2021 - List Your Favorite Surround Releases

[sjcorne]

With the release cycle for this year winding to a close (I think The Band's Cahoots was the last notable one?), it seemed like a good time to start this thread. You're welcome to include streaming-exclusive or downloadable titles as well as physical discs. Here's my top ten:

1. Gentle Giant - Free Hand
2. The Pineapple Thief - Nothing But The Truth
3. Steven Wilson - The Future Bites
4. Santana - Santana III
5. Air - 10,000 Hz Legend
6. A Bad Think - Lifelike
7. Jethro Tull - A
8. Beatles - Let It Be
9. Be-Bop Deluxe - Drastic Plastic
10. Mr. Big - Lean Into It

For reference, here's @haikubass' comprehensive 2021 Surround Releases thread.

 

[humprof]

"Favorites," not "best"--that's a good distinction. Just the same, I think I need two lists, one for optical discs/digital downloads and one for streaming exclusives. And to my knowledge, every item on both lists either appeared in a hi-res format for the first time or became available to stream in Dolby Atmos or Dolby Audio for the first time (stream to an AVR, that is, not just to headphones or portable speakers) in 2021. Okay:

Optical disc/digital download:

• Gentle Giant, Free Hand
• Air, 10 000 Hz Legend
• Santana, III
• John Luther Adams, Arctic Dreams (mp4)
• Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Occurrence
• Steven Wilson, The Future Bites
• Van der Graaf Generator (I haven’t listened to them enough yet to have a favorite among the four!)
• Det Norske Jentekor, The Beauty That Still Remains
• Ravel, Daphnis & Chloe (a/k/a Boulez Conducts Ravel)
• Auļi, Visapkārt (mp4)

Streaming:

• Jon Batiste, We Are
• Caroline Shaw & So Percussion, Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part
• St. Vincent, Daddy’s Home
• Terrace Martin, Drones
• Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and/or Happier Than Ever
• Tom Petty, Wildflowers & All the Rest (technically came out in 2020, but only on Amazon HD?)
• Henry Brant, Ice Field (previously available only as a binaural WAV download)
• Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, The Social Network
• Outkast, ATLiens
• Tori Amos, Ocean to Ocean

And special mention to two old warhorses in new Atmos mixes:

• The Beatles, Sergeant Pepper’s (2021 Atmos mix)
• Bob Marley, Legend (2021 Atmos mix)

 

[MrSmithers]

Wow, looking at those great lists makes me realise we had some real gems in surround this year. Here's my top 10 -

• George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
• The Beatles - Let It Be
• Burton Cummings - Burton Cummings
• Steven Wilson - The Future Bites
• Air - 10,000 Hz Legend
• Be-Bop Deluxe - Drastic Plastic
• Santana - Santana III
• Gentle Giant - Freehand
• BTO - BTO & BTO II
• Kiss - Destroyer
• Al Stewart - Year Of The Cat/Time Passages

And some of my favourite Dolby Atmos albums from streaming...

• Rhye - Home
• X Ambassadors - The Beautiful Liar
• The Killers - Pressure Machine
• Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raise The Roof
• Pearl Jam - Ten
• Tori Amos - Ocean To Ocean
• Imagine Dragons - Mercury - Act 1
• Lorde - Pure Heroine
• Greta Van Fleet - The Battle At Garden’s Gate
• Bob Marley - Legend
• Tom Petty - Wildflowers & All The Rest *
• Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory *
• Taylor Swift - folklore *
• John Mayer - Sob Rock (Original Thom C mix that was very briefly released - then got taken down and replaced with a blander mix due to Mayer throwing his toys out the pram)

*Released in 2020, but as @humprof says, the first time you could stream them properly in Atmos was in 2021. So in they go!

Lots of individual songs that I’ll have a look into later. Roll on 2022 and more great music in surround…

 

[marpow]

This is good, thank you.
I am going to start my list in dribs and drabs.
1. Mr. Big-Lean Into It, not so much the mix, which is definitely good (can't believe QQ refuses to make a surround poll for this). Every year my favorite surrounds are those ones that comes out of nowhere and this one sure did. The mix is very fun.
2. Time Passages, really surprised how much I liked it, good surround and nice cool vibe on music.
3. All Things Must Pass, so good, what a pleasure.
4. Steven Wilson The Future Bites, awesome.
5. Gentle Giant, a fun mix.
6. Jethro Tull "A", mix was what I have grown to expect but music was new and great to me.
7. Tied are Santana III and BTO.

 

[sjcorne]

can't believe QQ refuses to make a surround poll for this

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/mr-big-lean-into-it-sacd.31212/

 

[marpow]

Thanks for that poll, I was pushing for it for awhile, it was put up in late sept when I was in the weeds a bit and missed it, all good now.

 

[cbmmm3]

but....but...lets not forget Marillion Fugazi !!

 

[~dave~~wave~]

I finally got my hands on my favorite of 2021 in the last week of the year with the Bob Clearmountain mix of Cahoots.
Early in the year it was Stage Fright, so those two 50-year-old albums by the Band bookended the year for me.

I'm quite happy to live in the past with the half-century anniversary releases, and one contemporary live release from Anthony Braxton, to celebrate his first 50 years of recording.

• The Band - Cahoots
• The Band - Stage Fright

• Van Der Graaf Generator - The Charisma Years
• Anthony Braxton - 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017

• All Things Must Pass
• Santana III