The Good, The Bad & The Ugly....
Three more titles entered my surround music collection this week and the difference in quality and presentation couldn't be more obvious.
First up we have the Good....
Their eponymously titled 12th album, containing the classic tracks, Mama, That's All, Home By The Sea and Illegal Alien, is part of the Genesis Remastered catalogue that is seeing the light of day at the moment. Two sets have already been released, spanning 1976 to 1998. The final chapter, 70-75, will be available in September.
Presented in a similar way to the Depeche Mode remasters, these albums each have two discs. One is SACD/CD and the other a DVD Video. Both feature the entire album in 5.1. The DVD Video version offers either Dolby Digital or DTS 96/24 soundtracks as well as photo galleries and a short film of interviews with the band on how the album was made.
The packaging isn't as sumptuous as the Depeche Mode albums, but sufficient nonetheless.
As for audio quality, it is superb as expected, with a rich and full soundscape. Phil's vocals tend to be focused on the centre channel more than some other surround albums I have heard. 5.1 mixers vary between those that favour the front centre for vocals or those that like to spread the vocals around the soundfield. I tend to prefer the latter, but either way, this works.
I am now seriously tempted to acquire the rest of the collection.
Now for the Bad....
I was eagerly anticipating this title. I had scoured the web and the shops for this and eventually found it and it arrived promptly last week. This package contains not only the New Master of Oxygene, but also the "LIve In Your Living Room" performance of the entire piece by JMJ and friends in 2D and 3D !
Well, in 2D, this is an impressive piece, especially watching JMJ jumping on and off classic synths and the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio gives it great depth, but the 3D version is poor to the point of being unwatchable ! I've tried numerous screens and glasses but it still looks very poor.
But the real mystery is the audio CD. On the Oxygene website, it states that there are 3 versions of this title. Version one is a single audio CD. No frills, just the album. Version two is a two disc affair, with the 2D film and what they claim to be a 5.1 multichannel SACD version of the studio recording. Version three is the same as version two but with the added bonus of the Stereoscopic film.
Well, my 3D version has just a regular Redbook audio CD. No mention of SACD anywhere.
Sadly, as these are quite rare in shops, I have not been able to find a 2D version which is claimed to be an SACD, so I can confirm it. If it is indeed SACD, it would appear that EMI/JMJ have hatched a cynical marketing ploy to get you to buy the album twice if you want the 3D movie as well as the SACD studio recording.
I am currently investigating and will report back as soon as I find anything out.
Finally, we have the Ugly....
I saw this for £6 in Zavvi and thought "why not". It's an unofficial yet legitimate release and I found out afterwards that Gary has disowned this release, saying he has nothing to do with it and didn't approve it. I then found some reviews that said the quality was poor and indeed, it's not the best in the world. If you're going to release a sub-standard collection of recordings, you're probably best not to release it on DVD-A, whose massive headroom will be unforgiving and show up any problems with consumate ease.
However, it's nice to have something from Gaz in surround. Maybe it's a potential project for him in the future. He has just re-released the 1979 Tubeway Army classic, "Replicas" to coincide with his tour this year (which I have tickets for next month !) and whilst this album is remastered and contains bonus tracks, it isn't in surround. Can you imagine "Down In The Park" or "Are Friends Electric?" in 5.1 ?? :o)
So, whilst many attach a quality label to SACD & DVD-A, some of these releases clearly show that the badge means chuff all.
First up we have the Good....
Their eponymously titled 12th album, containing the classic tracks, Mama, That's All, Home By The Sea and Illegal Alien, is part of the Genesis Remastered catalogue that is seeing the light of day at the moment. Two sets have already been released, spanning 1976 to 1998. The final chapter, 70-75, will be available in September.
Presented in a similar way to the Depeche Mode remasters, these albums each have two discs. One is SACD/CD and the other a DVD Video. Both feature the entire album in 5.1. The DVD Video version offers either Dolby Digital or DTS 96/24 soundtracks as well as photo galleries and a short film of interviews with the band on how the album was made.
The packaging isn't as sumptuous as the Depeche Mode albums, but sufficient nonetheless.
As for audio quality, it is superb as expected, with a rich and full soundscape. Phil's vocals tend to be focused on the centre channel more than some other surround albums I have heard. 5.1 mixers vary between those that favour the front centre for vocals or those that like to spread the vocals around the soundfield. I tend to prefer the latter, but either way, this works.
I am now seriously tempted to acquire the rest of the collection.
Now for the Bad....
I was eagerly anticipating this title. I had scoured the web and the shops for this and eventually found it and it arrived promptly last week. This package contains not only the New Master of Oxygene, but also the "LIve In Your Living Room" performance of the entire piece by JMJ and friends in 2D and 3D !
Well, in 2D, this is an impressive piece, especially watching JMJ jumping on and off classic synths and the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio gives it great depth, but the 3D version is poor to the point of being unwatchable ! I've tried numerous screens and glasses but it still looks very poor.
But the real mystery is the audio CD. On the Oxygene website, it states that there are 3 versions of this title. Version one is a single audio CD. No frills, just the album. Version two is a two disc affair, with the 2D film and what they claim to be a 5.1 multichannel SACD version of the studio recording. Version three is the same as version two but with the added bonus of the Stereoscopic film.
Well, my 3D version has just a regular Redbook audio CD. No mention of SACD anywhere.
Sadly, as these are quite rare in shops, I have not been able to find a 2D version which is claimed to be an SACD, so I can confirm it. If it is indeed SACD, it would appear that EMI/JMJ have hatched a cynical marketing ploy to get you to buy the album twice if you want the 3D movie as well as the SACD studio recording.
I am currently investigating and will report back as soon as I find anything out.
Finally, we have the Ugly....
I saw this for £6 in Zavvi and thought "why not". It's an unofficial yet legitimate release and I found out afterwards that Gary has disowned this release, saying he has nothing to do with it and didn't approve it. I then found some reviews that said the quality was poor and indeed, it's not the best in the world. If you're going to release a sub-standard collection of recordings, you're probably best not to release it on DVD-A, whose massive headroom will be unforgiving and show up any problems with consumate ease.
However, it's nice to have something from Gaz in surround. Maybe it's a potential project for him in the future. He has just re-released the 1979 Tubeway Army classic, "Replicas" to coincide with his tour this year (which I have tickets for next month !) and whilst this album is remastered and contains bonus tracks, it isn't in surround. Can you imagine "Down In The Park" or "Are Friends Electric?" in 5.1 ?? :o)
So, whilst many attach a quality label to SACD & DVD-A, some of these releases clearly show that the badge means chuff all.
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