HiRez Poll Guano Apes - DON'T GIVE ME NAMES [SACD]

[sjcorne]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this 2000 release from the German rock band Guano Apes.
The Multichannel layer of the SACD contains a 5.1 surround mix of the album by Ronald Prent.

 

[jefe1]

Off Topic: There is a Qsound variant of the CD out there.

 

[sjcorne]

When I interviewed Ronald Prent a few months ago, he mentioned that this was one of the first surround mixes he ever did and it's still considered a "benchmark for 5.1 mixing". I've since managed to pick up a copy and was surprised to find that the 5.1 mix is actually pretty tame in comparison to others he's done in the years since. There are extended passages with just ambience in the rear speakers, but they do occasionally spring to life with a burst of percussion and backing vocals. The center speaker is used quite heavily for both lead vocals and lead guitar.

The music itself is hit-or-miss for me. I suppose you could equate this to other rock acts with female vocalists from the late-90s/early-00s such as Evanescence or Paramore, but the vocals - in my opinion, at least - aren't nearly as good as either of those examples. Standout tracks for me are "No Speech" and "Living In A Lie". I wish they'd included the unplugged version of "Living In A Lie".

Sound quality is overall pretty good - the 5.1 mix is definitely more dynamic than the stereo, but I think they purposely wanted this to sound a bit grunge-y. The heavier passages get to be a bit harsh at high volume.

As a side-note, it appears that the 5.1 mix was also released on a DD DVD and is considerably cheaper/easier-to-find than the SACD.

 

[salsdali]

I love the song No Speech