Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

Love, Fear and the Time Machine



Studio album by Riverside
Released 4 September 2015
Recorded 2015
Genre Progressive rock
Length 60:25
Label InsideOut Music
Producer Riverside, Magda and Robert Srzedniccy

Riverside is a progressive rock band from Warsaw, Poland. It was founded in 2001 by friends Mariusz Duda, Piotr Grudziński, Piotr Kozieradzki and Jacek Melnicki, who shared a love for progressive rock and heavy metal, although Duda, the main lyricist and composer of the band, was originally a fan of electronic, ambient and experimental music, like Radiohead, Massive Attack, Dead Can Dance, Tangerine Dream, and Peter Gabriel. Riverside can be described as a blend of atmospheric rock and metal elements, resulting in a sound similar to that of Porcupine Tree, The Mars Volta, Opeth, and Dream Theater, while still maintaining an identity of their own.

Love, Fear and the Time Machine is the sixth album by Riverside. It was their final album to feature guitarist Piotr Grudziński before his death on 21 February 2016. Illustration, design and layout by Travis Smith. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered at Serakos Studio in Warsaw, Poland between November 2014 and June 2015 by Magda and Robert Srzednicki.

Personnel

• Mariusz Duda – vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, ukulele
• Piotr Grudziński – guitar
• Michał Łapaj – keyboards
• ·Piotr Kozieradzki – drums

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mariusz Duda, except where noted.

No. Title Length
1. "Lost (Why Should I Be Frightened By a Hat?)" 5:52
2. "Under the Pillow" 6:47
3. "#Addicted" 4:53
4. "Caterpillar and the Barbed Wire" 6:56
5. "Saturate Me" 7:09
6. "Afloat" 3:12
7. "Discard Your Fear" 6:42
8. "Towards the Blue Horizon" 8:09
9. "Time Travellers" 6:42
10. "Found (The Unexpected Flaw of Searching)" 4:03
Total length: 60:25

The 5.1 mix was released in 2016 as a 2 disc digipack with a DVDA as the second disc. The Discogs listing shows none for sale. Amazon lists a 2 CD digipack for $14.99 that might be it, but it has no track listing. There are no other 2 disc versions of this album listed on discogs, but the DVDA comes in a digipack with a pink cover rather than blue. So the Amazon listing is wrong one way or another.

5.1 mix by Bruce Soord

The general scheme is vocals on center, bass, percussion, and lead guitar in front.

Lost (Why Should I Be Frightened By a Hat?)
Synth in back, rhythm guitar in surround

Under The Pillow
Background vocals in back, keyboards in back

#Addicted
rhythm guitar in back, synth in back, background vocals in back. Really nice in surround.

Caterpillar And The Barbed Wire
Lead vocals echo in back, rhythm guitar in back, swirling synth

Saturate Me
Keyboards in surround throughout, occasional vocal echoes in back. Great Track.

Afloat
oards in back

Discard Your Fear
Vocal echoes, some reverbing lead guitar. Not much use of rears on this one.

Towards The Blue Horizon
Rhythm guitar in surround, synth in front, background vocals in back, synth in back

Time Travellers
Keyboards in surround, reverbing lead guitar,

Found (The Unexpected Flaw Of Searching)
Complimentary guitar in front and back. Keyboards in surround. Nice guitar solo in front.



So, there’s an album by an established prog rock band that’s been released with a surround mix at a normal price. Sold!! They could be from Poland for all I care. Oh, wait – they are. Pretty sure this is my first acquisition of work by a Polish artist. However, it’s not my first disc from a band called Riverside. A band that were proteges of The Ocean Blue released their only album in 1992.

Anyway, this is a very good album. All those comparisons to other established modern prog rock bands are perfectly legit. The Pineapple Thief is probably one of the other bands that should be mentioned – not only does Duda sound like Soord, Soord did the 5.1 mix. Lost, #Addicted, and Saturate Me are my favorite tracks. The more metallic first five tracks are the best part of the album IMO, the remaining five tracks are more subdued than the first five.

The 5.1 mix is very good. The rears are a little underutilized on some tracks for my tastes, but that’s a minor quibble.

A 5.1 mix of the most recent Riverside album Wasteland was just released, which I have on order. That seems to be a new trick – release the album without surround first and then follow it up with a surround mix six months later, resulting in double sales from the same victim.

In summary, this disc was a bargain for me. But, I’m not sure you can get it at any price. I’d be tempted to get the 2 disc set listed on Amazon - even if you just get the CD it’s worth it IMO. (2/3)

 

This is a favorite of mine. Great music and a nicely done surround mix.

 

Atom Heart Mother

Studio album by
Pink Floyd
Released 2 October 1970
Recorded March – August 1970
Studio Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre Progressive rock[1] experimental rock[1]
Length 52:06
Label Harvest Capitol
Producer Pink Floyd, Norman Smith (executive producer)

Atom Heart Mother is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the UK, and by Capitol on 10 October 1970 in the US.[2] It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, England, and was the band's first album to reach number 1 in the UK, while it reached number 55 in the US, eventually going gold there.[3] A remastered CD was released in 1994 in the UK and the United States, and again in 2011. Ron Geesin, who had already influenced and collaborated with Roger Waters, contributed to the title track and received a then-rare outside songwriting credit.

The cover was designed by Hipgnosis, and was the first one to not feature the band's name on the cover, or contain any photographs of the band anywhere. This was a trend that would continue on subsequent covers throughout the 1970s and beyond.

Although it was commercially successful on release, the band, particularly Waters and David Gilmour, have expressed several negative opinions of the album in more recent years.[4][5] Nevertheless, it remained popular enough for Gilmour to perform the title track with Geesin in 2008.

Pink Floyd (all instrumentation uncredited)

• Roger Waters – bass guitar (1–3, 5), classical guitar (2), lead vocals (2), tape effects, tape collages
• David Gilmour – electric guitar (1, 4–5), slide guitar (1–2), steel guitar (4–5), acoustic guitar (3–5), classical guitar (3), bass guitar, drums, percussion (4),[72] lead vocals (4)
• Rick Wright – Hammond organ (all tracks), piano (1–3, 5), Farfisa organ (1, 4), Mellotron (1), lead vocals (3)
• Nick Mason – drums (1–3, 5), percussion, tape effects, tape collages, engineering (5)

Additional musicians

• EMI Pops Orchestra – brass and orchestral sections (uncredited)[5]
• Hafliði Hallgrímsson – cello (1) (uncredited)[73]
• John Alldis Choir – vocals (1)
• Alan Styles – voice and sound effects (5) (uncredited)

Production

• Ron Geesin – orchestration and co-composition (1) (uncredited)[74]
• Peter Bown – engineering
• Alan Parsons – engineering (misspelled as "Allan Parsons" on the original sleeve)
• James Guthrie – 1994 remastering

1. "Atom Heart Mother" Nick Mason, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Rick Wright, Ron Geesin 23:44

• I. "Father's Shout"
• II. "Breast Milky"
• III. "Mother Fore"
• IV. "Funky Dung"
• V. "Mind Your Throats Please"
• VI. "Remergence"

wordless vocals by the John Alldis Choir 23:44
2. "If" Waters Waters 4:31
3. "Summer '68" Wright Wright 5:29
4. "Fat Old Sun" Gilmour Gilmour 5:22
5. "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" Waters, Mason, Gilmour, Wright Instrumental, speech by Alan Styles 13:00

• I. "Rise and Shine"
• II. "Sunny Side Up"
• III. "Morning Glory"

------------------------------------------------------
I have read that Gilmour and Waters have negative things to say about this album.... I'm really not sure why. I personally have pretty much always loved this album.
As stated earlier, I came into the band via The Final Cut. When I first started buying music, it was obvious to me that I didn't know enough bands, So I used to just randomly buy things if they looked or sounded interesting. The Final Cut was one of these random purchases, but unlike most of my random purchases, I bought this album new. I used to haunt trash and treasure type things and swap meets, garage sales, second hand shops etc, and most of my early purchases came via those kind of places. I wasn't rich, and I had learned what to look for when buying second hand vinyl. Anyway The Final Cut I bought new, and I loved it from the first listen, and I still do. I ended up buying more of the seventies Floyd albums, and I loved them all.
One day I saw a vinyl box set, and it contained all these albums that weren't as well known, to me, or around my circle, at the time. It was Piper At The Gates Of Dawn through to Dark Side Of the Moon. At the time it was some strange stuff to me.
I instantly fell in love with Meddle, but the other albums took a few listens, because this was all very different to the stuff I was familiar with. In that box we had Atom Heart Mother. With this goofy looking cow on the cover and these two long tracks that at the time just seemed so bizarre.
Atom Heart Mother grew into one of my favourite album from the earlier Floyd work. I just loved the variety and the title track was mind blowing once I had let it wash over me a couple of times.
---------------------------------------------------
This quad album is available in a mini box set, and a much larger box set.
The Mini box set is
Volume 4: 1970: Devi/ation


Disc One (CD)
1 "Atom Heart Mother" (Live at the Casino de Montreux, 21 November 1970) – 17:58
(Other songs performed at this show but have not been included in this box include "Astronomy Domine", "Fat Old Sun", "Cymbaline", "Embryo", "Green Is the Colour", "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" and "Just Another 12-Bar"[6])
BBC Radio Session, 16 July 1970:
2 "Embryo" – 11.10
3 "Fat Old Sun" – 5.52
4 "Green Is the Colour" – 3.27
5 "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" – 8.25
6 "If" – 5.47
7 "Atom Heart Mother" (with choir, cello & brass ensemble) – 25.30
Tracks 1–7 previously unreleased.

Disc Two (CD)
Previously unreleased tracks from the Zabriskie Point soundtrack recordings

1. 
   
   • "On the Highway" – 1.16
   • "Auto Scene, Version 2" – 1.13
   • "Auto Scene, Version 3" – 1.31
   • "Aeroplane" – 2.18
   • "Explosion" – 5.47
   • "The Riot Scene" – 1.40
   • "Looking at Map" – 1.57
   • "Love Scene, Version 7" – 5.03
   • "Love Scene, Version 1" – 3.26
   • "Take Off" – 1.20
   • "Take Off, Version 2" – 1.12
   • "Love Scene, Version 2" – 1.56
   • "Love Scene (Take 1)" – 2.16
   • "Unknown Song (Take 1)" – 5.56
   • "Love Scene (Take 2)" – 6.40
   • "Crumbling Land (Take 1)" – 4.09

Other tracks:

1. 
   
   • "Atom Heart Mother" (Early studio version, band only) – 19.24

Tracks 1–17 previously unreleased.

Disc Three (DVD)

• 
  
  • An Hour with Pink Floyd: KQED, San Francisco, USA, 30 April 1970:

1. 
   
   
   • "Atom Heart Mother" – 17.37
   • "Cymbaline" – 8.38
   • "Grantchester Meadows" – 7.37
   • "Green Is the Colour" – 3.31
   • "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" – 9.09
   • "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" – 12.37

Audio only:

• 
  
  
  • Atom Heart Mother album original 4.0 Quad mix 1970:

1. 
   
   • "Atom Heart Mother" – 23.42
   • "If" – 4.31
   • "Summer '68" – 5.29
   • "Fat Old Sun" – 5.24
   • "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" – 13.01

Disc Four (DVD)

• 
  
  • Pop Deux Festival de St. Tropez’, France, 8 August 1970:

1. 
   
   • "Cymbaline" (sound check) – 3.54
   • "Atom Heart Mother" – 13.46
   • "Embryo" – 11.23
   • "Green Is the Colour/"
   • "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" – 12.21
   • "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" – 12.07

• 
  
  • Roland Petit Ballet, Paris, France, 5 December 1970:

1. 
   
   • "Instrumental Improvisations 1, 2, 3" – 3.28
   • "Embryo" – 2.39

• • Blackhill’s Garden Party, Hyde Park, London, UK, 18 July 1970:

1. 
   
   • "Atom Heart Mother" (with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble/John Alldis Choir) – 21.15

Disc Five (Blu-Ray)

• 
  
  • An Hour with Pink Floyd: KQED, San Francisco, USA, 30 April 1970:

1. 
   
   • "Atom Heart Mother" – 17.37
   • "Cymbaline" – 8.38
   • "Grantchester Meadows" – 7.37
   • "Green Is the Colour" – 3.31
   • "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" – 9.09
   • "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" – 12.37

• 
  
  • Pop Deux Festival de St. Tropez’, France, 8 August 1970:

1. 
   
   • "Cymbaline" (sound check) – 3.54
   • "Atom Heart Mother" – 13.46
   • "Embryo" – 11.23
   • "Green Is the Colour/"
   • "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" – 12.21
   • "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" – 12.07

• 
  
  • Roland Petit Ballet, Paris, France, 5 December 1970:

1. 
   
   • "Instrumental Improvisations 1, 2, 3" – 3.28
   • "Embryo" – 2.39

• 
  
  • Blackhill’s Garden Party, Hyde Park, London, UK, 18 July 1970:

1. 
   
   • "Atom Heart Mother" (with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble/John Alldis Choir) – 21.15
     (Black and white video. Less than optimum video and audio quality. Included for its historic value.)

Audio only:

• 
  
  • Atom Heart Mother album original 4.0 Quad mix 1970:

1. 
   
   • "Atom Heart Mother" – 23.42
   • "If" – 4.31
   • "Summer '68" – 5.29
   • "Fat Old Sun" – 5.24
   • "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" – 13.01

----------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see the set is certainly not short of content, but of course it depends what you are looking for.
The large box set is made up of seven book style volumes like this, covering 65-72 period, pretty comprehensively. It is really something for the hard core Floyd fan who wants more than just the albums and a few outtakes. I personally would have loved the whole thing, but unfortunately it was priced out of my reach, so I ended up getting three of the individual books.
Devi/ation
Reverber/ation
Obfusc/ation

Reverber/ation contains a quad mix of Echoes, and quite famously now a 5.1 mix of the whole Meddle album, the was not accessible, except by a compatible computer. The Meddle mix has now been extracted by many, and is available on grey markets as an individual disc. I sincerely hope the band get their act together and release it officially soon.

Obfusc/ation itself also had a glitch of sorts, with the remixed stereo version of Obscured By Clouds being included accidentally. This resulted in the box set including a bonus disc of Live at Pompeii being issued with it. One can only hope that a remixed stereo of Obscured means that we have a 5.1 of that to look forward to also.
The draw on this set for me was the 5.1 of the Live At Pompeii movie.....

Anyway that is probably more than you all want to know, so lets move on.

The whole box set will set you back $600-700 these days, I think it came out for about $500 https://www.amazon.com/Early-Years-Box-Set/dp/B01J2M5J70

Devi/ation is still available new
On Amazon for about $50 https://www.amazon.com/1970-Devi-ation-Pink-Floyd/dp/B06WLKSFWB
On discogs from about $40 Pink Floyd - The Early Years 1970 Devi/ation
On Grooves.land for about $40Pink Floyd - 1970 Devi/Ation - Plg Uk CD+Blu-Ray Grooves Inc.

I am afraid I don't know who did the Quad mix. The original album was engineered by Alan Parsons and Pete Brown.
Andy Jackson is credited with the mastering of the set, but I am unsure if that also includes the quad mix. I would assume it does, as Andy has been the remix guy for Dave Gilmour, so it is certainly in his wheelhouse.

Atom Heart Mother
We start with a slow swell. Then it takes shape as horns. Excellent sound with very distinct horn parts coming from the front, left side and right.
Drums up front. Sfx come into the field all round, and then we move back into the main theme.
The bas distinguishes itself upfront, with the keys. A cello (I believe) comes in the rears. The organ is on the right. The slide guitar, slides around the sound field. Another slide comes in, and we have a left side, right side thing happening. The horns also come back in.
Then we have just the organ right, bass up front. We get a high wordless vocal in the rears. Then the full choir comes in from various points around the field.
The high pitched vocal is actually moving around.
The sound is excellent. The surround is immersive and makes aural sense.
When listening to this now, I find it hard to believe quad didn't take the world by storm in 1970.
The choir dies out, and we get the band.
Bass and drums clear up front. Organ right front, and Gilmour takes a lead. It starts on the left side and proceeds to circle us beautifully.
Another organ/keyboard comes in on the right side.
The lead guitar starts to fade. We get some grunting and chanting, and the choir comes back with a more primal wordless vocal section. The keys on the right side have a little movement also.
One series on horns come in on the right side, and the counter melody horns on the left side, reprising the main theme
Then we have an unusual synth/organ moving around the field. And some sound effects. This is certainly psychedelic, it's wonderful.
A wonderful collage of sound, with stuff all over the place, some of it moving, some of it stationary, but together a wonderful experience.
Then more keys circling us, orchestral input, fits in perfectly with this somewhat discordant section, then we get a variation on the theme from the horns.
Again the mix is great.
We move to the organ and cello again.
Now organ right side, slide guitar left side. Another slide comes in on the right side, with horns up front.
This track and mix are a wonderful journey.
Now the choir comes back in in the rears, and we have the full horn sections back in.
Absolutely magnificent. Worth getting just for this track

If
We are inside the guitar, beautiful. The ghostly vocal sits up front, with reverb sends to the rears.
Simple and very effective.
Organ comes in on the right, with Gilmour adding slide through the rears.
Piano comes in also... across the middle?
A great and somewhat overlooked Floyd classic. It sound wonderful also.
Piano comes in more distinctly on the right. Slide guitars in several spots.
It is too long since I listened to this, cheers guys.

Summer '68
Piano front right opens us up. Hats on the left. Wright's vocal seems to be just forward of front centre. Organ rises on the right. Then a barrage of sound explodes all around.
Drums in the middle of the room.
Acoustic guitars either side.
Drums up front now after the sonic onslaught. Heavily effected vocals all round. Horns all round.
This mix is quite obnoxious in some ways, but certainly not passive.
Acoustic guitar moves to the left. Piano right side.
Vocals the rears.
Horns come back in all round.

Fat Old Sun
Church bells ring up front. Acoustic guitars either side. Slide guitar moves around a little, based in the centre of the field. Dave singing up front.
The drums are upfront.
A lead guitar washes over the vocal up the front.
This album really does bridge the gap between psychedelic Floyd, and seventies Floyd. Often folks say that it is meddle, but all the seventies building blocks are in here.
Church bells close us out on the left.

Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast
Dripping tap sounds either side. Someone banging around in the room. Someone talking up front. The movement in the room, is as though you're in it.
Organ right. Piano in the middle of the room and another up front.
Hats left side. Guitar sort of bouncing between the rears.
Organ comes in on the left side, and sort of moving right. Whistling kettle up front.
We return to the room with the talker, a variety of kitchen sounds going on all around us.
Rustling of paper, frying eggs in the rear.
Acoustic guitar comes in up front. Their is another on the left side, and another right side. Lap steel up front.
The frying breakfast comes back in, and I'm getting hungry .....
Talking up front.
Organ right side, now seems to be across the middle. Piano in there also. Layers of keyboards all round. Drums are in the middle of the room, leaning slightly to the rears.
Another amazing collage of sound.
Back to breakfast.
The kitchen really works well in surround.

Revisiting this is quite amazing really. If someone told me that Flaming Lips took this mix as their inspiration for their surround mixing I would not be surprised.
When I hear something like this in surround, it just becomes even more remarkable to me that by 1972 surround wasn't the number one way people wanted to hear music.
I don't hear this as gimmicky at all. I hear this as groundbreaking cinematic musical art.
To me at forty dollars for the set, it is almost criminal for someone that loves surround sound not to have it.
Certain parts of the mix mat seem a little messy, in a way, but overall here, we are going for and receiving a prime grade A psychedelic experience. I love it.

 

Birds of Fire


Studio album by
Mahavishnu Orchestra
Released January 3, 1973
Recorded August 1972
Studio CBS Studios, New York
Trident Studios, London
Genre Jazz fusion, progressive rock
Length 39:53
Label Columbia
Producer Mahavishnu Orchestra

Birds of Fire is the second studio album by jazz fusion band the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It was released on January 3, 1973 by Columbia Records and is the last studio album released by the original band line-up before it dissolved.

As with the group's previous album, The Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire consists solely of compositions by John McLaughlin. These include the track "Miles Beyond (Miles Davis)", which McLaughlin dedicated to his friend and former bandleader.

Musicians

• John McLaughlin – guitars
• Rick Laird – bass
• Billy Cobham – drums, percussion
• Jan Hammer – keyboards, Moog synthesizer, Fender Rhodes
• Jerry Goodman – violin

Technical

• Ken Scott, Jim Green – audio engineer
• Ashok (Chris Poisson) – album design
• Nathan Weiss – Management
• Pranavananda – photography

1. "Birds of Fire" 5:50
2. "Miles Beyond" (dedicated to Miles Davis) 4:47
3. "Celestial Terrestrial Commuters" 2:54
4. "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love" 0:24
5. "Thousand Island Park" 3:23
6. "Hope" 1:59
7. "One Word" 9:57
8. "Sanctuary" 5:05
9. "Open Country Joy" 3:56
10. "Resolution" 2:09
-------------------------------------
Mahavishnu Orchestra were a band put together by John Mclaughlin in 1971, in New York.

The band's first lineup featured English guitarist "Mahavishnu" John McLaughlin, Panamanian drummer Billy Cobham, Irish bassist Rick Laird, Czechoslovakian keyboardist Jan Hammer, and American violinist Jerry Goodman.

The whole idea of this band was experimentation. Taking the high volume electrified rock sound and mixing in complex rhythms, genre mixing, and just trying out whatever they could think of. The musicians really are representative of the idea of a supergroup, and I think, at least their early albums
Inner Mounting Flame
Birds Of Fire
Visions Of The Emerald Beyond (different members)
are all quite amazing documents of what the band was trying to do.

I have no doubt that Mclaughlin working with Miles Davis on In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson and Live Evil, had a huge influence on his direction here, but that is merely my speculation and an educated guess ... I don't know how it wouldn't have been a huge influence.

This album is also a quad mix from 1973.
Sadly another out of print album in the sacd format

Available on Amazon from about $55 https://www.amazon.com/Birds-Fire-Mahavishnu-Orchestra/dp/B010FP0V6C
Discogs from about $69 Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire
Ebay from about $67 Birds Of Fire sacd | eBay

Quad Remix Engineer Don Young
Transferred By [4.0 Analog to Hi Def DSD Digital Transfer] – Gus Skinas
Mastered by Kevin Gray

Birds of Fire
We start with a gong up front, with sends to the rears. The guitar is front and right side.
Cymbal crashing right rear. Drums across the middle.
Synth left side. Violin right.
It sounds very good, but the mix isn't really as clear as it ought to be.
I get the feeling most of these re-engineered quads are like this. I think they should just do quad transfers, and forget about trying to make them 5/5.1....

Miles Beyond
Keys across the front. Pizzicato violin left front.
The drums are tight side, with cymbals and tom rolls going into the left side.

Celestial Terrestrial Commuters
The drums open us up with fills through the rears. The drum mix on this album is interesting, and does cover the whole field, but it feels out of place a little.
Guitar just left of left front. Violin just right of right front. Keys up front.

Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love
This track is like a series of sfx, all around us, and very short.

Thousand Island Park
Piano left and front. Gtr up front.

Hope
Drums right side but coming across the field again. Keys right. Violin either side?

One Word
Snare roll moves from side to side.
Gtr left side. Keys up front. Violin right side.
Drums same set up as previous songs.
Synth swell left side. Chunk wah rhythm gtr middle room.
Lead gtr left front, synth centre, violin right.
Drum solo. Snare right side, tom spreading to the left.

Sanctuary
Cymbals in the rears. Tom's either side snare right.
Gtr just left of front left, violin just right of front right. Keys up front.
Cymbal rolls in right side

Open Country Joy
Gtr just left of front left. Keys front. Violin just right of front right. Drums again right side, feeding Tom's and cymbals across.

Resolution
Drums right. Gtr left, keys front, violin right.

I am not really sure what to say about this one. to be honest, mainly I remembered being disappointed with it from the first track.
The sound is pretty good, but the mix is just too out of balance for me, in terms of the surround mix.
The main thing in the surround field is the drums, and for me, having the snare on the right side just makes the mix unbalanced. The drums do get a lot of the soundfield, and generally I love that, but for me, here they just don't work, and it is a terrible shame, because I really enjoy these Mahavishnu albums.
I think if you are an avid, keen Mahavishnu fan, you probably want to hear this at least, but for me it is just disappointing.
The Floyd and Mahavishnu mixes this morning are chalk and cheese in so many ways. Whereas hearing Atom Heart leaves me wondering how folks didn't want everything in surround in the early seventies .... hearing Birds shows me the inconsistency that would have put folks off .... in my humble opinion.

 

From a sour grapes perspective, I'm sort of glad to hear Birds of Fire isn't the best surround mix ever. I had pretty much already decided it is too pricey. OTOH, I already ordered Devi/ation and Reverber/ation on Friday, so I'm glad to hear you approve.

 

The Power to Believe


Studio album by
King Crimson
Released 4 March 2003
Studio
Various[show]
Genre Progressive metal, industrial metal[1]
Length 51:11
Label Sanctuary
Producer King Crimson Machine David Singleton

The Power to Believe is the thirteenth (and to date, last) studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson. It was released on 4 March 2003 through Sanctuary Records and was met with generally favorable reviews, with several critics appreciating its heightened aggression. The Power to Believe was preceded by the companion studio EP Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With (2002), which features alternate and otherwise unreleased tracks.

King Crimson

• Robert Fripp – guitar, mastering, production
• Adrian Belew – guitar, vocals, lyrics
• Pat Mastelotto – electronic drumming, hybrid acoustic
• Trey Gunn – Warr guitar

Additional personnel

• David Singleton – mastering, management
• Machine – production, programming, engineering, mixing
• Simon Heyworth – mastering
• Jeff Juliano – additional engineering
• Ken Latchney – haiku voice recording
• P. J. Crook – artwork
• Hugh O'Donnell – sleeve design
• Tim Faulkner – voice source (track 4)

1. "The Power to Believe I: A Cappella" 0:44
2. "Level Five" instrumental 7:17
3. "Eyes Wide Open" 4:08
4. "Elektrik" instrumental 7:59
5. "Facts of Life: Intro" instrumental 1:38
6. "Facts of Life" 5:05
7. "The Power to Believe II: Power Circle" 7:43
8. "Dangerous Curves" instrumental 6:42
9. "Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With" 3:17
10. "The Power to Believe III: Deception of the Thrush" 4:09
11. "The Power to Believe IV: Coda" Fripp 2:29
Total length: 51:11
--------------
To be honest I like this album, but I believe it is one that splits the Crimson fans somewhat. I listened to this when I first got this, but started the thread shortly after and haven't had a chance to relisten to it yet. So I am really looking forward to it, because memory tells me it was pretty awesome.

This is a fairly abrasive album. It isn't so much that it is atonal, or heavy metal or anything, it just has a certain anti-social kind of feel to it.
It is a very different kind of Crimson album, and sort of moves on from Thrak and Construction Of Light, in some ways, but has its own sound and feel.

Crimson's wild and wonderful journey is just too big of an exercise to cover here, so if it interests you, it is certainly worth looking at. From 69-74 various incarnations of the band recorded seven groundbreaking albums. 81-84 another different incarnation of the band recorded three more groundbreaking albums. 95 they recorded Thrak, with is famous/infmaous, depending on where you sit, and in 200-2003 period another different incarnation of the band recorded Construction of Light and Power to Believe, and also a couple of EP's.
One thing about the Crimson catalog is that it is varied and texturally diverse. Though it isn't going to be for everyone, it is worth anyone interested in the outer reaches of music in any of those periods, having a listen.

These days Crimson tour a lot, it seems, and have released several excellent live sets. Radical Action to Unseat The Hold Of Monkey Mind and Meltdown: Live In Mexico, are two excellent sets worth checking out. They both come as albums, but also blurays with film of the concerts. they are also both very high quality in playing, filming and surround mixes.

Still available new as cd/dvd-a sets
From the Crimson site for $22.99 King Crimson - The Power To Believe (40th Anniversary Series)
From Amazon for $22.38 https://www.amazon.com/Power-Believe-40th-Anniversary/dp/B07Q4816FX
Discogs has one for $17 King Crimson - The Power To Believe

There is also Heaven and Earth which is 24 discs of all sorts of stuff.
available from Amazon for $164 https://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Earth-KING-CRIMSON/dp/B07Q47ZXP4
The Crimson site for $190 King Crimson - Heaven And Earth Boxed Set
Burning Shed for 130 pounds Heaven & Earth
discogs for about $170 King Crimson - Heaven & Earth

I don't really know why I got the box set, but I did. The previously released sets, I bought the cd/dvd-a versions, and this one I got the big box. The big box has the two 5.1 albums on bluray.
There are four blurays in the set. Two with mammoth amounts of live Projects concerts ... I believe there is something wrong with one of these discs - for info, please read this thread KING CRIMSON The ConstruKction of Light DELUXE BOX - some details (Heaven and Earth deluxe) *
My vague understanding is that bluray 1, or disc twenty one, has a mastering error, whereby when the transfer was done, it was done at the wrong setting which messed up the speed of the tracks on the disc. Certainly that is a disappointment, but that isn't why I got the set in the first place. I don't think it is all of the tracks, but I honestly don't know.




Anyway, today I am merely going through The Power To Believe.

5.1 mix David Singleton

The Power To Believe
This is a digitally altered solo vocal which works well in the surround field

Level Five
This is an exercise in layering, from a mixing perspective.
We get an assault of sound and a whoosh across the back.
Cymbals bouncing either side in the rears. A solid snare in the middle of the room.
At least three guitars - front, left side and right side.
Electronic percussion in either side.
A really nice effect with the guitars playing counter rhythms on either side.
The bass up front.
No real need for sub.
Lead guitar - some nice movement effects, some nice swirling effects.
The separate guitar tracks work with and against each other really well on this.

Eyes Wide Open
Volume swell up front.
Clean guitar, right side and left side..
Percussion tracks - real and electronic, all around.
Some sfx move through the middle.
This is a lush soundfield, with a more mellow track, that really delivers well here.
Nice balance and disbursement of sound here.
Real drums come in up front and centre.
I guess the sound may be a bit bright for some, but I think it sounds good.

EleKtriK
Nice layering again. Volume swell guitar, or synth, front left and right.
Electric drums and percussion, up front, in the middle, and rears.
Guitar front, left side and rights side. Working really well in the field, almost bouncing off each other.
All these little bits and pieces work together really well.
Low mix talk vocal pops in here and there, mainly left side.
I am never sure if the synth sounds are synth or frippertronics.
Definitely an excellent discrete mix, with plenty going on to keep the ears entertained.

Facts Of Life: Intro
Swell of ambient sound all around. Chords come out of it either side.
Punching power chords and drums smash the ambience.

Facts Of Life
This is a demented blues.
Again, just so much going on.
Vocals front with fx sends. Various guitars all round. Various pieces of electric percussion all round.
Again a really nice balanced mix.
The aural assault factor of this album is pretty high.
Unison and harmony guitars, front, left side, and right side.
Percussive, sound effect kind of lead front right.
Flourish of lead, front left.

The Power To Believe II
Percussion sound left rear. Synth pad sound across the middle. Synthetic percussion front and right rear.
Unusual lead sound, left side feeding to the front. Comes in all around.
Hats type sound clicks across the middle really nicely.
Almost steel drums sounds all over the soundfield.
Just too much to describe here, but it sounds excellent, and the mix is very liberally using the whole field with nice balance.
Belew's effected vocal comes in covering a similar area as the opening track... but here we have synth washes, percussion and sfx all round also.
Singleton certainly wasn't afraid to try stuff out here. Lead gtr, right side.
The percussion usage and mix here are quite remarkable.

Dangerous Curves
Synth pad style opening. Front and sides.
Drums fade up, with bass and guitar staccato one note riff, as synths chord.
Sfx vocalizing right side.
Fx through the rear.
Dynamics kicking in, as this track writhes it's way into existence. Drums come in. Real ones, sounding excellent.
This is like the longest prog metal intro you ever heard and quite captivating.
Again nice full, well balanced mix.

Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With
A dirty rock groove in Crimson style.
I always loved the sarcastic lyrics.
Guitars either side. Vocals front sfx sends all round.
Layered vocals on the title refrain, all round.
Lead gtr right side, kind of sliding to centre.

The Power To Believe III
A variation on theme again, a quick stab of the effected vocal. Then synth swells .
Another stab of vocals .
Then we get synth beds and intermittent percussuon.
More interesting mixing with some nice surround effects.
Then we get a layering of guitars and fx all round.
Lead guitar front right, with fx sends creating a really cool effect of movement.
Gtr now in middle of room, with this crazy interesting sound effect.

The Power To Believe IV: Coda
Synthetic fade up front, right rear and left rear. A nice collage of sounds.
Then we get Belew's effected vocal to close us out.

Sus-tayn-z1
Excellent use of guitar. A collage of swells.
A really nice lead on the left side, feeding to the right.
Joined by other guitars, creating a beautiful surround effect.
Pretty magic sounding really.
These area bonus tracks i guess, and this is a wonderful atmospheric mix.

Super slow
This is a slow dirty manic melange of guitars and percussion.
There is plenty going on to keep the surround listener entertained.
Sfx moving, bouncing, and entertaining.

Sus-tayn-z2
Swell on the left side. Fading in and out. Then chordal swells all around, creating another really awesome soundscape.

This album and the extra tracks are like Fripp's nightmares in audio. The whole album has a somewhat sinister kind of feel or something. This is one of those more extreme Crimson albums I guess, and it covers a lot of ground. At times it caresses, and at times it pulverises. Certainly an album one needs to be in the mood for, but when you are, it is pretty awesome. Crimson again show that they can out extreme just about anyone, and this album is probably more disturbing than anything any hard core band has ever released, while still retaining enough beauty to keep the dynamics at the utmost ..... aurally and melodically... for want of better way of putting it.
The mix pulls no punches, and makes full use of the whole soundfield.
If the music wasn't sort of anti-social I would say this is a great demo disc for surround to convert folks, but it may just scare the crap out of some people.
I reckon it's excellent, and definitely worthwhile, especially for the Crimson fan.

 

Some stuff to vote for next week

Alan Parsons Tales of Mystery and Imagination

 

David Bowie Heathen

 

Fleetwood Mac Tusk

 

Bob Dylan Bringing it all Back Home

 

Depeche Mode Black Celebration

 

Billie Holiday Lady in Satin

 

I got this for Christmas but haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet. I prefer Inner Mounting Flame to Birds of Fire, so I don’t know if that will color my view along with Mark’s review when I finally get to it. In some thread here late last year, someone mentioned an ad for Inner Mounting Flame in the Music Direct catalog. No mention if it’s an LP or SACD, though. I really want that one to be done well.

I’m one of those on the “not like” side. Which is odd because Belew was the one that sucked me into Crimson in the first place. His style and quirkiness give Crimson an additional, unique edge.

Thrak is my favorite Crimson album and the trio from the 80s fall in right behind it. So I figured I’d like two Belew albums from this century... but I don’t. And it’s the Belew vocal songs I like the least. The instrumentals are fine. Eyes Wide Open is the exception. I do like that one. The 5.1 is fine, but it’s probably rare I’ll pull this one out in the future.

 

Michael Tilson Thomas Carmona Burana

 

Steven Wilson To The Bone

 

Zappa Halloween

 

Kraftwerk The Catalog.
well something from it, not the whole thing

 

Inner Mounting Flame is the one I would love, but hopefully a better mix

 

Keep up the good work, Mark! Totally agree with your Atom Heart Mother assessment Just played it the other day. I'd love any more Floyd in 5.1. Heck, I'd love to get a disc of the extracted Meddle from the box in surround.

 

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 ... I did this twice ... must occasionally sleep lol
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
Beethoven - 5th Concerto (Emporer) - Barenboim/Rubenstein
Bjork - Vespertine
Blackfield - IV thanks @riskylogic
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Blood Sweat and Tears - Blood Sweat And Tears
Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties
Blue Oyster Cult - Agents Of Fortune
Bowie, David - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
Browne, Jackson - Running On Empty

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

Davis, Miles - Sketches Of Spain
Davis, Miles - In A Silent Way
Davis, Miles - Bitches Brew
Deep Purple - Machine Head
Deep Purple - Stormbringer
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
Drake, Nick - A Treasury
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
Foreigner - Foreigner

Gabriel, Peter - Up
Gallagher, Rory - Big Guns (Best Of)
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

Hackett, Steve - Voyage Of The Acolyte thanks @riskylogic
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
King Crimson - The Power To Believe
Knopfler, Mark - Sailing To Philadelphia
Kooper, Al (with Bloomfield and Stills) Super Sessions

Living Colour - Collideoscope
Love And Rockets - Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven thanks @riskylogic
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Southern Surroundings

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire
Marillion - Afraid Of Sunlight
Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed
Moody Blues - A Question Of Balance
Moody Blues - Seventh Sojourn
Morrison, Van - Moondance
Mussorgsky, Modeste - Carlo Ponti - Pictures At An Exhibition+
Mozart - 40th Symphony

Nektar - Journey To The Centre of The Eye Thanks @riskylogic
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
No Man - Schoolyard Ghosts Thanks @riskylogic

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

Pat Metheny Group - Imaginary Day
Pineapple Thief - Dissolution
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Pixies - Doolittle thanks @Galactus2

Queen - A Night At The Opera

REM - Green
Rich, Charlie Behind Closed Doors
Riverside - Love, Fear And The Time Machine thankl @riskylogic
Roxy Music - Avalon
Rush - A Farewell To Kings (Wilson version)
Rush - Hemispheres
Rush - Moving Pictures

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

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker - Neeme Jarvi
Talking Heads - Fear Of Music
Talking Heads - Remain In Light
Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Temple Of The Dog - Temple Of The Dog
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 - The Raven That Refused To Sing
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

 

There is the abridged best of set:
Kraftwerk ‎– 3-D (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8)

 

Over time I will probably go through all the albums.
Back in the day, I wasn't really a fan of these guys, but they have grown on me over the years.
This set though, is just phenomenal. The whole concept is brilliant, and the execution is quite stunning.

I wasn't aware of the abridged version, but I will certainly try and remember to link it as an option when we get around to doing something from the box, because I think anyone that loves surround would really enjoy these mixes.
Cheers Mate

 

Yep - that’s what have. But Mark doesn’t fool around. I was thinking of appending a mini-review to whatever Mark does for Der Katalog

 

I've been on the fence about buying this too and it is a little out of my price range. Do you have a favorite mastering of this album?

 

I just have a CD that is probably the first release.