So jealous of all of you guys that get to be beta testers.
If at any point more testers are needed, PICK ME!
If at any point more testers are needed, PICK ME!
I have ofter wondered to myself if I could erase my knowledge of a classic album, then hear it again, would I end up liking it all over, or would it be a product of the time and place all those many years ago.
Well, CLOSE TO THE EDGE sort of fits that bill, mostly because I never owned it, and I don't even remember hearing it in the past. My YES listening over the past 30+ years has been "The Yes Album" and "Fragile". I never really got into anything else.
So, along comes a test copy of "CLOSE TO THE EDGE" for me, under a non-disclosure agreement, to check out on various players, in the car, and check for errors with menu's and such. The best part about doing this is that I get to hear the preliminary disc early. Can't tell anyone, but it's great to get all fired up and have a new DVD-A for the car.
Well, I have to tell you, I have been listening and listening to this album, and what the hell? How did I miss it. I LOVE IT!! (Well, at lest the first two songs). I keep playing them over and over. I still need to appreciate the third tune, but I really like the first two.
First off, you better have a center channel and a good center speaker, because the lead vocals are solo'd in the center. I know some of you don't like this, but Steven does this better than anyone, and it really shines in the car - as well as at home. But in the car, WOW!!
About 10 minutes into the first tune, the surround really envelopes the listener, as the rears and fronts have a vocal choir effect surrounding the listener, almost in a cathedral like manor. Then, the lead vocal "It get up, I get down" comes solo from the center. WOW! WOW! WOW!
I want to make a track marker here so I can go back to it for demo purposes. What an amazing job by Steven. To me, this is the center piece of the surround mix. The entire track is gorgeous in surround, and I'm really a first time listener. You guys who love this album will be blown away.
Track Two, "You and I", is tremendous as well. Superb use of the surrounds, and although I never owned this album, this was the tune I sort of remembered, but not in detail.
When this gets released in a few weeks, I'll be back with more. The beta testers got permission to review this disc today, so you may hear from a few more folks, but I already know this is a 10 for me.
And if anyone thinks I'm "sucking up to Steven", or anyone, well think what you want. I LOVE THIS DISC!!! :banana:
Track three is killer too! IMO
@Neil: "Marching powder"?. I lived in Hollywood for three years and never heard that term, you Brits are simply the best. Love the terminology.
I think the full phrase is "Columbian marching powder"!!
Gotta tell ya... I'm a big SW fan so I am probably a bit biased - but - if CTTE is any indication of the quality both in sound and mix, I believe that these discs will set a new benchmark. I really think it's that good. (Of course that's just one man's humble opinion - your mileage may vary)
I can probably tell you that we have not received the "next" YES disc, so don't get your hopes up too soon. Even when we do get it, IF we get it, we won't be able to tell you all that we did get it. Sorry.
Oh, dear, one great step backwards(pun intended) with our facts. Peru is actually the world's largest supplier of the magic white powder.
Having lived in Colombia I can tell you they are now mostly good little puppets of the U.S. DEA. Being married to a Colombian, I wish that stereotype
would go away. Kinda like the huge myths of "The wit of Margaret Thatcher" or the book of "Great English Lovers".(Fawlty Towers in case the reference is missed. )
/QUOTE]
Apologies, no offence to Columbians was meant, I was just repeating the phrase as I'd heard it.
Back to Yes, this strange intriguing quote appeared on Yes's facebook page yesterday:
"Could it be? Yes it could. Something's coming, something good, if I can waitSomething's coming, I don't know what it is, but it is, gonna be great...Find out next week...."
We had to sign non-disclosure agreements in order to receive the test disc(s) we get from time to time. Because of the complexity of the DVD-A format and it's tendency to do different things on different player hardware, we get the discs not for the music but for the disc architecture. Of course, we take note of the content!
I can probably tell you that we have not received the "next" YES disc, so don't get your hopes up too soon. Even when we do get it, IF we get it, we won't be able to tell you all that we did get it. Sorry.
All I can tell you for sure that CLOSE TO THE EDGE is a disc that has gotten more play in my car than any DVD-A has probably since LOVE came out. No lie. It is a wonderful disc and I sincerely hope you all love it as well, and that we don't experience the controversy that we did when the ELP discs came out. If someone here does not like it, of course, we want it posted here along with the reasons, but please no campaign. I don't think I could take that again. @:
Apologies, no offence to Columbians was meant, I was just repeating the phrase as I'd heard it.
Back to Yes, this strange intriguing quote appeared on Yes's facebook page yesterday:
"Could it be? Yes it could. Something's coming, something good, if I can waitSomething's coming, I don't know what it is, but it is, gonna be great...Find out next week...."
Its all good m8, those of us in the USA think the same thing I am sure, now that I have lived there I have a whole different take on the place. Lots of very real & decent folks. Not like the "me first" "gotta get a new Lexus" like the USA sadly has become...
Thanks for the hint from YES. Why not announce the next one? Unless maybe they are still deciding? They announce projects well in advance. What is another two weeks of early release?
About CTTE in 5.1. In celebration, I broke out my YES-Fragile DVD-A out yesterday and blasted the 5.1 mix of America. Me personally: I LOVE IT!
More tracks/edits/layers of guitars & keys that didn't make the original mix, that really fill out the song. Beautiful harmonies discretely mixed in the rears.
What a fabulous job on that track!
I know some folks here didn't care for that mix. The BluRay container has so much space; why not include two 5.1 mixes if the mixer thinks there are different ways to go? It seems that people can't agree even on discrete mixes like the 2 SW ELP 5.1(which I think are spectactular,fwiw...).
Put me in the group that dislikes the added noodling on America; it distracts from the song, imo. One of the MANY reasons I'm looking forward to this CttE release is having SW's 5.1 take on America. He always attempts (and succeeds imo) to stay true to the original feel of the songs, so no fears about adding distracting parts.
Ok, just to kill time while we are tortured through more release delays.....
First: The release of America was on basically an "advertising" LP to promote Atlantic, so how much did YES really care about that so called original mix???
Second: The original mix was way too heavy on Steve's guitar, though I personally dug that, YES made their name on balanced contributions. The original America has so little Wakeman on it. The Fragile mix has much deeper keyboard layering. More Wakeman has never been a bad thing!
Third: Ya gotta LOVE those harmonies coming from the back channel. Yes???
Fourth: The original mix sounds more like a jam session(not a bad thing) the Fragile 5.1 mix sounds more like a layered studio recording.
Ok, now ya got me worried. Is SW gonna go more for your less filling/minimalist approach or my "full bodied" tastes great mix???
When will we get to the days when we can have the descrete tracks and we can do our own mix? I think that is the answer!
Hey guys. It's not that I don't "like" the third track!
I seem to keep hitting "replay" on Tracks 1 and 2. Heck, I haven't even really listened to the extra stuff that much. I was never a fan of the version of "America" on the Fragile DVD-A, so I haven't given that track much of a chance at all.
I think the full phrase is "Columbian marching powder"!!
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