/3) Rating
Jethro Tull – Minstrel In The Gallery (2/3) Rating
Jethro Tull - Heavy Horses (2/4) Rating
Jethro Tull - Too Old To Rock and Roll ... (1/3) Rating
Jethro Tull – Stormwatch (1/3) Rating
John, Elton - Elton John (1/3) Rating
John, Elton - Tumbleweed Connection (1/3) Rating
John, Elton - Madman Across The Water (1/3) Rating
John, Elton - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (2/3) Rating

Kansas - The Absence Of Presence (2/2)
King Crimson – In The Court Of The Crimson King 40th (3/3) and 50th (3/3) Rating
King Crimson – Islands (1/3) Rating
King Crimson - Lark's Tongues In Aspic (3/3) Rating
King Crimson – Red (2/3) Rating
King Crimson - Beat (2/3) Rating
King Crimson - Thrak (2/4) Rating
King Crimson – The Reconstrukction of Light (1/3) Rating
King Crimson – The Power To Believe (2/3) Rating
King Crimson – Live in Tokyo Concert (2.5/3)
King Crimson – Meltdown: Live in Mexico City Concert (3/3)
Knopfler, Mark - Shangri La (1/2) Rating
Kraftwork - 3d catalog - Autobahn (1/4) Rating
Kraftwerk - 3d Catalogue - Man Machine (2/4) Rating
Kraftwerk – 3D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (2/4)*

Love and Rockets – Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven (1/3)
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Southern Surroundings (2/2) Rating

Mannheim Steamroller - Fresh Aire 8 (2/4)
Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas Celebration (2/3)
Marillion - Script For a Jester's Tear (3/3) Rating
Marillion - Misplaced Childhood (3/3) Rating
Marillion - Brave (3/3) Rating
Marillion – Afraid of Sunlight (2/3) Rating
McCartney, Paul - The McCartney Years (2/3) Rating
(Buddy) Miles Express - Booger Bear (1/3)
Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed (3/3) Rating
Moody Blues – A Question Of Balance (2/3) Rating

Nektar – Journey to the Center of the Eye (2/3)
Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral (0/3) Rating
No Man – Schoolyard Ghosts (2/3)
No Man - Together We're Stranger (1/3)
Numan, Gary - Anthology (2/2) Rating

Oldfield, Mike – Ommadawn (2/3) Rating
Oldfield, Mike – Five Miles Out (2/3) Rating
Oldfield, Mike – Return to Ommadawn (1/3)
Opeth - Ghost Reveries (1/1)
Opeth - Deliverance (1/3)
Opeth – Damnation (2/2)
Opeth - Pale Communion (2/3) Rating

(Alan) Parsons Project – Tales of Mystery and Imagination (3/3) Rating
(Alan) Parsons Project - Eye In The Sky (2/3) Rating
(Alan) Parsons Project - Ammonia Avenue (1/3) Rating
Pineapple Thief - Your Wilderness (2/3) Rating
Pineapple Thief – Where We Stood Concert (3/3)
Pineapple Thief – Dissolution (3/3) Rating
Pineapple Thief - Versions Of The Truth (2/4) Rating
Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother (1/3) Rating
Pink Floyd – Echoes Quad (2/2)
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon (3/4) Rating
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (3/3) Rating
Pink Floyd - Endless River (1/3) Rating

The Police - Every Breath You Take (3/2) Rating
Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun (2/3) Rating
Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream (2/3) Rating
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (3/3) Rating
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing (3/4)
Porcupine Tree – Arriving Somewhere... Concert (3/3)
Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet (3/3) Rating
Porcupine Tree – Anesthetize Concert (3/3)
Porcupine Tree – Nil Recurring (2/4) Rating
Pure Prairie League - Two Lane Highway (2/3)
Pure Prairie League - If The Shoe Fits (1/2)

Queen - A Night At The Opera (3/2) Rating
Queensryche - Tribe (2/3)

REM - Automatic For The People (2/3) Rating
REM - Green (2/2) Rating
REM - Out Of Time (2/3) Rating
REM - Monster (1/2) Rating
REM - Around The Sun (1/3)
Return to Forever - Musicmagic (1/3)
Riverside - Love, Fear and the Time Machine (2/3)
Riverside - Wasteland (2/3) Rating
Rolling Stones - Goat's Head Soup (3/2) Rating
Roxy Music - Avalon (3/4) Rating
Rundgren, Todd - Liars (3/2)
Rush – 2112 (2/2) Rating
Rush – Farewell to Kings 2015 Mix (2/2) Rating
Rush – Moving Pictures (2/2) Rating

Santana – s/t (3/3) Rating
Santana – Abraxas (Quad) (3/3) Rating
Santana, Carlos - Miles, Buddy - Live (1/2)
Shankar and Gingger – One in a Million (0/2)*
Simple Minds - Sparkle In The Rain (3/3) Rating
Squire, Chris - Fish Out Of Water (2/3)
Soord, Bruce - All This Will Be Yours (1/3) Rating
Steely Dan – Plush TV Jazz-Rock Party Concert (3/3)
Squackett - A Life In A Day (2/2)
Storm Corrosion - s/t (2/3)

Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food (2/3) Rating
Talking Heads – Fear of Music (3/3) Rating
Talking Heads – Remain In Light (3/3) Rating
Talking Heads – Speaking in Tongues (3/3) Rating
Talking Heads - Little Creatures (2/3) Rating
Talking Head – True Stories (2/3) Rating
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra (2/3) Rating
Tangerine Dream - Ricochet (2/2) Rating
Tears For Fears - Songs From The Big Chair (2/3) Rating
Tesseract - Polaris (2/3)
Tomita, Isao - Firebird (2/3) Rating
Townsend, Devin – Ocean Machine – Live Concert (2/2) Rating
Townsend, Devin - Empath (2/3) Rating

U2 – Under a Blood Red Sky Concert (3/2) Rating
U2 – Rattle and Hum Concert (2/3)

Wakeman, Rick - Six Wives Of Henry The Eighth (3/2) Rating
Waters, Roger – Amused to Death (2/4) Rating
Waters, Roger – Us + Them Concert (3/2)
Weather Report - Tale Spinnin' (1/3) Rating
Who - Quadrophenia (2/2) Rating
Who - Tommy (1/2) Rating
Wilson, Steven - The Raven That Refused To Sing (2/3) Rating
Wilson, Steven - Hand. Cannot. Erase. (2/3) Rating
Wilson, Steven - 4 1/2 (2/3) Rating
Wilson, Steven - To The Bone (2/3) Rating
Wishbone Ash - Bare Bones (2/2)

XTC - Drums And Wires (2/3) Rating
XTC - The Black Sea (3/3) Rating
XTC - Oranges and Lemons (1/3) Rating
XTC / Dukes of the Stratosphere – Psurroundabout Ride (2/4) Rating

YACHT - Chain Tripping (1/3)
Yello – Live in Berlin Concert (2/3) Rating
Yes - The Yes Album (3/3) Rating
Yes - Fragile (3/4) Rating
Yes - Close To The Edge (3/3) Rating
Yes – Tales From Topographic Oceans (3/4) Rating
Yes - Relayer (3/3) Rating
Young, Neil - Greendale (1/2)*

Zappa - Halloween (2/2) Rating
Zimmer, Hans – Live in Prague Concert (2/3) Rating

* I fiddled with the rating a bit When I put out my last list, I retroactively gave 4’s to about 10% of the discs I had already rated. There are few others I changed too.

Some of the older “ratings” done in 2019 are just off the cuff remarks. Also, note that I didn’t start giving out numerical ratings until I was few months into it, I’ve gotten more systematic as I’ve gone along, plus I have a new surround system that I’ve been using almost exclusively for surround reviews since early last February. After I run out of new things to do on this thread I may revisit some of those I did over a year ago. A lot of those are some a some really good discs that I didn’t spend a lot of time reviewing the first time around. I think I did over ten in one day once.

 

The Firstborn Is Dead

Studio album by
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Released 3 June 1985
Recorded November - December 1984
Genre Post-punk, blues rock
Length 40:37
Label Mute Records
Producer Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Flood

The Firstborn Is Dead is the second studio album released by the post-punk band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was first released in 1985. On this record, singer Nick Cave continued his fascination with the American South, with its references to Elvis Presley and bluesmen like Blind Lemon Jefferson. The photography is by Jutta Heinglein.

The album was recorded in the Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany. Cave later said of this album, "Berlin gave us the freedom and encouragement to do whatever we wanted. We'd lived in London for three years and it seemed that if you stuck your head out of the box, people were pretty quick to knock it back in. Particularly if you were Australian. When we came to Berlin it was the opposite. People saw us as some kind of force rather than a kind of whacky novelty act."[8]

The album's name is a reference to Jesse Garon Presley, the stillborn identical twin of Elvis Presley.[9]

The album was remastered and reissued on 27 April 2009 as a collector's edition CD/DVD set. The CD features the original 7-song vinyl LP's track listing, while "The Six Strings That Drew Blood" is featured as a bonus audio track on the accompanying DVD.

• Nick Cave – lead vocals, harmonica
• Blixa Bargeld - guitar, backing vocals, slide guitar, piano
• Barry Adamson - bass, backing vocals, guitar, organ, drums
• Mick Harvey – drums, backing vocals, guitar, organ, piano, bass

1. "Tupelo" – 7:17 (Adamson, Harvey)
2. "Say Goodbye to the Little Girl Tree" – 5:10 (Harvey)
3. "Train Long-Suffering" – 3:49 (Cave)
4. "Black Crow King" – 5:05 (Bargeld, Cave)
5. "Knockin' on Joe" – 7:38 (Cave)
6. "Wanted Man" – 5:27 (Bob Dylan)
7. "Blind Lemon Jefferson" – 6:10 (Adamson, Bargeld, Harvey, Cave)

• "Tupelo" is loosely based on the John Lee Hooker song of the same title, which is about a flood in Tupelo, Mississippi (Hooker's song appears on Original Seeds). Tupelo is the birthplace of Elvis Presley. Cave's song incorporates imagery of the birth of Elvis and the apocalypse at the second coming of Christ. However, the "Looky, Looky Yonder" motif that features in the song is derived from a song of the same name recorded by Lead Belly, usually found as part of a medley which Cave himself covered under the title "Black Betty" on his third album, Kicking Against the Pricks.
• "Wanted Man" evolved from a song composed by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. Cave was granted permission to alter the lyrics. Cave's lyrics include references to his friends, such as photographer Polly Borland.

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So far we have covered - The Good Son - Henry's Dream - Abattoir Blues/Lyre Of Orpheus - Dig Lazarus Dig.

This is the second Bad Seeds album, and it it heavily influenced by southern US blues. Of course being Cave and the Bad Seeds, they inevitably have their own twist on that style, and of course we are still fairly close to the Birthday Party years, so there is still a remnant of the, somewhat, harsh Birthday Party sound and feel, but this is probably a much more accessible album for most than the debut From Her To Eternity, which uses a lot of stylised noise type effects to project the vision it has. that isn't to say I don't like the debut, just that it is a more harsh in your face type album, and this album is a smoother, and less abrasive album.

Still available at UK Amazon for about 12 pounds https://www.amazon.co.uk/Firstborn-...orn+is+dead+dvd&qid=1568390104&s=music&sr=1-1
US Amazon from about $16 https://www.amazon.com/First-Born-Dead-NICK-SEEDS/dp/B001QW79DM
Discogs from about $7 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds* - The Firstborn Is Dead

5.1 mix Kevin Paul and Mick Harvey
Mastered by Simon Heyworth

A lot of these tracks have a cinematic, yet jam-like feel, and the surreal worlds that Cave and the band create are either going to really grab you, or leave you wondering what they were thinking. I personally really like them, although I do think the band got much better at projecting their music later on down the track.

Dts 96/24

Tupelo
We open with rain and thunder spread around us, and the relentless bass kicks on.
Stabs of drums come in up front and in the rear right.
The drums get nice coverage.
The vocal is in the centre channel, and the bvox in the front left and right.
Gtr left side towards the rear, and also right side towards the rear.
This mix works well, and it is effective.
The drums sound excellent.
We end in a burst of rain and thunder
Balanced and immersive.

Say Goodbye To the Little Girl Tree
Walking riff guitar up front.
Hats left rear.
Cymbal right rear.
A slow building track that has a riding dynamic.
Guitar left side.
Guitar right side.
A fairly sparse track that uses dynamics well.
The mix is very effective, balanced immersive mix.

Long Train-Suffering
This track is a sort of gospel track, with a grunting rock feel.
Guitars either side.
Main vocal, mainly center. Call and response style, with the response in the front stereo speakers.
Handclaps in the rears.
The music has the feel of a locomotive racing down the track.
Again nicely immersive and balanced.

Black Crow King
We have a pretty authentic sounding dirty and disturbed blues.
Vocals front. Bvox in the front stereo field.
Percussion right side towards rear and left rear.
Guitar left side.
Ambient keys across the middle towards the rears.
Immersive and balanced.

Knocking On Joe
Guitar right rear.
Piano front, into the left side.
Harmonica front.
A haunting kind of ballad-ish blues style song.
Percussive guitar effects left rear.
The guitars here are creating effects, and seem to float around slightly.
The mix is very effective.
Immersive and balanced. Really quite effective.
A wall of atmospheric sound left side, and piano moved to right side.
Unusual but very effective.

Wanted Man
We open with a piano up front.
Slide guitar left side.
We get an urgent, pulsing start, as the song comes together.
Organ inserts right side.
The song works as an ever rising dynamic aural assault, and is considerably different to any other version you've heard.
Personally I love this version. It is a pulsating, churning ball of energy, slowly moving into a frantic feel. Resolving with a drop in the assault.
Immersive and balanced.

Blind Lemon Jefferson
A keyboard atmosphere across the front, into the right side a little. Also a vibrating guitar fretboard note.
Harmonica in the right side towards the rear.
Subtle and distinct semi-blues type opening.
The chordal swell feeds into the rears.
Then we get a sort of funeral march drum pattern come in up front.
The bass comes in up front, and has a kind of definition quality to it.
A guitar and harmonica sort of intermingle, with feeds to the rears.
This track is all about the atmosphere.
Slide guitar on the left side.
Harmonica in a couple of spots.
Immersive and balanced, and somewhat eerie.

I guess like most Cave albums, this isn't for everyone, but I do think if you like blues music, it would be worth having a listen, particularly to Black Crow King, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Knocking On Joe. A lot of it is going to come down to whether you like Nick's voice, and the atmospheric type styling that the Bad Seeds have, but I do think it is worth giving it a try.
Personally I really like this album, and I think the mix brings it to life a little more in the surround, giving the cinematic and atmospheric style of the band a chance to breathe.
To some degree some folks may find a couple of the tracks a little long, but again, that is really going to come down to whether you enjoy the style of the band.

 

No More Shall We Part

Studio album by
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Released 2 April 2001
Recorded September and October 2000
Studio Abbey Road Studios and Westside Studios, London
Genre Alternative rock post-punk
Length 67:47
Language English
Label Mute
Producer Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Tony Cohen

No More Shall We Part is the eleventh studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 2 April 2001 in the UK (and 10 April in the US). The album came after a 4-year gap from recording, following the much acclaimed album The Boatman's Call. Cave had to overcome heavy heroin and alcohol addictions in 1999–2000 before starting work on the album. It was met with mostly positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a generally favourable score of 79, based on 18 reviews.[1]

The album showcases the virtuoso talents of the Bad Seeds, with elaborate instrumental sections on nearly every track. Additionally, Cave's lyrics are less obscure than usual, and he sings in a wider vocal range than he had previously, reaching alto on several tracks.

• Nick Cave – vocals, piano
• Mick Harvey – guitar, string arrangement, drums on track 1
• Blixa Bargeld – guitar
• Conway Savage – organ
• Warren Ellis – violin, string arrangement
• Martyn P. Casey – bass
• Thomas Wydler – drums
• All male backing vocals by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Guest musicians

• Jim Sclavunos – drums on track 4, percussion on track 5
• Kate & Anna McGarrigle – vocals
• Gavyn Wright, Patrick Kiernan, Jackie Shave, Simon Fischer, Rebecca Hirsch – violins
• Bruce White, Gustav Clarkson – violas
• Frank Schaefer, Lionel Handy, Naomi Wright – cellos
• Paul Morgan, Leon Bosch – basses

Production[edit]

• Produced by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Tony Cohen
• Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London and Westside Studios, London
• Engineered by Tony Cohen and Kevin Paul
• Assistant Engineers: Mirek Stiles (Abbey Road) and Mark Bishop (Westside)
• Mixed by Tony Cohen, Nick Cave, Blixa Bargeld and Mick Harvey at Westside Studios
• Mastered by Ray Staff at Whitfield Street, London

1. "As I Sat Sadly by Her Side" 6:15
2. "And No More Shall We Part" 4:00
3. "Hallelujah" Nick Cave, Warren Ellis 7:48
4. "Love Letter" 4:08
5. "Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow" 5:36
6. "God Is in the House" 5:44
7. "Oh My Lord" 7:30
8. "Sweetheart Come" Nick Cave, Barry Adamson 4:58
9. "The Sorrowful Wife" 5:18
10. "We Came Along This Road" 6:08
11. "Gates to the Garden" 4:09
12. "Darker with the Day" Nick Cave, Warren Ellis 6:07

• "Darker with the Day" utilises the chordal structure and melody of the rearranged piano version of "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry" (from Henry's Dream) performed by Cave in 2000.

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This is a great album, that many feel is somewhat of a part 2 to The Boatman's Call. I kind of see it as a progression on myself, and for me the centrepiece is the hypnotic Hallelujah, no, nothing to do with Leonard Cohen.

So Nick finally kicked the heroin and the alcohol, and was getting himself together after years of struggling, and I think for the most part we can see him come out of the haze somewhat. Funnily enough, the quality of his, and the bands work, didn't seem effected, and for me at least, the catalog is extremely strong from start to the current releases, and the ever searching style also keeps me interested. Although many found the album Ghosteen to be too mellow, or less musically interesting, or whatever it was supposed to be, I think it was further exploring the atmospheres of various styles, that the band were famous for. But here at the start of the twenty first century, the band were still in rock and ballad territory more familiar to older listeners.

Available from Uk Amazon from about 10 pounds https://www.amazon.co.uk/No-More-Sh...part+cd+and+dvd&qid=1568377864&s=music&sr=1-1
Available from Amazon US from about $17 https://www.amazon.com/No-More-Shall-We-Part/dp/B004KX5KQ2
Available on Discogs from about $12 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds* - No More Shall We Part


5.1 mix Kevin Paul and Mick Harvey
Mastering Simon Heyworth

Dts 96/24

As I Sat Sadly By Her Side
We open with a clean guitar, with a solid forward moving rhythm.
Piano comes in across the right side.
Strings come in, in the rears.
The drums roll a gentle kind of shuffle on the left side, with a nice hint of sub on the kick.
This song and mix unfolds really nicely.
The title suggests a slow ballad, but the song rolls along at a good gate.
Really nice sounding mix, immersive and balanced.

And No More Shall We Part
A naked vocal comes in across the front, with a piano coming in following.
The piano is across the middle.
Strings come in the rears and sides.
This is a delicate, slow ballad.
A much more sparse song, but the mix works very well, and is immersive and balanced.

Hallelujah
We open with Warren Ellis playing the violin theme in the front with effect feeds to the rears.
Piano right side.
Nice bass guitar with subtle sub assist up front.
Drums up front.
The violin sort of floats between the front and left rear.
We have a guitar with a subtle rhythmic feel also.
Bvox front and sides.
A beautifully atmospheric track.
We fades to the female vocal reciting the rhyme.
Nice mix again.

Love Letter
Piano front.
Strings rears.
The string arrangement develops and we get a really beautiful soundscape feel.
The drums come in for the bridge, and they are front an centre, giving the song a subtle momentum.
Really nice mix and arrangement.

15 Feet Of Pure White Snow
We get the vocal come in solo again, joined by a backing vocal.
We move into a growing beat, and the song shows to have a really good dynamic feel.
Guitars either side.
Piano across the middle.
Violin left rear.
Cymbals in rears.
Bvox in front of front.
A solid immersive mix, and with nice balance.

God Is In The House
Piano opens us up, sort of just in front of the front.
A touch of strings in the left rear.
Main vocal in front of the front.
A quirky track, that takes the form of a ballad, but has more to it than that.
Bvox in the sides.
Guitar right side.
Violin kind of in the middle of the room.
This is a Cave word play, and it is somewhat tongue in cheek.
Subtle but immersive.

Oh My Lord
Another vocal opening.
Piano across the middle.
A growing dynamic as drums come in up front, and the song takes on a march kind of feel.
Guitar right rear.
Cymbals rears.
We move into a dramatic instrumental section and Warren rolls out some violin.
The violin seems to be between front and left rear.
This is a brooding dynamic track that builds quite intensely.
Again nicely immersive and balanced, and quite a grippingly intense track.

Sweetheart Come
Again the vocal leads us in.
The piano again gets a full room kind of sound, which of itself gives us an immersion all its own.
Guitar right rear.
Violin again has a front to left rear position.
Again this works well.

The Sorrowful Wife
Vocal leads us in again and the piano comes in.
We have the same kind of field set up, and it works so why not.
Strings around us as well.
We punch in with guitars and full band.
Guitars either side.
Another nice mix and another immersive story dressed in musical clothes of fine fabric.

We Came Along This Road
Another somewhat epic track that moves between mellow and driven.
The dynamics and arrangements on here are a big draw for me.
Guitar left side, and right side.
Piano again across the middle.
Drums up front.
An urgent desperation drives this track along.
Some strings in the left rear.
Violin again floats between the front and left rear.
The arrangement builds well and each excursion into the instrumental section after the vocal builds in intensity and drama.
Really nice immersion and balance.
Ending gentley on piano and guitar.

Gates To The Garden
Piano again across the middle.
Vibrato guitar between front and right rear.
Gentle shuffling drums left side.
Organ left rear.
Again the way the music is arranged is a highlight.
Bvox left side.
Again really nice mix.

Darker Than The Day
Piano again fills the soundfield.
A very descriptive, narrative type lyric and vocal.
Bvox sides.
Nice arrangement of strings around us.
Guitar using rhythm accents, kind of in the middle of the room.
Again, nice work.

This is probably a much more accessible Cave album, unless you have an aversion to dynamic intense ballads. I think for a lot of people it will come down to whether you like his vocals or not. I also think that exposure to his vocal style will soften you toward s his music.
Also the thing that this band does better than probably any band I can immediately think of, is create an atmosphere that draws the listener in, even without a surround mix.
The mixes that Harvey and Paul are doing seem to reflect this also. With many not having instruments set in corners, but instruments blending through the middle and the sides and many subtle instruments that don't draw away from the main theme, but sit there, adding to the atmosphere, without drawing too much attention to themselves.
At the top there I said Hallelujah was the centrepiece to this album, but that is probably unfair, because there are so many highlights, and for all the ballad-like tracks here, there is a dynamic across the album and within the songs, that makes completely unlike listening to a Bryan Adams Love Song album (that isn't having a go at Bryan) ... I mean that in the sense that ballad seems to have been correlated with Love sOngs, and although they may well be, a ballad is actually a story song, and these are stories of varying intensity, often moving into areas of real power, created by the atmosphere that the band creates, and creates second to none.
Anyway, as I have said previously, these Cave mixes aren't Wilson or Scheiner, but they are very good, and they suit the style of the bad Seeds. The prices I am seeing these discs at currently, if you have any interest in Cave at all, it is worth giving them a try. there are fourteen Cave and The Seeds albums available in 5.1 dts 96/24, and for me they are all worth having.
The more accessible albums are probably The Good Son, Henry's Dream, Let Love In, Boatman's Call, No More Shall We Part and Abattoir Blues/Lyre Of Orpheus ... and they are probably all different enough to entertain those that like the style of the band ( not style as in genre, but style as in sense of delivery and atmosphere)...
Well that's about the best I can explain myself there

 

From Her to Eternity


Studio album by
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Released 18 June 1984
Recorded September–October 1983 and March 1984
Studio The Garden and Trident Studios, London, England
Genre Post-punk, experimental rock
Length 43:32
Label Mute
Producer Flood, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds[1]

From Her to Eternity is the debut studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 18 June 1984 on Mute. Produced by Flood and the band itself, the album's title is a pun on the James Jones novel, From Here to Eternity, and its subsequent 1953 film adaptation.

After the breakup of Nick Cave's former band The Birthday Party, Cave formed a new project with former band member Mick Harvey. Cave and Harvey were joined by a semi-fluid group of bandmates, initially including Einstürzende Neubauten member Blixa Bargeld on guitar, Hugo Race on guitar, and former Magazine member Barry Adamson on guitar, bass, and piano. After some studio work, the band's premiere public performance was held on New Year's Eve, 1983 in Melbourne, under the name "Nick Cave – Man Or Myth?", followed by a tour.[2] The band then briefly called themselves "Nick Cave and the Cavemen" before adopting the "Bad Seeds" moniker, in reference to the final Birthday Party release, The Bad Seed EP.

The majority of the album was recorded at Trident Studios in London in March 1984. "Saint Huck", "Wings off Flies" and "A Box for Black Paul" were recorded at The Garden studio (owned by John Foxx) between September and October 1983. J.G. Thirlwell, an early member of the group, co-wrote "Wings Off Flies" and made uncredited instrumental contributions to the album, but departed early in the recording sessions due to creative disagreements and to work on his own solo material.[3] The band is also seen playing a live performance of the title track in the 1987 Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire. This version, recorded at Hansa Studio, Berlin in February 1987, is included on CD reissues of the album.

Cave later said, "Well, I guess we weren't kicking people in the teeth anymore. I mean, it just became different. I wanted it to be more lyrically orientated and getting Blixa Bargeld from Einstürzende Neubauten in the group made an incredible difference. He's a completely kind of atmospheric guitarist and incredibly economical and it gave me room to breathe."[4]

• Nick Cave
• Barry Adamson
• Blixa Bargeld
• Mick Harvey
• Anita Lane
• Hugo Race
• J.G. Thirlwell (uncredited[3])

Technical personnel

• Flood – engineering
• Tim Tom – LP mastering

Design personnel

• Marina – front-cover photography
• Jessamy Calkin – back-cover photography

1. "Avalanche" Leonard Cohen Cohen 5:13
2. "Cabin Fever!" Cave Cave, Blixa Bargeld 6:11
3. "Well of Misery" 5:25
4. "From Her to Eternity" Cave, Anita Lane Cave, Bargeld, Hugo Race, Barry Adamson, Mick Harvey 5:33
5. "Saint Huck" 7:22
6. "Wings Off Flies" Cave, Peter Sutcliffe Cave, Jim Thirlwell 4:06
7. "A Box for Black Paul" 9:42
Total length: 43:32
--------------------------------------------------------
Yea so it is a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds couple of days here.

This is the debut album form the band and it is a raw, tormented swirl of music from the guys.
It is interesting in the way it carries over some of the aggression (musically) of the Birthday Party, but we also see the glimmer of what was to come from The Bad Seeds. The Atmospheres, and experiments with arrangements start here and it is going to really suit some people, and really not suit others. This is almost certainly the least accessible album they released, but it still contains a lot of stuff worth giving a try. It is more alternative than most of the stuff that was being referred to as alternative in 1983, and at the very least the title track remains a classic.

5.1 mix KevinPaul and Mick Harvey
Mastering Simon Heyworth

Available on Amazon from about $15 https://www.amazon.com/Her-Eternity-2-CD/dp/B001TIQTFC
Discogs from about $8 Nick Cave Featuring The Bad Seeds* - From Her To Eternity

Dts 96/24

Avalanche
From the very start we get the atmospheric layers that the band made their own.
Guitar on the right.
Vocals across the front.
Organ left side.
Aggressive drum fill accents mainly front.
Cave's vocal is a tortured performance, as much acting the lyrics, as singing them.
Blixa adds his guitar sfx.
Immersive and ballanced

Cabin Fever
This is more leaning towards the Birthday party.
Piano left side.
Guitar right side.
Bass pumping up the front.
An exercise in anti-social, but when one takes into account the subject matter, it reflects the madness of the protagonist.
Guitar effects left side also.
This is an assault from all corners.
The guitars hack, alternating sides as the protagonist descends into madness.
Very effective, but not necessarily easily digestible for some folks.
Excellent immersion and balance.

Well Of Misery
Grunts and moans, and then a striking blow of percussion right side towards the middle of the room.
Nice smooth bass in the front.
Main vocal front.
Bvox either side.
Like a pained gospel song, immersed in madness.
Marimba? Is from the front to the right.
Immersive and balanced.

From Her To Eternity
Piano front.
Bass front.
Vocal front.
Organ blasts left side.
Guitar smashes and scrapes around the place.
The intermittent melody dances across the field.
A sonic nightmare unfolds around us, but it is do very effective.
The mix here is excellent and disturbing.
Immersive and impactful.

Saint Huck
A piano strike from left side to front.
A pulsing bass front.
Intermittent drums.
Cave starts reciting his story.
Guitar stabs on the right.
Cymbals left side.
The soundtrack unfolds like soundtrack nightmare around us.
Again we get this aggressive soundscape surrounding us and it is very effective, and terminally disturbed.
A lot of noisy interjections lead us through this disturbing river tale.

Wings Of Flies
We get a sort of gospel styling mixed with blues.
Guitar left side
Guitar right side.
Percussion elements around us.
Bass up front, nice low end, with some sub assist.
Again very immersive, musically balanced, psychologically unbalanced.

A Box For Black Paul
Piano left side. Also right side I think.
We settle down here a bit, and enter a mournful tale.
Guitar effects either side.
Little delay effects, subtly move around.
Like a nightmare mournfully rolling around us.
Immersive, unusual and interesting.

This album is just not for everyone. Like a heroin nightmare, full of abrasive sounds attacking from all angles. Dark lyrics and dark moods that unsettle rather than assure. Even still though, we hear the uncanny ability of the band to create a cinematic horror show around us.
I think the mix is very effective.
This is an album that probably isn't going to get played every week, by many, but it is certainly something a little different. It is unlike any of the Seeds following albums, and seems to be an experiment in what they can do with a rhythm and an atmosphere. Cave howling, moaning and speaking like a demented preacher in the middle of a nervous breakdown.
If nothing else, this is an interesting album, and the mix works really well for those brave enough to venture into the album.

 

Being a Nick Cave fan I give an automatic (implicit) like to all your NC reviews, @mark winstanley but I can't play along just now: looking forward to participating!

[Edited to scratch out a question that I have now answered for myself].

 

Tusk


Studio album by
Fleetwood Mac
Released 12 October 1979
Recorded 1978–79
Studio The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California, Lindsey Buckingham's home
Genre Pop rock[1] avant-pop[2]
Length 74:25
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Fleetwood Mac Richard Dashut Ken Caillat

Tusk is the twelfth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released as a double album on 12 October 1979.[3] It is considered more experimental than their previous albums: partly a consequence of Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of post-punk.[4] The production costs were estimated to be over $1 million (equivalent to $3.52 million in 2019), making it the most expensive rock album recorded to that date.[5]

The band embarked on a nine-month tour to promote Tusk. They travelled extensively across the world, including the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. In Germany, they shared the bill with Bob Marley. On this world tour, the band recorded music for the Fleetwood Mac Live album released in 1980.[6]

Compared to 1977's Rumours, which sold 10 million copies by February 1978, Tusk was regarded as a commercial failure by the label, selling four million copies. In 2013, NME ranked Tusk at number 445 in their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[7] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[8] In 2000 it was voted number 853 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[9]

Going into Tusk, Lindsey Buckingham was adamant about creating an album that sounded nothing like Rumours: "For me, being sort of the culprit behind that particular album, it was done in a way to undermine just sort of following the formula of doing Rumours 2 and Rumours 3, which is kind of the business model Warner Bros. would have liked us to follow."[10] Mick Fleetwood decided early on that Tusk was to be a double album. After their label turned down Fleetwood's offer of buying a new studio to make the record, the band used some of their royalties to construct their own Studio D.[11]

Even with the custom studio, Warner Brothers still charged the band for the recording sessions. Production costs rose beyond a million dollars, far more than Rumours. Regarding the album's production costs, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham stated: "During the making of Tusk, we were in the studio for about 10 months and we got 20 songs out of it. Rumours took the same amount of time. It (Rumours) didn't cost so much because we were in a cheaper studio. There's no denying what it cost, but I think it's been taken out of context."[12]

After the studio was built, Buckingham queried Fleetwood about recording some songs at his home studio. Fleetwood acquiesced, but told Buckingham that the other members needed to be integrated at some point. Most of Buckingham's demos were augmented with contributions from other members. Fleetwood overdubbed his drums over Buckingham's snare-drum track, which he sometimes played on a Kleenex box.[13] Despite this, three tracks were recorded solely by Buckingham: "The Ledge", "Save Me a Place", and "That's Enough For Me".[14] Producer Ken Caillat commented on Buckingham's obsessive nature in the studio: "He was a maniac. The first day, I set the studio up as usual. Then he said, 'Turn every knob 180 degrees from where it is now and see what happens.' He'd tape microphones to the studio floor and get into a sort of push-up position to sing. Early on, he came in and he'd freaked out in the shower and cut off all his hair with nail scissors. He was stressed."[15]

I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when Warner Bros. put that on in their boardroom and listened to it for the first time.[16]
—Lindsey Buckingham

Buckingham – infatuated with bands such as Talking Heads – was "desperate to make Mac relevant to a post-punk world", according to music journalist Bob Stanley, who commented that, compared to Rumours, Tusk was "unleavened weirdness, as close to its predecessor as the Beach Boys' lo-fi Smiley Smile had been to Pet Sounds. Much of it sounded clattery, half-formed, with strange rhythmic leaps and offbeat tics."[17] Journalist Adam Webb described the Tusk recording sessions as a "cocaine blizzard" from which Christine McVie's then-boyfriend, Beach Boy drummer Dennis Wilson, "never really came out."[18] Music historian Domenic Priore claimed that, for research purposes during the album's recording, Buckingham accessed the master tapes for the Beach Boys' unreleased album Smile, and that the tracks "That's All For Everyone" and "Beautiful Child" most strongly exemplify its influence.[19]

Bassist John McVie commented that the album "sounds like the work of three solo artists", while Fleetwood said it was his second favourite Fleetwood Mac studio album behind Then Play On.[20] "You got that sweetness [from Nicks and McVie] and me as the complete nutcase," Buckingham observed. "That's what makes us Fleetwood Mac."[21]

• Lindsey Buckingham – vocals, guitars, bass guitar,[43] keyboards,[44] drums,[43] percussion[45]
• Stevie Nicks – vocals
• Christine McVie – vocals, keyboards, piano, organ
• John McVie – bass guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Peter Green – guitar (on "Brown Eyes")
• USC Trojan Marching Band – horns and percussion (on "Tusk")

Production and design

• Fleetwood Mac – producers
• Richard Dashut – producer, engineer
• Ken Caillat – producer, engineer, remastering
• Rich Feldman – assistant engineer
• Hernan Rojas – assistant engineer
• Ken Perry – mastering
• Peter Beard – photography
• Jayme Odgers – photography
• Norman Seeff – photography
• Vigon Nahas Vigon – art direction, design

1. "Over & Over" Christine McVie C. McVie 4:34
2. "The Ledge" Lindsey Buckingham Buckingham 2:08
3. "Think About Me" C. McVie C. McVie 2:44
4. "Save Me a Place" Buckingham Buckingham 2:42
5. "Sara" (Edited to 4:39 on earlier CD pressings) Stevie Nicks Nicks 6:22
6. "What Makes You Think You're the One" Buckingham Buckingham 3:32
7. "Storms" Nicks Nicks 5:31
8. "That's All for Everyone" Buckingham Buckingham 3:03
9. "Not That Funny" (CD mix differs from original LP version) Buckingham Buckingham 3:11
10. "Sisters of the Moon" Nicks Nicks 4:42
11. "Angel" Nicks Nicks 4:54
12. "That's Enough for Me" Buckingham Buckingham 1:50
13. "Brown Eyes" C. McVie C. McVie 4:27
14. "Never Make Me Cry" C. McVie C. McVie 2:18
15. "I Know I'm Not Wrong" (CD mix differs from original LP version) Buckingham Buckingham 3:05
16. "Honey Hi" C. McVie C. McVie 2:41
17. "Beautiful Child" Nicks Nicks 5:21
18. "Walk a Thin Line" Buckingham Buckingham 3:46
19. "Tusk" Buckingham Buckingham 3:37
20. "Never Forget" C. McVie C. McVie 3:34

Weekly charts

Chart (1979/80) Position
Australian Kent Music Report[46] 2
Austrian Albums Chart[47] 4
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[48] 11
Dutch Albums Chart[49] 3
French SNEP Albums Chart[50] 3
Japanese Oricon LPs Chart[51] 27
New Zealand Albums Chart[52] 1
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[53] 6
Spanish Albums Chart[54] 18
Swedish Albums Chart[55] 8
UK Albums Chart[56] 1
US Billboard 200[57] 4
West German Media Control Albums Chart[58] 3


Year-end charts

Chart (1979) Position
Australian Albums Chart[46] 35
Canadian Albums Chart[59] 69
French Albums Chart[60] 62

Chart (1980) Position
Australian Albums Chart[46] 17
Canadian Albums Chart[61] 70
Dutch Albums Chart[62] 65
US Billboard Pop Albums[63] 20
------------------------------------------------------------------
So far we have looked at - Fleetwood Mac (1975) - Rumours - Mirage - Say You Will.

Tusk is an album that it seems as much legend surrounds the making of it, as the music on it.
Stories of the wild cocaine consumption. Stories about the cost. Stories about how avant garde it was/is, when really it is just a little quirky and left of centre.
Certainly this is not the album the the mainstream wanted Fleetwood Mac to release, and that's why Buckingham put all his energies into making it what it is. I reckon that is a likely contributor to the stress mentioned above, because once you have made it, and there was no doubt by this stage that Fleetwood Mac had made it. With the History of the two prior line ups, and this line ups debut, and the subsequent legendary Rumours, by the time the band were recording this album they were superstars. It is really very sad that there has been so much personal turmoil in the last decade or so, and it generally hasn't been as productive as the turmoil that led them to create the albums they did in the mid to late seventies.
Sure you will always get folks that love Peter Green's version of the band (and I do) and there are those that love the Bob Welch version of the band (and I do) but what this line up had, was a very delicate once in a lifetime chemistry, where in spite of all the personal relationship issues, of which there were many, and very big issues, they managed to distill that down into some of the finest pop/rock ever made.

I do actually really like this album, and the reports of it not really doing very well are a little ludicrous, sure it didn't outsell Rumours, but few albums have, and even if the band hadn't changed tack, the chances of them outselling Rumours were extreme, to say the least. If they had just made Rumours part two, there is a very large chance that they would now be another seventies band with a huge album that few people know that much about, and we would have missed out on some great music.

This album was scheduled and prepared for release on dvd audio, not too long after the Rumours dvd audio was released .... but as most of us know the Sony and Warner brothers war, that was a major contributor to stalling the entire idea of surround sound in the modern age, had left both companies pulling discs for release to sit in the vaults .... Until the idea of Deluxe anniversary Remasters and big boxes became fashion..... and then Warner pulled the Tusk 5.1 out of the archives, slapped it on a dvd and baited us with it, in a box with the album on a double record, a cd, and a music only dvd, because we all needed three different formats in one box .... I was really annoyed at the time, because I had been waiting for it, for about ten years, and now I had to buy all this other stuff .... man the record industry annoys me ....

The box set is pretty interesting for the big fan, because aside from the three version of the album (smh) we also got a cd crammed full of outtakes, single mixes and session stuff. A cd that was an alternate version of the album, I assume using earlier version of songs and such. We also got a composite live album from the Tusk tour that covered 2cd's
Tusk Tour Live (Part 1)
CD4-01 Intro (Wembley 6/26/80) 1:10
CD4-02 Say You Love Me (Wembley 6/26/80) 4:08
CD4-03 The Chain (Wembley 6/20/80) 7:57
CD4-04 Don´t Stop (Wembley 6/27/80) 3:56
CD4-05 Dreams (Wembley 6/20/80) 4:14
CD4-06 Oh Well (Wembley 6/20/80) 3:33
CD4-07 Rhiannon (Tuscon 8/28/80) 9:20
CD4-08 Over & Over (St.Louis 11/5/79) 5:13
CD4-09 Thats Enough For Me (Wembley 6/21/80) 2:38
CD4-10 Sara (Wembley 8/28/80) 8:17
CD4-11 Not That Funny (St. Louis 11/5/79) 4:05
CD4-12 Tusk (St. Louis 11/5/79) 5:30
Tusk Tour Live (Part 2)
CD5-01 Save Me A Place (St.Louis 11/5/79) 2:59
CD5-02 Landslide (Omaha 8/21/80) 4:42
CD5-03 What Makes You Think You're The One (St Louis 11/5/79) 4:17
CD5-04 Angel (St. Louis 11/5/79) 5:14
CD5-05 You Make Loving Fun (Wembley 6/20/80) 4:38
CD5-06 I'm So Afraid (St. Louis 11/5/79) 7:55
CD5-07 World Turning (Wembley 6/22/80) 12:30
CD5-08 Go Your Own Way (Wembley 6/22/80) 9:23
CD5-09 Sisters Of The Moon (Wembley 6/22/80) 7:51
CD5-10 Songbird (Wembley 6/27/80) 4:13
So really for the eighty or a hundred bucks it cost at the time, it wasn't that bad a deal at all... I still would have preferred to just have the album on a dvd audio in hi res surround though ... I'm just like that, and buy most of these box sets, somewhat begrudgingly so I can get the surround album I want.... and I am sure the record companies know this too....

Quite understandably many compare Tusk to the Beatles White Album, due to its somewhat schizophrenic styling and sprawling nature, and that's not a bad call, because part of the appeal of both albums to me is that very same personality and sprawling nature. The New Wave bits, the somewhat Post Punk bits, and the beautiful pop and rock blending make it like a buffet table of music, and I think they did a good job of putting it together.

Anyway.

5.1 mix, production and engineer Ken Caillat
Mastering Steve Hall

On discogs for about $200 Fleetwood Mac - Tusk (CD, US, 2015) For Sale | Discogs
There is one for $10, but please note: it says it is just the record in a plastic sleeve, no box or other discs ... that must have been one hell of a party ....
Amazon is even worse with one copy for $389 https://www.amazon.com/Tusk-Deluxe-5CD-1DVD-2LP/dp/B0178JP1FY
One in Canada for $800+ CDN https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0...=B0178JP1FY&linkCode=as2&tag=superdeluxe01-20
One on ebay fro about $300 Fleetwood Mac - Tusk - 5 CDs / 2 LPs / 1 DVD Box Set - NEW - Sealed 81227950859 | eBay

This is something to take into account if you really like an album and it is released in one of these box sets. I was annoyed at paying $90 at the time (I just checked what I paid) and the very best I can expect now, just five years later is more than twice that, for a secondhand copy.... I certainly understand the wish to not spend so much, but we all have to set our priorities, and sometimes budgets just won't allow a purchase.... I know I have missed out on a lot of things I would have liked in recent years ... but at the end of the day, if it is an album you really want in surround, and money isn't the biggest issue at the time, it is probably better to bite the bullet, than stare down the barrel of insane after market mark up.

Dts 96/24

For the record, I am not sure if I have ever given this a truly fair hearing. I was so disconcerted about the box set at the time, that I put it on in a bad frame of mind, and dismissed it as a waste of money .... this is one of those discs that starts instantly, so while I was finding the page on my phone to type this out, I was struck but how beautiful and clean this sounds, and without me being properly set up, the mix sounds beautiful too.
This may seem like an odd opening track, but i get the feeling it was designed to lead the Rumours lover into the album with less shock. Anyway, here we go....

Over And Over
Solid bass up front, with nice sub assist, also on the kick.
Drums up front.
Guitar left side, keys right side.
Bvox sides, towards rears.
This really sounds good.
Beautiful mix, the levels are perfect.
The immersion is very nice.

This is a mix to sit a little forward for, to fully appreciate.

The Ledge
Percussion either side. Snare front right and rear right.
This is such a cool and goofy track. The detuned guitars are really so cool.
Guitar right side.
Vocals in various spots
Good mix, nice immersion

Think About Me
Guitar right rear.
Drums and bass sound great, and are up front.
Keys front left.
Kick snare and bass in centre, vocals in stereo fronts.
Bvox all round us.
Nice mix, immersive and balanced

Save Me A Place
Drums somewhat towards the right rear, but towards middle of the room.
Mandolin? Front right.
Shaker left rear.
Guitars either side.
This sound beautiful, balanced immersive.

Sara
Keys either side.
Guitar right rear.
Guitar left rear.
The drums and bass again, just sound beautiful.
A great choice of reverb on Stevie's vocal. It emanates from the front and feeds the rears.
We get added percussion in the sides towards the rears, that really accentuate the feels of the beat.
Bvox all round.
This is a lush sounding surround mix, and there is much more going oh here than a listen on the radio would suggest.
I know folks like to make fun of Stevie these days... goat woman, and all that, but she was an extremely good songwriter, and emotive singer.... I am loathe to bag someone, because the trappings of fame damaged them.
This is a stunning mix, and the atmosphere dances around us beautifully.

What Makes You think You're The One
Snare front left. Piano slides from left rear to front.
Piano bounces up front, and left rear.
Guitar comes on right rear and front left.
Again percussion added around the field.
Another quirky Buckingham track, and vocal. He seems such an under-appreciated musician in many ways.
Another terribly effective mix.
This is pretty stunning in its own way.
Dancing guitars all round and a quirky ending.

Storms
Slow fade up.
Guitar left rear. Guitar front right.
Keys front left.
Lead licks left side.
Keys right side.
A beautiful atmosphere here.
Again a perfect reverb for Stevie's vocal, really effective.
The layering, spreads around us, and different little things capture the attention without taking the focus off the whole. Caillat has done a great job with this.
Bvox rears.
Silk sheets for the ears here.

That's All For Everyone
Hats right rear.
Senate with delay front.
Volume swell guitars in the rear.
Solid sub assisted kick.
Again we have this wonderful unfolding of the layers around us, and yet it blends beautifully to make the sum greater than the parts.
A few subtle movement tricks.
Some vocal swells all around.
A dreamlike track, that manages to be gentle and quirky all at the same time.
Immersive balanced and lovely.

Not That Funny
I never appreciated this song til I heard it live.
Weird noise left rear.
Mandolin right rear.
Lead guitar left side.
Drums and bass up front.
Another mandolin left side.
Percussion added in various channels.
Guitar right side.
Vocals across the front.
Bvox rears
Simply another excellent mix.
A swell of madness with guitars all round.
Excellent.

Sisters Of The Moon
Kick with sub front and centre.
Keys left side.
Guitar right side.
Guitar left side.
A slow build, that works nicely.
As somebody said in @Parachute Woman 's recent Tusk album thread, Lindsay really did wonders arranging Stevie's songs. To me they are both slightly lesser without each other.
A dynamic song, with an immersive dynamic mix. Excellent.

Angel
The drums seem to sit in front of the front a little. Percussion left rear.
Bvox all round.
Keys front left guitar front right.
Guitar right side.
Guitar left side.
Again the balance is excellent.
Nice immersive mix

That's enough for Me
Guitar front left.
Guitar front right.
Fast two beat drums front.
Guitars either side rears.
I love this track, like a speed fuelled hillbilly rave up or something.
Short sweet and satisfying.

Brown eyes
Keys left front.
Rim shot kind of to the right near the centre of the room.
Christine's vocal layered beautifully all round us.
Volume swell guitar right rear.
The voices all around are quite stunning.
Keys left rear.
Volume swell lead guitar front right.
The drums are somewhat on the right.
Again this mix works beautifully. A little unorthodox, but extremely effective.
Great stuff.

Never Make Me Cry
Guitar right side.
Cymbals left side.
Guitar left side.
Solid bass with good sub assist.
Piano across the middle.
Another lush, beautiful song, and mix to match.
Great immersion and balance. Beautiful.

I Know I'm Not Wrong
Guitars either side rears.
Staccato guitar right rear.
Drums sort of middle of the room.
Really interesting vocal effect in the refrain? Sort of coming from everywhere.
Harmonica? Left side.
Bvox rears.
Another candy box for the ears here.
More of Lindsay's quirky brilliance, and we get some vocal channel sliding just for fun, and to great effect.
Lead guitar front right.
Immersive, balanced and brilliant.

Honey Hi
The song sort of spreads from the front left.
The pulsing is front left with the acoustic guitar and bass, and percussion comes in from both rears. Acoustic guitar right side towards rear. More percussion right side.
Bvox all round.
This is wonderful.
It started in the front left and slowly filled the channels and moved to the centre and just erupts all around us
Wonderful balance, fantastic immersive mix.

Beautiful Child
Keys and guitar left side.
Guitar right side.
Bass and drums come in with nice sub assist up front.
Bvox sides and rears.
This song sort of builds with intensity, and the elements on the mix raise to drive this.
Again we get a balanced immersive mix.
Some truly beautiful moments again.

Walk A thin Line
Piano right side.
Drums in the rears?
Solid bass up front with sub assist.
Guitar right rear.
Bvox all around.
Another inspired mix.

Tusk
The big one, what do we get here.
Ambience builds up around us.
The drums come in up front with ambience and sends to rears.
Guitar left rear.
Vocals all round.
When it kicks in we have drums in the left and right rears also.
Distorted guitar right rear.
Horns and flutes across the middle of the field towards the rears.
Then the crazy drum break all round.
Ambient people noises coming in at different spots.
One would have expected this to be an aural delight, and it lives up to the expectations, perhaps beats them for some folks.

Never Forget
Another swell in.
Acoustic left side.
Elec guitar left rear.
Percussion right side.
Keys right rear.
Bvox right side.
Slide guitar just right of front right.
Organ up front.
Again we get layers building up, and although at first I wasn't sure about it, it builds beautifully and creates it's own balance, with another really nice immersive mix.

Well I have always said that I like this mix, but having a closer listen it is much better than I have really ever acknowledged.
The Mac, Dashut and Caillat did a wonderful job of the production and Caillat's mix here is really wonderful. I think this sits up with some of those great mixes that we talk about to be honest.
When I saw the price the set goes for now, I was really hoping I could say this is average and not worth getting.... but I would be lying. I honestly don't know if it is worth $200+ to you personally, and at that price I would be daunted ... I mean hugely daunted, but particularly if any of the other material is of interest, it is probably worth it. If this is your favourite album of all time, and you really love surround, it is probably worth it. If you love surround and $200 isn't going to send you to the poor house, and you won't be annoyed about spending the money, it is probably worth it.
I really don't want to encourage anyone to go out and spend $200+ on anything, but if the Stones Goat's Head Soup box was worth $140 or $150 or whatever it was, then this is worth $200.
This is a really difficult one, because I think the mix is wonderful, the disc sounds beautiful, and I seriously think folks will enjoy this.
Damn these limited releases

 

I really enjoyed reading that, @mark winstanley! I've never heard any 5.1 mixes (I do not have the set-up for it) but the regular mix of Tusk is one of my favorite album mixes ever. I think it is a perfectly produced record. One of the many reasons it is one of my favorite albums ever made. I've never heard it described as avant garde. It's not that radical. Just unusual in the context of being the follow-up to Rumours. It's really just supremely great pop music from three writers at the top of their respective games!

I've got the deluxe CD box with the Alternate Tusk and outtakes, plus I've heard the live show on Spotify. All great stuff and well-worth hearing. The version of 'Brown Eyes' with more Peter Green on it is sublime, as is the alternate version of 'Storms' with just Lindsey on guitar as the backing bed for Stevie.

 

I never seem to get around to the bonus discs lol .... perhaps when I retire

 

I ended up ordering Brilliant Trees, Secrets Of the Beehive and Tin Drum.... oddly I only currently have Exorcising Ghosts... They must have been part of my pre-immigration purge. Looking forward to giving the solo albums a listen and revisiting the Tin Drum.

 

Tusk is my favourite surround disc (all formats). The mix and mastering are stellar and worth playing regularly on non Sundays .
I grew to really love the album by playing it front to back while working from home (during tedious computer tasks).
It also sounds terrific when you're outside of the speaker circle.

 

What I wouldn't give to hear Secrets of the Beehive again for the first time!

 

Okay, Nick Cave: The Firstborn Is Dead. Cave has fans who simply adulate him so, in that company, I can't even claim to be a fan. Nevertheless, I'm one of the bigger Cave boosters on SHF and I picked up all the surround mixes. Going in, though, I have to out up the warning that I've never much valued the surround dimension on these: for me, Nicks's always seemed pretty much equally good in stereo. We'll see. Not that it matters but I think that the B&W cover image is great, especially as a contrast to From Her To Eternity.

“Tupelo” is a very deliberate and premeditated epic, as well as being the song from this album that is, I think, most likely to appear in the live set to this day. The surround channels are fully utilised (the meters are pretty much equally high for the five channels throughout the song) but there is very little specific channeling here: guitar (as so often in this mix) in the rears since it's an adornment here rather than a lead instrument. A second guitar rear-right during the “sandman” section.

“Say Goodbye To The Little Girl Tree” again has additional guitars in the rears but the effect is subtle. “Train Long-Suffering” does something similar with the backing vocals; its more saturated soundfield benefits more from the wraparound mixing.

“Black Crow King” has an arresting start whether in stereo or surround: Cave's lugubrious vocals with spectral guitar and a vocal group. I generally complain about the reverb on these remixes, but here it works well with the clear sense of different musicians being at a different distance from the listener. It's odd on such an apparently lo-fi album to hear so much care in the mixing. Good.

“Knockin’ On Joe” is the bluesiest song yet on a bluesy album: Cave's voice sounds ragged and slightly hesitant/underrehearsed. Guitars rear left & right. Not wild about this one, and it drags.

“Wanted Man” is the sole upbeat track on the album, but the driving piano chords and drumming is mixed low for the first part of the song, enabling the cymbal crashes to come as a shock, backed up by the second(?) drum kit entering. Again, when the Hammond organ comes in with squalling notes the effect of the mix works well, and once more when the harmonica comes in rear left. Interesting mix but not the most satisfying of songs.

“Blind Lemon Jefferson” opens with very close mic’d vocals and a deeply ominous atmosphere. This song will, I suspect, divide the Cave faithful from the non-believers: it's largely improvised with almost an avant garde feel. “The Six Strings That Drew Blood” wasn't on the original album but it fits very well with it and is a nice little extra, with guitars again rear left & right and a highly improvised feel.

The videos only have a stereo soundtrack, which is a shame, but it's unlikely you'll be revisiting them anyway as they have not aged well.

I don't hugely care for this album; it's not one that I would normally reach for (although certainly there are worse in the Bad Seeds catalogue!). I can't see why anyone would need to own it in surround unless they were already on board with Nick Cave, but you pay virtually no premium to get the surround mixes in this series and the documentary on the DVD is superb.

 

Follow



Studio Album by Travis and Fripp
Released October 16, 2012
Recorded April 2010 to June 2011 except Frippertronics on 1979 recorded July 1979
Recorded at: DGM Soundworld, Wiltshire; Koolworld, Luton; four other studios; and on location in UK and Spain
Genre Ambient, Electronic
Label Panegyric
Producer Theo Travis

Follow is the third collaboration between Theo Travis and Robert Fripp. It was produced, for the first time, with surround sound in mind—thanks to engineer Steven Wilson's involvement, "Follow" has plenty of the trance-inducing loop driven hypnotics that made their first two duo releases so captivating.

Personnel
Theo Travis – Flute, Alto Flute, Bass Flute, Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Alto Clarinet
Robert Fripp – Electric Guitar, Sounds [Soundscapes, Frippertronics]

Track listing
1. Soaring And Gliding 8:54
2. Dark Clouds 7:14
3. When The Rains Fall 10:04
4. Hear Our Voices 2:50
5. 1979 7:45
6. Open Land 6:17
7. Return To Saturn 6:50
8. Rotary Symmetrical 4:18
9. So There 4:24

Bonus Tracks:
10. Forgotten Days 3:22
11. Vivid 17 7:44
12. 1979 (Alternative Edit) 8:52
------------------------------------------------------
The surround mix comes on a two disc set with a DVDA. I think this is it new: Amazon. Also: Discogs

Surround Mix by Steven Wilson

“Soaring And Gliding”
Opens with brief soundscape in surround. Then flute in front and some chimes in the rear (there’s no percussion listed in the credits, but that’s what this seems to be). Anyway, the chimes give way to a soundscape in the rear. About two minutes in, the flute stop, and bass soundscape comes on in front that is accompanied by a soundscape in surround. However, the subwoofers don’t come on, so either its just low midrange or maybe there is no LFE channel in this mix. Then a third soundscape, also in surround I think, also comes in. This is sounding a lot like Eno’s Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks – and that’s a high compliment. At three and a half minutes the bass soundscape in gone and the flute comes back in the center channel. At four and a half minutes a little guitar in front. At five and a half minutes the flute is gone and we get sax in the rear, still with guitar in front and a couple of soundscapes. In the last minute the guitar stops, then the soundscapes stop, and the sax is the last to go.

“Dark Clouds”
Starts with soundscapes front and back, the bassier one is in front. A minute and a half in a woodwind joins in front – the bass flute perhaps. Just before the three minute mark guitar crops up briefly and then the flute gets more prominent – and soundscaping and flute continues for four more minutes.

“When The Rains Fall”
Starts out in front with a soundscape and then flute in the center. Then a second higher pitched flute right rear and guitar left rear. At a minute and half in the sounds in the rear rear get supplanted with a deep soundscape. Second brighter soundscape in surround kicks in at about two and a half minutes. The surroundscape gets louder and starts to drown everything else out. At around eight minutes, with all the other stuff still going, guitar comes in front. Then it gradually shuts down, the flute is the last to go.

“Hear Our Voices”
Starts with woodwinds (flutes I think) front and back. Third woodwind (clarinet I think) comes in center channel after about a minute. This short one is all Travis.

“1979”
Starts with soundscape in rear. About a minute a different soundscape appears in surround, then flute in front, and guitar in the rear. Second bass flute comes in front too. There’s a minute or two with just flues and guitar, but after four minutes the soundscape comes back. The guitar in the back comes and goes. Six and half minutes a surroundscape starts to take over and then it gradually fades away.

“Open Land”
It’s all surroundscape until a flute comes in front after a minute and a half, then sax in rear. Sax in front after four minutes, then in the rear again a minute later, and then back in front.

“Return To Saturn”
Starts with another Apolloesque surroundscape; there’s some woodwinds in there both front and back. Guitar in front briefly a minute and a half in. That’s pretty much it – Fripp has his soundscapes and Travis his, and they’ve been put together in surround. Oh, the subwoofers come alive for the first time on this one.

“Rotary Symmetrical”
Starts with sci-fi sound effects first in front then in back. Sax comes in front next. Then at a minute and half we get another sax in front and guitar in the rear. Then guitar in front – and the guitars have replaced the sci-fi. Or perhaps I should say it turns out that the rear effects were guitar are along. Getting into the fourth minute, the guitar in front goes full Crimson. But after it’s first foray, it pops into the rear to be replaced in front by sax. Pretty astounding last minute – kinda broke out of ambient (genre) mode there.

“So There”
Drums in front, a little percussion in the rear – yes I know the credits don’t say anything about that. Then Crimsoneque guitar in front and sax in the center -the percussion in back hangs on for a while but the drums go away. Then a bass sax in the rear – a round of guitar in front sax following in the rear. Then they start playing in unison and it’s not very ambient genre sounding at all. More alto sax in front to along with the guitar in front and bass sax in the rear. After two and a half minutes the guitar in front goes up a register and the saxes stop, soundscape in rear comes in. But that doesn’t last, guitar and saxes come back and BTW the subwoofers are on.

There are three bonus tracks, the last of which is a different mix of “1979”. But it’s clear that the album was meant to end here with the furious finale.
__________
Definitely one of the better ambient titles on my shelf. Not up there with the classics from Brian Eno or Harold Budd, but this one has surround. The first track and the last two or three (on the main album) are the highlights. The stuff in between is very nice too, but not as interesting. The mostly discrete surround is very good too – definitely the way to hear it. (2/3)

 

Nonsuch


Studio album by
XTC
Released 27 April 1992
Recorded July – October 1991
Studio Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Oxfordshire, England
Genre Pop jangle rock
Length 63:29
Label Virgin
Producer Gus Dudgeon

Nonsuch (styled as NONSVCH.) is the 12th studio album by the English band XTC, released 27 April 1992 on Virgin Records. The follow-up to Oranges & Lemons (1989), Nonsuch is a relatively less immediate and more restrained sounding album, carrying the band's psychedelic influences into new musical styles. The LP received critical acclaim, charted at number 28 in the UK Albums Chart, and number 97 on the US Billboard 200, as well as topping Rolling Stone's College album chart.

Produced by Gus Dudgeon, 13 of the album's 17 tracks were written by guitarist/leader Andy Partridge, with the rest by bassist Colin Moulding, while Dave Mattacks of Fairport Convention was recruited on drums. Unlike previous XTC albums, Partridge composed many of his songs using a keyboard. Due to the album's lyric content, which covers topics ranging from love and humanity to the Gulf War and P. T. Barnum, Nonsuch has been described as the band's darkest and most political album. The cover depicts an illustration of the former Nonsuch Palace, chosen after the band had settled on the title "nonesuch", which Partridge felt summed up the album's variety of music. It was their third double album when issued on vinyl.

Lead single "The Disappointed" reached number 33 in the UK and was nominated for an Ivor Novello award, while "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" was the band's second single to top the US Modern Rock Tracks, later becoming a UK top 40 hit when covered by the Canadian band Crash Test Dummies. XTC soon left Virgin Records in the UK following a dispute over the cancelled third single, "Wrapped in Grey". Nonsuch was also nominated for the 1993 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. In 2013, a remixed and expanded version of the album was released. Mixed by Steven Wilson, the edition included new stereo, surround sound and instrumental mixes of the original album along with various demos and outtakes.

• Andy Partridge – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, tambourine, percussion, shaker, synthesizers, bell tree
• Colin Moulding – vocals, bass guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
• Dave Gregory – electric guitar, electric 12-string guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, synthesizers, Hammond organ, backing vocals, church bell

Additional personnel

• Dave Mattacks – drums, tambourine, samples, shaker, percussion
• Gus Dudgeon – "ringmaster," tambourine, percussion, chorus
• Guy Barker – flugelhorns, trumpet
• Florence Lovegrove – viola
• Rose Hull – cello
• Stuart Gordon – violin
• Gina Griffin – violin
• Neville Farmer – chorus

Technical

• Gus Dudgeon – producer
• Barry Hammond – engineer
• Nick Davis – mixing
• Simon Dawson – mixing assistant
• Dave Dragon – sleeve
• Kevin Westenberg – photography

String and brass arrangements by Dave Gregory, except "Rook" and "Omnibus" by Andy Partridge and "War Dance" by Colin Moulding. Strings on "The Disappointed" arranged by Andy Partridge and Dave Gregory.

1. "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" 5:02
2. "My Bird Performs" (Colin Moulding) 3:51
3. "Dear Madam Barnum" 2:48
4. "Humble Daisy" 3:36
5. "The Smartest Monkeys" (Moulding) 4:18
6. "The Disappointed" 3:23
7. "Holly Up on Poppy" 3:04
8. "Crocodile" 3:56
9. "Rook" 3:47
10. "Omnibus" 3:20
11. "That Wave" 3:34
12. "Then She Appeared" 3:51
13. "War Dance" (Moulding) 3:22
14. "Wrapped in Grey" 3:46
15. "The Ugly Underneath" 3:50
16. "Bungalow" (Moulding) 2:49
17. "Books Are Burning" 4:52
Total length: 63:29
---------------------------------------
So far we have looked at - Drums And Wires - The Black Sea - Oranges and Lemons.

Back in 92 when this came out, I didn't get the album, but I saw this in a record shop

1 The Disappointed
2 Making Plans For Nigel
3 Generals And Majors
4 Senses Working OvertimeProducer – Hugh Padgham, XTC
5 The Smartest Monkeys

I was never a singles buyer, but 25 minutes was essentially a lot of fifties albums lengths, and I thought, well that's worth getting, and I loved that, probably the three most well know Xtc songs to me were on it. At that point I didn't have any Xtc albums, not sure why, I just didn't, and the three older tracks were what led me to get the mini album, and at $2.95, I felt I was getting a bargain.
I ended up getting English Settlement and Black Sea, but didn't get any other Xtc stuff until this run of surround releases came out.

At the time this came out I was under the impression that the band hadn't done anything since The Big Express. Although I didn't have their albums, I was aware of them, and they were one of those bands I always meant to get something from, but it didn't happen for a long while. I only learned about the Dukes Of Stratosphear on this thread, and Skylarking slipped passed me unnoticed. Essentially I liked the two new songs on this mini album, and so when the surround album was released I ended up getting it based on the strength of the two songs on here and my love of English Settlement and Black Sea.



Much like Jethro Tull and a few other bands, Xtc took the path of giving the fans a value packed bluray with their surround releases, and essentially you get just about everything you could want from the album on one disc.

Available from Amazon from about $56 https://www.amazon.com/Nonsuch-XTC/dp/B00EG0MVOI
Available on Discogs from about $21 XTC - Nonsuch
Uk Amazon has it from about 19 pounds https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product...=B00EG0MVOI&linkCode=as2&tag=superdeluxeed-21

5.1 mix Steven Wilson

The audio tracks available here are
stereo
Instrumental
5.1 lpcm
5.1 dts-hd

The Ballad Of Peter Pumkinhead
Gtr sound front left, then it breaks into a rhythm.
The drums are sort of in the middle of the room, towards the rears
The vocals are dedicated to the centre channel.
Guitar right side.
Harmonica right rear.
A nice bouncy, melodic pop/rock song.
Organ right side.
A nice mix, nothing amazing, but pleasant and immersive.

My Bird Performs
Guitar front left.
Guitar right rear.
The drums are somewhat middle of the room again, towards the rears.
This is a really nice sounding album and the kind of raw, rough and ready styling of earlier albums is gone.
Keys across rears.
Fx left rear.
Horn in rears.
Nice immersive, clear mix

Dear Madam Barnham
Acoustic front left
Guitar right rear.
Horns right rear.
Organ, kind of from centre to right side.
B vox in the sides
Again a nice immersive mix

Humble Daisy
Gtr left side.
Percussion elements in various spots, drums right rear corner.
Keys front right.
Again a nice immersive mix. Wilson seems to have been somewhat quirky with the mix here, perhaps to match the quirkiness of the the band. It sounds good.

Smartest Monkeys
A guitar kind of bounces between left and right front.
Again elements of the drums are spread about, but snare focusses around right rear.
Guitar right rear.
Synth front.
Slide across the back.
Bvox rears.
String sound rears, and front.
The rhythm of the individual tracks mixes nicely to give the mix an interesting construct, and it works well.
Immersive and balanced.

The Disappointed
This is almost like the Beach Boys.
Drums roll from front to right rear.
Guitar right side.
String sounds left side.
Drums front, with elements around the field.
More string elements rears and front right.
A really nice effective mix.

Holly Up On Poppy
Guitar left side.
Keys across middle, towards rears.
Drums percussion towards rears.
Keyboard accents in rears.
Bridge guitar right side.
Keys right side.
Again we get a nice immersive mix.

Crocodile
Guitar front left, left rear, and right rear.
Drums middle towards rears.
Nice delay sounding effect, jaggedly bounces across rears.
Percussion front left.
This is probably the most interesting mix so far. It seems like this quirky, somewhat more old school Xtc track has received a slightly more adventurous mix.

Rook
Piano, maybe layered, with different chords popping up in various spots. We have left side front right and right rear.
Horn right rear.
Strings right front-left rear.
Interesting track and mix.
Like layered keyboard parts getting spread around the field and working together to create a nice immersive field.

Omnibus
Percussive elements in various spots.
Horn sounds in either side rears.
Keys front left and right.
Again a nice interesting immersive mix.

That Wave
Vocals front. Whoosh from front to rears.
Guitar left side.
Guitar right side.
Drums again sort of middle of the room.
Sort of burbling and whooshing effects moving in various spots.
Lead guitar moves around the place.
Lots of interesting stuff going on here.
Nice balanced immersive mix.

Then She Appeared
Guitar left side, right front.
Reverse effect right rear.
Percussive effect right rear.
Bvox from various locations.
Drums front.
Chorused guitar/s across rears.
Again we get a nice interesting mix.

War Dance
Guitar left rear.
Oboe? sound front.
Drums front.
Guitar right rear.
Horn sounds right rear.
Keys in either side.
Tom accents rears.
String sounds across middle towards rears.
Agin we get an interesting immersive mix

Wrapped In Grey
Piano across front.
String sounds rears.
Drums rears.
A slow building mix, that works very well.

The Ugly Underneath
Drums rear.
Guitars with vibrato kind of sound, either side rears.
Organ across middle.
Somewhat slightly psychedelic here with the bouncy sounds creating a really interesting mix.
Lots of layers and nice usage of the soundfield.
Another good immersive mix.

Bungalow
Organ left rear with feed to right rear.
Piano left side.
Bvox in sides.
Keyboard right side.
Whoosh of chimes across rears.
Unusual song, nice immersive mix.

Books Are Burning
Guitar left rear, and right rear, sort of bouncing off each other.
Drums front, with Tom's spread around.
Organ right side towards rear, with feeds.
Lead guitar right rear. Then another lead guitar right rear. Then we go to the left rear again, then right.
Again a nice immersive quirky mix.

Didn't Hurt A Bit
Guitar across front.
Gtr left rear.
Gtr right rear.
Drums middle towards rears.
Organ right side.
Lead gtr front.
This is a cool little bonus track.
Again a lovely immersive mix.

So please excuse my vagueness this morning. I only got to bed about 3am, and I am a little tired and a little hung over.
This is a very good album, it has a different twist on the quirky Xtc sound, and writing style. It is a little smoother and a little more laid back than the earlier stuff the band did (that I am more familiar with) and it still has some of those inherent Xtc things we are used to, but it has a lot of nice melodies and some surprisingly good guitar work.
The mix kind of takes the personality of the band and creates a soundfield (while unique to each song) that manages to kind of express Xtc's music in a way that is sort of a s unique as the band.
I reckon any fan of this album, will enjoy this mix, it is very good. We get some subtle usage of the field, and then we get some really not very subtle usage of the field, but it always feels like it suits what the band were going for.
This is another Xtc album that is worth getting in the surround format. The mix has a few slightly unusual quirks at times, but it never sounds wrong, it always sounds balanced, and it is certainly immersive.

 

So Warchild, Superunknown and Nursery Cryme each got six votes this week... it seemed like some popular albums in this weeks vote .... So rather than put up another list of albums to vote for, we will go with those three in that order, barring any new stuff arriving next week.

Cheers
Mark

 

Reference to the albums

Adams, Bryan - Reckless (disc would not play, template)

Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic

Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies - Welcome To My Nightmare

Alan Parsons Project - Tales Of Mystery and Imagination - Eye In The Sky - Ammonia Avenue

Alison Krauss and Union Station - New Favourite

Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South - Live At Fillmore East - Eat a Peach

Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here - Weather Systems - Distant Satellites

Anderson, Ian - Homo Erraticus - TAAB 2

Anonymous - Wolcum Yule

Argent - In Deep

Ayreon - The Source - Transitus


Band - Music From Big Pink ... I did this twice

Banks, Tony - A Curious Feeling

Barclay James Harvest - GoneTo Earth

Bass Communion - Loss - Temporal

Beach Boys - Sunflower - Surf's Up

The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album) - Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - Abbey Road - Love

Be Bop Deluxe - Futurama - Sunburst Finish

Beck, Jeff (group) - Rough and Ready - Orange - Blow By Blow - Wired

Beethoven - 3rd Symphony Eroica - 5th Concerto (Emporer) Barenboim/Rubenstein

Birdsong At Morning - A Slight Departure - Signs And Wonders

Bjork - Vespertine - Medulla

Blackfield - IV - V

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Blood Sweat and Tears - Blood Sweat And Tears - Mirror Image/New City

Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties - Agents Of Fortune

Bowie, David - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars - Young Americans - Station To Station - Stage - Heathen

Jackson Browne - Running On Empty

Bruce, Jack - Shadows In The Air

Bruford - Feels Good To Me - One Of A Kind

Buddy Miles Express - Booger Bear


Capella Romana - Lost Voices Of Hagia Sophia

Caravan - In The Land Of Grey And Pink

Charles, Ray - Ray Sings, Basie Swings

Chicago - III

Church - Forget Yourself

Clapton, Eric - Give Me Strength The 74/75 Recordings - Slowhand - Reptile - Back Home

Cobham, Billy - Spectrum - Spectrum (Quad) thanks @-dave--wave-

Coltrane, Alice/Santana, Carlos - Illuminations

Crosby, David - If Only I Could Remember My Name

Crowded House - Crowded House


Davis, Miles - Sketches Of Spain - In A Silent Way - Bitches Brew - Live Evil - Tutu

Deep Purple - Concerto for Group And Orchestra - Machine Head - Stormbringer

Dekker, Desmond - Anthology

Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward - Black Celebration - Violator - Delta Machine

Derek and the Dominos - Layla and other assorted love songs

Derringer, Rick - All American Boy and Spring Fever

Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms

Djabe - The Magic Stag

Donovan - Fairytale

Doobie Brothers - Toulouse Street - The Captain And Me - 5.1 to Quad compare - What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits

Doors - Strange Days - Waiting For The Sun - The Soft Parade - Morrison Hotel - LA Woman - Best Of

Drake, Nick - A Treasury

Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos - Distance Over Time

Dubliners - Definitive Transatlantic Collection

Dukes Of Stratosphear - Psurroundabout Ride

Dylan, Bob - Another Side Of - Blonde On Blonde - Slow Train Coming


Eagles - Hotel California

Earth Wind And Fire - Way Of The World/Spirit

ELO - debut album

Emerson Lake And Palmer - Tarkus - Brain Salad Surgery


Fagen, Donald - The Nightfly

Fahl, Mary - From The Dark Side Of The Moon

Ferry, Bryan - Boys and Girls

Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac (1975) - Rumours - Tusk - Mirage - Say You Will

Foreigner - Foreigner

Foundations - Very Best Of

Franklin, Aretha - best of


Gabriel, Peter - Up

Gallagher, Rory - Big Guns (Best Of)

Garfunkel, Art - Breakaway

Gaye, Marvin - Lets Get It On

Genesis - Overview of all - Foxtrot - Selling England By The Pound - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - And Then There Were Three - Duke - Abacab

Gentle Giant - Three Piece Suite - Octopus - The Power and The Glory - Free Hand - Interview

Gilmour, Dave - On An Island

Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead

Guns And Roses - Appetite For Destruction


Hackett, Steve - Voyage Of The Acolyte - Broken Skies, Outspread Wings - At The Edge Of Light

Herbie Hancock - Headhunters - Sextant

Hendrix, Jimi - Electric Ladyland


Inxs - Kick

Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death


Jakszyk, Jakko - Secrets and Lies

Jarre, Jean Michel - Oxygene

Jethro Tull - Benefit - Aqualung - Thick As A Brick - A Passion Play/ Chateau d'Herouville - Minstrel In The Gallery - Too Old To Rock and Roll ... - Heavy Horses - Stormwatch - TAAB 2

Joel, Billy - Streetlife Serenade - The Stranger - 52nd Street

John, Elton - Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection - Madman Across The Water - Honky Chateau - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Johnson, Eric - Ah Via Musicom


Kansas - The Absence Of Presence

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - The Traveller

King, Carole - Tapestry

King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King 40th and 50th - Islands - Lark's Tongues In Aspic - Red - Beat - Thrak - (re)Construkction Of Light - The Power To Believe

Knopfler, Mark - Sailing To Philadelphia - Shangri La

Kooper, Al (with Bloomfield and Stills) - Super Sessions

Kraftwork - 3d catalog - Autobahn - Man Machine


Led Zeppelin - Song Remains The Same

Lennon, John - Imagine, Ultimate Edition

Living Colour - Collideoscope

Love And Rockets - Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Southern Surroundings


Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire

Manheim Steamroller - Fresh Aire 8 - Christmas Celebration

Marillion - Script For A Jester's Tear - Misplaced Childhood - Brave - Afraid Of Sunlight

Marley, Bob - Legend

McCartney, Paul - The McCartney Years

Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell

Monk, Thelonius - Supreme Jazz

Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed - In Search Of The Lost Chord - A Question Of Balance - Seventh Sojourn

Morrison, Van - Moondance

Mussorgsky, Modeste - Carlo Ponti - Pictures At An Exhibition+

Motorhead - Ace Of Spades

Mozart - 40th Symphony - Rene Jacobs Le Nozze Di Figaro (The Marriage Of Figaro)

 

Nektar - Journey To The Centre of The Eye

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - From Her to Eternity - The First Born Is Dead - The Good Son - Henry's Dream - No More Shall We Part - Abattoir Blues/Lyre Of Orpheus - Dig Lazarus Dig

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

No Man - Schoolyard Ghosts - Together We're Stranger

Numan, Gary - Anthology


Oldfield, Mike - Tubular Bells - Ommadawn - Five Miles Out - Crises - overview - Return To Ommadawn

Opeth - Ghost Reveries - Deliverance / Damnation - Pale Communion - Sorcerous - In Cauda Venenum


Pat Metheny Group - Imaginary Day

Pineapple Thief - Dissolution - Your Wilderness and 8 Years Later - Versions Of The Truth

Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother - Meddle - Dark Side Of The Moon - Wish You Were Here - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason - The Division Bell - Endless River

Pixies - Doolittle

The Police - Every Breath You Take the dvd

Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream - Lightbulb Sun - In Absentia (deluxe version 1) - Update on fixed copy - Deadwing - Fear Of A Blank Planet

Presley, Elvis - 30 #1 hits

Pure Prairie League - Two Lane Highway/If The Shoe Fits


Queen - A Night At The Opera - The Game

Queensryche - Tribe


REM - Document - Green - Out Of Time - Automatic For The People - Monster - Around The Sun

Renaissance - Turn Of The Cards

Return to Forever - Musicmagic

Rich, Charlie - Behind Closed Doors

Riverside - Love, Fear And The Time Machine - Wasteland

Rolling Stones - Goat's Head Soup

Roxy Music - Roxy Music - Avalon

Rundgren, Todd - Liars

Rush - Fly By Night - 2112 - A Farewell To Kings (Wilson version) - Hemispheres - Moving Pictures - Signals - Snakes And Arrows


Santana - Santana - Abraxas dts - Abraxas cdjapan - Live with Buddy Miles - Lotus

Shankar & Gingger - One In A Million

Simple Minds - Sparkle In The Rain

Sly And The Family Stone - Greatest Hits

Soord, Bruce - All This Will Be Yours

Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger

Squackett - A Life In A Day

Squire, Chris - Fish Out Of Water

Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle

Sting - Nothing Like The Sun

Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion (Wilson and Åkerfeldt)
Sylvian , David - Manafon


Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food - Fear Of Music - Remain In Light - Speaking in Tongues - Little Creatures -True Stories - Naked

Tangerine Dream - Phaedra - Ricochet

Taylor, James - JT

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Neeme Jarvi

Tears For Fears - Songs From The Big Chair - Seeds Of Love

Temple Of The Dog - Temple Of The Dog

Tesseract - Polaris

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

Travis And Fripp - Follow

T Rex - Electric Warrior


Uk - Night After Night

Ultravox - Vienna

Uriah Heep - Gold From The Byron Era - 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 - Quadrophenia

Wilson, Steven - The Raven That Refused To Sing - Hand. Cannot. Erase. - 4 1/2 - To The Bone

Wings - Band On The Run - Venus And Mars

Wishbone Ash - Bare Bones


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


Yes - The Yes Album - Fragile - Close To The Edge - Tale Of Topographic Oceans - Relayer

Young, Neil - Harvest - Greendale


Zappa - Quaudiophiliac - Halloween

 

Insurgentes



Studio Album by Steven Wilson
Released 26 November 2008
Recorded Various studios over the world,
December 2007 – August 2008
Genre Progressive rock, alternative rock
Length 55:22
Label Headphone Dust, Tonefloat, Kscope
Producer Steven Wilson

Insurgentes is the debut full-length solo album released by British musician and record producer Steven Wilson, known for being the founder and frontman of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. The album was recorded all over the world in studios from Mexico City to Japan and Israel, between January and August 2008, and released in November 2008 as a special deluxe multi disc mail order version, with retail release to follow in February 2009. According to Wilson himself, the album contained "the most experimental song-based music [he had] made." The album is named after the Avenida de los Insurgentes, the longest avenue in Mexico City near which part of it was recorded.

Steven Wilson mentions post-punk and shoegaze music as a major influence for the album, citing bands such as Joy Division, Killing Joke, The Flaming Lips, My Bloody Valentine and The Cure. He says the album is also very noise and drone-oriented.

Personnel
Steven Wilson: vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, acoustic & electric pianos, keyboards, synthesizers, harmonium, mellotron, bass guitar, percussion, drum & keyboard programming, ambient noise, loops

Guest musicians
Gavin Harrison – drums (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 1[*], 2[*] and 3[*]), cymbals (4)
Tony Levin – bass (5, 6 and 3[*])
Mike Outram – electric guitar (5 and 8)
Dirk Serries – guitar drones (3 and 9)
Jordan Rudess – piano (4, 5 and 8)
Clodagh Simonds – vocals (6)
Sand Snowman – acoustic and processed acoustic guitars (2 and 8), recorders (4)
Theo Travis – wah-flute (2), clarinet (4 and 1[*]), saxophone (1[*])
Michiyo Yagi – 17-string bass koto (10), 21-string koto (3[*])

Track listing
All tracks are written by Steven Wilson.

No. Title Length
1. "Harmony Korine" 5:08
2. "Abandoner" 4:48
3. "Salvaging" 8:17
4. "Veneno para las Hadas" 5:57
5. "No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun" 8:37
6. "Significant Other" 4:31
7. "Only Child" 4:24
8. "Twilight Coda" (instrumental) 3:25
9. "Get All You Deserve" 6:17
10. "Insurgentes"

------------------------------------------------------
The surround mix is on a DVD-A that comes in several packages: CD+DVDA, 2CD+DVDA, CD+DVDA + DVDV. You can still find it new still available new Amazon, but used copies are much cheaper. Discogs.

Surround Mix by Steven Wilson

"Harmony Korine”
Starts with guitar in surround, then bass in front, then drums in front, then vocals in center. 90 seconds in, the bass briefly goes into surround. Backing vocals in the rear also start up and remain after bass in rear subsides. The chorus with bass and I think a second guitar part too in the rear repeats. Ends with just guitar in front.

"Abandoner"
Synth percussion in surround, bass drum and guitar in front, vocal in center. After a minute a second guitar part (or two similar guitar parts perhaps) comes in left front and right rear (may be the processed acoustic guitars) Also keyboards left rear. At about 2:15 the back speakers shut down and we get just synth and shoegaze guitar in front which then starts to reverb in the rear. Synth percussion comes back, just in front. Chimes left rear in fourth minute, and the song patters along until a blast of bass that reverbs in rear along with some swirling synth. The reverbing bass stops with 30 seconds to go and the song tapers off with guitar in front and an eerie vocal in the center.

"Salvaging”
Starts with a droning synth or guitar in surround, then swirling sound effect in front (sounds like intro to “…and the Gods made love”), then guitar in surround, drums in front, some synth effect in rear, and vocals center. The second guitar in rear. Bass starts up in front – Levin is on this track. Guitar solo in rear in fourth minute. Vocals come back in fifth minute with a little backing vocals on the right I think. Then everything dies down to just droning in surround again (different pitch than the beginning though) which starts to sound like strings in the sixth minute (the mellotron presumably), and second keyboard in center. Well into the seventh minute the pleasant interlude stops to be replaced by ominous synth in surround plus bass and drums in front which dissipates at the end.

"Veneno para las Hadas"
Starts with shoegazer guitar mostly in front but some reverb in the rear. Some piano and monotone bass in front come in after 30 seconds. Piano stops, bass continues, vocals start in second minute along with a second drone layer which is primarily in the rear. Some background vocals come in the rear in the third minute. Travis clarinet on right in the fourth minute and then sounds like clarinet front and back, or maybe just one clarinet jumping around. A little more piano toward the end.

"No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun"
The album has been plodding along in semi-ambient mode, but the first four minutes of this sounds like a King Crimson song – something off of Red I’d say. Has Levin on bass again and Harrison is clearly auditioning for his future spot in the Crimson lineup. Anyway, this starts out with drums in front, bass on right plus what sounds like Belew guitar on the left – partially in rear. In the second minute the guitar picks up some speed and moves to the center channel, bass and drums crank it up in the fourth minute. Just before the four minute mark the guitar stops, bass and drum volume drops and we get vocals in the rear, plus there’s a soundscape in the mix. Just before the five minute marks the guitar comes back in the rear and vocals move to front. Then everything tones down again with just low key bass and drums in front plus a little guitar on the right, and a soundscape in the rear. That keeps going until the guitar stops and piano comes in the rear in the seventh minute. In the eight minute the guitar comes crashing in left front and then everything stops except for some piano in front and a low key soundscape in surround. At the eight minute mark everything goes silent for a few seconds until the bass and drums and guitar come back full tilt and then it fades out at the end.

"Significant Other”
Guitar in surround, bass and drums in front, vocals in center. 90 seconds in synth layer comes in back and then second guitar in front. Simonds vocals in third minute as the guitar and synth layers intensify. In the fifth minute it all dies down and we get chimes in the rear and a little static in front.

"Only Child"
Starts with bass and drums in front, synth in the back, then vocals in center then guitar joins in front. A little short of the two minute mark things pick up in the rear with cymbals and guitar. A new mellotron layer comes in front. Swirling synth in the fourth minute then things die down in the rear, leaving just the bass and drums in front. Vocal sound samples then Wilson vocals in center. Ends with just drums.

"Twilight Coda"
Builds up slowly with a drone layer, guitar and piano; mostly in front, but there’s more piano in the rear than anything else. A little guitar crops up in the rear in the second minute, then more piano. Synth layer in surround takes over in the last minute and then fades into silence.

"Get All You Deserve"
Piano in front, noise layer in surround, vocals in center. New drone layer appears in rear at two minutes, then shoegazer guitar in front. Backing vocals in surround that swirl a bit. Crashing bass and drums come in front the fifth minute, with some screeching guitar and other noise in rear. Guitar joins in front as the screeching volume in the rear goes up. It all fades away at the end.

"Insurgentes"
Piano in surround, vocals in center. Backing vocals in rear. Synth layer in surround plus the koto in front comes in third minute along with piano which continues.
________

When this album first came out, I was quite annoyed that it didn’t sound like Porcupine Tree. However, I now recognize this album as a continuation of some of Wilson’s other projects, particularly Bass Communion and IEM, and when you look at it that way it’s pretty good. It’s also not really his first solo album at all. There are at least a half dozen other albums that were more solo than this. In fact, Porcupine Tree Voyage 34 might be the first.

That also makes it my third review in a row of ambient or semi-ambient music, all of which were mixed by Steven Wilson. One of the common themes is that I am often just guessing which of the many droning layers are guitar vs. synth. Apparently there was a wah-flute on “Abandoner”, but I have no idea what a wah-flute sounds like sooo… In addition, there’s no way I could keep up with the surround nuances of all the tape loops, drone and synth layers – in many cases I didn’t even try. I thought I might figure it out by watching the concert video Get All You Deserve, but the versions of the songs from Insurgentes are somewhat different - the flute on "Abandoner" sounds just like a flute.

In any case, the whole album is very interesting and the surround mix makes it even more so. (2/3)

 

Nursery Cryme

Studio album by
Genesis
Released 12 November 1971
Recorded August 1971
Studio Trident Studios, London
GenreProgressive rock
Length 39:26
Label Charisma
Producer John Anthony

Nursery Cryme is the third studio album by the English rock band Genesis, released in November 1971 on Charisma Records. It was their first to feature drummer/vocalist Phil Collins and guitarist Steve Hackett. The album received a mixed response from critics and was not initially a commercial success; it did not enter the UK chart until 1974, when it reached its peak at No. 39. However, the album was successful in Continental Europe, particularly Italy. At approximately 39 minutes long, it is the shortest studio album by the band to date.

Following extensive touring in support of their previous album Trespass (1970), which included the recruitment of Collins and Hackett, the band began writing and rehearsing for a follow-up in Luxford House, East Sussex, with recording following at Trident Studios. Nursery Cryme saw the band take a more aggressive direction of some songs, with substantially improved drumming. The opening piece, "The Musical Box" combined the band's trademark mix of twelve-string guitars with harsh electric guitars and keyboards. The song, a macabre fairy story set in Victorian Britain, became the inspiration for the album cover, and went on to be a live favourite. Collins brought a new dimension to the group, covering the majority of the backing vocals (including his first lead vocal with Genesis on "For Absent Friends") and bringing in a sense of humour on tracks like "Harold The Barrel". Banks made more prominent use of the Mellotron at Hackett's suggestion and used it prominently on several tracks.

The band toured the UK and Europe for one year to promote the album, which raised their profile in both territories. The tour included a successful Italian leg in April 1972, where the group played to enthusiastic crowds. Nursery Cryme was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry in 2013.

• Tony Banks – Hammond organ, Mellotron, piano, electric piano, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
• Mike Rutherford – bass, bass pedals, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
• Peter Gabriel – lead voice, flute, oboe, bass drum, tambourine
• Steve Hackett – electric guitar, 12-string guitar
• Phil Collins – drums, voices, percussion, lead vocals on "For Absent Friends", co-lead vocals on "Harold the Barrel" and "Harlequin" (uncredited)

Production

• John Anthony – production
• David Hentschel – assistant engineer
• Mike Stone – tape jockey
• Paul Whitehead – sleeve design

1. "The Musical Box" 10:25
2. "For Absent Friends" 1:48
3. "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" 8:09
4. "Seven Stones" 5:08
5. "Harold the Barrel" 3:01
6. "Harlequin" 2:56
7. "The Fountain of Salmacis" 8:02
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So far we have looked at - Overview of all - Foxtrot - Selling England By The Pound - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - And Then There Were Three - Duke - Abacab ...

For the longest time Nursery Cryme and And Then There Were Three were my favourite two Genesis albums, and it isn't really all that surprising, as they were my first Genesis album, bought .... I think on the same day in the early eighties, and Then There Were Three instantly appealed to me, and Nursery Cryme took a couple of listens for it to sink in. It was very different to the music I was generally listening to at the time, and there was a short period required to acclimate to the sound and the feel.

Those two albums are still very high, if not at the top of my Genesis albums, but the Album thread we did really opened up a few of the albums to me, that had been appreciated, but not loved.

discogs has the sacd/dvd version from about $48 Genesis - Nursery Cryme
Japan pressing from about $109 Genesis - Nursery Cryme
Japan pressing from about $90 Genesis - Nursery Cryme

The 1970-1975 box set with sacd's is from around the $370 Genesis - 1970 - 1975 (Box Set, Europe, 2008) For Sale | Discogs
Amazon has the cd/dvd box set for just under $600 https://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Box-Set-1970-1975-Disc/dp/B001EO2UJK
Ebay has some at more reasonable prices, but beware of the sets that have discs removed from them genesis 1970-1975 for sale | eBay

5.1 Mix Nick Davis and Tom Mitchell
Mastered by Tony Cousins

So lets take a dive in here. This is the sacd version

The Musical Box
The opening keys either side, melodically doubled by thr bass up front.
Guitar left rear.
Flute right side towards the middle of the room.
Guitar right rear.
Cymbals in various locations around the field.
Really nice layering that works well.
We punch in with guitar right rear, organ right front.
Drums up front and fills rolling to the left rear.
This is such a magnificent track, and it sounds excellent here.
Cymbal rush in the rears.
Incidental guitar left rear.
Then the power punches back in, with a lead guitar front left, followed by a lead guitar right rear, and keys front left.
We move to another atmospheric section ... She's a lady.... guitar front left
Organ across middle.
This is so dynamic and well arranged, and I find the mix very satisfying.

For Absent Friends
Guitars either side, and front.
This works well also... just a snippet of a song.

The Return Of The Giant Hogweed
Guitar left side.
Keys right side.
Drums middle of the room?
Bvox left side.
Percussion right rear.
A somewhat underrated track, based on a real situation.
Piano across the middle.
String imitation rears.
A really nice piece of mixing on the lead guitar which actually seems to ping between channels a bit.
A very full and well presented mix.
I works for me.

Seven Stones
Guitar left rear.
Keys based in right rear, withers sends to across the back.
Keys across the middle.
Really good track, that is also somewhat underappreciated.
Flute alternates between different channels.
Mellotron across rears.
Organ across rears.
A really nice nix here that uses all speakers, and the space lifts this track to the next level for me.

Harold the Barrel
Cymbal swell left rear.
Piano left rear, and front.
Bvox all round.
Guitar right rear.
I wasn't sure about this song when I first heard the album, but has grown on me a lot over the years.
Flute right rear.
Another really nice mix, interesting, balanced and immersive.

Harlequin
A chorus of arpeggiated guitars all round us.
Another full, immersive mix, that is interesting a balanced.

The Fountain Of Salmacis
Swells of keys, guitars and cymbals all round, with some interesting movements.
Arpeggio guitar across the back.
Mellotron across the back.
Bvox in the rear.
Vocals bass and drums working well in the front.
Noodling guitar left side, moves into an arpeggio.
Aggressive guitar arpeggio moves about, based across the middle.
Lots going on here.
All three epics on here are quite brilliant.
Again an interesting, immersive, balanced mix.

For me these mixes are all very good. Perhaps not quite at the level of the very best mixes, but they work, and they are immersive and that is all I really ask from a mix.
I think any Genesis fan would generally enjoy these for what they are.... If I remember rightly there are some slight differences with the original mixes, but for me that doesn't devalue these.
I have read about the mastering being terrible, but on the sacd, I find that could be a little overstated... I hear dynamics and range.
Anyway, I think this is very much worth having.

 

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk. I think I had this album as an LP, but I didn't play it very much. Let's face it; it's a pretty big let down after Rumours. I also lean towards earlier iterations of Fleetwood Mac over this one. So I never got a CD replacement. But HD Tracks briefly had the whole deluxe set mistakenly listed for the price of the CD, so I downloaded it. The live recordings are the best part I think. However, I didn't get the surround mix. So I gave my sister the box for Christmas and ripped her 5.1. But last year I traded my Fleetwood Mac (1975) box minus the DVD for her Tusk DVD. I now just have a couple of DVDs in slip cases (plus my digital copy of Tusk deluxe) and she has two boxes on the shelf. She has a turntable but no surround set up, and I don't have a turntable - so good deal all around I'd say. But I still have to characterize Tusk as a overly long album with a few good songs on it. "Sara" is the highlight for sure. The surround mix is entirely adequate - stuff pretty much always going on in the rear; guitar, backing vocals, keyboards. Doesn't use the center channel much. However, the mastering is definitely on the loud side. (1/3)

Genesis - Nursery Cryme. My second favorite Genesis album and one of my favorite albums period. I especially love "The Musical Box", but the whole album is great. As for the surround mix, I could almost cut and paste from the Tusk review. But more of the mix is left vs. right than front vs. back. Also, Gabriel's vocals often come mainly from the center channel - he does move left and right though. Hackett's guitar moves around quite a bit too. As seems to be the case with all of the Genesis 5.1.s, the mastering is on the loud side and I have to turn the volume down to enjoy it. (3/3)

Jarre, Jean-Michel - Oxygene. I started out with a 1983 compilation, but I went from there. Didn't take me long to come to the conclusion that Oxygene and Equinox were his two most important and ground breaking albums. No only are those albums electronic classics, they also qualify as borderline ambient works. I had already bought the 2007 remaster off of HDtracks - didn't realize there was a surround mix to chase after until Mark's review. Glad I'm not doing the track by track because it's a bunch of swirling synthesizers. Sounds great though. I will do a short review of the studio performance that is supposedly the main attraction on the DVD, but the 5.1 is what makes the disc well worth the $30 I paid for it. The surround mix comes with video too - it's a 3D rendition of the cover that is slowly explored both inside and outside. Pretty cool, really - way better than Goatshead Soup. (3/3)

XTC - Nonsuch. The album gets off to a great - the first two songs are both very good. The next two songs are pretty good too. Then we get to "The Smartest Monkeys", which is not only best song on the album, it's one of the best songs they ever did. The surround mix is fantastic too. The next song after that is pretty good, but the rest of it is a little mediocre with exception of "War Dance", which is the former is the second best song on the album, and it also has a great surround mix. The last two songs on the album are decent two and have excellent surround mixes with really nice front and back guitar work. The surround mix is pretty much the standard Wilson formula - bass and drums in front, lead vocals in center, lots of guitar and backing vocals in the rear. (2/3), but I think it could be condensed to an eight song EP that would be a (3/4)

 

The XTC 5.1's are pretty consistent across the board, but I find that each album seems to feature one track that's mixed far more creatively/aggressively for surround than the rest--as if it was intended specifically as demo material to impress a new listener. Perhaps these are some of Wilson's favorite tracks? On Nonsuch, you've got "Books Are Burning" with the guitars trading off in the rears on the fade. On Oranges & Lemons, it's "Across This Antheap" with the drum kit panning around the room and shouts blasting from the rear channels. On Skylarking, there's "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul" with the vocals gliding from speaker-to-speaker. On Black Sea, it's "Living Through Another Cuba" with the percussion and vocals bouncing all over the place towards the end. I'm not even sure which track I'd pick for this distinction on Psurroundabout Ride, as all the mixes are fairly adventurous: maybe "My Love Explodes"?

 

War Child

Studio album by
Jethro Tull
Released 14 October 1974 (US)
26 October 1974 (UK)
Recorded 7 December 1973 - 24 February 1974 at Morgan Studios, London, except track 6, 10 September 1972 and track 8, 15 September 1972, at the Château d'Hérouville, France
Genre Progressive rock, hard rock
Length 39:21
Label Chrysalis
Producer Ian Anderson, Terry Ellis

War Child is the seventh studio album by Jethro Tull, released in October 1974. It was released almost a year and a half after the release of A Passion Play. The turmoil over criticism of the previous album surrounded the production of War Child, which obliged the band to do press conferences and explain their plans for the future.[1][2][3]

• Ian Anderson – vocals, flute, acoustic guitar, saxophone
• Martin Barre – electric guitar, Spanish guitar
• John Evan – piano, organ, synthesizers, accordion
• Jeffrey Hammond – lead vocals and spoken word (on "Sealion II"), bass guitar, string bass
• Barriemore Barlow – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• Dee Palmer – orchestral arrangements
• Robin Black – sound engineer
• Terry Ellis – executive producer

1. "WarChild" (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:38
2. "Queen and Country" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:01
3. "Ladies" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:19
4. "Back-Door Angels" (5.1 Surround Mix) 5:27
5. "SeaLion" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:42
6. "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day" (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:12
7. "Bungle in the Jungle" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:41
8. "Only Solitaire" (5.1 Surround Mix) 1:31
9. "The Third Hoorah" (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:53
10. "Two Fingers" (5.1 Surround Mix) 5:08

1. "Paradise Steakhouse" (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:01
2. "Saturation" (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:20
3. "Good Godmother" (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:27
4. "SeaLion II" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:20
5. "Quartet" (5.1 Surround Mix) 2:43
6. "WarChild II" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:14
7. "Tomorrow Was Today" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:54
8. "Glory Row" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:34
9. "March, The Mad Scientist" (5.1 Surround Mix) 1:49
10. "Rainbow Blues" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:38
11. "Pan Dance" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:37
12. "The Orchestral WarChild Theme" (5.1 Surround Mix) 9:34
13. "The Third Hoorah" (Orchestral Version) (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:47
14. "Mime Sequence" (5.1 Surround Mix) 7:08
15. "Field Dance" (Conway Hall Version) (5.1 Surround Mix) 1:41
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So far we have looked at - Benefit - Aqualung - Thick As A Brick - A Passion Play/ Chateau d'Herouville - Minstrel In The Gallery - Too Old To Rock and Roll ... - Heavy Horses - Stormwatch - TAAB 2

One of the things I am so thankful for with surround sound albums, is that bands I never really explored much back in my heyday were suddenly fresh new (kind of) bands, and I had a ton of music I had never heard (aside from obviously radio singles) to explore. For bands like Tull, King Crimson, Yes and quite a few others, I was aware, and had one or two albums, but the lure of a 5.1 mix drew me into their catalogs, and it has been a wonderful journey. Then there are bands like Gentle Giant, and artists like Trey Anastasio who I actually knew nothing about at all, and I ended up loving the releases. So for me surround sound has been a huge infusion of new sounds, to me, and the journey has been wonderful.

One of the things that makes the Jethro Tull sets so wonderful, is in a lot of instances we get a lot of these sets with albums worth of previously unissued material, and they took the time to remix that all to 5.1 also. I know some folks are disappointed that the Tull sets aren't bluray-audio or sacd or whatever, but to be honest, at my age, and after years of playing in the pubs and such, I am not going to hear a sparrow fart in Russia anyway, so I am not overly concerned ... as long as it isn't just a dolby digital ac3 thing, I am pretty damn happy, and even some of the DD mixes are worth the listen....

Very Interestingly, to me at least, is this album seems to be terribly unpopular with many people, and a lot of that seems to stem from Bungle In The Jungle, or so it seems, from what I have read around the board ... I always liked the song, and the use of the jungle metaphor works for me... the fact that in some quarters is seen as more commercial, also means very little to me. I guess I don't really care if something is commercial or not, I just need to like it or not like it.
To be honest when I first heard this album, I liked it, and having read so much trashing of it on the forum, just left me scratching my head... I guess in the same way folks scratch their head that I don't love Aqualung lol
but anyway, I really liked this album. I picked this up in 2015, and it would have had a couple of listens for sure, .... wow, I just checked and we started this thread in June 2019 (wasn't that a different world to now.....) so we have been at it here for over a year and half now, so it is a long time since I heard this, and it will be interesting to see what impression it makes now, particularly as I have probably only heard it 3 or 4 times in my life.... and I am not sure if I have even listened to the bonus album yet .... so lets hook into the thing .....

Sadly out of print
Discogs has it for $124 Jethro Tull - WarChild (The 40th Anniversary Theatre Edition)
Ebay the copies are over the $200 mark jethro tull warchild 40th anniversary dvd | eBay

that's really disappointing....
But if you need to decide on whether this is worth the price, remember to take into account that you have
- Warchild 5.1 album
- over 60 minutes of extra tracks mixed in 5.1
- a flat transfer of the quad mix also.

Ok then ...

5.1 mix Steven Wilson

Lets see how much stamina I have here .... My thirteen year old rescue greyhound has been struggling for a couple of weeks, so I haven't been getting much sleep and the stress levels have been pretty high, along with the whole bullsh!t world at the moment being upside down, inside out, and all of that crap.... So if I don't make it through the whole thing, my apologies.

Warchild
The opening of the album is quite brilliant. We have an air raid siren, rockets firing, machine guns, and there I'd movement and immersion, and the creation of a cinematic soundscape that really sets the mood.
We move into a little orchestral style, or perhaps a jazz club section. Horn right side, piano left side
Then the track starts.
Guitar right rear piano left side.
Bass up front
Bass and kick have nice sub assist.
The sax moves across the middle on the prechorus.
Strings in the rear
The is really very immersive and balanced.
This track is quite brilliant. The chorus is certainly no sing along. It is an unusual wrestle of the melody that reflects the theme of the track beautifully.
Quite brilliant.

Queen And Country
Wind instruments right rear
Piano accordian moves kind if from the left rear to left front
Strings across the rears.
There is absolutely no mistaking this for anything but a surround mix, it is excellent.
Drums flow into the sides with the fills.
The vocal is in the centre speaker
This is an excellent immersive, balanced surround landscape

Ladies
We open with something like cocktail party sounds.
Then we get ....
There is all sorts of stuff going on everywhere.
This album is really interesting, because the arrangements are integral to the way you listen to it. It is like they took the technical structures of Passion play and modified them slightly to make them more accessible, but also throw in a twist of slightly avant garde melodic structure.
Excellent immersion, balance. Just excellent

Back-Door Angels
Acoustic front left
Flute rears.
Harp flourish across the rears
Electric guitars either side.
Synth sort of bouncing across the middle.
We move into a kind of straight rock instrumental.
Lead guitar up front, with the pulsing wall of the band around us.
Then we drop back to the folkish/ballad-like section that soon erupts into the rock.
We have synth right rear...
There is stuff going on everywhere here.
Another excellent surround adventure.

Sealion
Guitar front
Guitar right rear
Keys left rear.
Piano accordian left side
Strings left side and rear
Percussion right rear.
Spoken word front left.
Flute across the back.
Acoustic guitars either side rears.
Another great song. Another great mix.
This is a fantastic album and mix at this point

Skating Away On the Thin Ice Of A New Day
Household sounds, humming up front
Tea being made in the rears, to the right.
Very atmospheric.
Acoustic guitar front
Then we get them in the rears also.
This is a great song.
Percussion either side rears.
The mix and arrangements builds up around us really nicely, and moves into a full immersion that really draws us into the song.
So many little bits and pieces coming in and out from various points in the soundfield.
Electric guitar moving across rears.
Slide right rear.
Flute floating about the room.
Just too much to document here.
Brilliant

Bungle In the Jungle
Roars in the rear
Crickets right rear
Flute left front.
Lead right side.
Piano left side
Strings across rears.
Again we slide onto this layered ever growing surround arrangement.
Immersive, balanced, entertaining

Only Solitaire
Acoustic front left, joined by another front, and another in the rears.
A really nice atmospheric blend of acoustics all around us.
Some really nice vocal movement effects around us.
Very short, but very good.

The Third Hurrah
This has a feel at the start almost like Battle Of Epping Forest.
Hurrah in the rears
A musical march builds up around us really nicely.
Keys right rears and across back.
Guitar front right.
Organ left side.
A keyboard across the back.
Strings across rears.
Just stuff everywhere...
This is like a really nice blend of styles sliding into each other.... at time orchestral, at times, folky, at times rocky.
A virtually mesmerizing mix.
Excellent immersion, balance, writing and execution.

Two Fingers
Keys swell in the rears.
Vocal front
Acoustic left side
Percussion left rear.
Electric guitar alternating sides up front.
Various percussive sounds alternating in rears.
Again the use of channels is excellent.
It never sounds gimmicky to me, it just sounds really entertaining and gives this a fantastic sound.
There is so much going on in all these great mixes that it just seems you could listen to this three or four times a row, and pick out something different each time.

Just before we move onto the second disc.
I now remember loving this album when I first got this set, and I suppose reading five years of often negative comments about it, altered my perception of it.
This is a fantastic album, that may be a little challenging in some regards, but listening today.... it may be ... it may be Tull's most impressive album. This is certainly not any kind of commercial sell out. This is a solid progression on from where they were prior, and the writing and arrangements are superb.
To me the use of sound effects and intros work in a very natural, matter of fact way.
The album is quite thematic in feel, even though it may not be a "concept" album as such. This mix sets this all off beautifully, and I just loved every minute of that listen.... I would just about say it is worth the hundred and fifty or sixty bucks just for what I have heard so far alone....
But let's get the second dvd on, and see where that takes us.

For the record, each dvd has a 96/24 flat transfer of the album, and the bonus tracks

Paradise Steakhouse
Guitar left side
Vocal front with a feed to the right rear.
Lead guitar kind of middle of the room, slightly right.
Piano right side
Bvox rears.
Very good song, nice immersive mix.

Saturation
Keys right side
Guitar left side.
Lead guitar front right
Organ right rear
Flute middle of the room
Keyboard and flute unison left side.
Again we move into an arrangement that totally fits with the album we just listened to.
Excellent immersion, balance, and again entertaining.

Good Godmother
Guitar across front.
Pumping bass with sub assist.
Guitars either side.
Horn right side, towards rear.
Keys left rear
Flute left rear.
Flute lead left side.
Good song, excellent immersive mix

Sealion II
Guitar front and right side.
Keys left side.
Synth slide left rear.
Beautifully disjointed rhythmic structure
Synth slide runs across the rear.
A cross fade into a sort of unusual interlude with a spoken word section, then we cross fade back to the original track.
Again stuff going on everyehere.
Musically entertaining. The mix is really extremely immersive and this is altogether such and interesting track, with so much of interest going on it gets top marks.

Quartet
Keys left side.
Saxes up front.
Strings across back.
Tuned percussion right rear.
As with the album this track builds up into something quite excellent.
This is a sort of multi-genre instrumental.
Excellent, with a very immersive mix.
We move into a section that has a series of keys set around us to great effect.
Brilliant.

Warchild II
Sac right right.
Piano accordian across rears
Piano front left, leaning to the side
Guitar right side.
A really interesting version of the album track, and again a superb mix.
Strings left side towards rears.
Just all sorts of stuff going on.
Sfx in various spots with a bit of movement.

Tomorrow Was today
Percussion rears and front left. Claps centre.
Guitar right front.
Flute rears.
Piano left rear.
Lead guitar left rear, and slide guitar effect right rear
Piano accordian left side towards rear.
Harmonised guitars
Again this is excellent with a very immersive mix.

Glory Row
Acoustic guitars either side.
Sax front.
Really nice drum and bass groove up front.
Piano accordian left rear
Slide guitar right rear.
Flute left side.
Stabbing acoustic guitar right rear
Excellent song, excellent mix. Just top class all round

March, The Mad Scientist
Acoustic guitars all around.
Short and sweet. A pointer towards the more folk oriented albums to come.

Rainbow Blues
Lead guitar front right.
Flute left rear.
Keys left rear, feed across the back
Guitar right side towards rear.
Strings left side.
Percussion left rear.
Organ right side.
Harmonised guitars either side
Another excellent mix, and the song really develops well.

Pan Dance
A wind instrument left rear.
Flute front right.
Strings across the back
Guitar front towards the left.
Again this develops really nicely
Violin front right with reverb feeds out.
Tuned percussion right side.
A beautiful, ever growing track that dances around us in an extremely effective way
Hand clap percussion left side.
This is excellent and the mix is beautifully immersive

Orchestral Warchild Theme
Orchestra sells up around us.
This really does come across as a classical piece of music, and that may well just be the orchestral arrangement.... it also sort of has a grand 30's or 40's kind of epic soundtrack feel to it.
I wonder if this was considered as an orchestral overture to the album.
Immersive and lush. Such a grand sounding track.
I guess this won't be to everyone's taste, but it is certainly quite beautiful, and has a real atmosphere change for the album... or leftovers, however we want to classify them.

The Third Hurrah
Literally an orchestral version of the album track.
Instrumental, immersive, excellent.

Mime Sequence
Another orchestral piece.
Again we have nice immersion.

Field Dance
We end with another orchestral track, and again the immersion is very good.

To me, this is pretty much magnificent from start to finish.
The bonus tracks/album aren't just throwaway tracks, there is very little, if anything that could be considered throwaway, to me at least. I like the way they put the predominantly orchestral stuff at the end of it as well, it gives the regular tracks the ability to be heard as an album, and the orchestral stuff is almost like a bonus EP within he bonus album.

From my perspective this is an essential Tull album, and also an essential surround album. I hate that it is out of print, and obviously finances need to be taken into consideration, but if you love Tull, you need this. If you love surround, you should probably have this....

 

Seven / Cantamos




Studio albums by Poco
Recorded February and August–September 1974
Released April 12, 1974 and November 1, 1974
Genre Country Rock
Length 35:45 and 36:39
Label Epic
Producer Jack Richardson and Poco

Seven is the sixth studio album (seventh overall) by American country rock band Poco. It is the first album they made after leader Richie Furay left the band. The front cover was designed by Phil Hartman. On this album the group experimented with a harder rock sound on some of the tunes.

Cantamos is the seventh studio album by the country rock band Poco. It was released in 1974 on Epic Records. This album saw the band moving back towards their traditional country rock sound after experimenting with a harder style on the previous album.

Personnel
Poco
Paul Cotton – guitar, vocals
Rusty Young – steel guitar, banjo, dobro, guitar, vocals
Timothy B. Schmit – bass, vocals
George Grantham – drums, vocals

Additional Musicians on Seven
Jim Messina – mandolin on "Rocky Mountain Breakdown"
Burton Cummings – keyboards
Bobbye Hall – congas
Al Garth – fiddle on "Rocky Mountain Breakdown"

Track listing
Seven
1. Drivin' Wheel 6:09
2. Rocky Mountain Breakdown 2:15
3. Just Call My Name 5:10
4. Skatin' 4:40
5. Faith In The Families 3:41
6. Krikkit's Song (Passing Through) 3:31
7. Angel 4:53
8. You've Got Your Reasons 5:10
Cantamos
1. Sagebrush Serenade 4:57
2. Susannah 4:08
3. High And Dry 4:54
4. Western Waterloo 4:00
5. One Horse Blue 3:36
6. Bitter Blue 3:22
7. Another Time Around 5:02
8. Whatever Happened To Your Smile 3:15
9. All The Ways 3:27
_______

Both albums weres reissued in the UK on the Super Audio CD format in 2018 by Dutton Vocalion. This edition is a 2 albums on 1 disc compilation. The Dutton Vocalion release contains the complete stereo and quad mixes of both albums. The cover looks like this:



Seven Quad mix by ?

“Drivin' Wheel “
Starts with steel guitar in front plus acoustic guitar left and right rear. Then lead vocals in front, drums in front, and backing vocals in rear. After a minute in the songs picks up, bass comes in front, electric guitar in rear. Two and a half minutes in the drums go into surround, then drums return to front, lead guitar in front with second guitar in rear. Then steel guitar rear, with both lead and backing vocals in front. Slide guitar gives way to what seems two guitars left and right rear in addition to lead guitar in front.

“Rocky Mountain Breakdown”
Starts with vocals in front, left rear, and right rear. A little right rear too. Then banjo left rear and fiddle right rear. Drums, bass and mandolin in front.

“Just Call My Name”
Drums, bass, vocals in front plus guitar in rear that seems to oscillate a bit between left and right. No check that, I think it’s two different guitars. Backing vocals left and right rear too. Three minutes in one of the guitars goes to front for brief solo.

“Skatin'”
One guitar in rear, everything else in front. Then backing vocals join in rear too. Keyboards in rear. Nice front and back guitar.

“Faith In The Families”
Starts with piano on rear, guitar in front. Then bass and guitar in front, congas and guitar in rear. Then lead vocals front, backing vocals left and right rear. Steel guitar solo right front. Ends with piano in rear.

“Krikkit's Song (Passing Through)”
Left and right guitar in rear, vocals and drums in front. Piano on right. Fiddle replace guitar right rear.

“Angel”
Steel guitar right rear, second guitar left rear, drums, bass and vocals in front. Think there might be some dobro in rear too. Steel guitar moves to front for solo, then moves back again, electric solo in front, backing vocals in rear. Ends with front and back guitar.

“You've Got Your Reasons”
At least guitar parts again – front, left and right rear. Pedal steel is left rear. Bass, drums, and vocals in front. Backing vocals rear. Harmonica then flute then strings in rear (none of which are mentioned credits). But the guitars come back.

Cantamos Quad mix by Don Young
“Sagebrush Serenade”
Starts with acoustic guitar right rear, then second acoustic guitar left rear and vocals in front. Thirty seconds end steel guitar replaces acoustic left rear and backing vocals front and right rear. At about a minute in backing vocals come on left, an additional acoustic guitar joins in front. The steel guitar switches sides in the rear several times. After two and half minutes, the songs dies down and restarts with banjo in front and left rear and some percussion right rear. Then we finally get bass and drums in front and guitar right rear. Banjo solo in front. Then just before the four minute mark the song restarts again with steel guitar in front and percussion right rear. Drums and bass come back in front, banjo left rear. Guitar solo right rear, then back to banjo in front, and then the vocals come back to finish the song off.

“Susannah”
Bass, drums and vocals in front, banjo right rear, acoustic guitar left rear. This is album seems to mixed like the first, which makes me think Don Young did them both: Instruments and vocals are mixed across the front or discretely left and right rear. Steel guitar left rear plus backing vocals right rear a minute in. Harmonica briefly instead of vocals in front two minutes in.

“High And Dry”
Steel guitar front plus bass, drums and vocals. Guitars left and right rear. The drums briefly flash in the rear periodically. At around the teo minute mark the song changes up and we get additional percussion in front and right rear.

“Western Waterloo”
Starts with what sounds like synth soundscape right front – but it’s probably steel guitar with extra reverb. Sounds out of place on this album. Then drums kick in front but also flashing to the rear, then things get normal with bass and vocals in front and guitar rear left and banjo rear right. Steel guitar moves front to left rear along with backing vocals on both sides a minute in. Guitar solo in front. More drum flashes in the rear.

“One Horse Blue”
Starts out sounding like the first rock song on this album – guitars front, left and right rear. Bass and drums in front. Vocals come front, banjo replaces guitar right rear and it’s back to bluegrassy sound. Left and right backing vocals in the rear come in the second minute. Backing vocals in front too – they are all singing.

“Bitter Blue”
Starts with left and right guitars in rear, then lead vocals in front. Steel right rear – very rear heavy mix until bass and drums come in front along with backing vocals in rear.

“Another Time Around”
A three guitar start with steel guitar in front, might be banjo on the right. Then drums and bass in front, then vocals in front, then backing vocals in rear. Lots of drum flashes in the rears down the stretch.

“Whatever Happened To Your Smile”
Starts with steel guitar right rear, then harmonica followed by guitar. Drums bass and lead vocals in front. Then backing vocals left and right rear,

“All The Ways”
Starts with left and right guitar in rear, the drums are in surround, bass and vocals in front.
____

I have a Poco compilation CD on the shelf, and I have a little more familiarity with these guys than Pure Prairie League. However, that CDC has a grand total of three songs off of these two albums, so most of these albums I hade never heard before. Also, Poco was the farm team for the Eagles bass players – Timothy Schmit replaced Randy Meissner when he left to join the Eagles and then joined the Eagles when Meissner left them.

I pegged Pure Prairie League as being somewhere between Union Station and the Eagles. On that country-rock continuum the first album is definitely closer to the Eagles. Both “Drivin' Wheel“ and “Just Call My Name” could be Eagles songs. As a result Seven is more in line with my expectations for a country-rock album. On the other hand, Cantamos is in the neighborhood of PPL – it has more steel guitar and lots more banjo.

I really like the mixing technique for both albums. The front is basically stereo with lead vocals bass and drums, while the guitars and banjo are usually (but not always) mixed either rear left or right. But the quad mix works especially well for Cantamos – it turns an album I wouldn’t be that interested in into a real treat.

It’s a really great DV twofer.

Seven (2/3)
Cantamos (1/4)

 

We rescue and foster seniors and I KNOW first hand how gut wrenching this is I am sorry

back to your regularly scheduled programing

 

Superunknown


Studio album by
Soundgarden
Released March 8, 1994
Recorded July–September 1993
Studio Bad Animals Studio, Seattle, Washington
Genre Grunge heavy metal hard rock stoner rock[1]
Length 70:13
73:33 (LP and international CD)
Label A&M
Producer Michael Beinhorn Soundgarden

Superunknown is the fourth studio album by American rock band Soundgarden, released on March 8, 1994, through A&M Records. It is the band's second album with bassist Ben Shepherd, and features new producer Michael Beinhorn. Soundgarden began work on the album after touring in support of its previous album, Badmotorfinger (1991). Superunknown captured the heaviness of the band's earlier releases while displaying a more diverse range of influences.

Superunknown was a critical and commercial success and became the band's breakthrough album. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 310,000 copies in its opening week. The album also topped the Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand charts. Five singles were released from the album: "The Day I Tried to Live", "My Wave", "Fell on Black Days", "Spoonman", and "Black Hole Sun", the latter two of which won Grammy Awards and helped Soundgarden reach mainstream popularity. In 1995, the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. The album has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA in the United States, has sold 9 million copies worldwide and remains Soundgarden's most successful album. In April 2019, Superunknown was ranked No. 9 on Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Grunge Albums" list.[2]

• Chris Cornell – lead vocals, backing vocals, rhythm guitar
• Kim Thayil – lead guitar
• Ben Shepherd – bass, drums and percussion (track 6), backing vocals (track 8), lead vocals and guitar (track 14)
• Matt Cameron – drums, percussion, Mellotron (track 4), pots and pans (track 8)

Additional musicians

• April Acevez – viola (track 14)
• Artis the Spoonman – spoons (track 8)
• Michael Beinhorn – piano (track 1)
• Fred Chalenor – harmonic guidance (track 9)
• Justine Foy – cello (track 14)
• Gregg Keplinger – drums and percussion (track 6)
• Natasha Shneider – clavinet (track 12)

Production

• Michael Beinhorn – production
• David Collins – mastering
• Jason Corsaro – engineering
• Adam Kasper – assistant engineering
• Kelk – front cover design
• Gregg Keplinger – studio assistance
• Tony Messina – studio assistance
• Brendan O'Brien – mixing
• Reyzart – layout
• Soundgarden – production
• Kevin Westenberg – band photography
• Susan Silver – management

1. "Let Me Drown" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
2. "My Wave" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
3. "Fell on Black Days" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
4. "Mailman" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
5. "Superunknown" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
6. "Head Down" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
7. "Black Hole Sun" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
8. "Spoonman" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
9. "Limo Wreck" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
10. "The Day I Tried To Live" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
11. "Kickstand" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
12. "Fresh Tendrils" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
13. "4th of July" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
14. "Half" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
15. "Like Suicide" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
16. "She Likes Surprises" (Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Mix)
-------------------------------------------------------------

We have done the only other available Soundgarden album in 5.1 - Badmotorfinger ...

This album came out with a lot of expectations or so it seems. After the strength of Badmotorfinger and the lead single Spoonman getting some solid airplay on radio, in Australia at least, there was a lot of interest in the new Soundgarden album. My friends and I were keen to hear what the band had come up with.

I probably got this reasonably quickly after release, because Spoonman just had a great groove and I wanted to hear the rest of the album. I wasn't disappointed, but at the same time, we had entered a time in music where filling the cd seemed more important than creating a solid, smooth flowing album. SO id o really like this album, but it often feels a little bit too long to me also.

Of course, Black Hole Sun went absolutely gangbusters and seemed to be everywhere, and the follow up to that track My Wave seemed like its purpose was to let people know that the band weren't just doing ballads now.

Discogs has one copy for about $142 Soundgarden - Superunknown (Super Deluxe)
Amazon has it for about $250 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IXLQJOO?tag=ilovethatsong-20

So sadly again this is out of print ....

disc 1 is the remastered album
disc 2 is b-sides and other stuff
disc 3 is 9 demos
disc 4 is 14 rehearsals
disc 5 is the bluray with the surround mix

So this is another box set that hides a 5.1 mix on it, amongst stuff that is probably only going to appeal to hardcore fans. It cost me about $110 new at the time, and I really really had to think about it at the time, because frankly the box set lure has become more than a joke in my world. I could get into that but it is a little futile really.

5.1 mix Adam Kasper, assisted by Sam Hofstedt
Mastering Stephen Marcussen (as far as I can tell)

Let Me Drown
Nice sub presence.
The drums are kind of on the middle of the room.
There's a guitar up front, with the bass.
There are also incidental guitars come in either side.

My Wave
Drums somewhat middle of the room
Bass up front.
Riff guitars either side towards the rears.
The held accent note cuts between the rears.
The bridge/chorus with the ringing guitars is pretty effective.

Fell On Black Days
Opening guitar right side towards the rears.
The bass with solid sub assistance, up front.
The vocals are predominantly from the centre, with a little bit on the fronts.
Another guitar comes in on the left side towards rears.
This song is all about the groove and the vocal.
An nice feedback guitar slides between the rears.
This is an effective mix.

Mailman
Guitars either side rears.
Bass and drums solid and up front, drums possibly slightly forward.

Each track has a sort of ambient video track. Essentially scenic shots using panning and colour techniques to make them nice supports.

Mellotron across the rears.
We get a sort of breakdown and we get a guitar right rear, and a sort of swoosh to the left rear.
Good mix.

Superunknown
This has the same kind of set up that we have had so far.
Guitars either side, bass and drums front, drums a bit forward.
We get an incidental guitar that slides across the field.
Some bvox in the rears.
A short burst of lead from up front.
We get a breakdown with some percussion in the rears.
Pretty good mix.

Head Down
Guitar right rear
Percussion left side.
The the song kicks in.
Another guitar right rear.
Bass and drums the same.
This song has a slightly psychedelic feel, and the mix works well.
We get a lead effect guitar sliding around the field a bit.
This may be the most interesting and involved mix so far.

Black Hole Sun
Arpeggio guitar front right.
The effected guitar in the rears.
Bass and drums the same.
The instrumental section has some really nice surround effects.
Another effective mix.
The repeated Black Hole Sun vocal in the fade out seems a little low.

Spoonman
Bass and drums same.
Guitars either sides rears.
Bvox right side.
Some percussive effects from various spots.
The breakdown has the come on come on alternating in the rears.
Drums break works nicely with percussive sounds all round.
Very effective immersive mix

Limo Man


The Day I Tried to Live

Kickstand

Fresh Tendrils

4th Of July

Half

Like Suicide

She Likes Surprises

Yea, I didn't finish it. If I feel drawn to, I may do the second half of the album at a later date.

So far the mix is pretty good. There are some sections of songs that are highlights, and the basic set up stays pretty consistent throughout.
The thing I was struggling with, is I am not sure how may folks would want to pay probably over $175 for this particular mix.
I would assume any hardcore Soundgarden fans would already have this, and I don't think the current price point is going to bring any interested outsiders in, unless they just particularly had a big wad of spare cash to play with.
If you love this album, you will probably like this mix ... but whether you would like it enough to pay that much for it is a really hard call.... I liked it but would be unlikely to play it frequently