Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

Thank you very much. I haven't had a chance to check them out yet

 

I just did a quick check. I can’t find the BD on Amazon or eBay. Only the DVD is still available. The BD was $17 a few months ago. Hopefully, it hasn’t sold out yet.

 

I managed to get a new one from rarewaves via Amazon
Where We Stood https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0762H17QG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ZVMMDb939WKGC

Thank you, much appreciated

 

You’re welcome. Is that the Blu-ray? Amazon listings can be such a PITA.

 

2cd/dvd/bluray

 

Don't forget to vote for this weeks albums.
Seven pairs to choose from Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

 

That appears to be the Super Deluxe Edition for The Pineapple Thief's 'Where We Stood'. There is also a stand-alone one disc Blu Ray

The stand-alone disc at $20 represents possibly the best value ever in surround music. You get:

• the 2016 London concert with not one, but two different surround mixes
• Your Wilderness album in surround. Long out-of-print and expensive to find.
• 8 Years Later bonus material in surround. Previously only available on the OOP Your Wilderness super deluxe edition release.
• 5 tracks of acoustic material in surround (my favorite)
• A bunch of documentary videos on the concert, songwriting process, and other stuff

 

Yea, I was looking for the bluray, but it appears to be out of print, and seemingly unavailable. So I just got that set, because it has the bluray ... I would have preferred $18-20, but I'm not going to quibble about $40 new for a set that has so much bonus stuff

 

I did link to Amazon the stand-alone disc in my post above.

It's a good deal either way.

 

Damn ... I thought that was the cd

edit ... I missed it in your post .. I was a little tired this morning. When I was looking yesterday I saw that and thought it was just the cd

 

I have used No Man's Land from that Blu-ray (got mine on Amazon CA for CDN$14.99, ridiculous value!!) many times to showcase live surround, love that Bruce did a more immersive mix similar to the wonderful job Elliot Scheiner did on NIN's Beside You In Time (shame he didn't do the better concert, And All That Could Have Been).

Gavin's bit at the end before the song kicks in is awesome.

 

Well what'd you expect? It's The Beatles in the very capable mixing hands of Giles Martin, heir to the engineer's chair.

 

I vote for Toys In The Attic and Hand. Cannot. Erase. (I wish I had the first one!)

 

I need to listen to it still, so there is every chance it will get a Sunday run anyway

 

It's quite alright. Otherwise I might never have known there is a Hotel California SACD that is much more reasonably priced than the bluray box.

 

cool

 

click the link and vote people's

 

Ok, it took a few days to catch up to mark's weekend binge, but here are my comments:

Opeth - Pale Communion. As the general theme of the day, prog metal bands tend to get more proggy and less metallic as they get older, and I usually like them better because of it. OK, maybe I like Damnation a little better, but this is a nice album. In the quieter passages there is often a noticeably different instrumental mix coming from the back. It's such a shame that the last two Opeth releases have relegated the surround mix to an expensive box.

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon. Quiet desperation is the English way. I didn't use to know that, but now I do. I mean seriously, if this isn't a classic album them what is? And if that weren't enough, the 5.1 mix is fantastic. If the Quad is better, well then I'd like that too. The first two minutes of Time are classic surround. So, this is pretty much essential, unless perhaps you are a member of the nondesperate English minority.

Dream Theater - Distance Over Time. I became interested in Dream Theater about ten years ago and acquired all their studio releases, including Systematic Chaos with a 5.1 mix. But, it was fad that passed. Didn't like either of the two after SC, and I've never even heard the one after that. I've pulled out Train of Thought a few time and I also play SC in 5.1, but that's usually it. But people were saying d/t is their best in a while, so I downloaded it last winter. And yes, I agree that it's at least their best since Systematic Chaos. Less metallic than their old selves perhaps, but only a little. However, the mastering was disappointing - it was a little compressed. The bluray with a 5.1 mix from the expensive box reputedly had more dynamic range than the download. Really annoying. But six months later, the bluray digipack came out for cheap, so I bought it again. Totally worth it. The surround mix is not remarkable for it's surround properties, but the dynamic range and sound quality are way better. The accompanying video is very cool too. A bargain.

The Pineapple Thief - Dissolution. Also about ten years ago, the Burning Shed web site compared Pineapple Thief to my favorite band at the time - Porcupine Tree. So I picked up Someone Here is Missing, and I liked it a lot. Then some of earlier stuff, but wasn't enthused. I have two of the next three and they are both OK, so when Dissolution came out with both the Porcupine Tree drummer and a surround mix, it was an autobuy. So you might think this album could be mistaken for a Porcupine Tree album, and yes it could. I'm not ready to say it's better than SHIM, but I'm thinking about it. Dissolution is a little less metallic and a little more ambienty.

I'll throw this in here too:

Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward. I doubled my DM holdings by ordering three albums, all DTS versions, from three different places. They all came labeled as Region 0, which means they should play anywhere. But none them will play in region 1, aka North America. My other three are all DVDA and they play fine. Fortunately, the drive in my desktop thinks it's Chinese, so I ripped them anyway. As you might expect, Blasphemous Rumours is pretty cool in surround.

 

Listening to this in Dolby Atmos is one of the best. if not the best experiences I've had in listening to multi-channel music.
Not to take anything away from the blu-ray but I think listening to this in my acoustically treated home theater helped with the experience a great deal.
I've played the 5.1 version on another system, again sounded very good. But the Atmos experience was first rate all the way. I just wish they would start releasing these with the option of not having to buy a box set. Highly, highly recommended...

 

I am another that just wants the 5.1's as a separate release. I have dozens of multidisc boxsets, where I have only listened to the 5.1 disc, and it's annoying. I may well listen to the other stuff on there, but more likely when I retire and actually have time. If I make time to listen now, which I am trying to do more frequently ... hence this thread ... I want to listen to the album, not the rough cuts, and if the album is in surround that will be my go to at home.

 

How about a Beatles 5.1 box set. That’s what I want.

 

same here. and an Elton one, floyd, queen... maybe if the abbey road Atmos set sells well, it will catch on? we can dream..

 

I'm hoping at some point some other seventies bands pick up on what their rivals are doing ... I'm thinking 10cc, Supertramp, more Queen would be good too and a few others

 

if abbey road a 50 year old recording can sound that good in Atoms-Can only imagine with the right people doing the job what else can be accomplished with many 70's bands.

 

Last chance to vote before Sunday guys
Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

I may be a little later on here Sunday as I have Bob Seger in Memphis on Saturday night, so it will be a late one as it will be a long midnight drive home, but I will get the choices done.