ABC - The Lexicon Of Love (Steven Wilson 5.1 & Dolby Atmos remixes coming in August 2023; SDE Blu-Ray #12)

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I've prepared cue sheets for all mixes (2023 stereo mix, instrumental mixes, 1982 original mix, 5.1mix, and Atmos mix) in case someone is interested in splitting the tracks, or using the cue sheet with Foobar/Kodi. They are all slightly different, so you can't use a single cue sheet for all mixes. Also, the cue sheet for the Atmos mix doesn't use the CDDA frame per seconds, so that's also different.

Here's the 2023 Stereo mix.

Code:
REM GENRE "Disco/Pop"
REM DATE 1982
PERFORMER "ABC"
TITLE "The Lexicon of Love (2023 Stereo Mix) [FLAC 24/96]"
FILE "FLAC 2023 Stereo Mix.flac" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Show Me"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "Poison Arrow"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 04:05:18
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Many Happy Returns"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 07:29:46
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "Tears Are Not Enough"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 11:27:66
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Valentine's Day"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 14:58:15
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Look of Love (Part One)"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 18:39:10
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    TITLE "Date Stamp"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 22:08:28
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    TITLE "All of My Heart"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 25:59:43
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    TITLE "4 Ever 2 Gether"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 31:17:00
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Look of Love (Part Four)"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 36:50:35

2023 Instrumental Mixes

Code:
REM GENRE "Disco/Pop"
REM DATE 1982
REM COMMENT ""
PERFORMER "ABC"
TITLE "The Lexicon of Love (Instrumental Mixes) [FLAC 24/96]"
FILE "FLAC 2023 Instrumentals.flac" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Show Me"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "Poison Arrow"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 04:05:60
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Many Happy Returns"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 07:29:46
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "Tears Are Not Enough"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 11:27:65
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Valentine's Day"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 14:58:30
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Look of Love (Part One)"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 18:39:20
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    TITLE "Date Stamp"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 22:08:28
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    TITLE "All of My Heart"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 25:59:43
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    TITLE "4 Ever 2 Gether"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 31:17:18
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Look of Love (Part Four)"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 36:50:50

1982 Original Mix

Code:
REM GENRE "Disco/Pop"
REM DATE 1982
REM COMMENT ""
PERFORMER "ABC"
TITLE "The Lexicon of Love (Original Mix) [FLAC 24/96]"
FILE "FLAC Original Mix.flac" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Show Me"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "Poison Arrow"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 04:04:53
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Many Happy Returns"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 07:29:00
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "Tears Are Not Enough"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 11:27:16
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Valentine's Day"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 14:58:20
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Look of Love (Part One)"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 18:39:20
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    TITLE "Date Stamp"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 22:08:28
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    TITLE "All of My Heart"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 26:01:00
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    TITLE "4 Ever 2 Gether"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 31:18:00
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Look of Love (Part Four)"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 36:53:00

2023 5.1 Mix

Code:
REM GENRE "Disco/Pop"
REM DATE 1982
REM COMMENT ""
PERFORMER "ABC"
TITLE "The Lexicon of Love (5.1 Mix) [FLAC 24/96]"
FILE "FLAC 5.1 Mix.flac" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Show Me"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "Poison Arrow"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 04:06:53
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Many Happy Returns"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 07:30:30
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "Tears Are Not Enough"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 11:28:58
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Valentine's Day"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 14:58:40
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Look of Love (Part One)"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 18:40:01
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    TITLE "Date Stamp"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 22:09:00
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    TITLE "All of My Heart"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 26:00:07
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    TITLE "4 Ever 2 Gether"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 31:17:50
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Look of Love (Part Four)"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 36:51:37

Atmos Mix (for an Mka file, extracted from the Mkv rip in 24/48. This is important to match the FPS values)

Code:
REM GENRE "Disco/Pop"
REM DATE 1982
REM COMMENT ""
PERFORMER "ABC"
TITLE "The Lexicon of Love (Atmos Mix) [MKA 24/48]"
FILE "ABC_LexiconOfLove_t00.mka" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Show Me"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "Poison Arrow"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 04:06:00
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Many Happy Returns"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 07:30:00
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "Tears Are Not Enough"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 11:29:10
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Valentine’s Day"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 14:58:00
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Look of Love (Part One)"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 18:42:00
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    TITLE "Date Stamp"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 22:13:00
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    TITLE "All of My Heart"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 26:04:00
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    TITLE "4 Ever 2 Gether"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 31:21:00
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Look of Love (Part Four)"
    PERFORMER "ABC"
    INDEX 01 36:53:00
 
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Is the 1982 mix a flat transfer or a new remaster? I don't own any release with the original mix, so I wouldn't be able to tell if this was previously released on not. Looking at the DR numbers, it doesn't match any of the releases on the online database. I guess it is a flat transfer.
 
Received my copy yesterday, photo of Blu Ray choices.
IMG_4508.jpg
 
Hey guys, I got mine today, ripped it to my PC and am listening on my 7.1 system right now.

On "Show Me", at around 2:29, "And you can be free" is barely audible, it feels like it's floating somewhere far in space. In the old stereo version as well as when listening to the TIDAL Atmos version on my living room 5.1 system, I can clearly hear that line and the following "free, free, free...". Anybody else experiencing this?

"Show Me", at least on my system, really takes some getting used to. The rest of the disc is stellar but this song just sounds... wrong to somebody who knows the stereo version inside-out. Odd.

EDIT: Okay, this definitely doesn't work in 7.1. I don't know what happened, but at 3:07 in "Poison Arrow" the "hea-aa-aa-aa-aart" is almost inaudible, too. Perhaps one needs an actual Atmos system with more than 8 speakers for this, but then, I never had this problem listening to other Atmos mixes on my 7.1 system and I have 7.1 FLACs on my PC for all my Atmos discs.

Coupled with the incorrect cue marks, this feels like a technically pretty problematic release to me. So unfortunate :-(
 
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EDIT: Okay, this definitely doesn't work in 7.1. I don't know what happened, but at 3:07 in "Poison Arrow" the "hea-aa-aa-aa-aart" is almost inaudible, too. Perhaps one needs an actual Atmos system with more than 8 speakers for this, but then, I never had this problem listening to other Atmos mixes on my 7.1 system and I have 7.1 FLACs on my PC for all my Atmos discs.
Out of interest.... How well does the 5.1 DTS-HD MA version work for you?
 
I never had this problem listening to other Atmos mixes on my 7.1 system and I have 7.1 FLACs on my PC for all my Atmos discs.
Strange it was different for the Tidal Atmos version in 5.1?

edit...
Do you have access to Adobe Audition and Dolby Reference Player by chance? It makes it easy to dig deeper into these mixes because you can decode all the Atmos channels to pcm, and output any channel to any speaker channel.
 
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EDIT: Okay, this definitely doesn't work in 7.1. I don't know what happened, but at 3:07 in "Poison Arrow" the "hea-aa-aa-aa-aart" is almost inaudible, too. Perhaps one needs an actual Atmos system with more than 8 speakers for this, but then, I never had this problem listening to other Atmos mixes on my 7.1 system and I have 7.1 FLACs on my PC for all my Atmos discs.

I agree that a significant amount of Fry's backing vocal lines are almost fully buried throughout the Atmos mix. I did not listen to the new stereo or 5.1 mix yet. I also felt some of the saxophone fills that were once more prominent in the mix have been subdued. My knee jerk reaction after the first listen last night was that this might be the farthest that SW has strayed from original feel of the album.

maybe it only affects you if you have been listening to the album for since '82?

still a pretty fabulous listen overall.
 
I agree that a significant amount of Fry's backing vocal lines are almost fully buried
Folks are complaining about this who listen on headphones. I posted a sample here. I don't listen on headphones, so I didn't want to make it a big deal.
 
I agree that a significant amount of Fry's backing vocal lines are almost fully buried throughout the Atmos mix
Which ones? In "Poison Arrow" ('who broke my heart' and 'bow to the target' in the pre-chorus) and "All Of My Heart" ('now we're friends' in the first verse and 'surrendering, remembering...' in the chorus), I thought they were quite prominent in the rear surround speakers.

The 'these are the lessons...' backing vocal line in "Many Happy Returns" is in the rear heights and noticeably louder than the original stereo version, I jumped out of my seat first time I heard that.
 
I agree that a significant amount of Fry's backing vocal lines are almost fully buried throughout the Atmos mix. I did not listen to the new stereo or 5.1 mix yet. I also felt some of the saxophone fills that were once more prominent in the mix have been subdued. My knee jerk reaction after the first listen last night was that this might be the farthest that SW has strayed from original feel of the album.

maybe it only affects you if you have been listening to the album for since '82?

still a pretty fabulous listen overall.
You're making a good point. Surround mixes that stray far from the feel of the original albums, like Mike Oldfield's as well, are particularly jarring when one knows the original recordings well. Same thing happened to me with Tubular Bells (2009).

I'm gonna listen to the Atmos/7.1 of Lexicon more tomorrow. At least I'm now prepared to discover more of Fry's backing vocals/lines being buried. I do think it's a bit sad, but we should be open to new experiences as well! Nobody's taking the original versions from me, after all.

Also, it's good to know that those of you who have more speakers in their Atmos systems are getting a more cohesive experience!

Tangentially related, there were two UK ABC compilations in the early 90s simply called, "1" and "2" that contained a bunch of rare stuff, including The Look of Love Parts 2 and 3. Interesting listens, those ones!

https://www.discogs.com/release/1694675-ABC-1https://www.discogs.com/release/1694682-ABC-2
 
I gave this a listen last night and loved the Atmos mix and sound quality, and found the songs to be very good overall - catchy and melodic. Some great bass lines throughout, but I wished the bass dug deeper - it is seemed all the bass was kind of weak and was all in the mid-bass range with almost nothing in the low bass range, like they put a filter on it. My dual subs were hardly putting out anything at all (my bass management filters bass from all channels to the subs at 80 Hz). Did anyone else experience this? I haven't had a chance to compare to the original stereo mix but I am guessing that it was done this way on purpose for artistic reasons, perhaps to match the original mix aesthetic.
 
Strange it was different for the Tidal Atmos version in 5.1?

edit...
Do you have access to Adobe Audition and Dolby Reference Player by chance? It makes it easy to dig deeper into these mixes because you can decode all the Atmos channels to pcm, and output any channel to any speaker channel.
Nope, I heard of both of these Apps but I don't have them. I'm on Linux, too, so I might not be equipped to use them either.
 
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