Jesus & Mary Chain - 5 DVD-A Stereo titles from Rhino

Latest off the press from Rhino/Warners are the 5 albums from legendary UK band "The Jesus & Mary Chain".
In DualDisc format, with 24/96 stereo on the DVD side in glorious DVD-Audio, these re-issues are truly superb and it's a crying shame ythat the original multitracks cannot be located for even one record, or we would have got this in 5.1 as well.
Consisting of
Psychocandy
Darklands
Automatic
Honey's Dead
Stoned and Dethroned
In addition to the full albums, there are Videos for the singles from each album too.

This collection has been assembled from the original analogue masters - for thefirst time since the original vinyl releases.
Seriously good work, superb sound quality & a 10/10 job all round.

Recommended.

neil wilkes said:

with 24/96 stereo on the DVD side in glorious DVD-Audio,

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What no 24/192? I can always find something to complain about.

These DualDiscs are available from yourmusic.com.

Chris

Chris Gerhard said:

These DualDiscs are available from yourmusic.com.

Chris

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Well worth buying, IMHO. Stereo or not.
They sound darned good through Neo DTS as well.....not tried DPL II yet.

Thanks for the heads up about these being on yourmusic. I'll be picking a couple of these up fast for 5.99 a pop! I already have the Psychocandy dualdisc and it really does sound great whether in DVD-A stereo or the CD through DPLxII.

$5.99???
You cannot go wrong for that, even though these are in Stereo.
Content is superb, it really is.
Video for the singles off each album, amazing quality stereo at 24/96 and the only reason there is no multichannel is because the multitracks simply could not be located for even one album complete.
This is actually the very first time - since the original releases - that the original masters were used as well. Previous reissues all went from 2nd or even 3rd generation copies.....and were "remastered" in modern style (IE too frickin' loud & overcompressed)
Here, Bill Inglot at Rhino has done a truly outstanding job.

Grab the set - you will not be disappointed!

I ordered the set, although I haven't heard any of the albums and barely anything at all by the group. If I don't like it, I shouldn't lose as much money as I normally do unloading the set on eBay. I have been playing some stereo discs using Neo 6 and have been surprised, it is hit or miss whether I actually prefer the result to stereo, but I will try these processed that way.

Chris

Neo DTS is hit & miss.
Also - remember there are 2 versions, Cinematic & Music of course.
My amp requires the Neo-DTS button to be pressed a second time to get Music mode.
Difference is Cinema mode is much more aggressive with centrally panned material going to Centre Channel.

neil wilkes said:

Neo DTS is hit & miss.
Also - remember there are 2 versions, Cinematic & Music of course.
My amp requires the Neo-DTS button to be pressed a second time to get Music mode.
Difference is Cinema mode is much more aggressive with centrally panned material going to Centre Channel.

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Yes, I had used Neo 6 for movies some in the Cinema mode since my first HDTV recorder was an analog W-VHS VCR, no Dolby Digital or DTS from that thing. I quickly dismissed the mode for stereo CD, but have now reconsidered and have it set to default for my stereo CD player. Pretty cool, but certainly no substitute for surround discs. I will definitely try out these DualDiscs with that mode. Considering I am a basic rock, pop and jazz guy and these albums are way out there for me, which one should I start with? The Bjork DualDiscs were way out there for me and it was recommended I start with "Post" which was what I have done and I like it a lot.

Chris

Chris Gerhard said:

I ordered the set, although I haven't heard any of the albums and barely anything at all by the group. If I don't like it, I shouldn't lose as much money as I normally do unloading the set on eBay. I have been playing some stereo discs using Neo 6 and have been surprised, it is hit or miss whether I actually prefer the result to stereo, but I will try these processed that way.

Chris

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OK, someone had to ask ... what kind of music is it? Am I such a fossil that I have never heard them? Give me a group to compare them to. Mike.

Quadzilla said:

OK, someone had to ask ... what kind of music is it? Am I such a fossil that I have never heard them? Give me a group to compare them to. Mike.

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I am not aware of any group to compare them to, based on the brief snippets online. Some of it is more like noise than music, but allmusic.com can give you some suggestions of comparable artists, maybe none of which you have heard either.

Chris

Chris Gerhard said:

Considering I am a basic rock, pop and jazz guy and these albums are way out there for me, which one should I start with? The Bjork DualDiscs were way out there for me and it was recommended I start with "Post" which was what I have done and I like it a lot.

Chris

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Chris.
Perhaps Darklands will be the easiest one to get right into.
It's the second in the set, but Psychocandy (The first one) is the kinf of album that everyone either loves or loathes. THink early Velvet Underground, then think Black Angel's Death Song, or similar.
Psychocandy is howling guitar feedback heavily compressed, yet with some beautiful tunes & melodies buried into the overall sound.
I wish that the acoustic EP had been included on this set somewhere - The Chain did an EP containing very stripped down versions of "You Trip Me Up" & "Taste Of Cindy" that revealed the melodies. Sadly missing here.
Darklands on the other hand is more like later period Velvets. Think of Lou Reed's later stuff. Again, some driving melodies in there, but nothing like as much feedback off the guitar amps.
Perhaps the worst album is going to be the 4th one, Automatic.
It sounds like the title in places.
The final one, Honey's Dead, is a superb return to form though.

Description of this band?
The quote above - Noise - is not correct IMHO. Think Velvet Underground, but poppier. Think Lou Reed, but not so depressing.
Think New York Dolls, but with better tunes.
Also - don;t try to compare to anyone at all, just enjoy. These are true Brit Classics.

Three of the five including "Darklands" and "Psychocandy" are shown as backordered by yourmusic.com, guess I didn't act quick enough. Backorders rarely ever ship for me from yourmusic.com and eventually are just cancelled.

Chris

My copy of Automatic arrived from yourmusic.com today. This was the only album that I bought of theirs when first released (due mostly to heavy promotion on MTV's 120 Minutes-their alternative music show). While most J&MC fans say this is their weakest album, it has some nostalgia value for me and I even played Head On once when some fool hired me as a DJ one night. Needless to say, the sound quality is much improved even on the CD side compared to what I recall from the original release. Kudos to Rhino for these (and actually using jewel cases as opposed to digipacks!).

I believe the others are still (and according to Chris perhaps permanently) backordered at yourmusic.com. Given the recent news of a price increase there, lots of orders are being placed and I suspect the other hi-rez discs they have in stock are vanishing fast. Still, I expect I'll eventually complete my collection of these given the quality of Psychocandy and Automatic.

I did get a message today that Psycocandy shipped and two remain backordered.

Chris

I have listened to Psychocandy and think it is very good. I am still waiting for my order to be completed, but won't have time to listen to the others anytime soon in any event.

Chris

Is "Automatic" the only album that has the complete album on the "DVD side"? The other albums just list a few tracks with [DVD] after them.

They all have the complete album on the DVD-A side. Where are you seeing something that suggests otherwise? If you are referring to yourmusic.com's listings, they are erroneous assuming you are looking at the dualdiscs. Indeed, those listings do not mention the high resolution stereo at all. To confirm, I have ordered four of the five from yourmusic.com and they all have the complete album in high resolution stereo on the DVD-A side along with the videos mentioned on the listings. BTW, my Darklands that was backordered originally from yourmusic.com arrived today. Now, I'm just waiting on Stoned and Dethroned.

Thanks. I was looking at yourmusic.com's listings. I didn't get any clarification at Tower's online store either (they just said "remaster"). I knew someone here would reveal the truth.

man, i am so jealous of you americans - cd prices are really dirt cheap compared to here! (not to mention at the present exchange rate...)

unfortunately, yourmusic does not to seem to ship to europe?
thats a shame, because they still have automatic and, more important, darklands for a bare 6,99 $ - theser are very hard to get in europe it seems..

well, until i get lucky i have to make do with the excellent 21 singles cd (contentwise at least - does anybody know if the masters wer eused here as well?)

greetz,
BS