DVD/DTS Poll Jethro Tull - Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die (The TV Special Edition) [DTS/DD DVD]

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Rate the DTS DVD of Jethro Tull - Too Old To Rock and Roll


  • Total voters
    42
Here are the Associated Recordings that are Original Master or Rough Mixes:
"One Brown Mouse (Early Version)", "A Small Cigar (Orchestrated Version)"

ok, that's two bonus tracks offered as original stereo mixes, but...

DVD 2 has these playlists
.
.
4. Associated Recordings 1976 Original Mixes (96/24 LPCM) (6 Tracks)

See what I mean?

According to discogs, DVD Disc 2 Associated recordings are (I have added * to indicate those that, on the CDs at least, are listed as new SW stereo mixes):

Associated Recordings With DTS And Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound And 96/24 Stereo PCM
DVD2-1 Salamander's Rag Time*
DVD2-2 Commercial Traveller*
DVD2-3 A Small Cigar (Acoustic Version)*
DVD2-4 Strip Cartoon*
Associated Recordings In 96/24 Stereo PCM
DVD2-5 Quiz Kid (Version 1)
DVD2-6 One Brown Mouse (Early Version) (Original Master Mix)
DVD2-7 Salamander (Instrumental)*
DVD2-8 Strip Cartoon (Original Master Mix)
DVD2-9 A Small Cigar (Orchestrated Version) (Original Rough Mix)
DVD2-10 Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die! (Demo)*


Some confusion arises because the contents of the CDs differs a little from the stereo content of the DVDs - Strip Cartoon (original master mix) is on DVD only. It took me a while to work that out ;>

So in the end there are neither 2 nor 6 original 2ch mixes of 'associated recordings' on offer...there are 4:
DVD2-5 Quiz Kid (Version 1)
DVD2-6 One Brown Mouse (Early Version) (Original Master Mix)
DVD2-8 Strip Cartoon (Original Master Mix)
DVD2-9 A Small Cigar (Orchestrated Version) (Original Rough Mix)

Whew!
 
The discogs entry has a list of the tracks you're looking for.
 
Some confusion arises because the contents of the CDs differs a little from the stereo content of the DVDs - Strip Cartoon (original master mix) is on DVD only. It took me a while to work that out ;>

So in the end there are neither 2 nor 6 original 2ch mixes of 'associated recordings' on offer...there are 4:
DVD2-5 Quiz Kid (Version 1)
DVD2-6 One Brown Mouse (Early Version) (Original Master Mix)
DVD2-8 Strip Cartoon (Original Master Mix)
DVD2-9 A Small Cigar (Orchestrated Version) (Original Rough Mix)

Whew!

I think you are almost correct. The only thing I would differ on is that I think "Quiz Kid (Version 1)" is a Steven Wilson mix as it does not have either Original Master Mix or Original Rough Mix by it as the other three do. But you are right in that I missed "Strip Cartoon (Original Master Mix)" in my original listing as it's just on the DVD. :)
 
After more listening, I like this release even more. I haven't read the booklet yet, and I may not get to it for a while, but does anyone know the reason the band needed to re record the entire album for the TV special? The performance is mimed anyway. The two versions are very similar. There is more production in the studio versions. So why not just use the studio recordings as the soundtrack for the video?
 
After more listening, I like this release even more. I haven't read the booklet yet, and I may not get to it for a while, but does anyone know the reason the band needed to re record the entire album for the TV special? The performance is mimed anyway. The two versions are very similar. There is more production in the studio versions. So why not just use the studio recordings as the soundtrack for the video?

Ian Anderson's own words from the book:
To have done the TV show as a live performance would have been horrendously difficult in terms of concentrating on performing to the cameras and everything else, so playing live was just out of the question. That meant miming - but because of Musicians' Union rules we couldn't just mime to the original album tracks, we had to re-record them. Mind you, it was common practice back then in the Top of the Pops era to switch tapes. You'd go in and make a half-hearted attempt to re-record your hit, and you could prove to the Musicians' Union that you'd been in the studio and re-recorded it; but when it came to the broadcast the record version was quietly substituted by a band representative who would hand over the wrong tape. It's possible that the Musicians' Union wouldn't have noticed had we just said we'd re-recorded it all, and handed over the album tapes, but we couldn't take that chance.
 
I thought the QUAD sounded great. Only a couple of songs have lead vocal in the rears and it didn't sound bad to me at all. This is definitely a great underrated Tull album.
 
A 9 from me.

This never was, nor will it be, my favourite Tullbum, but the music sounds fresher than I remembered. The new stereo mix is nice, but I totally dig the 5.1 mix of the TV special.
Shame more of the original tapes weren't available, but SW did another great job on this.

The quad mix doesn't rock my boat, but is nice as an extra.

Good job, solid release with fantastic packaging. Bring on Aqualung!
 
I never heard this release back in the day but I'm glad to have finally got a chance to hear and appreciate it. The vibe of the whole album is consistent with what one might expect from a rock musical with a retro theme. The new mixes improve considerably on the decidedly lo-fi sound of the original stereo and quad masters. The TV video is enjoyable for the first one or two viewings but not much more. The filming is well done and the performances are believeable despite being mimed. I particularly enjoyed the split screen device on Dead Beat to an Old Greaser.

Initially I thought I liked the audio program better on the re-recorded TV special. After the prelude it kicks off with a particularly punchy version of Quiz Kid. However, after awhile I found the TV audio to be a bit fatiguing to the ears, even after dialing back greatly the bass in the mostly bass-heavy sound.

The studio recordings, of which there are 9 mixed to surround, 5 from the original album along with 4 others, are much easier on my ears. Unfortunately, the bass is quite faint and ill defined on these but otherwise the studio surround mixes are very natural sounding. I like all the associated surround recordings just as well as those on the original album, particularly Small Cigar (acoustic) - written and sung in the style of a show tune - and Strip Cartoon. It's also nice to hear Maddy Prior's voice on Salamander' Rag Time. (I think she appears at one point off to the side in the TV special. She also sings on the studio title track but her distinctive voice is hard to make out.) I wonder whether time considerations were the reason this was not on the original album rather than the diminutive Salamander. I also think Commercial Traveler is as good as a number of the songs that were on the album but it doesn't really serve the story line. Anyway, it's great to hear these 4 extras in there full glory.

Altogether, I rate it a 9. I felt I could brush aside any concerns I might have over audio fidelity because I was rather taken by the unique quality of the material and the abundance of the surround sound offerings done by Steven Wilson.
 
I just got this last week and again it isn't one of my fav. Tull albums, BUT despite I enjoyed it immensely, both on screen and from all of the speakers. The quad mix and the TV special recording alone were for me a no-brainer buy it now and I was not disappointed, not at all. :music

Ten points!
 
I was listening to the CD in the car this week getting familiar with the tunes, and since I left the case at home, I had no idea what the songs were called or what versions were what... I thought the first 11 songs were the original album, and the following songs were alternate versions... I kept thinking I liked the "alternate versions" better, lol! Too bad we couldn't get all the original album tracks in surround, but what we did get sounds fantastic to me! I was really hoping to hear "Quiz Kid (version 1)" in surround, though. Good fidelity, excellent mix, and enjoyable prog rock. 9.
 
Received my copy yesterday. Again, I have to applaud the amount of surround content in these Tull sets. You get whatever they could find of the original album, the entire re-recorded album, the entire unreleased quad mix (!), and bonus tracks in surround.

I had never heard this album before. It's got a couple of good tunes: I particularly like "Quiz Kid" and the title track. Interestingly enough, it doesn't sound much like the albums that came before (Minstrel In The Gallery) or after (Songs From The Wood), which are my two favorite Tull albums.

The 5.1 mixes are what we've come to expect from this SW/Tull series: Ian Anderson's vocals hard in the center, lead guitar upfront, with strings, keys, and flute usually in the rears. They're awesome, but I think that the surround mixes on Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses stand head-and-shoulders above the rest of this series.

"Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll, Too Young To Die!" (Original Album 5.1 Mix):
38903

My go-to version of this album will probably be the TV show re-recorded version. I had some fun comparing it to the original version and it's unbelievably close. That being said, for the title track I do prefer the original version, and luckily enough the multitrack for that song was found. For that song, I have three different surround mixes to choose from.

"Quiz Kid" (TV Show 5.1 Mix):
38900

The unreleased quad mix is a great find. Unlike Minstrel, I don't think this one was ever mentioned in a tape catalog or anything. It's also the only way to hear the original album tracks that have missing multis in surround. As mentioned in the pre-release thread, it's shocking that WEA was still commissioning quad mixes after being one of the first to exit the format in 1975. I hope they dig up the announced/unreleased M.U. Best Of quad mix, if it does in fact exist, for a future set.

Unfortunately, the quad mix is kind of a mess! This is nothing like Robin Black's quad mixes of Aqualung, WarChild, and Minstrel. I'm convinced there is some kind of channel-swap or authoring error here, but I honestly cannot figure it out. No matter how you swap around the channels, it's impossible not to get a diagonally-panned instrument.

Take for instance the opening track, "Prelude". Anderson's vocals are in both left channels, and the rights have reverb and some strings. Rotating all channels clockwise makes perfect sense, putting the vocals upfront and the strings in the rears.

"Prelude" (4.0 Mix):
38901

Then you have "Quiz Kid": this track starts out logically enough with electric guitar in the fronts and flute in the rears. Then once the full band kicks in, the vocals are in all four, while the acoustic strumming and bass guitar are diagonally placed in front right and rear left (??).

Weirdest of all, at certain moments the vocals switch channels in a very odd manner. It goes like this:
  1. "Win a fortnight in Ibiza..." (all four channels )
  2. "...line up for the big hand out." (front right & left rear ONLY)
  3. "...You'll never know unless you try/what winning's all about" (front right & left rear ONLY)
  4. "Be a quiz kid" (all four channels)
You can actually hear some ghosting/reverb of lines 2 and 3 in front left and rear right. This led me to assume that FR & RL are meant to be one stereo pair, while FL & RR are the other pair. Switching the right channels puts the bass and acoustic guitar across the rears, and at that moment mentioned above the vocals jump to the rear, but the opening guitar and flute are now in cross-channels.

"Quiz Kid" (4.0 Mix):
38902

I'll probably end up starting a separate thread specifically on the quad mix, because I'm convinced something has gone awry here.

Anyway, I'm going with an 8. It's a great package, get it while you can!
 
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Same, but I just don't dig it musically. I'd rather leave it for someone who does, rather than be a middle man a year from now.

Same here . I skipped Passion Play because I did not like it thought the hare video was cringeworthy to me and just did not like the music in this album when I checked it out. Otherwise I have all the other issues and agree they are great packages for the money. But I have enough shelf ornaments collecting dust and don't need more.
 
Same, but I just don't dig it musically. I'd rather leave it for someone who does, rather than be a middle man a year from now.
I admit I never loved the album. And I saw the tour which was wonderful at Tampa Stadium (seen on a bootleg video of the Tull-a-Vision video feed). But I thought a quad mix, or SW mix would bring out some moments previously underappreciated. And then flip it for $75 later.

But yes, there is a reason that this one is still around and not sold out yet.
 
I picked it up a while back. I like it a bit better than I remembered. Being in surround helps :)

I’ll keep it, but mostly because I’m a sucker for being a completist when it comes to owning sets. I wouldn’t be able to bear to have all the JT surround boxed set sans one or two. I don’t think I’ll play it often.

Hopefully there will be a market for all my surround music so my daughter might be able to sell it off at a nice price once I’m gone.
 
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