Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

IIRC they mix some of the drums to one track only, so that takes a bit of punch away from, say, the mono single versions.
I love this album, it's discrete, the songs often really have something to say, plus it's innovative.
better than any of their studio albums IMO although Riot comes close (it's also later than this) but in many ways this is a near perfect singles comp.

 

At Fillmore East


Live album by
the Allman Brothers Band
Released July 1971
Recorded March 12–13, 1971
Fillmore East
(New York City)
Genre Southern rock, blues, blues rock, jam rock, jazz rock
Length 78:13
Label Capricorn
Producer Tom Dowd

At Fillmore East is the first live album by American rock band the Allman Brothers Band, and their third release overall. Produced by Tom Dowd, the album was released in July 1971 in the United States by Capricorn Records. As the title indicates, the recording took place at the New York City music venue Fillmore East, which was run by concert promoter Bill Graham. It was recorded over the course of three nights in March 1971 and features the band performing extended jam versions of songs such as "Whipping Post", "You Don't Love Me" and "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed." When first commercially released, it was issued as a double LP with just seven songs across four vinyl sides.

At Fillmore East was the band's artistic and commercial breakthrough, and has been considered by some critics to be one of the greatest live albums in rock music. It has also been ranked among the best overall albums by artists and continues to be a top seller in the band's catalog, becoming their first album to go platinum. In 2004, the album was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress, deemed to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" by the National Recording Registry.

Mixed and Mastered by Kevin Reeves at 4th Floor Studios, New York April/May 2014
Tape Transfer and Production Assistant Eliot Kissileff
Compilation Produced by Bill Levinson

This is a Bluray audio and essentially we have five shows on here
March 12, 1971 - First Show
1-1 Statesboro BluesWritten-By – Blind Willie McTell 4:44
1-2 Trouble No MoreWritten-By – McKinley Morganfield 3:47
1-3 Don't Keep Me Wonderin'Harmonica – Thom DoucetteWritten-By – Gregory L. Allman* 3:53
1-4 Done Somebody WrongHarmonica – Thom DoucetteWritten-By – Clarence L. Lewis*, Elmore James, Morris Levy 4:24
1-5 In Memory Of Elizabeth ReedPercussion – Bobby Caldwell (2)Saxophone – Rudolph "Juicy" Carter*Written-By – Dickey Betts 17:38
1-6 You Don't Love MeHarmonica – Thom DoucettePercussion – Bobby Caldwell (2)Saxophone – Rudolph "Juicy" Carter*Written-By – Willie Cobbs 14:58
March 12, 1971 - Second Show
1-7 Statesboro BluesHarmonica – Thom DoucetteWritten-By – Blind Willie McTell 4:29
1-8 Trouble No MoreWritten-By – McKinley Morganfield 4:04
1-9 Don't Keep Me Wonderin'Harmonica – Thom DoucetteWritten-By – Gregory L. Allman* 3:39
1-10 Done Somebody WrongHarmonica – Thom DoucetteWritten-By – Clarence L. Lewis*, Elmore James, Morris Levy 4:56
1-11 In Memory Of Elizabeth ReedPercussion – Bobby Caldwell (2)Saxophone – Rudolph "Juicy" Carter*Written-By – Dickey Betts 18:38
1-12 You Don't Love MeHarmonica – Thom DoucetteWritten-By – Willie Cobbs 19:13
1-13 Whipping PostSaxophone – Rudolph "Juicy" Carter*Written-By – Gregory L. Allman* 19:30
1-14 Hot 'LantaSaxophone – Rudolph "Juicy" Carter*Written-By – Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, Dickey Betts, Duane Allman, Gregory L. Allman*, Jai Johanny Johanson 5:19
March 13, 1971 - First Show
2-1 Statesboro BluesWritten-By – Blind Willie McTell 4:18
2-2 Trouble No MoreWritten-By – McKinley Morganfield 3:47
2-3 Don't Keep Me Wonderin'Harmonica – Thom DoucetteWritten-By – Gregory L. Allman* 3:38
2-4 Done Somebody WrongHarmonica – Thom DoucetteWritten-By – Clarence L. Lewis*, Elmore James, Morris Levy 4:08
2-5 In Memory Of Elizabeth ReedWritten-By – Dickey Betts 13:15
2-6 You Don't Love MeHarmonica – Thom DoucetteWritten-By – Willie Cobbs 19:50
2-7 Whipping PostWritten-By – Gregory L. Allman* 17:30
March 13, 1971 - Second Show
2-8 Statesboro BluesWritten-By – Blind Willie McTell 4:43
2-9 One Way OutHarmonica – Thom DoucetteWritten-By – Elmore James, Marshall Sehorn* 4:40
2-10 Stormy MondayHarmonica – Thom DoucetteWritten-By – T-Bone Walker 10:39
2-11 Hot 'LantaWritten-By – Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, Dickey Betts, Duane Allman, Gregory L. Allman*, Jai Johanny Johanson 5:31
2-12 Whipping PostWritten-By – Gregory L. Allman* 23:05
2-13 Mountain JamWritten-By – Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, Dickey Betts, Donovan Leitch*, Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Jai Johanny Johanson 35:39
2-14 Drunken Hearted BoyGuitar, Vocals – Elvin BishopHarmonica – Thom DoucettePercussion – Bobby Caldwell (2)Piano – Stephen Miller*Written-By – Elvin Bishop 7:45
June 27, 1971 - Fillmore East Closing Show
3-1 Statesboro BluesVoice [Introduction] – Bill Graham (2)Written-By – Blind Willie McTell 5:31
3-2 Don't Keep Me Wonderin'Written-By – Gregory L. Allman* 3:47
3-3 Done Somebody WrongWritten-By – Clarence L. Lewis*, Elmore James, Morris Levy 3:36
3-4 One Way OutWritten-By – Elmore James, Marshall Sehorn* 5:24
3-5 In Memory Of Elizabeth ReedWritten-By – Dickey Betts 12:33
3-6 Midnight RiderWritten-By – Gregory L. Allman*, Robert Kim Payne* 3:07
3-7 Hot 'LantaWritten-By – Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, Dickey Betts, Duane Allman, Gregory L. Allman*, Jai Johanny Johanson 5:48
3-8 Whipping PostWritten-By – Gregory L. Allman* 20:14
3-9 You Don't Love MeWritten-By – Willie Cobbs

I'm not going to listen to all three discs this morning, or it will be this afternoon lol
Today I am going to go with disc three. Nine tracks and a good coverage of tracks from the album.
This album is an iconic live release that really brought the band into the public domain. The legendary status of the album is well deserved and for those of us that like this kind of thing, the three bluray set is virtually essential.
This album was my introduction to Allman Brothers, and to be honest it came via Zappa's Whippin Post. I had never bought anthing by the band, because for some reason i thought they were a country band, and there's nothing wrong with that, but in my teens and twenties there was very little country that appealed to me. From the very start of Stateboro Blues, i knew i was going to love it.
I was going to go with Idlewild South, because I love it, but I know this is the most popular album, so here we go.
I'm listening to the dts master audio in lieu of a pcm track.

Stateboro Blues
We get a preamble from Bill Graham, a nice addition.
Obviously the crowd are in the rears.
Duane is just slightly left of the front left speaker. Dickie just right of the right front.
There is also an ambience in the surrounds, that although isn't exactly wild panning, it does give a live album a nice feel.
The rhythm section is a typical solid stereo type bed.

Don't Keep Me Wondering

Done Somebody Wrong
We have the same layout keeping it consistent

One Way Out

In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed
As with many of the dvd audio and bluray releases we get a nice array of still images rotating as we listen.

Midnight Rider

Hot 'Lanta

Whippin Post

You Don't Love Me

This is a fantastic album, but as with most, but not all, as we will see, live albums, this mix bases itself on a stereo mix and just pushes it a little past the stereo field with some ambience in the rears with the crowd. What we get is a great sound based in a traditional field. This is the kind of album to play someone who is a traditionalist stereo listener, to give them an idea how the more subtle surround mixes can work.
Certainly not a criticism of the album, or the mix.

 

Sadly Sly and The Family Stone's Greatest Hits is out of print and going for about eighty bucks on discogs
Sly & The Family Stone - Greatest Hits
There is a sealed copy on ebay, saying that it is number 336, but it is from Hong Kong for $55, and that makes me feel dubious about it, as it is very possibly a bootleg.
Audio fidelity Sly & the Family Stone - Greatest Hits SACD # 336 Factory Sealed | eBay

The Allman Brothers Fillmore East is still available and currently $53.73 on amazon for the three bluray edition.
https://www.amazon.com/1971-Fillmore-Recordings-Blu-ray-Audio/dp/B00JZO33HY
There is also the DTS disc on Ebay
At Fillmore East [Digital Sound DTS] by The Allman Brothers Band (CD, 1997, DTS Entertainment) for sale online | eBay

 

AFAIK there are no bootleg SACDs.

 

I'm glad we're doing Sly and the Family Stone's Greatest Hits because this is one I bought and haven't spent much time with. The genre doesn't really mean anything to me but I was listening to Chicago Transit Authority & Chicago III yesterday, and that's about as close as I get.

I can remember thinking how short this disc felt when I first heard, and the bass extension is really quite shallow compared to how this would be mixed today (yes, before someone points this out I do realise that there's no subwoofer channel! ) The bass guitar is there but the drums have little weight and the percussion track in general is quite trebly thanks to the overuse of tamborine.

Cool effects are few and far between here. The clarinet in the front right channel on “M’Lady” is neat at first but eventually becomes irritating. Rather than Quad providing a wide soundstage, it really reduces the soundstage because everything of importance happens between the front channels and there's no reinforcement in the rears. You'd probably be better off really cranking the mono.

It is notable, though, that later songs sound better (at least to my ears) than the early ones. Were these mixed to quad at the same time (in which case I guess that any difference would have to be attributable to improvements in recording techniques) or were these tracks sourced from separate Quad albums?

[Edit: I thought that I was going to be able to do the daily double but I now realise that I only have the CD version of the ABB boxed set. How very vexing!)

 

I am pretty sure that the seller in Hong Kong is legit. He told me that he was selling off a large collection which mostly consist off Sealed Audio Fidelity SACD’S. His prices for new rarities are the best that I have seen on eBay or discogs.

 

It's still early ... so at risk of annoying everyone I am going to go through another
Don't be mad.

The Power and the Glory


Studio album by
Gentle Giant
Released September 22, 1974
Recorded December 1973 – January 1974
Studio Advision Studios, London
Genre Progressive rock, experimental rock
Length 37:11
Label Vertigo/WWA, Capitol
Producer Gentle Giant

The Power and the Glory is the sixth album by the British progressive rock group Gentle Giant, released in 1974. Contrary to popular belief, the title of the album and its many lyrical themes were not inspired by author Graham Greene's novel of the same name, although Derek Shulman was aware of Greene's novel.[3] Guitarist Gary Green has cited this album as his favourite by the band.[4]

The album's concept focuses on an individual who means to do good using political power. He finds himself tempted to abuse the power, as have all of those who have come before, and ultimately becomes what he fought against.

The original LP cover was diecut, with rounded upper corners.

This album has the 5.1 mix by Steven Wilson, and the new stereo mix by him also. It also has a straight instrumental stereo mix. The Bluray stereo mixes are 96/24 and the 5.1 is DTS Master Audio. It also comes with a cd of the new stereo mix, for those of us that like to listen in the car also.
This album is still readily available and certainly worth the purchase if you like Gentle Giant.

I only recently discovered Gentle Giant, and am now a huge fan. These guys made some amazing music through the early to late seventies. Unfortunately later on in the seventies the pressure to provide commercial music made the band turn a little too hard, and for the most part those albums are less successful in their construction. Though there is still some great music on them, it is somewhat neutered by attempting to be something they are not. Having said that, the completely different Civilian album is a great AOR album that should have appealed to the eighties AOR crowd, but it probably came out a little too early. For me the classic Gentle Giant albums are
Gentle Giant
Acquiring The Taste
Three Friends
Octopus
In A Glass House
Power And The Glory
Free Hand
Interview
Some purists would stop at Glass house, and some would stop at Free Hand .... I am by no means a purist, and love all those albums.
This album is slightly different as the progressive elements incorporate some fusion type elements as well. It is a magnificent artistic statement, and although certainly not for everybody, it is some amazing musicianship and excellent songs.
For this particular album each track has a video constructed for it, that is very well done and makes for an interesting side thing. The videos are excellent computer generated lyrics and images that compliment the album well.

Proclamation
We are led in by the keys across the front, with vocal. Nice bass sound too.
The guitar comes in left rear.
Really nice spread of the vocal sections and the reverb on the hail.
We get some multi layered keys that sound great in a surround format.
This is beautifully balanced.
There is a musical breakdown at about 4:40, with a bassy keyboard centre, a keyboard playing a counter melody right side, then the guitar joins in on the left and we move back into the verse.
This is a great mix.

So Sincere
This is an unusual song, really unusual, but i love it. It is very staccato and the spread of the instruments really enhances this. We have multi layered instruments occupying there position in the mix balancing beautifully, but creating a somewhat bizarre and intriguing soundscape.
Guitar and keys balance in the rears during the verse, with horns up front.

Aspirations
This is a beautiful song that works like a soothing balm after So Sincere.
We start with keys and vocals in the front.
As the beat comes in, its striking how good the drum sound is.
The guitar takes its left side position.
Beautifully balanced sub also.
The vocals have a sweet delay/reverb running to the rears.
The drums get a nice spread here also.
This really is such a great mix.

Playing The Game
Listening to this now, it almost feels like the band foresaw a surround mix for this, because again the percussive effects of the arrangements work so well in this environment.
Nice percussive keys in the rear.
Again beautifully balanced.
Stunning mix, beautiful sound.
Even if you aren't sure about the band, this mix just makes it so good to listen to.
And drum sound is fantastic.
Listening to this now, it seems amazing that it was recorded in dec 73 and jan 74.

Cogs in Cogs
Great bass line up front. Keys balancing either side.
The vocal may be slightly loud, but perhaps by design, i would peal it back slightly.
Mid song a vocal in the left rear balances with a keyboard lead in the front.
This is an amazing piece of construction.

No God's A Man
To create these textures there are multiple overdubs ... a guitar left rear, a tacet guitar up front, keys front, right rear.
This track has the wonderful layered vocals that Giant did so well, singing counterpoint, across all the 5.1 fields.
You can tell this was a project of passion for Wilson, as he has obviously slaved over the amazing aural balance achieved here.

The Face
Percussion starts in left rear keys guitar and violin spread around the music field beautifully.
There is so much going on in these songs and mixes it is really difficult to break it down in text like this, but believe me, if you like the music it works wonderfully. If the music is a little to edgy, you may well just enjoy the amazing feat of mixing that this is.

Valedictory
This is a somewhat disturbed rewrite of the opening track. In context with the narrative, we see where the ambitious leader has ended up.
Again amazing layers of sections fill the 5.1 space beautifully.

The Power and the Glory
This track didn't make it onto the original album. I believe they felt it was a little pedestrian, but it is a very good song, and possibly a little more accessible for some folks.
Again we have a beautiful balanced mix, that begs the question of how did they make this work in stereo to begin with....

Look, Gentle Giant isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I think this is an amazing album, with an equally amazing 5.1 mix.
It is among my favourites.
Forgive me doing three albums today, I woke up early and it seemed the thing t0 do, as I was listening anyway.

 

They must have pressed a lot of copies, and a lot of variations, of ABB - Live at the Fillmore. And why not, right? It is such a landmark, important album.

Besides the ones you mention, there is also a SACD hybrid 2-CD set, from Universal, that came out around 2004. In DSD, it also has a surround sound layer on it, and it's quite good. Similar to the DTS version you linked, it mirrors the original double lp in its content.

It has not been neither hard to find, nor too expensive, in the after market. Think I got my copy from a seller on this site.

I can post a pic of it for reference, if anyone's interested.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Sadly these days, i get a little dubious about some of the China and Hong Kong ebay sellers

 

Reference to the albums

Jackson Browne - Running On Empty - Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries
Ray Charles - Ray Sings, Basie Swings - Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland - Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries
Sly And The Family Stone Greatest Hits - Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries
The Allman Brothers Band - Live At Fillmore East - Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries
Gentle Giant - The Power and The Glory - Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

 

There is an easy click reference to the albums we have looked at.
Please feel free to review, discuss etc any of these albums, as you are able, or feel drawn to.
Hopefully we are starting to get enough variety to give everyone something they feel drawn to.

 

This is an excellent 'prod' to re-visit my surround copy of 'Live at the Fillmore,' which I will try to do this afternoon, and chirp in about it.

.....but really, it's so good that I shouldn't need any 'prodding,' right?

 

the Hendrix is a joy and worth the wait of decades.
the material is so all over the place that many will have faves and find certain tracks awful etc. but to me it's adventurous and classic in spots, 1983 is just soooo sweet.

 

yea, 1983 was a highlight among highlights for me.

 

Ok, lets try something.
I'm going to post a series of pairs.
The pairs signify next weeks candidates for the thread.
To keep it simple, with no replies necessary, just like the pair you would like to see up next week.

 

Tangerine Dream - phaedra
King Crimson - power to believe

 

Depeche Mode - violater
Simple Minds - sparkle in the rain

 

Chicago - 3
Foreigner - 4

 

Yes - close to the edge
Queen - a night at the opera

 

Pink floyd - dark side of the moon
Steely dan - gaucho

 

Moody blues - days of future passed
Elton John - elton john

 

Xtc - black sea
Talking heads - remain in light

 

I've got at least one in each pair so they all get my like equally. I would just say though that Phaedra and The Power To Believe are so new that we should probably wait for the discussion in their own threads to die down before we open a fresh discussion here.

 

My thoughts too.
Just testing the water.

 

Sly n family stone greatest hits sacd is great...imho it ranks 9 or 10 on scale...bought on discogs if i remember...cost around 30-40 i believe...fantastic disc