Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

I'm sorry. I'm a bad panda.

 

Yea, I think Script has a certain sentimental thing for fans.
Misplaced or Clutching at Straws I think are better albums, a little more distinctive.

 

I'll tell you when I've heard them.

rank the marillion albums

 

I like all four almost equally, but with Fugazi clearly in last place.

 

I just put a review of Alchemy up on the video thread.

I've got the The Doors Quad BD on the way.

 

I don't have a surround system but I enjoy the fixx "red skies live" on tube amp. miraculous tone!

 

A Passion Play


Studio album by
Jethro Tull
Released 13 July 1973 (UK) and 23 July 1973 (US)
Recorded March 1973
Studio Morgan Studios, London
Genre Progressive rock[1]
Length 45:05
Label Chrysalis
Producer Ian Anderson, Terry Ellis

A Passion Play is the sixth studio album by Jethro Tull, released in July 1973 in both UK and US. Like its predecessor, Thick as a Brick (1972), it is a concept album comprising individual songs arranged into a single continuous piece of music (which is split into two parts on the original vinyl LP release). The theme of the concept is apparently the spiritual journey of one man (Ronnie Pilgrim) in the afterlife. In the original tour to support the album, three videos were used: one for the intro of the "play", a second for "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles", and a final short segment to conclude the act. The whole of the concert was the high water mark of Jethro Tull's elaborate stage productions.[2]

Despite initially receiving generally negative reviews, with many critics comparing it unfavourably to Thick as a Brick, A Passion Play became Jethro Tull's second No. 1 album in the United States.

A Pretty decent picture of the way this album is viewed
Upon its original release, it received generally negative reviews. Rolling Stone was very harsh, saying that the album was "a pop potpourri of Paradise Lost and Winnie The Pooh, among many other literary resources, not to mention a vast array of musical ideas derivative of influences as far-flung as Purcell, flamenco and modern jazz", with the final judge of the album as an "expensive, tedious nonsense" piece of music.[11] New Musical Express considered the album as "the fall" of Jethro Tull.[12] Even Chris Welch of Melody Maker had a bad impression, stating "Music must touch the soul. A Passion Play rattles with emptiness".[13] Lester Bangs, writing for Creem Magazine, stated that he became "totally bamboozled" after hearing the album. Bangs concluded: "I almost like it, even though it sort of irritates me. Maybe I like it because it irritates me. But that's my problem".[14] The later three star review of Bruce Eder from AllMusic was a little lighter in its judgement, saying that "the music puts it over successfully, a dazzling mix of old English folk and classical material, reshaped in electric rock terms. The band is at its peak form, sustaining the tension and anticipation of this album-length piece across 45 minutes, although the music runs out of inspiration about five minutes before it actually ends".[3]

Despite the reviews, A Passion Play sold well enough to reach No. 1 on the charts in the United States and Canada.[15][16] The album also had good sales in Germany and Norway, where it reached No. 5. In the United Kingdom it reached only No. 13.[17] The 2013 box A Passion Play: an Extended Performance achieved the Nº 48 in the Top Rock Albums.[18]

Retrospectively, the album has received much more positive reviews. A Passion Play was included in the list The 100 Greatest Prog Albums of All Time by ProgMagazine at number 49.[19] PopMatters ranked A Passion Play the 17th best progressive rock album of all time.[20] In 2015, Iron Maiden's bassist Steve Harris included the album among his favorites by Jethro Tull while describing it as an "acquired taste" during an interview.[21]

• Ian Anderson – lead vocals, flute, acoustic guitar, soprano and sopranino saxophone
• Martin Barre – electric guitar
• John Evan – backing vocals, piano, organ, synthesizer
• Jeffrey Hammond – bass guitar, spoken word (on "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles")
• Barriemore Barlow – drums, percussion, timpani, glockenspiel, marimba

Additional personnel

• Dee Palmer – orchestral arrangements
• Robin Black – sound engineer
• Terry Ellis – producer
• Brian Ward – photography

A Passion Play
1. "Lifebeats / Prelude" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:24
2. "The Silver Cord" (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:28
3. "Re-Assuring Tune" (5.1 Surround Mix) 1:11
4. "Memory Bank" (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:20
5. "Best Friends" (5.1 Surround Mix) 1:56
6. "Critique Oblique" (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:35
7. "Forest Dance #1" (5.1 Surround Mix) 1:34
8. "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:10
9. "Forest Dance #2" (5.1 Surround Mix) 1:12
10. "The Foot of Our Stairs" (5.1 Surround Mix) 5:08
11. "Overseer Overture" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:58
12. "Flight from Lucifer" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:56
13. "10:08 to Paddington" (5.1 Surround Mix) 1:04
14. "Magus Perdé" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:53
15. "Epilogue" (5.1 Surround Mix) 0:44

The Château d'Hérouville Sessions
1. "The Big Top" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:05
2. "Scenario" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:25
3. "Audition" (5.1 Surround Mix) 2:33
4. "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:27
5. "Sailor" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:10
6. "No Rehearsal" (5.1 Surround Mix) 5:09
7. "Left Right" (5.1 Surround Mix) 5:02
8. "Only Solitaire" (5.1 Surround Mix) 1:28
9. "Critique Oblique (Part I)" (5.1 Surround Mix) 8:50
10. "Critique Oblique (Part II)" (5.1 Surround Mix) 5:28
11. "Animelee (1st Dance)" (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:36
12. "Animelee (2nd Dance)" (5.1 Surround Mix) 1:34
13. "Law of the Bungle (Part I)" (5.1 Surround Mix) 5:08
14. "Tiger Toon" (5.1 Surround Mix) 2:31
15. "Law of the Bungle (Part II)" (5.1 Surround Mix) 5:28
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
So far we have been through Thick As A Brick, Minstrel In The Gallery, Stormwatch, and Ian Anderson's Tull related TAAB2 and Homo Eraticus, and there is plenty of Tull to get through.
Today we are looking at A Passion Play. For me so far, this album is musically quite brilliant, and lyrically .... it doesn't quite hit the mark, leans a little absurdist for the subject matter, and although The Hare is a nice little interlude, but it isn't a track that yearns to be heard over and over.
Based on the music I can consider this a great Tull album, and I just think Anderson reached a little too far conceptually with the lyrics, taking on old theme and filling it with contemporary biases and misinformation. It is still a solid piece of work, but it succeeds and fails at the same time in many ways.

If time is looking friendly we will hit Chateau d'Herouville also, as I haven't actually heard it yet. This set seems to contain some early ideas that ended up becoming the War Child album, which I actually really like, but many suggest it is one of their poorest albums, but we'll get to that one another day.

In 1973 the band were in tax exile in France, and this is where the Chateau tracks were laid down. The band were going to lay down a double album, but apparently were unhappy with the quality of the recording studio, and the idea was abandoned. I believe it wasn't until this book-set came out that any of this material was particularly heard.
The band ended up returning to London to record the album that we have here today.

The album essentially runs as one continuous piece, like Thick As A Brick did, but is interrupted by The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles at the start of what was side two. This is a somewhat a farcical play, that is somewhat comical and Bassist Jeffrey Hammond does the narration with a somewhat put on accent.

Ok .... wow.... I guess this is out of print...
Amazon has it starting from $350 new and about $290 s/hand https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Play-2CD-2DVD/dp/B00J4A27B2
Discogs has if from about $104 Jethro Tull - A Passion Play (An Extended Performance)

5.1 Mix Steven Wilson



Although listed as a lot of separate tracks it essentially runs as two parts and an interlude, so that is essentially how I will look at it, because otherwise I will get completely lost as to where I am, and be looking at the wrong section.

We open with a heartbeat, and a horn. The heartbeat rises in pitch.
The horn somewhat circles us, and the we get a myriad of sound circling us.
Then we move into this somewhat jolly, semi folk, semi classical section.
There is absolutely no mistaking the we are surrounded in music.
The silver chord starts with vocal up front, acoustic guitar left rear.
The music is well balanced and the focus is on the whole
We move to an instrumental section.
Synth left rear, xylophone? Right rear.
The we move into a somewhat fusion section.
The piano is across the middle. Guitar either side.
Reassuring tune has guitars either side
Then acoustic front left and organ rear.
Memory bank has guitars either side front.
Then we start to get the elongated riff sections coming into the album, and one of the highlights for me.
Guitar either side rears. Organ front.
The is a terribly involved album, and the mix really does take that on board.
For the most part there is stuff in all channels most of the time.
A modulation effect slides between the rears.
Layers of flutes coming from each speaker creating a really interesting surround wall of sound.
Then we are back to guitars in the rears.

Even at this stage, it is a remarkable piece of music with an equally remarkable mix.

Best friends
Is a little more rock. We have guitars and keys spread around the field nicely.... this is definitely an immersive mix.
Critique oblique has organ through the rears and then piano left rear, and guitar right rear.
The words somewhat disappear for me under the strength of the music, and this mix really opens up the whole musical picture.
We have just enough sub to aid the kick and bass.
I wonder if the guys had been listening to Gentle Giant at this time.
The band were using a lot of layers on this album and they come across beautifully in surround.
Forest dance.
Acoustics either side rears.
Bass up front. Flute mainly front but floating to the sides.
Keys on both sides. Layered an really effective.
The Hare.....
Narrative front centre.
Piano across the front. Tuned percussion either side rears.
Horns from various locations in the field.
Strings in the rears.
This track is actually an entertaining piece of music, without any words.
Again the mix is quite sensational.
I just noticed the permanent picture of the ballerina bent backwards has creepy moving hands
Forest dance II
Flute up front a sort of ambient wash of synth fills the rears.
The foot of our stairs. Vocal and acoustic up front. Organ across rears.
We get a sax lead. With lead guitar either side rears. Organ still across the rears.
Synth either side rears.
The really is a magnificent mix. We are immersed completely for virtually the whole album.
Overseer overture
Acoustic front left, vocal front.
Synth front. Horns rears. Modulated backing vocal in the rears.
Acoustic right rear.
There is just so much going on everywhere, it is difficult to across how well done this is.
Percussion right rear, the centre rear.
Slide of synth across the back
Flight from Lucifer
Synth left side, then front then an effective swirl.
The song then resumes with the surround immersion organs rears. Vocals effectively fill the room. Percussion rears.
Synth left rear. Horns rears. Lead gtr front left. Flute front centre.
Whistles either side rears.
Percussion across the rears.
10.08 to Paddington
Acoustic left side. Swell right side.
Cymbals and percussion rears.
Magus parade
Guitar right side. Massive layers of instruments all around us.
The guitar sounds quite harsh in this section.
Epilogue

This is quite an amazing mix. The album isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea, but it sounds absolutely awesome.
I really hope that if you're interested, you already have it.
I guess two quite long albums at fifty bucks each (the cheapest on discogs) isn't too bad, but of course the thirty or forty bucks new was quite amazing value.

Chateau d'Herouville

The big top
We have a sort of pulsing heartbeat.
Then the sounds of an orchestra tuning up a synth sound rolls all the way around the soundfield and then back the other way.
Piano right rear. Synth up front.
Nice sub assist for the bass.
Cymbal crash left side.
Again nice use of the soundfield.

Scenario
Acoustic and vocal front
Tuned percussion on rears.
Guitars either side.
This seems like passion play version one.
Reversecreverb effects on vocals in rears.
Tuned percussion either side rears.
Speaking in the rears.

Audition
Organ right rear. Guitar front left.

Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
Guitars either side. Flute rear.
Tuned percussion either side rears starting with a slide across the rears.
Slide guitar right rear.
A really nice effective mix.
Drums come in.

Sailor
Acoustic and vocal up front.
Organ comes into the rears.

No rehearsal.
Drums and guitar up front.
Organ rears.

Left Right
Sound of babies or people imitating babies all around us.
Guitar up front.
Synths either side rears.
Percussion all round.

Only solitaire
Acoustic guitars all round. Vocal up front.

Critique oblique I and II
Organs and guitars in rears. Horns showing up. Quite long tracks with an awful lot going on.

Animelee 1st and 2nd dance
Horn up front.
Guitar middle of room.
Harpsichord left rear. Bass and piano up front.
Organ swirls around.
Organ rears.

Law of the Bungle 1/ Tiger toon / Bungle 2
Gtr left rear. Keys right side.
Harpsichord left side.
Again a plethora of layers and the full soundfield is getting action .

The Chateau sessions is very much a precursor to Passion Play. You can hear the early ideas, that come across really well but not fully formed. The mix is again excellent.

Both these discs are extremely well mixed. Really top class stuff.
Passion play is about 45 minutes and Chateau is about 60 minutes, so there is plenty of value for money so far as content and the quality is top class.... Really it is going to come down to a couple of things here ... Do you like the Passion Play album, and in light of its deletion will you, or can you hand over a hundred bucks plus for it.
It is terribly disappointing that so many of these sets go out of print seemingly too fast, but I have found all the Tull sets to be excellent. Some folks have complained (to a degree) that these aren't in hi-res, and I suppose that is true, again to some degree, but DTS 96/24 is a very high standard of sound, and these sound great, and have great mixes.
If you like Tull and surround music, you really need to jump on the sets that interest you before they run out, because the prices just soar after that.

 

Blackfield V



Studio album by Blackfield
Released 10 February 2017
Recorded 2015–2016
Genre Art rock, alternative rock, progressive rock
Length 44:01
Label Kscope
Producer Aviv Geffen, Steven Wilson, Alan Parsons
Total length: 44:01

Blackfield V is the fifth studio album by art rock band Blackfield. Recorded over a year and a half period across 2015 and 2016, the album, initially intended for release on 18 November 2016, was later delayed to 10 February 2017. The album, the fifth between the musical partnership between Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen, is the third released as an even collaboration between the two; while Blackfield and Blackfield II were even collaborations, Welcome to My DNA and Blackfield IV saw increased writing and musicianship from Geffen while Wilson focused on his solo albums Grace for Drowning and The Raven that Refused to Sing (And Other Stories).

Personnel
Blackfield
Steven Wilson – lead vocals, guitar (2-4, 6, 7, 9-13), bass (4, 6, 7, 9-13), keyboards (1, 12, 13), drum programming (12), backing vocals (4, 5, 11, 12)
Aviv Geffen – lead vocals, guitar (9, 12), bass (12), keyboards (2-12), piano (5, 12), Mellotron (6, 9), string arrangements (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11), backing vocals (2, 3, 6, 7, 13)
Tomer Z – drums (2-4, 6, 7, 9-11, 13), percussion (2, 3, 6)
Eran Mitelman – keyboards (4, 9, 11), piano (3, 6, 11), Mellotron (9), Hammond organ (3)

Additional musicians
Omri Agmon – acoustic guitar (2, 5, 7, 10), additional guitar (9)
Mike Garson – piano (8)
Hadar Green – bass (3)
Alex Moshe – female vocals (7, 12), backing vocals (3, 11)
Alan Parsons – backing vocals (3)
The London Session Orchestra – orchestral performance (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11)

Production
Steven Wilson – production (1, 6, 12, 13), engineering, mixing (1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 12, 13)
Aviv Geffen – production (2, 5, 7, 8, 10-12)
Alan Parsons – production (3, 4, 9)
Simon Bloor – engineering, mixing (2, 5-7, 10, 11)

Track listing
1. "A Drop in the Ocean" 1:23
2. "Family Man" 3:37
3. "How Was Your Ride?" 3:58
4. "We'll Never Be Apart" 2:54
5. "Sorrys" 2:58
6. "Life Is an Ocean" 3:26
7. "Lately" 3:24
8. "October" 3:31
9. "The Jackal" 3:56
10. "Salt Water" 2:39
11. "Undercover Heart" Geffen Geffen 4:02
12. "Lonely Soul" Geffen GeffenMoshe3:42
13. "From 44 to 48" Wilson Wilson 4:31

_______
The surround version is included in a CD/bluray set that was released in 2017 at the same time as all the other versions Unlike Blackfield IV which is still available new and cheap, the surround version of V seems to be OOP, but the price of used copies aren’t terrible.

5.1 mix by Steven Wilson or Simon Bloor and Bruce Soord (tracks 2, 5-7, 10, 11)

“A Drop In The Ocean”
Strings in surround, and that is all.

“Family Man”
Wilson is lead vocalist, in the center channel. Starts with bass and drums front, strings mostly rear. Brief guitar part also mostly rear. Synth solo in center.

“How Was Your Ride?
Piano in front, Wilson vocals in center, then strings in back, bass and drums front. Background vocals in rear. Guitar solo center. Synth in rear.

“We'll Never Be Apart”
Geffen is lead in center, guitar in surround. Then bass and drums in front. Background vocals and in rear. Strings at the end also in rear.

“Sorrys”
Geffen vocals in front, guitar in rear. Background vocals front and back. Synth in front.

“Life Is An Ocean”
Geffen vocals center, Wilson in rear, piano in surround. Then mellotron rear, then bass, drums, and guitar in front. Guitar left, synth right.

“Lately
Wilson vocals front, strings in surround. Lead guitar, bass, and drums front, rhythm guitar rear. Alex Moshe vocals center.

“October”
Wilson vocals center, piano front, strings in surround.

“The Jackal”
Lead guitar front, mellotron rear, Geffen vocals and guitar center. Wilson vocals front. Drums front. Rhythm guitar rear. Two guitars front.

“Salt Water”
Lead guitar front, 2nd guitar rear, strings in surround. Drums and piano front.

“Undercover Heart”
Geffen vocals and bass front, strings in rear. Drums and guitar front. Guitar rear. Strings front and back. Best track on the album, and also a great surround track.

“Lonely Soul”
Drums bass, Geffen vocals front, synth in surround. Piano in rear, synth front. Moshe vocals front with Geshen vocal center and back - very cool contrast.

“From 44 To 48”
Background vocals front, Wilson vocals center, drums and bass front. Guitar surround, keyboards front and back. Guitar front. Synth surround, background vocals rear. Reverbing guitar in surround. Guitar rear. Really busy surround mix. This is the only song on the album that sounds like Wilson wrote it – and he did.
_____

This album is soooo much better than the last one. The songs are better, the production is better, the surround mix is better, and above all the strings are better. I even think this one is better than the first two. I guess that explains why the surround mix is out of print (2/3).

On the other hand, Blackfield: Live in New York City is still in print, and it's cheap. It's the other part of a Sunday double header.

 

Foxtrot


Studio album by
Genesis
Released 6 October 1972
Recorded August–September 1972[1]
Studio Island Studios, London, England
Genre Progressive rock
Length 51:08
Label Charisma
Producer Dave Hitchcock Genesis

Foxtrot is the fourth studio album by the English progressive rock band Genesis, released in October 1972 on Charisma Records. It features their longest recorded song; the 23-minute epic "Supper's Ready".

The album was recorded following the tour in support of their previous album, Nursery Cryme (1971), which saw them gain popularity, including a well-received slot at the Lincoln Great Western Festival. The album was written over the summer of 1972 and combined songs that had already been performed live with new material worked out in jam sessions. Recording began in August with John Anthony, but sessions were prone to tension and disagreements. After a short Italian tour, sessions resumed with Dave Hitchcock taking over production duties. The cover was the final Genesis work to be designed by Paul Whitehead, featuring a fox wearing a red dress. Frontman Peter Gabriel wore the dress and a fox's head on stage for the following tour, which gathered press attention and greatly improved the group's profile.

Foxtrot was the first Genesis album to chart in the UK, reaching No. 12, and received largely positive reviews. A non-album single "Happy The Man" was released at the same time. The album has continued to attract critical praise and was reissued with a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix as part of their 2008 Genesis 1970–1975 box set.

• Tony Banks – Hammond organ, Mellotron, electric and acoustic pianos, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
• Steve Hackett – electric guitar, nylon guitar, 12-string guitar
• Phil Collins – drums, backing vocals, assorted percussion
• Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, flute, bass drum, tambourine, oboe
• Michael Rutherford – bass guitar, bass pedals, cello, 12-string guitar, backing vocals

Production

• David Hitchcock – production
• John Burns – engineer
• Richard Macphail – technician, stage sound (sound friend)
• Paul Whitehead – sleeve design
• Armando Gallo – photography
• Barry Wentzell – photography
• Geoff Terrill – photography
• Martin Nunn – photography

1. "Watcher of the Skies" 7:23
2. "Time Table" 4:46
3. "Get 'Em Out by Friday" 8:36
4. "Can-Utility and the Coastliners" 5:45
5. "Horizons" (instrumental) 1:41
6. "Supper's Ready" 23:06
a. "Lover's Leap"
b. "The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man"
c. "Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men"
d. "How Dare I Be So Beautiful?"
e. "Willow Farm"
f. "Apocalypse in 9/8 (Co-Starring the Delicious Talents of Gabble Ratchet)"
g. "As Sure as Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)"
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I always liked this album, but I had never really clicked with Supper's Ready until we did the Genesis album thread awhile back.
@MikeF63 did an overview of all the Genesis 5.1's and we have been through Selling England By The Pound, Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and And Then There Were Three.

Trespass is a great album, but really it is Foxtrot where the sound of the band most folks recognise as being classic Genesis comes together. We have in this album a really solid piece of work that should be a bigger seller, but for all the talk of early Genesis, it wasn't as if these albums sold particularly well. They did pretty well, enough to keep the band alive, but they weren't big sellers, like ELP, Yes and such.... which I have always found a little strange.

Anyhow
There are a lot of mixed opinions about these mixes, mainly due to the mastering, but also the fact that they were remixed somewhat differently to the original albums. This kind of thing doesn't bother me too much, as long as the original intent of the song isn't lost. I actually enjoyed all of my Genesis 5.1 mixes. I like dynamic albums, but loud mastering doesn't bother me, and I have never had ear fatigue in my life.
I don't find the albums to be what I would call brickwalled, and I have never noticed ny clipping, but there are folks on here that are much more expert in these matters than me.... I enjoy what I am able to get, and in the world of 5.1 beggars can't be choosers.

Anyhow
Foxtrot is able to be found, but is again out of print
On Discogs the sacd/dts 96/24 disc starts at about $42 Genesis - Foxtrot
On ebay for about 89 GBPounds Genesis Foxtrot SACD/DVD Audio | eBay

The sacd boxset 1970-1975 is about $430 on discogs Genesis - 1970 - 1975
It's about $490 on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Box-Set-1970-1975-Disc/dp/B001EO2UJK
and about $700 on Ebay GENESIS 1970-1975 ULTRA RARE 2008 REMASTER CD/SACD/DVD SET 48-PAGE BOOK LIKE NEW for sale online

5.1 mix Nick Davis

Watcher Of The Skies
We start with the big mellotron intro, it is up front, but spreads to the sides.
Still beautiful and dramatic.
Then we get the mellotron in the rears, and the bass comes up in the middle front.
The drums cover the front with Tom's and cymbals wrapping to the sides.
Mellotron in the rears. Hackett's guitar left side.

Time Table
Piano up front.
Guitar on the left side. Cymbals right side.
Guitar also on the right side.

Get 'Em Out By Friday
Guitar front left and right rear.
Verses. Arpeggio gtr right rear, vocal left side. Then on the right side. Chorus vocal front.
Flute ? Left rear.
Gtrs on either side.
Lead guitar rears.
Cymbal left side.
Unusual mix somewhat, as some instruments seem to be moved during the mix, but it sounds balanced, and it isn't a disorienting move.
Flutes and flute like synth all round. Scrape goes left to right side.
Organ left side, and right side.
We have nice sub assist also.

Can-Utility And The Coastliners
Gtr front, left and right rear.
Mellotron in both rears.
Strum gtr left rear. Arpeggio gtr left rear.
Mellotron right side and left side.

Horizons
Beautiful guitar all round.

Suppers Ready
Gtrs either side and front. Vocals front.
Electric piano front.
Arpeggio gtrs either side rears.
Cymbals in rears
Organ comes 8n right side.
Organ in rears. Children move from back to front.
We return to the gtrs either side rears.
Organ front.
We are surrounded and balanced through the different phases of the song.
At 9:30 we fade and a synth comes on up front with vocals. With synth feeds to the rears.
Willow Farm guitars either side. Spoken voices alternating sides.
Very effective tonal change with gtrs either side.
Whistle right side. Voices alternating between sides and then at the same time.
Synths in rears.
Flute section up front.
Gtr either side.
Electric guitars come in electric either side.
Organs in rears.
Synth lead across the middle, towards rears.
Organ across rears.
Bells left side.
Lead guitar middle of the room ... keys right rear.
Harmonised guitars front and both rears.

Just listening to this as an album, the surround mix is very satisfying.
When you sit like this and try to pick it apart as to what is actually going on, it is still a good surround mix, but there is an element of "why?'
Not why did they do it, more why is the guitar suddenly over there?.... or why are the keyboards seemingly in a slightly different spot than they were a minute ago? things like that.
The sound is balanced and I enjoy the mix, but as with so many of these quite complex pieces of music, it would really warrant a specialist. Of course Wilson and Scheiner are the two specialists I think of to be honest, though others, as we have seen and heard, do very good work also, it seems for the complex stuff, those two guys are the flag bearers and really manage to get a coherence and clarity that many others don't quite manage.

So I really enjoy these Genesis mixes, and I think this is a very good mix, but it is ever so slightly erratic from a critical listen, but very enjoyable from a passive listen, if that makes sense.
I still think it is worth having, it is just such a shame that the 70-75 box is so extraordinarily expensive now ... mind you, I did pay a lot for it new way back in 2007/8

 

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
Alan Parsons Project - Tales Of Mystery and Imagination
Alan Parsons Project - Eye In The Sky
Alan Parsons Project - Ammonia Avenue
Allman Brothers Band - Live At Fillmore East
Allman Brother Band - Eat a Peach
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here thanks @riskylogic
Anathema - Weather Systems thanks @riskylogic
Anderson, Ian - Homo Erraticus
Anderson, Ian - TAAB 2
Argent - In Deep thanks @riskylogic
Ayreon - The Source thanks @riskylogic

Band - Music From Big Pink ... I did this twice ... must occasionally sleep lol
Barclay James Harvest - GoneTo Earth
Bass Communion - Loss thanks @riskylogic
The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album)
The Beatles - Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Be Bop Deluxe - Futurama
Be Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish
Beck, Jeff - Blow By Blow
Beck, Jeff - Wired
Beethoven - 3rd Symphony Eroica
Beethoven - 5th Concerto (Emporer) - Barenboim/Rubenstein
Bjork - Vespertine
Blackfield - IV thanks @riskylogic
Blackfield - V 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
Bowie, David - Young Americans
Bowie, David - Station To Station
Bowie, David - Stage
Browne, Jackson - Running On Empty
Bruford - Feels Good To Me thanks @riskylogic

Caravan - In The Land Of Grey And Pink thanks @riskylogic
Charles, Ray - Ray Sings, Basie Swings
Clapton, Eric - Give Me Strength The 74/75 Recordings
Clapton, Eric - Back Home
Cobham, Billy - Spectrum
Cobham, Billy - Spectrum (Quad) thanks @-dave--wave-
Coltrane, Alice/Santana, Carlos - Illuminations

Davis, Miles - Sketches Of Spain
Davis, Miles - In A Silent Way
Davis, Miles - Bitches Brew
Davis, Miles - Live Evil
Davis, Miles - Tutu
Deep Purple - Machine Head
Deep Purple - Stormbringer
Dekker, Desmond - Anthology thanks @riskylogic
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
Dylan, Bob - Slow Train Coming

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 - Fleetwood Mac (1975)
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 - Foxtrot
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Genesis - And Then There Were Three
Gentle Giant - Three Piece Suite
Gentle Giant - The Power and The Glory
Gilmour, Dave - On An Island
Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead

Hackett, Steve - Voyage Of The Acolyte thanks @riskylogic
Hackett, Steve - At The Edge Of Light
Hancock, Herbie - Sextant
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 - A Passion Play/ Chateau d'Herouville
Jethro Tull - Minstrel In The Gallery
Jethro Tull - Stormwatch
Jethro Tull - TAAB 2 thanks @riskylogic
Joel, Billy - The Stranger
John, Elton - Elton John
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 - Beat
King Crimson - Thrak
King Crimson - The Power To Believe
Knopfler, Mark - Sailing To Philadelphia
Knopfler, Mark - Shangri La
Kooper, Al (with Bloomfield and Stills) Super Sessions
Kraftwerk - 3d Catalogue - Man Machine

Lennon, John - Imagine, Ultimate Edition
Living Colour - Collideoscope
Love And Rockets - Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven thanks @riskylogic
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Southern Surroundings

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire
Manheim Steamroller - Fresh Aire 8 thanks @riskylogic
Marillion - Script For A Jester's Tear
Marillion - Afraid Of Sunlight
Monk, Thelonius - Supreme Jazz
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 - Deliverance / Damnation 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
Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
Pixies - Doolittle thanks @Galactus2
Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (deluxe version 1)
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing thanks @riskylogic

Queen - A Night At The Opera

REM - Green
REM - Monster
Renaissance - Turn Of The Cards thanks @riskylogic
Rich, Charlie Behind Closed Doors
Riverside - Love, Fear And The Time Machine thanks @riskylogic
Riverside - Wasteland
Roxy Music - Avalon
Rundgren, Todd - Liars - Thanks @riskylogic
Rush - Fly By Night
Rush - 2112
Rush - A Farewell To Kings (Wilson version)
Rush - Hemispheres
Rush - Moving Pictures
Rush - Signals

Santana - Abraxas
Santana - Lotus
Shankar & Gingger - One In A Million thanks @riskylogic
Sly And The Family Stone - Greatest Hits
Soord, Bruce - All This Will Be Yours
Squire, Chris - Fish Out Of Water
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
Tears For Fears - Songs From The Big Chair
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 - Tommy
Who - Quadrophenia
Wilson, Steven - The Raven That Refused To Sing
Wilson, Steven - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
Wilson, Steven - To The Bone
Wings - Band On The Run
Wishbone Ash - Bare Bones thanks @riskylogic

XTC - The Black Sea
XTC - Oranges and Lemons

Yes - Close To The Edge
Yes - Tale Of Topographic Oceans
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

 

Just for interest sake. Guns and Roses Appetite For Destruction super deluxe is now about $88 on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Appetite-Destruction-Super-Deluxe-Roses/dp/B07CPDVQYW

I ended up ordering it, and expect it here for either next weekend or the weekend after.

To be honest I went through a phase of absolutely hating GnR, but I did like the album for a time back in the day. I think it was just another band that radio burnt out for me in the eighties.
Anyhow, I would never have paid the two or three hundred or whatever it was I had seen it for, but at $88, with seventy bucks free amazon money, it works for me.

It says there are twenty left for anyone interested

 

Next weeks choices

Zappa - Halloween

 

Yes - The Yes Album

 

Alison Krauss and Union Station - New Favourite

 

Gentle Giant - Interview (quad)

 

Earth wind And Fire - Open Our Eyes (quad)

 

Velvet Underground - Re-loaded

 

Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos

 

Opeth - Sorcerous

 

Johnny Cash - Silver

 

Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake

 

Genesis - Foxtrot. The second of a great run of four prog rock albums. Unfortunately, like Lamb, even though the surround mix is good, there are some compression problems. I had to turn the volume down to listen to it. "Watcher of the Skies" was OK, but "Time Table" was hard to listen to. I like the way Gabriel's voice on "Get 'em out by Friday" moves around, but Hackett's guitar gets squashed on there too. However, I guess I had gotten used to the compression by the time "Supper's Ready" came up because I thoroughly enjoyed it. (3/2)

Jethro Tull - A Passion Play. The last of three, also part of a great run of classic prog rock albums. I think JT fell into a rut after this that they never quite climbed out of; they never did anything this adventurous again. I blame the critics - this album got panned when it first came out. But it sold very well anyway, and JT could do worse and they did. The surround mix is very good too - the surround mix of "The Story of the Hare" is really special (maybe I need a surround mix of "Peter and the Wolf"), and "Overseer Overture" is also worth singling out. (3/3)

 

My favorite Tull album. And another triumph for Steven Wilson.

The Chateau material ranks among the richest "bonus content" I've encountered on a box set by anyone. (I'm tempted to say that's because Bungle In The Jungle is conspicuously absent. Yeah, I know, different time frame. It just amuses me to think of Anderson being called in to some Oily Executive's office: "Now listen here, Jethro, we need a Big Hit Single from you guys, ya see?" ... but I digress.)

I would have killed to hear the planned 2-LP. Tull were on fire then.

By the time this box came out, it was becoming evident that Tull boxes would vanish in a hurry. Got mine on Day Of Release, something I seldom do.

Guess today's as good a day as any to give this'un a spin.

 

A Passion Play is a package that won my Archival Release award in 2014 (yes, that's right: in the only poll that counts!). I had never heard the album before I heard the remix, so it was a real Road to Damascus moment. But how has it borne up after six years?

Annotating my responses to this is going to be a nightmare, because these aren't really songs so much as they are a collage of fragments and pretty much every one of those fragments would ideally have some attention paid to it. (So obviously I'm not going to do that!) [Aw hell ... eight minutes in and not a pertinent remark recorded!]

Let’s pull back a bit. What does Steven Wilson do fantastically well, virtually without fail? Acoustic guitars. And the acoustic guitars on this album are all greaaaat. (Check out the start of “The Foot of Our Stairs” for one of many, many. examples.) Secondly, what do I rave about every time it's done well? The rhythm section. Check out the drums on “Memory Bank” ... so much weight and dynamism. Oh, and extension on the bass guitar we have a-plenty. On the negative side, the saxes are mixed rather low (note SW's comment that Ian was not fond of the saxes in the original mix), and the electric guitar does not have quite the prominence here that we are used to from Jethro Tull, but I guess that's more of a feature of the album than the mix.

I think that Ian Anderson is probably underrated as a vocalist and we get a lot of him on this album, since the flute is comparatively sidelined. Its first big moment is “Forest Dance #1” where it is actually drowned out by flute synth sounds: it's a well balanced piece of soundscaping.

“The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles” is an infamous episode in the album but - whether it fits stylistically with the rest - it's a lovely piece of recording and the orchestral arrangements register nicely in the front channels. The segue into “Forest Dance #2” is satisfying and the rather rambling, Thick As A Brick-style free-flowing songwriting continues into the second half of the album. The climax of “Overseer Overture” has some great complex instrumental interplay.

The organ in “Flight from Lucifer” could maybe have a fuller sound, though there's admittedly only so much you can do with the recorded sound. I find that I get a bit tired of the album deep into side two, just as I do with TAAB: both the relentlessness and the frequent repetitions of musical phrases does begin to weigh on the listener. Thank heavens for the neo-classical confection of “10.08 to Paddington”, which grants some respite before the wake-up call of electric guitar at the opening of “Magus Perdé”. Suddenly we are given some full-tilt rock after an album that has almost all been quintessential Prog.

I'll do the Chateau d’Hérouville tapes separately. As for A Passion Play, well, there's a reason that it hasn't been in constant rotation here since it was issued: it's a gnarly, ornery, self-indulgent soup of an album that it's tempting to chalk up on reflex as a 10/10 classic but for the fact that it has very few musical highlights. In any case that has nothing to do with the surround mix, which is absolutely top-notch, with loads of channeling effects to enjoy but also a rock solid account of all the relevant instrumental and vocal detail. I feel that in some respects it has been supplanted in my estimation by Minstrel and Songs From The Wood but it still ranks as a clear must-own.

 

So, Château d’Hérouville. I think that this is a disc I've heard a few times but because it's not an album as such I've probably never listened to it as attentively as I'm about to. What I tend to remember is being annoyed by the “Critique Oblique” stuff, but we'll see.

After the arresting special effects of “The Big Top”, “Scenario” is one of those Ian Anderson songs that bears for me the unmistakeable influence of Roy Harper. It's very polished (as usual, check out those acoustic guitars) and leads nicely into “Audition” which has more of that rock sound that was (arguably) too little in evidence in A Passion Play itself. “Skating Away” of course became a JT staple and the version here is very nice (can't be bothered to check whether it's the same version later used on War Child). “Sailor” is again very Harperesque and the vocal is beautifully recorded. The electric guitar into to “No Rehearsal” has a lot of energy and it's nice to hear the organ higher in the mix for this, heavier track. (The spoken word interlude sounds good as well.)

Although the band ditched these recordings this sounds like a finished work and SW finds plenty to fill out the channels. I'm struck that this is more like a vinyl side of Aqualung than TAAB though, so it could be conjectured that this is why the band ended up preferring the more continuous style of APP when it came to judging what made the better release.

“Left Right” opens side two with some psychedelic surround effects and some very heavy guitar indeed: very much back to the sixties. I find the track drags a bit, which doesn't bode well, so there's some release when you get that filigree of acoustic guitars into “Only Solitaire”. What treat this is in surround, but over too soon and we're into “Critique Oblique”, here thirteen minutes and two parts. There's a great moment here where the guitar is rear left and the flute front right. The sax is again rather low in the mix but everything else is rather satisfactory and I'm not sure why I was apprehensive about this because (other than short vocal sections that I don't much care for) this just the sort of instrumental Prog that is normally my, um, “jam”.

“Animelee” parts one and two are entertaining but ultimately makeweight: a curtain-raiser for the animal sequence that ends the sessions. I can't really imagine a Jethro Tull fan not being interested in “Law of the Bungle Part One/Tiger Toon/Bungle Part Two” because it's a fully formed Prog concept suite and hints strongly at an alternative, quirkier direction that could have been taken by APP. Nice clean electric guitar rear left towards the end.

Château d’Herouville is as much an album as APP, and it's a more focused and song-centric album at that. The excellent recording plus SW's remix means that this is a fully-realised album project but it's a lesser album for all that and as a piece of surround mixing it probably has less to recommend it than APP itself. If you struggle with Anderson's English wit, this has less of it, but still more than later & “cleaner” JT albums. Not sure what my conclusion is overall, but long term this won't be stealing any listening time from the JT albums that I prefer.