A Bad Think – The Savior (BD-A): Double album available via CD Baby/FLAC download (B. Clearmountain mix)

[haikubass]

A Bad Think is a one-man project driven by Michael Marquart, record producer and multi-instrumentalist who writes and performs all of his tracks.

His latest release, “The Savior,” is a double album consisting of 18 songs of "modern progressive rock". Produced by Marquart with Dave Way (Beck, Foo Fighters), and mixed by Bob Clearmountain (Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi), the album was recorded in Los Angeles at Windmark Recording and is distributed by The Orchard. Originally released digitally on iTunes and Spotify on April 19th, "The Savior" is now available also on blu-ray from CD Baby.

Edit: Immersive Audio Album page sells The Savior album as FLAC downloads [24/96]; you can either buy all 18 tracks or just the single, Feel Me ($1.99).

Here are the videos for album's two singles, Feel Me and Falling Star:


M. Marquart elaborates on the surround mix on his Reddit thread:

Bob Clearmountain mixed it in 5.1. It's not like the drums come out of this speaker and the guitar on the left. -- You have your basic stereo mix where you expect it, but all of a sudden you are feeling this energy and atmosphere around you. It's not a right or left, it's an atmosphere. Bob did a lot of the synth stuff and panned it out into the sides and towards the back. Having a surround sound element allows for the sound to be more dispersed around you as opposed to only left and right, if that makes sense.

From the press release:

A BAD THINK NEW ALBUM “THE SAVIOR” OUT TODAY!
April 19th, 2019 – A Bad Think, the cinematic alt-rock project from Los Angeles, CA has released its new album “The Savior” today via Windmark Recordings. Recorded in Malibu, CA, the album was produced by Michael Marquart, the lead singer, songwriter and sole member of A Bad Think along with Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Dave Way (Michael Jackson, Fiona Apple, Norah Jones, Beck, Eric Clapton, etc.) at The Barn in Malibu, CA and Waystation Studio in Hollywood. The album was mixed by legendary mixer Bob Clearmountain (Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Bryan Adams, The Cure, INXS, etc.) and mastered by Bob Ludwig (Led Zeppelin, Queen, Jimi Hendrix).

A Bad Think is the music of record producer and musician, Michael Marquart. Marquart spent much of his music career working as a drummer on tours and albums for artists and bands including Alias, Tokio Rose and A Flock of Seagulls. After leaving the road, Marquart opened up his own recording studio, Windmark Studios in Virginia Beach, VA and worked with an array of artists such as No Doubt, Dishwalla, Our Lady Peace, Abra Moore, and many more. While in Virginia Beach, A Bad Think came to fruition in 2006 with the release of the first and self-titled album, A Bad Think.

“The Savior” track listing:
Book One
01. Down Low
02. The Righteous
03. Going West
04. If That’s What Love Means
05. Now You Know
06. All Eyes On Him
07. It’s Good To Be Young
08. The Chosen One
09. The Kings Crown
Book Two
01. Falling Star
02. Hallelujah
03. Feel Me
04. The Best Part
05. A Chance Has Lost
06. The Worst Part
07. The Winters Long
08. Safe and Sound
09. C’est La Vie

 

[Simon A]

Many thanks for sharing the news with everyone!

I've listened to the samples on iTunes and the music falls into what I enjoy so I will order it.

The final track is a beautiful interpretation of ELP's C'est la vie and I'm sure the immersive mix will make it sound even more lovely.

 

[Clement]

Color me in! I also picked up Bern Bern Bern, about which I've heard good things. Thanks much for the head's up!

 

[fredblue]

ordered! many thanks for the heads up haikubass

 

[4-earredwonder]

Album is now out of stock .......CD Baby now has a 'waiting' list!

 

[fredblue]

Album is now out of stock .......CD Baby now has a 'waiting' list!

wow.. how many of these things did they make..!?

 

[Bender]

on the waiting list too... with so many 5.1 titles sold out, you would think more people would consider making material on 5.1
curious? are there some titles that have stacks of 5.1 (blu ray, DVD-A, DTS, SACD) waiting to be bought? If so, what never sold well?

 

[fredblue]

on the waiting list too... with so many 5.1 titles sold out, you would think more people would consider making material on 5.1
curious? are there some titles that have stacks of 5.1 (blu ray, DVD-A, DTS, SACD) waiting to be bought? If so, what never sold well?

good question!!
even the EJ SACDs are running low at this point.. ok it took 15 years but still

 

[DuncanS]

I tried ordering earlier and the website went wrong I couldn't get to the check out

 

[4-earredwonder]

I will anxiously await Adam and other QQ poster's reviews before ordering. That's if they get any more in stock. I did check other vendors and none of them have the BD~A in stock ..... so CD Baby has the 'exclusive!'

 

[fredblue]

I tried ordering earlier and the website went wrong I couldn't get to the check out

this is crazy.. it came out in what, April and its unobtainable already??

 

[fredblue]

I will anxiously await Adam and other QQ poster's reviews before ordering. That's if they get any more in stock. I did check other vendors and none of them have the BD~A in stock ..... so CD Baby has the 'exclusive!'

its Bob Clearmountain doing the mixing, Ralph, its unlikely to be crap!
i checked everywhere i could think of, nothing.

 

[4-earredwonder]

this is crazy.. it came out in what, April and its unattainable already??

I wonder if it's a BD~A R ...........a lot of RBCDs today and even BD~Vs are 'manufacturered on DEMAND' on recordable media which IMO doesn't sit well with me.

 

[fredblue]

I wonder if it's a BD~A R ...........a lot of RBCDs today and even BD~Vs are 'manufacturered on DEMAND' on recordable media which IMO doesn't sit well with me.

i hope not.. i've actively stopped buying surround stuff (no matter how much i want to support the artist and support the effort of doing surround) if i find out in advance that it's on recordable media like BD-R/CD-R/DVD-R, i'd rather just have downloads and i can backup and burn and backup again and so on rather than play BD-Russian Roulette!

 

[haikubass]

I wonder if it's a BD~A R ...........a lot of RBCDs today and even BD~Vs are 'manufacturered on DEMAND' on recordable media which IMO doesn't sit well with me.

Well, I can't really tell myself. The only direct reference I've found is this picture, which comes without any comment from A Bad Think's FB profile, so it might not be the actual final product:

And actually, there might be a download option - Immersive Audio Album is a site that is selling The Savior album plus the single, Feel Me ($1.99). As it says "lossless 5.1 audio", I'm thinking FLAC files...

 

[sukothai]

And actually, there might be a download option - Immersive Audio Album is a site that is selling The Savior album plus the single, Feel Me ($1.99). As it says "lossless 5.1 audio", I'm thinking FLAC files...

I can confirm the download option from Immersive Audio works fine. Had some trouble with the download links at first, but eventually got them all at 96K by 24 bit. Spectral shows a lot of info above 40KHz, so it appears to be a true high res.

 

[Bender]

I can confirm the download option from Immersive Audio works fine. Had some trouble with the download links at first, but eventually got them all at 96K by 24 bit. Spectral shows a lot of info above 40KHz, so it appears to be a true high res.

This is great news. I am sure it took a while. Was it FLAC? Were there options. (I placed it in my cart - but there was no format options)

 

[sukothai]

Yes, FLAC: Individual link for each song.

 

[fredblue]

I can confirm the download option from Immersive Audio works fine. Had some trouble with the download links at first, but eventually got them all at 96K by 24 bit. Spectral shows a lot of info above 40KHz, so it appears to be a true high res.

how do you rate the surround mix?
is it upto Mr. Clearmountain's usual standards or should i be a tad concerned by those M Marquart reddit comments that Marek posted above that its maybe more a "stereo+" type mix?

 

[Simon A]

Yes, FLAC: Individual link for each song.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts on the mix.