Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

Nice!
I still hold out hope that the somewhat ho hum response to 5.1 mixes will pick up, and things like that certainly help.
Thanks for the info!

 

So we get to some choices to vote for for next week.

Tchaikovsky Swan Lake/Sleeping Beauty/The Nutcracker -whichever takes my fancy on the day... probably Nutcracker being Christmas and all
Herbie Hancock - Headhunters

 

Barring some kind of Shipping issue

Pink Floyd - Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Ian Anderson - Homo Eraticus

 

Alan Parsons - eye In the Sky
Trey Anastasio

 

Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed
Moody Blues - Seventh Sojourn

 

Miles Davis - Tutu
Steve Hackett - At The Edge Of The Light

 

Tears For Fears - Songs from the big chair
The Who - Tommy

 

Eric Clapton - Give Me Strength
461 ocean blvd and There's One In every Crowd

 

I rushed those polls today, i was cooking my breakfast/ lunch ... whatever it would classify as lol

 

Also don't forget to run through any of the albums we have done, if you feel drawn to

Reference to the albums

Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic
Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare
Allman Brothers Band - Live At Fillmore East
Allman Brother Band - Eat a Peach
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here thanks @riskylogic
Ayreon - The Source thanks @riskylogic

Band - Music From Big Pink
Bass Communion - Loss thanks @riskylogic
The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album)
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Be Bop Deluxe - Futurama
Be Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish
Beck, Jeff - Blow By Blow
Beethoven - 3rd Symphony Eroica
Bjork - Vespertine
Bowie, David - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
Browne, Jackson - Running On Empty

Charles, Ray - Ray Sings, Basie Swings
Cobham, Billy - Spectrum
Cobham, Billy - Spectrum (Quad) thanks @-dave--wave-

Davis, Miles - In A Silent Way
Davis, Miles - Bitches Brew
Deep Purple - Machine Head
Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward
Depeche Mode - Delta Machine
Derek and the Dominos - Layla and other assorted love songs
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
Doobie Brothers - The Captain And Me
Doors - LA Woman
Dream Theater - Distance Over Time
Dukes Of Stratosphear - Psurroundabout Ride
Dylan, Bob - Blonde On Blonde

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

Fagen, Donald - The Nightfly
Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Gabriel, Peter - Up
Gaye, Marvin - Lets Get It On
Genesis - Overview of all thanks @MikeF63
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Genesis - And Then There Were Three
Gentle Giant - The Power and The Glory
Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead

Hendrix, Jimi - Electric Ladyland

Inxs - Kick
Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death

Jeff Beck Group - Rough And Ready
Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick
Jethro Tull - Minstrel In The Gallery
Jethro Tull - Stormwatch
Jethro Tull - TAAB 2 thanks @riskylogic
Joel, Billy - The Stranger
John, Elton - Madman Across The Water

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - The Traveller
King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King 40th and 50th
King Crimson - Red
Knopfler, Mark - Sailing To Philadelphia
Kooper, Al (with Bloomfield and Stills) Super Sessions

Living Colour - Collideoscope
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Southern Surroundings

Marillion - Afraid Of Sunlight
Moody Blues - A Question Of Balance
Morrison, Van - Moondance
Mozart - 40th Symphony

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

Oldfield, Mike - Five Miles Out
Oldfield, Mike - Crises thanks @Sordel 's overview
Opeth - Pale Communion
Opeth - In Cauda Venenum

Pat Metheny Group - Imaginary Day
Pineapple Thief - Dissolution
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Pixies - Doolittle thanks @Galactus2

Queen - A Night At The Opera

REM - Green
Rich, Charlie Behind Closed Doors
Roxy Music - Avalon
Rush - Hemispheres
Rush - Moving Pictures

Santana - Lotus
Sly And The Family Stone - Greatest Hits
Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle

Talking Heads - Fear Of Music
Talking Heads - Remain In Light
Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Damn The Torpedoes
Townsend, Pete/Lane, Ronnie - Rough Mix
T Rex - Electric Warrior

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

Wakeman, Rick - Six Wives Of Henry The Eighth
Waters, Roger - Amused to Death
Wayne, Jeff - War Of The Worlds
Who - Quadrophenia
Wilson, Steven - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
Wings - Band On The Run

XTC - The Black Sea
XTC - Oranges and Lemons

Yes - Close To The Edge
Young, Neil - Harvest

Zappa - Quaudiophiliac

If the mood takes you, please feel free to give us your summary of any of these albums that we have done. For our purposes here, please try and give us information about the mix, in as much or as little detail as takes your fancy.
If you feel so inclined, review the album, and the mastering or anything else about the album that you feel drawn to.
Cheers,
Mark

 

Two winners, and two of my favs, this week, (Wish You Were Here and this) thanks for that!

As I mentioned earlier I was a massive fan of Remain In Light, and the 5.1 just took it to a stellar level, emphasizing the brooding feeling Eno bought to the table, I didn't think it could get better but with Speaking In Tongues 5.1, it's hard to keep still to listen. I rate them equally, top notch.

 

A Treasury


Compilation album by
Nick Drake
Released 27 September 2004
Recorded 1968-1974
Studio Sound Techniques, London
Genre Folk, folk baroque
Label Island
Producer Joe Boyd, John Wood

A Treasury is a Nick Drake compilation aimed at the audiophile audience. Released in the UK on 27 September 2004 and in the US on 26 October 2004, it was available as both a hybrid multichannel SACD and a 180 gram vinyl LP. To promote the compilation, a single was issued for the song "River Man", released on CD and 7" vinyl in the UK on 13 September 2004.

1. "Introduction" – 1:31 from Bryter Layter, 1971
2. "Hazey Jane II" – 3:44 from Bryter Layter, 1971
3. "River Man" – 4:18 from Five Leaves Left, 1969
4. "Cello Song" – 4:45 from Five Leaves Left, 1969
5. "Hazey Jane I" – 4:28 from Bryter Layter, 1971
6. "Pink Moon" – 2:03 from Pink Moon, 1972
7. "Poor Boy" – 6:07 from Bryter Layter, 1971
8. "Magic" – 2:48 from Made to Love Magic, 2004; originally called "I Was Made to Love Magic" from Time of No Reply, 1986
9. "Place to Be" – 2:42 from Pink Moon, 1972
10. "Northern Sky" – 3:45 from Bryter Layter, 1971
11. "Road" – 2:01 from Pink Moon, 1972
12. "Fruit Tree" – 4:48 from Five Leaves Left, 1969
13. "Black Eyed Dog" – 3:25 from Made to Love Magic, 2004
14. "Way to Blue" – 3:10 from Five Leaves Left, 1969
15. "From the Morning" – 2:30 from Pink Moon, 1972
16. "Plasir d'amour" (Hidden bonus track) – 0:46 recorded during the Pink Moon sessions, 1971; previously unreleased

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To be honest I know nothing about Nick Drake. This was one of those albums that I bought on a whim, because it was 5.1.
I feel pretty confident in saying this is a luxurious sounding album. The memory tells me that the mix is excellent. So I guess we'll see.

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This is the tragic story of Drake from Wiki

Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter. Although his music did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, he gradually achieved wider recognition and is now considered among the most influential English singer-songwriters of the last 50 years. Drake signed to Island Records when he was 20 years old and released his debut album, Five Leaves Left, in 1969. By 1972, he had recorded two more albums: Bryter Layter and Pink Moon. Neither sold more than 5,000 copies on initial release.[3]

Drake's reluctance to perform live or be interviewed contributed to his lack of commercial success. He suffered from depression and insomnia, topics often reflected in his lyrics. After completing Pink Moon in 1972, he withdrew from live performance and recording, retreating to his parents' home in rural Warwickshire. On 25 November 1974, at the age of 26, Drake died from an overdose of amitriptyline, a prescribed antidepressant.

The 1979 release of the retrospective album Fruit Tree triggered a reassessment of Drake's catalogue. By the mid-1980s, artists such as Robert Smith, David Sylvian and Peter Buck were crediting Drake as an influence. In 1985, the Dream Academy reached the UK and US charts with "Life in a Northern Town", dedicated to Drake. By the early 1990s, Drake had come to represent the "doomed romantic" musician in the UK music press, and was being cited by artists including Kate Bush, Paul Weller and the Black Crowes. The first Drake biography appeared in 1997, followed in 1998 by the documentary A Stranger Among Us. In 2000, the title track from Pink Moon appeared in a Volkswagen advertisement, and within a month Drake had sold more records than he had in the previous 30 years.

If you want to read further go here
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I have put this up a few times, and perhaps it is my sometimes odd pairings, or perhaps he is still slightly unknown, but this album is very worth having a listen to, so here we go.

Still available new on Amazon for about $34 https://www.amazon.com/Treasury-Nick-Drake/dp/B0002VE198
Music Direct $18.99 Nick Drake - A Treasury (Hybrid SACD) | Shop Music Direct
Acoustic sounds says it is not available anymore ... so it must be close to running out. If you have been holding off, I would jump only before it gets stupid ... like some of those ebay prices
11 copies on Discogs from about $7 Nick Drake - A Treasury
available on ebay for a multitude of different prices Nick Drake A Treasury sacd | eBay

5.1 mixed by Clive Gregson and John Wood
Compiled by Cally, and Stella Macpherson

Introduction
We get nice sub assistance, giving the bass a nice pluck.
The acoustic guitar is upfront, and we are surrounded by lush strings on this short beautiful instrumental.

Hazey Jane II
Horn on the right side. Country picking electric right front.
Again nice sub.
Horns spread across back at certain points.
Richard Thompson on guitar.
Drums slightly left of front centre.
The vocals all come through beautifully from the front.

River Man
Acoustic gtr front left. Vocal front and centre. Bass beautifully backed up by the sub.
Strings fill in the field beautifully.
This albums songs aren't mega-layered tracks, they are lean, aside from the beautifully arranged strings and such.
The sound is beautiful.

Cello Song
We start with some really nice acoustic guitar just left of left front. Lovely cello in the middle. Congas just right.
A minimal arrangement, but exquisite. We get mainly beautiful ambiance with this track.

Hazey Jane I
Standard kind of set up here.
Acoustic up front, really nice sub supported double bass, and vocals.
Again it is the ambiance and strings feeding our surround environment, but it all sounds so damn good. Cymbal crash right side. Drums just right of right front... but these aren't rock drums and we have balance.
It really sounds so very good to me.

Pink Moon
Acoustic up front with the vocals. There is an immediacy abou this, that is hard to explain, but Nick could be say in front of me. A piano plays a simple, but lovely melody on the left.

Poor Boy
Electric gtr just left of front left. Piano right side. That great sounding bass.
Drums up front. Bvox just right of front right.
Sax lead break just left of left front.
Percussion left side.
This has a somewhat jazz feel. Smooth and breezy.

Magic
This has a lovely string arrangement providing the majority of the music. Nicely spread.
We still still have a great bass.
In the chorus we get some really nice wind instruments adding nice colour.

Place To Be
Mainly acoustic gtr and vocals. Possibly two acoustics. Again those breathy vocals come across beautifully.
The acoustic/s seem to take up a good deal of the soundfield.
Again great sound.

Northern Sky
Nice cool drums up front. Again really nice bass.
John Cale is on here on piano, celeste and organ.
Cymbals left side. Acoustic right side. Piano around the front left. Celeste right side.

Road
Really cool acoustic guitar spreading around front half. Good mic'ing.
Sounds excrllent.

Fruit Tree
Nice acoustic. Lovely well arranged and spread mini orchestra set up sgsin.
That ever pulsing bass.
This is great chill out music.

Black Eyed Dog
Acoustic guitar ringing into the sides.
Not unlike something I might expect from Robert Johnson or Leadbelly.
A wonderful folk/blues.

Way To Blue
The strings again impeccably arranged
Again the sub gives ample bass assistance.
Again the strings fill the sides nicely.

From Morning
Dancing acoustic guitar. Nice vocal

Plasir D'amour
I don't know where this is supposed to be hidden, but I can't find a way to get to it. Perhaps one of our resident experts knows?

This is one of those rare, ultra relaxing albums. I personally certainly don't find it boring, but it soothes and caresses rather than kicks, punches and screams, like a lot of the music I listen to.
The sound is fabulous. I like the mix, but being what it is, it isn't going to be a wild 5.1 ride. What we get instead is a really nice live in the studio ambiance, and on the tracks with strings and horns, a very nice, more immersive mix. If the copy/ies on discogs for seven bucks are in good condition it would be very worth getting, because it is cheaper than therapy and probably more soothing also. I like this a lot, but it isn't going to be your I want to get crazy with 5 speakers choice.

 

That was a fantastic write up Mark! Thanks for being so detailed in your analysis! I may have to bite The bullet!

 

Ommadawn


Studio album by
Mike Oldfield
Released 28 October 1975
Recorded January–September 1975
Studio The Beacon
(Kington, Herefordshire)
The Manor Studio
(Shipton-on-Cherwell, Oxfordshire)
Genre Symphonic rock[1] folk world
Length 36:41
Label Virgin
Producer Mike Oldfield

Ommadawn is the third studio album by English musician, songwriter, and producer Mike Oldfield, released on 28 October 1975 on Virgin Records. It peaked at No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was reissued by Mercury Records in June 2010 with additional content. A sequel album, titled Return to Ommadawn, was released on 20 January 2017.

Musicians

• Mike Oldfield – harp, electric and acoustic guitars and basses (including 12-string guitar and classical guitar), mandolin, bodhran, bouzouki, banjo, spinet, grand piano, electric organs, synthesisers, glockenspiel, assorted percussion
• Herbie (Christopher Herbert) – Northumbrian smallpipes
• Leslie Penning – recorders, The Hereford City Band conductor
• Terry Oldfield – panpipes
• Pierre Moerlen – timpani
• David Strange – cello
• Don Blakeson – trumpet
• Julian Bahula – African drums
• Ernest Mothle – African drums
• Lucky Ranku – African drums
• Eddie Tatane – African drums
• Clodagh Simonds – vocals
• Bridget St John – vocals
• Sally Oldfield – vocals
• "The Penrhos Kids" (Abigail, Briony, Ivan, and Jason Griffiths) – vocals on "On Horseback"
• The Hereford City Band – brass section
• William Murray – percussion
• Paddy Moloney – Uilleann pipes[15]

Production

• Mike Oldfield – producer, engineer
• David Bailey – cover photographs
• Phil Smee – CD package design (2010 remaster)

1. "Ommadawn {Part One}" (2010 5.1 surround mix)
2. "Ommadawn {Part Two}" / "On Horseback" (2010 5.1 surround mix)

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I have three Mike Oldfield albums I haven't had a chance to listen to yet, and i chose this over Hergest Ridge and Discovery today.
I'm not going to go the big write up, because I just want to get a listen in.
I enjoyed the excerpt on my Mike Oldfield anthology or whatever it is ... kinda rushing here lol
So I look forward to hearing what this one has to offer.

There is one on discogs for about $33 Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn
and the japanese one is 200+ smh ...Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn
There are a couple on ebay Mike Oldfield Ommadawn deluxe | eBay

Looks like I got one just in time .....

5.1 mix Mike Oldfield
Mastering Paschal Byrne

It is only DD 5.1 unfortunately

Part 1
It starts straight away. We have a lot like sound up front. And synth pad choir in the rears. Very nice sounding.
We have little bits and pieces popping in and out of the left and right rears. It all sounds very nice, smooth and balanced.
It is not mastered loud.
We have a nice synth section starting left rear with some movement and ending up front.
We enter a section with two guitars with good space between them. There is also some nice subtle movement across the front.
A synth section comes in again and we have a nice warm comfortable sound field happening.
The synth balances out nicely in the rears, with the vocal pad. A very cool Oldfield electric gtr up front.
A swoosh of wind sound to the sides.
Like most Oldfield long tracks, this goes through a series of changes. They are smooth comfortable changes.
A Snare on the left. Hats right
A triangle of melodic synths. Front left and right rear.
We swell into the next section.
Then a piano right rear, wind instrument up front, acoustic guitar left side, another right side.
This mix is really nice.
Much less erratic than the crises mix, and the balance is very nice..
The immersion is high.
The changes are smooth but there are a lot of them, and I can only type so fast.
Currently we have nice acoustics and wind instruments all around then we move into a delightful series of chimes... it really does sound good.
This moves into an electric lead and a percussive effect up from. Electric piano? in the rears.
A harmony guitar comes in in the rears.
This is probably the most solid of his 5.1 mixes I have heard so far. Very engaging, even in dolby.
Flute sound up front.
Synth pads.
Vocalizing - jon anderson? Rears
The percussive element comes in all across the front.
Arpeggio right side, nylon string?
Synth arpeggio comes in up front.
The beat quickens.
The sound field fills horn sounds either side.
Electric guitar comes back in up front.
We modulate keys and the intensity rises again.
So far the most balanced, immersive and interesting Oldfield mix I have heard.
Very cool piece of music and mix.
And it breaks down to the percussion.
Excellent.

Part 2
Instantly immersed.
Rears, sides and front all on board in a wall of sound.
This is like a moving organism, all melding beautifully into one. I can hear everything, but I am not confident to say what is what. I will say it sounds great.
A cymbal crescendo works nicely and the theme changes slightly.
This is very space age sounding, yet old world at the same time.
A really nice glissando type effect moves to the rears and fades, as an acoustic guitar comes in up front. Low mixed chordal type drone on the sides.
While this is going on another string instrument possibly mandolin plays little pieces either sides.
A short section breaks it up and we get bagpipes? Up front, sounding almost like a violin.
He really has done a great piece of work here, and this mix accentuates it nicely.
Then we are surround by guitar like instruments playing delicately.
Apparently the vocals earlier were Sally and the Penrhos kids.
String instruments either side, really nice balance , the vocals back up front.
Electric guitar comes in.
This is certainly an album I have overlooked for too long.
Really nice piece of work.
A dead stop.
Then we get a really nice acoustic up front. Then we get a broad English accent speaking, that breaks into a song.
This is very cool.
I very much like the horseback song.
No idea who is singing/speaking.
Excellent mix too. I was a little distracted taking in the song to note where what was.... but anyway.

I really enjoyed that mix. so far the most coherent and immersive of the Oldfield mixes. I have enjoyed them all to varying degrees, but this one is actually really good. I wish we had been given a better audio source than DD, but it sounds good, and balanced and I reckon it was very worth getting.

 

Great review Mark. This album is a must have for any surround fan who likes Nick Drake.

 

The night is still young. Now you should listen to Steve Hackett Voyage of the Acolyte because it's the best album Sally Oldfield ever did. C'mon, I know you have it.

 

I'm afraid it's TV with the mrs now... but I am itching to do some Hackett. Really enjoying the new album, haven't had a chance to put the 5.1 in yet

 

Acolyte is his first solo album - he was still a member of Genesis at the time. A 5.1 upmix is in the Premonitions box.

 

Yea, I didn't get the box... I wasn't going g to get it for one disc... the defector upmix, was pretty good, but I would have preferred a proper mix. I guess the tapes are missing....
Same old story .....

 

Well then, I guess I'll have to do it.

I got the Premonitions box because is has two true mixes, plus two pseudo 5.1 upmixes. One of the true mixes is Spectral Mornings - since you have listed that one, I figured you had the box. Did it get offered separately?

 

Yea I had
Spectral morning's
Please don't touch and
Defector
Before I even knew about the box.
Wolflight and especially At the Edge of Light are very good.
Like I say I wasn't going to get the box just for an up mix of voyage... but perhaps your review may tempt me

 

Wait, how did you get those without getting the box?
That said, no way is it worth getting the box for just the one upmix even though it is a great album.

 

Those three were all available individually

 

Have the same issue with the Love from the Planet Gong Box that just came out, sure there's lots of concerts added but only 1 surround mix ("You" in Quad)

 

If that's what you think, you should really give a try to the quad mix. I know it sounds impossible, but I think the intro works even better on that mix!
Overall, I prefer the 5.1, because it sounds fuller and is not as disjointed as the quad mix which is discrete but fails in blending all the instruments together, to me. That's very noticeable on the first and last tracks.
But the start of Welcome to the Machine is incredible, really. On the contrary, the intro of Wish you were here is nothing special... neither on the 5.1 nor on the quad mix.