Steven Wilson remixing Chicago II into 5.1 Surround...??

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If this was Chicago VII I would be going nuts, but alas, why II? It's been done in the '70s and again in the '00s.

I am sure it would be great, but what about the titles that haven't been done already?

How is the Chicago VII Quad mix, Jon?

I've never heard the "VII" Quad (it's on my "to do" pile of SQ records but time at the Mac "to do" them is short..) so far the Chicago Quads I have heard (CTA, II, VI, X) I've greatly enjoyed both musically and mix wise!
 
Chicago (II) DVD-A

Chicago 2.jpg
 
How is the Chicago VII Quad mix, Jon?

I've never heard the "VII" Quad (it's on my "to do" pile of SQ records but time at the Mac "to do" them is short..) so far the Chicago Quads I have heard (CTA, II, VI, X) I've greatly enjoyed both musically and mix wise!

It's great, and that album has some great tunes - Wishing You Were Here, Happy Man, bunch of others
 
Given the challenges of licensing, artist consent, available master tapes, etc I don't believe that any SW project would necessarily be at the expense of another 'more worthy' one. I would welcome this. The old mix is far from stellar IMO.

Interesting! I'm just giving the "II" Quad a quick flick thru comparing it to the DVD-A and even though the newer DVD-A kicks my old Quad LPs' ass in the sound quality stakes I think I prefer what they did with the Quad back in the day with the surround-ification-ness.. just my two penn'uth :eek:
 
Sorry for causing any confusion, the album is just "Chicago" on the front cover rather than "II" even though it is their 2nd album and so kinda gets referred to as "II" most the time to differentiate it from their (approximately) 147 other albums all called "Chicago" on the front cover :)

..thinking about it, technically I think all the "II" thru "X" Quads are all labelled just "Chicago" on the record labels themselves, apart from "Chicago Transit Authority" and "Chicago's Greatest Hits"...? ..the spines on the Quad LPs I have say "Chicago II", "Chicago VI", "Chicago VII", "Chicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits" and "Chicago X" but I'm no aficionado on the group so have no idea beyond that.. calling steelydave or Larry Geller or, erm, well someone who knows..?!? :p


You didn't confuse anyone..IIRC there were only 2 DVD-A's by Chicago..II and V...
 
You didn't confuse anyone..IIRC there were only 2 DVD-A's by Chicago..II and V...

Oh ok.. :upthumb ..I get easily confused as it is.. lets face it Chicago weren't the most inventive group with naming their albums after all, one might say, although at least they were logical :eek:

Edit: They didn't really name most of their albums, they at least numbered them.. so thoughtful :p
 
Well, interesting news if true, but I, too, already have the DVD-A of this album...bought it the day it came out :) . I'd be hesitant to double-dip as I was happy with the DVD-A mix (unlike the original DVD-A for Yes's Fragile which SW did a much better job with and I was happy to re-purchase).

The Chicago album I would *LOVE* to get in multichannel glory would be Chicago IX (the 1st of their Greatest Hits packages)...I just heard ""(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" for the first time in quite a while yesterday on my satellite radio, and I kept thinking as I was listening, "Man, would this tune sound fantastic if remixed in 5.1!"

Really all of the hits on IX would be terrific in surround...

Here's hoping :) ...

Jonathan
 
Well, if Chicago are still with Warner Music Group, and SW is now doing surround product with this label, then it makes Led Zeppelin seem like just a jump to the right.

It's good to be not so only associated with Crimson, Tull, Genesis solo, etc. and other UK prog remixed stuff. Just branching out some.
 
So this news came over the QQ wire as it were while I was still at work, and I was so flabbergasted seeing this that I almost dropped my phone in excitement.
I have a LOT to say about all of this, starting with WOOHOO!!!
I was hoping there would be some kind of Chicago reissue series started this year to coincide with their Rock Hall induction, so it looks that might be exactly what's happening.
I'm especially excited about this as I never splurged on purchasing the DVDA, so I'm ready to finally purchase a surround edition of this album.

The next thing to address that a lot of people seem to be talking about in this thread is why "Chicago (II)" when there's already a 5.1 surround mix out there?
This can be addressed in several ways:

1) All we know about right now is "Chicago (II)", but there could be other Chicago albums already remixed by SW that are awaiting a release like "Chicago (II)". He's usually pretty tight-lipped about what he does, so we'll just have to wait and see how they roll this out later in the year.
2) If they're testing the waters for a bigger Chicago remix/reissue campaign by starting with one title before moving on to others, "Chicago (II)" is definitely one of the best ones to start with as it's one of their most critically and commercially successful albums. (Plus it might also be one that's closest to SW's heart.)
3) We keep talking about surround, but out of all of Chicago's 70s albums, this is one that never really sounded that great in stereo IMHO, so this is one where a proper stereo remix could probably do a lot to improve the overall sound of the album. If SW can find a way to remove the murkiness and muddiness that pervades a lot of the sound on the album, that could really be a huge benefit for Chicago fans looking for a new way to hear one of the groups' best albums.

This could be an amazing release if they find a way to collect all 5 mixes of the album together in one set with bonus material. Imagine a set where you could listen to the original stereo mix, new stereo mix, Quadraphonic mix, 2003 5.1 mix, and new 5.1 mix all in high-resolution?! This really is shaping up to be something truly special and unique, so I gladly say "Shut up and take my money already!"

(Another fun fact is that AFAIK this is the first classic American artist that Steven Wilson has remixed, so I hope there will be more like Chicago to come in the future!) :)
 
Well, if Chicago are still with Warner Music Group, and SW is now doing surround product with this label, then it makes Led Zeppelin seem like just a jump to the right.

It's good to be not so only associated with Crimson, Tull, Genesis solo, etc. and other UK prog remixed stuff. Just branching out some.

Sorry, but I highly doubt that Led Zeppelin and their record label are going to release surround versions of Zeppelin's catalogue after they just spent all that time and effort remastering and putting together those Zeppelin reissues that came out over the last two years. Jimmy Page in particular is not keen to go through all that again considering all the time he spent supervising the reissues and putting together the companion discs for each album. That ship has definitely sailed away.
 
... this is one that never really sounded that great in stereo IMHO, so this is one where a proper stereo remix could probably do a lot to improve the overall sound...

I see the last track on that mixing shot has MFSL Stereo so looks like he's using that version as his reference. I've not heard the MFSL version, is that regarded as one of the best?
 
I disagree that the 5.1 mix on the DVD-A can't be bettered. Sonically, it's an absolute revelation compared to the original mix, and it's worth having for that alone. But in terms of instrument placement it's incredibly conservative and not much more than 'big stereo', sort of like the Tom Petty 'Hypnotic Eye' 5.1 mix. There are elements that are unique to the front speakers (drums, bass guitar, vocals etc.) but there's nothing in the rear speakers that's entirely discrete, all the horns, pianos, guitars etc. that are in the rear speakers are also in the corresponding fronts as well which basically makes them sound like they're coming from the side walls rather than surrounding you or behind you at all.

There's no reason to think Steven can't better this, not to mention that whatever he does will surely be more dynamic than what's on the old DVD-A which has about 3dB of dynamic range compressed out of it and leaves it feeling a little bit crunch and inorganic for my tastes.

I also hope that whatever's coming out includes the original quad mix, which to me is fantastic both because of the extremely aggressive instrument placement, but also for all the extra bits of instrumentation that ended up in the mix (ie stuff like the extra lead guitars and acoustic rhythm guitars in 25 or 6 to 4 for example) that make the quad mix even more of a bonafied 'alternate mix' even if it isn't entirely true to the original stereo mix.
 
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