Surroundablog

No one would have believed..."War of the Worlds" on SACD!

"No one would have believed, in the last years of the nineteenth century, that human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space....." www.hifidelityreview.com Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds rock opera will be coming out in a new 5.1 Super Audio CD Surround Sound edition this summer from SonyBMG Music in Europe. The SACD edition of War of the Worlds is slated to coincide with a new movie of War of the Worlds directed by Steven Speilberg and starring Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins and Miranda Otto. According to SonyBMG Europe, the War of the Worlds SACD will be released during the same month that the Speilberg War of the Worlds movie appears in theaters. The Original War of the Worlds Album War of the Worlds was originally released in 1978. It is a well known rock opera from that era based on H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds novel. War of the Worlds created quite a stir in the U.S. in 1938 when actor and radio star Orson Wells' broadcast a radio version of the story about an attack from Mars that was so compelling that many people who did not hear the disclaimer at the start of the show thought such an invasion was actually underway. The War of the Worlds album that was created by Jeff Wayne in 1978 features a host of stars. The album includes narration by the late actor Richard Burton and vocal performances by Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, David Essex (best known for his hit Single "Rock On"), the late Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy (Nathaniel) and Julie Covington (Oh no Nathaniel) and other singers from the U.K. cast of Godspell. War of the Worlds went on to become a major seller around the world, most notably so in the U.K. where some it was embedded on the Top Album charts for years. Creating the 5.1 Surround Sound SACD Remix To create a 5.1 Surround Sound remix of War of the Worlds, Jeff Wayne is working with many of the members of the album's original production team.

Alan Parsons "A Valid Path" coming to DualDisc

Last new release Tuesday, I checked into my favorite haunts to sift through what was what. I was surprised to find out that Alan Parson's latest, "A Valid Path", was already out and that it's on the Immergent-5.1 label as a cd. I made an inquiry with Immergent to find out if we would hear a multi-channel version of it. Apparently; they are planning on releasing a DualDisc version later this year with the exact date and details to follow shortly.

Ron Wheeler

Editor surroundablog.com

Bananarama-surroundarama

Genesis: The Lamb SACD Chaos continues: Release postponed again

Unbelievable, but true: The Lamb SACD / DVD-Audio release has been postponed again. Peter Gabriel needed ten years for a new record, then stopped the release of the Lamb SACD and claimed improvements. A release date has then been set for 18th April (announced by the official web site a few weeks ago). Now, the release has been postponed to "much later in 2005". According to the official website, reasons are release date discussions and technical problems. As a matter of fact, the whole issue is getting more and more ridiculous. Nick Davis said that there is a chance that the slide show of the Live-Tour will be inclouded as an extra on the DVD-Audio, which would take time to compile. More information will be posted here as soon as we have it. 

North America progresses with Super Audio Center

Originally published on www.superaudio-cd.com

February 15th 2005

In North America, Sony has assisted in the creation of a Super Audio Center LLC, based in Boulder, Colorado. This specialist facility is dedicated to the continued support and development of tools to assist SA-CD production. The Center provides recording, mastering, mixing (surround and stereo), editing (classical and contemporary), authoring, and quality control support services. Super Audio Center products include Sonoma DSD recorder/editors in 8, 16, and 24 track configurations as well as Pyramix, Genex 9048, and the Sadie DSD-8 workstations. The Super Audio Center is the sole distributor of EMM labs pro products in the US and Europe.

It is significant news that the 24 track Sonoma DSD recorder and editor is now shipping and is available for rent. Coupled with the announcement in the Wall Street Journal that the last pro audio tape manufacturer is out of business, there is significant interest in recording to DSD by artists and producers who prefer to work in the analogue domain. A good example of this approach is the recent John Hiatt recording session. Gus Skinas from the Super Audio Center reports that all project members (artist, producer, engineer and musicians) are excited about DSD as a replacement for the analogue recorder. The entire session was recorded on a 400GB firewire drive and will be backed up to a single LTO tape, which can hold the entire project (included all mixes). The cost for the tape media is $139 USD.

“The more major projects like this we do, the more interest we experience in SA-CD from the music producers,” comments Gus Skinas. “Nothing will help SA-CD to succeed as effectively as this kind of interest from the artists and producers.” Recent Super Audio Centre projects include John Hiatt - (Tracking and Mixing on Sonoma-24); Elton John - Elton John, Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across the Water, Honky Chateau, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (editing, multi-channel mastering, authoring) and Good-bye Yellow Brick Road (editing and authoring); Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (editing and authoring); Snow Patrol (editing and authoring); Carpenter's Singles (editing and authoring); John Mayer (multi-channel mix to Sonoma - equipment rental) and San Francisco Symphony (provide Sonoma recorder/editor for all Mahler recordings since 2001).

Grammy loves Genius..Ray Charles sweeps 2005 awards

Last night was a triumphant send-off for the man known simply as "Genius". Last night's Grammy Awards ceremony was not so much a celebration of music as it was a tribute to the great Ray Charles. His 2004 album "Genius loves Company" was bestowed with 8 awards...including the inaugural presentation of "Best Surround Sound Recording".

The Grammies have been guilty of "over-awarding" in the past. The fix was surely in for Eric Clapton's sentimental sweep with "Tears in Heaven"..Bonnie Raitt's demolition gave everyone "Something to talk About" and Carlos Santana "Smooth"-ly brushed aside all comers. Last night though...no one was more deserving of the accolades and adulation. Those 8 awards will go up on a shelf somewhere alongside Ray's previous 12 awards. My hope is that there is a little room left on that shelf so Jamie Foxx will feel compelled to display his "soon to be"  Best Actor Academy Award in its rightful place...

As an aside; the wife and I stared in wide-mouthed amazement as Jamie Foxx portrayed Ray Charles in the biopic "Ray". Although a brilliant performance, Foxx has to be criticized for being a tad "over the top". Ray Charles in person, on stage or vinyl was never over-the-top. He was always the most humblest and gracious sort.

With his last failing breaths, Mr. Ray Charles created a thing of beauty...truly one of his greatest accomplishments. Thank you Ray for all the gifts of you. But did Genius Loves Company" deserve all the accolades....?

Hello Finland...Nightwish on DVD-Audio

NIGHTWISH will release a DVD-Audio version of their latest album "Once" on February 21. They seem to be quite a going concearn in Europe.."Once", has been certified triple-platinum in the group's native Finland for sales in excess of 90,000 copies. It has already been certified platinum in Germany for sales in excess of 200,000 copies. For those of you keeping count...platinum in the U.S. is 1 million and is 100,000 in Canada.

track listing:

1. Dark Chest Of Wonders
2. Wish I Had An Angel
3. Nemo
4. Plane Hell
5. CreekMary`s Blood
6. The Siren
7. Dead Gardens
8. Romanticide
9. Ghost Love Score
10. Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan
11. Higher Than Hope
12. White Night Fantasy

The sound is available in:
- 24Bit/48kHz LPCM 5.1 surround (requires DVD-Audio player)
- 24Bit/48kHz LPCM stereo (requires DVD-Audio player)
- Dolby Digital 5.1 surround (plays on all DVD-players)

The following bonus features will be added:

Audio:
'Symphony Of Destruction (live)' (Cover of the Megadeth classic, sung by Bassist Marco Hietala)
'Ghost Love Score (orchestral)'
'Creek Mary's Blood (orchestral)'

Video:
'Nemo'
'Wish I Had An Angel'
(Clips play on all DVD-players)

Beck's "Guero" DVD-Audio...Not to be confused with Jeff Beck's "Bolero"....

Beck's official website has revealed that his new album will be called "Guero" and will be released in the U.S. on March 29. Simultaneously; we can expect Beck and UMG to release the long awaited DVD-Audio version too. The DVD-A will feature "motion menus", videos and a few unreleased songs that aren't included on the cd release.

This follow-up to 2002's acoustic-heavy "Sea Change" was produced by former Beck collaborators the Dust Brothers and should return to Beck's signature 'junkyard-funk' sound. The album's lead single is "E-Pro", and it'll be at radio stations sometime next month. Of course, whether they play it is something else altogether.

1. E-Pro
2. Que Onda Guero
3. Girl
4. Missing
5. Black Tambourine
6. Earthquake Weather
7. Hell Yes
8. Broken Drum
9. Scarecrow
10. Go it Alone
11. Farewell Ride
12. Rental Car
13. Emergency Exit

Beck's "Sea Change" DVD-A won the "Most Adventurous Mix" honour at the 2004 Surround Music Awards.

Producer laments lack of high-def audio

Here's a great article featuring an interview with Producer Phil Ramone who remastered Billy Joel for SACD, and more recently, the grammy nominated Ray Charles...

BY JONATHAN TAKIFF

Knight Ridder Newspapers

(KRT) - While the high-def video revolution is gaining momentum big time, the high-resolution audio scene is languishing in a state of neglect or maybe even abandonment.

And no one's feeling the pain worse than the "golden ears" of the recording industry - the producers and engineers who push the sonic bar higher with the latest/greatest technology.

"Those flat-screen TV pictures are incredibly lifelike, so why not have a high-definition sound system to go with it?" asked Phil Ramone, a record producer whose catalog of accomplishments is staggering. And this weekend, he's likely to walk away with Grammys as co-producer for the highly acclaimed swan song by Ray Charles, "Genius Loves Company" - my odds-on favorite to win both album of the year and best surround sound album.

The "Dark Side" of Pink Floyd on DVD-Audio

Found this little bit of tid on the ole puter this afternoon...would be interested in hearing Alan Parsons re-take given the results of his "In Air" release on DTS...

Sources in the pro audio business in Europe tell Audiorevolution.com that the audiophile classic album, Dark Side of The Moon was originally mixed for its initial high resolution release on DVD-Audio (before its release as a hybrid SACD) and that the disc may soon resurface as a DVD-Audio title in the United States. Dark Side was supposedly mixed for DVD-Audio at Abby Road Studios and then rejected by members of the Pink Floyd camp. The band’s long time mixing engineer, James Guthrie, has since publicly stated his preference for the SACD format yet denies the original mix was done for DVD-Audio. The album eventually was released as hybrid SACD and stands as the most successful SACD title to date in terms of overall sales.

Rumors of another version of Dark Side of The Moon on DVD-Audio mixed by Alan Parsons, the original engineer on the album, surfaced when his own personal test disc was heard at private listening session in Los Angeles. This DVD-Audio version exists but is nothing other than a test by Parsons. It is not an official mix and is unlikely to be the mix approved by the band or used by EMI for a future dual disc CD/DVD-Audio release.

Since the test marketing of CD/DVD-Audio flip discs began this February in Seattle and Boston by EMI (and other major labels) rumors of Dark Side and possibly a few other classic Pink Floyd titles coming out on DVD-Audio have quickly resurfaced. Universal Music Group has made it a common practice to release titles on SACD (their “preferred” high resolution format) and then three months later they release a DVD-Audio version. EMI, in the states, has been an enthusiastic supporter of DVD-Audio and would be likely to release such a successful classic album in another format if they thought they could sell millions more of units of the record. Now that DVD-Audio can be paired with a CD on the same disc, the temptation might be too strong for EMI to resist.