Not one of Scheiner's shining surround mixing moments imho (and you guys know how much I love his work!).. sonically rather average.. a pretty dull album too.. a generous "6"
Dug this out of my "when I was going nuts buying DVD-A/SACD discs" period, but this fell through the cracks since Steve wasn't close to being a favourite artist of mine.
Thanks to this site I've grown to appreciate most discs more and most times what I have read and ratings helped validate my impressions of them.
For me, surround quality comes in several flavours, from IMHO best to worse:
9-10: Discrete separation and thoughtful (and sometimes playful use of the rears) on a per song basis.
I think Steven Wilson's remixes are best at this, again focusing on the proper mix for each song.
7-8: Discrete placement of instruments not wildly creative, but still on a per song basis.
5-6: Discrete placement of instruments but on a virtually every song basis.*In essence, an overall surround philosophy that does not vary very much.
I feel Candyman falls in this category with, on most occasions, keys, and non-drum kit percussion always appearing in the rears.
3-4: Cannot perceive any discrete placement. Just an ambient sound spread to all speakers
2: "Quad Stereo" - front left-right in read left-right. In other words, why bother?
1: Totally butchered non-discrete upmixes, drenched in reverb.
Some brilliant mixes that have emerged in recent years that were not available when Candyman. For its time, I think that if you like the music, this multi-channel mix was a fine listen. However, when compared to current peers, I believe it is somewhat middle-of-the-road.