Jon Anderson releasing new surround material ("Olias of Sunhillow" upmix out in March!)

[DuncanS]

Can anyone still access the Cherry Red site for the reissue (not a cached version)?

I can't access the Cherry Red site at all at the moment, not just for Olias. Their website has done this to me before, so hopefully just temporary problem their end.

Its ok now, so just temporary.

Oops, can't access again!

It is always slow for me. I reckon the site runs on an old 1980s Intel 8088 PC with a dial-up link! Its just spinning away at the moment, hasn't timeout .......yet

 

[SHB]

Has any other vendors listed it. I keep checking Importcds and it's not.

 

[RuudMans]

The Burning Shed is offering it:
Olias of Sunhillow (burningshed.com)

 

[SHB]

The Burning Shed is offering it:
Olias of Sunhillow (burningshed.com)

Thanks for posting! . Hopefully importcds will list it soon

 

[efb18]

The Burning Shed is offering it:
Olias of Sunhillow (burningshed.com)

That's a very reasonable price.

 

[humprof]

A remastered edition of Animation was announced in Cherry Red's newsletter yesterday. Late April release. No surround mix.

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/jon-anderson-animation-remastered-expanded-edition/

 

[ssully]

The master tapes of Animation were missing the last time the was released on CD. Glad to see they've been found.

 

[Imbobman]

Has any other vendors listed it. I keep checking Importcds and it's not.

I see that importcds is finally offering this one. Pre-order price of $18.62. Too bad the current 10% discount code can't be used...
I don't know about this one since so many have not had much good to say about the 5.1 surround being an up-mix
https://www.importcds.com/olias-of-sunhillow/5013929474888

 

[Scott M4]

A remastered edition of Animation was announced in Cherry Red's newsletter yesterday. Late April release. No surround mix.

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/jon-anderson-animation-remastered-expanded-edition/

What you want, Quadraphonic Music
What you have, that Stereophonic Music

 

[srbjab]

I'll wait for some reviews on this before upgrading. Although it's probably Jon Anderson's best solo effort musically, it's also one of the worst sounding. I just listened to Olias and several other Jon Anderson solo and Jon & Vangelis titles I have. In comparison, Olias sounds pretty compressed and flat, has a narrow soundstage with little depth or bass, and even his vocal (arguably the key asset here) often sounds thin and distant. A real shame that the multi-tracks are missing since I'm afraid that only a complete re-mix could fully address these issues. In my experience a remaster or higher resolution rarely provide more than incremental improvements on a fundamentally flawed mix/recording. Happy to be proven wrong, of course, but we'll see.

 

[Mistee]

I'll wait for some reviews on this before upgrading. Although it's probably Jon Anderson's best solo effort musically, it's also one of the worst sounding. I just listened to Olias and several other Jon Anderson solo and Jon & Vangelis titles I have. In comparison, Olias sounds pretty compressed and flat, has a narrow soundstage with little depth or bass, and even his vocal (arguably the key asset here) often sounds thin and distant. A real shame that the multi-tracks are missing since I'm afraid that only a complete re-mix could fully address these issues. In my experience a remaster or higher resolution rarely provide more than incremental improvements on a fundamentally flawed mix/recording. Happy to be proven wrong, of course, but we'll see.

I feel the same. An exciting album for me when it first came out, but I'll stick to my original vinyl copy until I know more about how this sounds. Those Jon & Vangelis titles have real 5.1 remix potential if the original masters exist.

 

[DuncanS]

Mine has just arrived, the 5.1 up-mix is by Ben Wiseman, also in the booklet one of the people thanked is Steven Wilson.

 

[colsky]

Mine has just arrived, the 5.1 up-mix is by Ben Wiseman, also in the booklet one of the people thanked is Steven Wilson.

Where did you order this from? I went with Amazon UK, and right up until this morning the status was showing as delivering today, but I then had an e-mail from them at 9am saying that they are having difficulty obtaining this item, and they will give me a revised date when they can!

 

[svengaleekie]

Mine has just arrived, the 5.1 up-mix is by Ben Wiseman, also in the booklet one of the people thanked is Steven Wilson.

Yea, got mine too, but I'm listening to Year of the Cat first!

Where did you order this from?

I ordered both from Cherry Red.

 

[olgitnorm]

Where did you order this from? I went with Amazon UK, and right up until this morning the status was showing as delivering today, but I then had an e-mail from them at 9am saying that they are having difficulty obtaining this item, and they will give me a revised date when they can!

Exactly the same here from Amazon UK although Year of the Cat is arriving today also from Amazon

 

[colsky]

Exactly the same here from Amazon UK although Year of the Cat is arriving today also from Amazon

It's frustrating, as I'm really looking forward to this one (even though its not a proper surround mix).

I ordered something else from Amazon (a Todd Rundgren dvd) at 9pm last night, and that's just arrived! I know we all moan about Amazon sometimes for various reasons, but that is efficient service!

 

[DuncanS]

Where did you order this from? I went with Amazon UK, and right up until this morning the status was showing as delivering today, but I then had an e-mail from them at 9am saying that they are having difficulty obtaining this item, and they will give me a revised date when they can!

Cherry Red.

I love Olias so I didn't stick it on the to listen to pile, the DVD stereo sounds good in LPCM (BTW its not DVD-A its DVD-V with DTS & DD). The up-mix sounds ........ well think wrap-round stereo at the high frequencies. A disappointment (Simon Heyworth's up-mix of Rick Wakeman's Red Planet really worked), this up-mix by Ben Wiseman is more or less what I got playing the album trough the SM2 in Involve mode, not a lot in the rear channels. For this album to work in surround it needs the multi-tracks.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Cherry Red.

I love Olias so I didn't stick it on the to listen to pile, the DVD stereo sounds good in LPCM (BTW its not DVD-A its DVD-V with DTS & DD). The up-mix sounds ........ well think wrap-round stereo at the high frequencies. A disappointment (Simon Heyworth's up-mix of Rick Wakeman's Red Planet really worked), this up-mix by Ben Wiseman is more or less what I got playing the album trough the SM2 in Involve mode, not a lot in the rear channels. For this album to work in surround it needs the multi-tracks.

I'll wait for some reviews on this before upgrading. Although it's probably Jon Anderson's best solo effort musically, it's also one of the worst sounding. I just listened to Olias and several other Jon Anderson solo and Jon & Vangelis titles I have. In comparison, Olias sounds pretty compressed and flat, has a narrow soundstage with little depth or bass, and even his vocal (arguably the key asset here) often sounds thin and distant. A real shame that the multi-tracks are missing since I'm afraid that only a complete re-mix could fully address these issues. In my experience a remaster or higher resolution rarely provide more than incremental improvements on a fundamentally flawed mix/recording. Happy to be proven wrong, of course, but we'll see.

Seems a shame, to go through all that trouble for a lousy up-mix. I enjoy a good up-mix, but many folks just can’t bring themselves to accept anything but the Real Deal. I’ve stopped trying to convert folks with those kinds of prejudices. And up-mixes like it’s sounding this one’s gone to, is not helping that cause. If you can’t get some wiz bang or at least expand the music in an enjoyable way, why bother?

 

[colsky]

Seems a shame, to go through all that trouble for a lousy up-mix. I enjoy a good up-mix, but many folks just can’t bring themselves to accept anything but the Real Deal. I’ve stopped trying to convert folks with those kinds of prejudices. And up-mixes like it’s sounding this one’s gone to, is not helping that cause. If you can’t get some wiz bang or at least expand the music in an enjoyable way, why bother?

I agree that only having an upmix is a disappointment, but on your question of why bother - am I wrong or naive in thinking that a reasonable upmix can still be a better listen than the original stereo, so its still an upgrade of the album of sorts?

 

[AdeSwat]

Waiting for my copy to arrive, but there was a good review of the album and honourable mention of the surround mix in Prog magazine.