A great record, listened to this a lot when I discovered classic progressive rock. I still hold Yes Album, Fragile and Tales... a bit higher though. This record however screams self-confidence, basically you get the feeling that they could do ANYTHING and get away with it. Well, perhaps that was the very reason why progressive rock went straight up its own a-hole in the public eye. Anyway, a great record it is and a good 5.1 mix it is, but this is the first time that I'm not overwhelmed by the outcome.
The first track is a mixed bag for me in surround unfortunately, the Total Mass Retain part has a somewhet muddy, almost wet bass, more humming than punchy, while the I Get Up Part is pure bliss, Wakeman recorded this in a church and this mix really take you there! And You And I starts promising with acoustic guitars now more clear in the rears and the organ later on that really obscures you while keeping the drums in the fronts. The Eclipse section is excellent, however the Preacher, Teacher section doesn't impress me as much, with its LOAD of different sounds, so coherent in stereo but doesn't give me the sweeping effect I'd wish for in surround. Big hopes for Siberian Khatru, having learned to appreciate Stevens capability of separating the instruments along with this track having more air in it than the others and - yes, he nailed it. Nicely done, more clarity, better separation.
All in all a great record, a good surround mix, I don't think my slight disappointements in between some parts really have nothing to do with the job itself, but more the way the songs are structurered and layered in the first place.
An 8.