HiRez Poll Gabriel, Peter - UP [SACD]
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Ouch !one of the few Hi-Rez surround discs I'd wanted for years that really disappointed me when I finally got it.
almost all of the other more sought after rock/pop SACDs (Texas Careful What You.., Matt Bianco, Frankie GTH, Sea Change, Avalon, etc..) which consistently fetch more money than is sane.. are worthy of their status (if not their inflated price tags!)
this one's overbright, overloud.. and goes over my head! I can't abide the music, neither the performances nor the material.. for me its the worst thing of his I've heard.. yet his older/better solo stuff was given the stereo-only SACD treatment. sigh...
a "5".
This one has been out now for over 15 years so I get the advantage of looking at a wide assortment of opinions on it. I think it's great to see the variety expressed here. Unlike other forums no one here is challenging another saying their views must be wrong.
Several issues that were brought up in past reviews:
UP is a very misleading title. Unlike more popular PG this is moody, dark & challenging.
Harsh sound. I feel that it is purposeful and put to good use here. Similar to what NIN might use.
Needing a high end system to appreciate the sound.
There are some dramatic dynamics here. I would say that you need a "capable" system to get the most from it. You don't want your amp clipping and frying voice coils sunny side up.
I love this mix because it is challenging. Especially the use of bass. Tony Levin is a real artist. Chapman stick, double bass, NS stand up bass & "funky fingers" There are some nice percussive effects directed to the surrounds. This is one of my cherished selections. However at times the dynamics are too extreme and I hear a crackly distortion. The CD version must sound really bad.
I still give this an 8....
Several issues that were brought up in past reviews:
UP is a very misleading title. Unlike more popular PG this is moody, dark & challenging.
Harsh sound. I feel that it is purposeful and put to good use here. Similar to what NIN might use.
Needing a high end system to appreciate the sound.
There are some dramatic dynamics here. I would say that you need a "capable" system to get the most from it. You don't want your amp clipping and frying voice coils sunny side up.
I love this mix because it is challenging. Especially the use of bass. Tony Levin is a real artist. Chapman stick, double bass, NS stand up bass & "funky fingers" There are some nice percussive effects directed to the surrounds. This is one of my cherished selections. However at times the dynamics are too extreme and I hear a crackly distortion. The CD version must sound really bad.
I still give this an 8....
I agree with everything you say. I rather have always enjoyed this SACD, and yes...your system needs to be UP to the challenge. I Just crank it and let shit fly. Fun times.
a "5"!? yikes! that was unusually harsh of me!!
..and looking at how well-regarded it is by people who's judgement i trust, its especially spooky! 
well it looks like it may be time to revisit and reappraise, now we can amend our Poll votes at QQ! hooray! 
..although my system and listening space are now "worse" (i think) than ever (having lost my two Aventage receivers to HDMI blowout BS and moving back into the shoebox) it seems you can't truly enjoy this one unless you have a spiffo whizzo setup!
..but but butt 
i'll keep an open mind and open ears and see how i get on! 
wish me luck! 
I don't think you truly need a big buck system to enjoy this. It is bassy, and it does have a weird "electronic sheen" to it, but its a very worthy mix. I also like the video for The Barry Williams Show on the Play disca "5"!? yikes! that was unusually harsh of me!!
..although my system and listening space are now "worse" (i think) than ever (having lost my two Aventage receivers to HDMI blowout BS and moving back into the shoebox) it seems you can't truly enjoy this one unless you have a spiffo whizzo setup!
I desire to revisit this one too now that I finally managed to add another Paradigm Servo 15v2 to my system, I believe the ending section of "I Grieve" will be pretty intense in the subsonics department.
Really enjoyed listening to this tonight. I know a lot of fans felt let down by this album when it was first released, but I've always really liked it. It's certainly a much more difficult album than So or even Us, but I found that this is an album where repeated listens paid off. A lot of really intense stuff with a couple of fun tunes sprinkled in for relief. It's a pretty bold album and I like that about it.
As for the mix, it's pretty satisfying. Lots to recommend here. The guest vocals from the Blind Boys of Alabama building up in the rear channels at the end of "Sky Blue" sound amazing. The crescendo during "Signal to Noise" is very intense. Frequently, a lot of discrete elements are sprinkled around the surround field. It's not quite up to Scheiner standards, but it's pretty close. The only track I found a bit disappointing with the mix is the opener, "Darkness". But things picked up after that.
Full points for content and fidelity. The mix is quite good, but maybe falls just a little short so I'll shave off a point there.
I really wish Peter would revisit the rest of his catalog for more surround mixes. His music is begging for it.
9.
As for the mix, it's pretty satisfying. Lots to recommend here. The guest vocals from the Blind Boys of Alabama building up in the rear channels at the end of "Sky Blue" sound amazing. The crescendo during "Signal to Noise" is very intense. Frequently, a lot of discrete elements are sprinkled around the surround field. It's not quite up to Scheiner standards, but it's pretty close. The only track I found a bit disappointing with the mix is the opener, "Darkness". But things picked up after that.
Full points for content and fidelity. The mix is quite good, but maybe falls just a little short so I'll shave off a point there.
I really wish Peter would revisit the rest of his catalog for more surround mixes. His music is begging for it.
9.
You can hear almost of all of So in surround on the Play video compilation - the mixes are very discrete, but sound quite a bit different than the original stereo versions.
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/peter-gabriel-greatest-hits.5381/
Oh yeah, I have (and love) the Play DVD. It's just that PG is one of my favorite artists..... I NEED MORE!!!!
Need Peter Gabriel #3 & 4 in surround for starters.Oh yeah, I have (and love) the Play DVD. It's just that PG is one of my favorite artists..... I NEED MORE!!!!
Dingo
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I find it very satisfying on most levels. I feel it was a recording mixed ' UP ' to high quality sound reproduction, rather than down to ear-bud standard. My surround system is fairly well balanced, and must confess, sitting in the dark listening to this, absent any visual cues to align your senses, this is a pretty decent trip. Until I became familiar with it, some of the 'scares' we're really freaky.
The reason some of the Play tracks sound so different is because they’re actual remixes not just “new surround mixes” - that’s why I still want So in surround so I have surround mixes of the songs from So not re-recordings and remixes. I do enjoy Play immensely, but would love 5.1 or Atmos “So” done strictly from the So multitracks.
I'd love the previous 3 albums even more! And Us slightly less...
I'd love the previous 3 albums even more! And Us slightly less...
Let's have 'em all! If he's not going to give us anything new, then remixing his entire back catalog for surround is the least he can do!
I'd donate an organ...
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this - any "new surround mix" would be a remix from the original multitracks. I think the issue with So was that they were unable to locate the master with all the correct takes compiled, requiring the mixer to piece the album back together from likely hundreds of session recordings. Michael Hunter recently achieved a similar fear with his remix of Marillion's Afraid Of Sunlight.
I think you're both getting at the same thing. As you say, a surround mix is by definition a remix. But I think what @dobyblue is implying is that Lanois's remixes for Play often depart from the familiar stereo mixes in significant ways. I like many of those reinterpretations, but it'd also be cool to hear Steven Wilson piece together surround mixes that evoke Kevin Killen's originals. Still, as you also say, given what we know about how the album was originally put together, that would be a ton of work...
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Cyber 1
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I really like the album content but just find it an odd sounding mix so I then bought the 3 lp 45 rpm version to see if this was an issue with those
little plastic disk thingys, nope the audiophile vinyl was even more of an etched sterile sound to it, has a bad fatiguing factor to it. Bummer because I do like this album.
Think this one really needs a re do
little plastic disk thingys, nope the audiophile vinyl was even more of an etched sterile sound to it, has a bad fatiguing factor to it. Bummer because I do like this album.
Think this one really needs a re do
I voted 9. Funny thing, for as long as I have seen this album cover it wasn’t until someone in QQ said “the eyes have it” that I realized the cover was his face, my brain never made the connection before. Great music and surround sound. I have enjoyed it very much.
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