HiRez Poll Cooke, Ian - ANTIQUASAURIA [DVD-A]

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Rate the DVD-A of Ian Cooke - ANTIQUASAURIA

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  • 1: Poor Surround, Poor Fidelity, Poor Content

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  • Total voters
    26

JonUrban

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Please post your thoughts and comments on this special 2015 DVD-A release from Ian Cooke called "ANTIQUASAURIA", with a 5.1 mix by Neil Wilkes!! (y)(y)

For more information about this title, check out Ian Cooke's website at http://www.iancookemusic.com/

The pre-release discussion thread in the forum is: https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?20564

This is currently available in a CD/DVD/Book edition as well as a DVD/Vinyl/Book edition!!

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This is THE definitive progressive dinosaur concept album. I defy anyone to prove otherwise. The musicianship is excellent (I particularly enjoy the drummer), the melodies are very catchy, the lyrics bring personality and interest to each of the various species (I especially enjoy the Tyrannosaurus suffering from arthritis), and the packaging/artwork/bonus videos are very cool. The sound stage is spacious, the instruments and vocals are clean and discrete, and the surround mix is tasteful with just the right amount of activity in the rears. The album is good from start to finish with the standout track for me being the instrumental "Extinction". And now I finally know what thagomizers are. I give it an 8!
 
This is THE definitive progressive dinosaur concept album. I defy anyone to prove otherwise. The musicianship is excellent (I particularly enjoy the drummer), the melodies are very catchy, the lyrics bring personality and interest to each of the various species (I especially enjoy the Tyrannosaurus suffering from arthritis), and the packaging/artwork/bonus videos are very cool. The sound stage is spacious, the instruments and vocals are clean and discrete, and the surround mix is tasteful with just the right amount of activity in the rears. The album is good from start to finish with the standout track for me being the instrumental "Extinction". And now I finally know what thagomizers are. I give it an 8!

If you give it an 8....then do it! Vote my man...vote.

EDIT - OOPS...

OK, I now see you did vote. It wasn't showing on my browser..but now is. ???
 
skherbeck - yes the thagomizer was from Gary Larson, and then picked up for use by a Denver paleontologist (Steg was discovered near Denver).
Thanks so much for listening to our album!
Thagomizer_comic.jpg
 
What more could you ask for in a package? A beautifully recorded and mixed album of very thoughtful prog with lovely melodies and vocals. This is a total treat, an absolute delight of an album. Prog-pop pretensions arc skyward through soaring melodic structures that carry hints of Crimson, Yes, Radiohead, The Vicar and to my ears even XTC; there is an English pastoralness to this that also hints at Caravan via the Joe Boyd arrangements for Nick Drake too. The sound field is full and sonorous, the cello underpins whilst the electric guitar is anchored up front by the harmonies that sit so tight in the rear pockets. I feel spoiled, sat here enveloped by this contemporary material, reading the delightful booklet and I genuinely, actually find myself thinking about heading to Target to buy some sharpies so I can get on with coloring in my booklet. Whatever era of surround music we are now in, this gorgeous romp through the history of dinosaurs seems most apt. Quad giants have stirred from their slumber of late; shaking off the weight of the sleep of decades to be amongst us again. This album sits most rightfully amongst those lost gems; a new found treasure uncovered. 9.
 
"That's not who we are, a pebble and a star and a soul"

When I was a little kid, we had a school field trip to Yale University in New Haven, to their Museum of Natural History. It was one of the things that made 6th grade something to look forward to (especially if you were a 5th grader!). In the center of the museum's "Great Hall" is a completely reconstructed skeleton of a Brontosaurus. It's very cool, especially if you are of 6th grade age. After that trip, all of the class became dinosaur maniacs and everyone read about them and pondered the idea that these things were once here and are now gone.

Well, time moves on, people get old, and with that you tend to put the whole dinosaur thing in the way back and it becomes something of a "Oh yeah, that's Jurassic Park stuff" kind of thing.

But then, along comes "Antiquassuria" from Ian Cooke wrapped in an incredibly perfect 5.1 mix by Neil Wilkes and all of a sudden you are almost returned to the mind of that little kid who loved dinosaurs.

Before I begin the review, let me just say that you really need to listen to this album all the way through, and multiple times. It's not until the second or third listen that it really starts to get you and you will suddenly smile when it all comes together, but I digress. Let's go:

TRACK ONE: PROLOGUE

This is an instrumental track that is pure progressive rock and powerful. The center channel highlights Ian's cello, and accent guitars are discrete in the rears and fronts. The song creates a sonic landscape where you might imagine a prehistoric society with a myriad of beasts lumbering about at different paces. Two and a half minutes in you meet the first beast!

TRACK TWO: STEGOSAURUS

Each of the tracks after the Prologue are written from the perspective of the titled dinosaur. The Stegosaurus here will eventually become the official fossil of Colorado. The lyrics are very straight forward and tell of the trials and tribulations of life as a Stegosaurus. The mix is very Steven Wilson like, with the center channel containing the bass and the solo vocal. If you don't have a center speaker you will be out of luck here. At the end of the track the harmonies are spread out around the center in both the fronts and backs which sounds terrific. Themes from this song will be repeated in the final track "Epilogue".

TRACK THREE: DIPLODOCUS

This track begins with a booming cello in the fronts and you can almost see the Diplodocus lumbering across the terrain as a plucked string instrument in the rears follows the footsteps across the plains. The lyrics again first describe the beast followed by his insights on daily life and how he has to deal with threats at all times. A massive tail can do serious damage!! A nice "string quartet in surround effect" ends the track.

TRACK FOUR: MICRORAPTOR


This beast is a flyer, and the music has a smoother tone to it. Harmony vocals in the rears create a splendid effect. Again the listener is surrounded by crafty guitar parts and Ian's cello in the rears. The surround mix is full and done without the extreme panning that many feel is an issue like some of the old quadraphonic mixes. However, every channel is used and, IMHO, used just right.

TRACK FIVE: POLYCOTYLUS

This song is based on a fossil found with a baby within its womb and we get the baby's story. Neil's mix follows the same formula as earlier tunes. The vocal harmonies really stand out on this one. There is a nice video to go along with this track on the DVD, and you can see the pregnant Polycotylus and her demise, as well as life and death in the sea environment in that video. The song itself is light and jazzy.

TRACK SIX: PARASAUROLOPHUS

This song sounds almost classical, with a cathedral-like choir surrounding you at times, a light piano in the fronts, and a free form jazz feel throughout. The cello really shines on this one. You get the impression that the Parasaurolophus could belt out quite a loud blast, but this song does not do that. It's a very calming tune.

TRACK SEVEN: QUETZALCOATLUS

Another flyer and the music reflects that in its tone. This is more along the lines of progressive rock as opposed to the jazz feel of the previous tunes. Again the story is told from the beasts’ first person perspective. The surround mix has accent guitars and sounds in the rears, but this one is primarily a front channels mix. And it fits the material quite well.

TRACK EIGHT: TYRANNOSAURUS

The big guy. Everyone knows this beast and he's a bad ass! :) Ian's Cello leads the track off in the right channels. Another progressive piece, this is one of the longer tracks on the album. Although he's the king, he too can get old and broken down and this story tells us of a Tyrannosaurus on the way down, with a bad ankle and arthritis in his bones. It's tough on those ankles supporting such a large mass above. This poor soul will eventually end up on display in Chicago. Such a fate! Ian's cello really shines on this tune.

TRACK NINE: EXTINCTION

“The end of the world as they knew it” The giant Asteroid hits the Earth and wipes most of it away. Could happen any day. Swell. This track is an instrumental that starts out only in the 3 front channels, solo cello solo in the center but also in the left front. The rears come in after about two minutes, but they merely compliment what's going on in the fronts, which make it a showcase piece for Ian's cello.

TRACK TEN: EPILOGUE

The final track is probably the most "fun" track on the album. It almost "rollicks" and is such a catchy melody that you'll find yourself ear-worming it after a while. It's a great way to end an album and brings it full circle from the first track "prologue". On the DVD is an animated video that goes with the song and fits it well. You look into a “puppet box” as the story unfolds. It’s very clever and worth multiple views.


This album, like I said before, is a true album in the sense that it should be taken from start to finish, not as individual songs. An old time “concept album”, I sincerely hope that people discover it and enjoy it because it’s not something we’ll get every day, and in a world of disposable pop songs and single track MP3’s, here is a work of music that was created to be heard in as an album and not a song.

Neil’s mix is superb, and I am sure that SW would be proud of it and I hope he gets to listen as he would enjoy not only the mix but the content as well.

The music industry is nothing like it used to be, and albums these days are forgotten relics of the past, but I sincerely hope that people discover this project and it gets the attention it deserves.

At the very least, this should get nominated for a Grammy for Surround Album of the Year.

Good job all involved.
 
OK, just because I liked Jon's review and it has me curious, I have ordered it. Amazing value for the money. Surround DVD, LP, book and delivery to Canada was $23.99US. It is deals like this that I wish I could find in my local record shop. You can't get that much fun at the theater nowadays for the money, at least not with popcorn!
 
Yes our Host Jon's review is fantastic and glad someone could sum up in words what a great release this is.
I am still really enjoying this album, it has all the qualities I have loved about my favorite bands in where you want to listen to the whole album from start to finish as it's a great concept album, both in words and in music.
Giving this album a 9 rating as it's close to perfect to me as great music,great surround mix, much fun is to be and lives up to repeat listening, this is my third week of listening to it on my work commutes.
Hope more people give this one a chance as it's priced so favorably to what other bands are charging for a package as well done as this.
We should be making this a problem for the band that they have to keep repressing this release, come on people, order now :).

peter
 
We released a new animated music video today: https://youtu.be/K0HyR5GUBQM (Also on the DVD)

SPOILER ALERT: (gives away the song's meaning)
Pretty interesting from a science standpoint - just a few years ago it was discovered that a specific Polycotylus had a bunch of extra bones in the pelvic region. Turns out they were bones of an unborn fetus, thus changing the viewpoint that all plesiosaurs were laying eggs. Live birth!

Also cool that the animation team is a mother/daughter.
 
OK, so I was sacrilegious. I chose to play the amber vinyl first. Oh the stereo heresy! I have played the whole LP and am very impressed with the pressing. Noise free and of decent weight. My DVD came scuffed due to slipping out of the plastic sleeve, but I am sure it will play. I love the colouring book, just wish they were poster size with a set of watercolour paints, a la 1970's department store art sets, maybe with colour by numbers... I can say that even if I don't ever play the DVD(of course I will) I wouldn't feel cheated for the price and the level of quality music included. This reminds me heavily of one of my desert island discs, Ian Thomas' Glider, both in musicality and storytelling. I am gonna have to find some decent alone time to give the surround version a real good listening to. Prolly the best $24 bux I have spent in a long time, and I ain't heard nothin' (surround)yet!
 
I wanted to make huge coloring books too!
If you have any playback issues with the DVD, I'd be happy to send you a new one.
Glad you are enjoying it!
Ian Anderson and Ian MacKaye are my Ian influences, I'll check out Ian Thomas now :)
- Ian O
 
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