Moody Blues - In Search Of The Lost Chord (50th Anniversary set with 5.1 "manipulation" by Jakko Jakszyk).

[rtbluray]

The only missing multi-track masters that I know of are from "In Search Of The Lost Chord". They would have been done back in the Quad era if they could have been found. Were "Days Of Future Passed" also lost at a later date?

I don't think the "Days of Future Passed" tapes were ever lost, but they suffered some serious degradation issues, so they remixed the album in the 1970s in both stereo & Quadraphonic while the tapes were still in stable and usable condition.
I do think it's cool that they were able to recover and remaster the original stereo mix for last year's 50th anniversary reissue, though in terms of sound quality, the 1970s remix is much better.

 

[halbroome]

Um . . . "whiny Justin Hayward radio track" . . . he's not talking about "Nights in White Satin" right?

I'll have to say, that and "Tuesday Afternoon" are about the only bits I like on DOFP. It was definitely IN SEARCH that made me a Moodies fan. Apart from the singles, I actually heard the whole of DOFP much later but disregarded it in favor of the later albums. If I want to feel euphoric, I play "Voices in the Sky" and think, wow, what ethereal music. And to hear it in 5.1, finally?

 

[Quadwreck]

The only missing multi-track masters that I know of are from "In Search Of The Lost Chord". They would have been done back in the Quad era if they could have been found. Were "Days Of Future Passed" also lost at a later date?

They've never been missing, there's an explanation of why it was deemed too difficult to do a quad mix earlier in this thread.

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

Now I'm wondering if we'll get new 5.1 mixes for the remaining classic Moody Blues albums too.
It's well-known that the "Days of Future Passed" multitrack tapes are no longer in existence (and that's been the case since the 1970s) but if they have the tapes for the other 5 classic albums, then maybe we'll continue to see 50th anniversary sets with new 5.1 & stereo remixes.

This may be the reason why DOFP didn’t get a 5.1 mix last year.
And if that’s true, their intention is to release a surround mix with each release.

I can sit through DOFP okay but, with the exception of the first track which is well done, I’d rather just skip the orchestrations parts and listen to The Moody Blues songs.

 

[4-earredwonder]

This may be the reason why DOFP didn’t get a 5.1 mix last year.
And if that’s true, their intention is to release a surround mix with each release.

I can sit through DOFP okay but, with the exception of the first track which is well done, I’d rather just skip the orchestrations parts and listen to The Moody Blues songs.

Geez, Perp.....I always pegged you as a classicist!

 

[Spinz]

This has been high on my wish list since I bought the SACD not realizing it was missing the surround the other SACD's had. I think it does sound more dated than the other Moody releases but I'm really looking forward to hearing Visions Of Paradise and Voices In The Sky in surround. I listened to The Moody Blues a lot in my high school years from 68 to 71. Helped me get through those difficult teenage years. It should not have taken so long for them to get into the rock HOF. They were an important seminal groundbreaking rock band who sold a bunch of records too. Can't believe some of the people who got in ahead of them. End rant!

 

[Ranasakawa]

I played the album today on YouTube and was pleasantly surprised by how great it is. Finances are Dire but I will try to get the box if reasonable priced.

 

[atrocity]

When I was a teenager, I had my stereo speakers set up at the head of my bed, facing inwards like a giant pair of headphones as I lay there.

Yes! I've had similar "sitting in a giant headphone" setups over the years. I've read all kinds of reasons why it's allegedly a bad idea but I always enjoyed it.

 

[rtbluray]

A bigger packshot from amazon reveals that Jakko Jakszyk is responsible for the 5.1 mix.
If you look closely at the packshot, it says:
"5.1 surround sound mixes and manipulation by Jakko Jakszyk"
Manipulation?! What do they mean by that?!

 

[stormchaser]

This sounds like a Penteo-sorta thing...."manipulation"

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

Manipulation is throwing effects around into the different channels.

 

[rtbluray]

This sounds like a Penteo-sorta thing...."manipulation"

True, but at the same time, how could they release a new stereo mix as part of the box set if the multitrack tapes no longer existed?
Maybe the 'manipulation' being referred to means having to resync all of the pre-bounced down tapes together, cause maybe there were some speed or pitch related issues that had to be accounted for when all of the tapes were synced back up again.

I have asked Jakko for some clarification on Twitter. Let's see what he says.

 

[4-earredwonder]

It also specifies DVD~Audio.....but it's probably DTS 5.1 not MLP DVD~A 5.1.

Certainly a MUCH classier package than the recent Days of Future Passed remaster.......that's for sure!

 

[jimfisheye]

I thought Jakko did a great job remixing Fish Out Of Water. KC Thrak is a masterpiece of course but that also had a strong hand from Fripp. The ELP stuff sounds unfinished and I want to speculate after hearing FOoW that that wasn't his fault. One thing I've NEVER heard him do is the volume war hash. I bet this is going to be the real deal here!

 

[EMB]

Very curious. The reason for not releasing this quad back in the day was because too many multitracks were missing, or parts of songs added to the mix later were not part of the multis. We know this happened to DOFP, which came close to the original on certain tracks but has parts missing, too. It's possible the proper tapes were found, but I wonder if some kind of DES thing was done to certain tracks.

There's only one way to find out, so I'm in, as usual.

ED

 

[Clint Eastwood]

My position is the same as always...I don't obsess over the numbers or in this case...the tapes...I'm not opposed to some type of upmix or "manipulation"....my judgement rests solely in how it sounds...not some pre conceived idea of what I might be hearing....or some purist viewpoint about the original source material...if this ends up being the best available version of this album...I will be happy... I don't care how they do it...as long as it gets done

 

[Ranasakawa]

I hope it's a better mix than the work he did with ELP. It was not great in my opinion.

 

[skherbeck]

I hope it's a better mix than the work he did with ELP. It was not great in my opinion.

Or Bill Bruford.

 

[milt]

Thanks much for the enlarged RT, you're a gem.
Earlier, I was trying to see if the DVDs had the DVD Audio or Video swirly.
DVD-Audio is clearly visible so my fears of lossy DTS seem unwarranted.
Of course, I pre-ordered anyway before knowing for certain but this makes me smile in a big way.
In this day & age someone needs to clue in the ad copy writers that specific details are important, dammit.
I don't care if it's DTS-HD, MLP or TrueHD as long as it's lossless means that whoever put this together cared for the details.

If the rest of the 7 get this treatment, they'll be blind buys even though I have the SACDs.

To opine further, ISOTLC is as great as every other Moody Blues album, imo.
It has that natural flow, great songs, impeccable musicianship, brilliant arrangements and Justin's clean, clear handsome voice.
Moody Blues albums are clearly group efforts where everyone is heard.
Every bit a lights out listening experience as Pink Floyd.

FWIW, the first concert I went to at 14 yo, was Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the Coliseum in Seattle.
Ticket price was $5.00

 

[sjcorne]

DVD-Audio is clearly visible so my fears of lossy DTS seem unwarranted

I'm doubtful it's a real DVD-A. Hate to be a cynic, but the logo doesn't really mean anything anymore. They did this on the Velvet Underground's Loaded, Bowie's Young Americans, the old CTA Quadio disc, and probably many others I'm not thinking of. I'd bet on DVD-V with DTS 96/24, like the Tull sets.

So, Jakko's doing the mix...only disc I have credited to him is ELP's Trilogy which isn't bad. I like that he was daring enough to isolate some lead parts in the rears (guitar/moog solos in "From The Beginning" and the intro piano to "Trilogy").

Not the biggest Moodies fan, but I do like the quad mixes (have the DOFP DTS-CD and various quad reel rips). Curious to hear how this one turns out...