HiRez Poll Hawkwind - DAYS OF THE UNDERGROUND [Blu-Ray Audio]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this brand new box set from the band Hawkwind entitled "Days Of The Underground – The Studio & Live Recordings 1977-1979".
This brand new box set from our friends at Esoteric Recordings contains two Blu-ray Discs with three albums remixed in 5.1 surround by Steven Wilson.
The albums included are: "Quark, Strangeness And Charm", "Hawklords – 25 Years On", and "P.X.R. 5"

 

[fizzywiggs41]

Well, I finally listened enough to rate this 3 record set of surround mixes by Steven Wilson.

Quark , Strangeness, and Charm

The first song of this recording sounds more like the early Hawkwind. The album as a whole has Lots of electronics wizardry throughout .
The best tunes are the instrumentals ....The Forge Of Vulcan and Iron Dream.
The Iron Dream is a real treat in surround as it has ample panning clockwise .
Vocals could have been better without Calverts Dominance , but this album is not his worst demonstration It sometimes works.
I recommend this album and it scores an "8"

PXR5

Nothing too revelatory with this album . I think it is the weaker of the 3 surround albums.
Again the instrumentals are better than listening to Calvert's vocals which don't due justice to the music.
Note : David Brock canned Calvert not long after this album was released, which was after "25 Years On". Adequate surround throughout.
I give this album a "7"

25Years On

This album is actually quite good and comes on strong . Nothing I'd say sticks out too much other than , the vocal lead , again Calvert , which this album could have done without or at the very least ....used on a few tracks.
Although I much prefer their earlier works ...this album music wise and in surround tends to make it a worthwhile recording for Hawkwind/Hawklords.
I give this album an "8"

So the overall average score is Eight.

 

[FusionHead]

I am giving this a 10, sheerly on the strength of the surround mix for the Quark, Strangeness, and Charm album, for which I begrudgingly spent the money on this box set to acquire. I am a big fan of that album, and the surround mix by Steven Wilson is (as always) wonderful and faithful to the balance of the original album. Great sound quality with dramatic, discrete positioning of instruments and effects, making it fun and surprising to listen to.

Artistically, I will respectfully disagree with fizzywigg's comment regarding Robert Calvert. In my opinion, it is Calvert's poetic lyrics and vocal delivery that make the QS&C album so unique and powerful. For example, the lyrics to Spirit Of The Age, Damnation Alley, and The Days of the Underground are all brilliant. And Hassan I Sahba would not be near as 'eerie' without his vocal.

IMHO, the other two albums in this collection pale artistically compared to QS&C, so I will leave it to others to comment on those.

As a side note: I agree with many other commenters on this and other forums that lament that these kind of surround remixes are often being packaged with lesser albums (or uninteresting 'alternate takes/mixes') in huge, expensive box sets. The record companies clearly want to make more money, but the high price will put buyers off, when they could have made more money selling the remixes of the individual albums.

 

[omnipotent1]

As one who prefers post Lemmy Hawkwind this is fantastic.QSC is obviously the standout of the three but to even have all of these in surround is an unexpected joy.Now patiently waiting for some more Gong/Hillage surround action by Cherry Red who have quietly become an unexpected leading purveyor of MCH goodness.

 

[Matt Wilson]

Another 9 for me (that seems to be my default rating lately). Virtually any Wilson is good Wilson, and even though these aren't the Hawkwind albums I'd chose for him to sprinkle his fairy dust on, I enjoyed them just fine, thanks.

 

[Sal1950]

I gave it an 8 1/2
Music mostly leaves me cold.
Steven's 5.1 surround mix has good sound quality for dated recording, but this is 2022-23, why not mixed to Atmos?
Meh

 

[Plan9]

I gave it an 8 1/2
Music mostly leaves me cold.
Steven's 5.1 surround mix has good sound quality for dated recording, but this is 2022-23, why not mixed to Atmos?
Meh

I think these were done at the time of Warrior on the Edge of Time, so around 2013... No Atmos then.

 

[Sal1950]

I think these were done at the time of Warrior on the Edge of Time, so around 2013... No Atmos then.

Ah ok, thanks.
The BD release is dated 2023?
It's sure not worth the kind of money they're asking on ebay.

 

[rusinurbe]

Hawkwind have not really done any stinker albums, some albums have had bigger budgets than others and that's where it usually shows. As a trio of albums these are great finding our way in a world of punk, they capture a time quite well.
The Surround mixes are great to have and the extras on both the blu ray and in the box for me made this a bargain.
Can not believe I have only just got round to voting on this.

 

[jimfisheye]

Hawkwind are one of my favorite bands. Some of their album mixes can get pretty low budget. Most of the early major label releases had a certain level but things still got weird. Just getting copies of some of the earlier ones that weren't some CD edition with screaming treble eq applied was nearly impossible before the 24 bit remasters came out very recently. So surprises like the Warrior album and now this trio getting remixed by no less than Steve Wilson and in freakin' surround no less lo less is out of this world! These are certainly 'hardcore fans only' kind of Hawkwind albums too. The Quark album WILL get people to leave! So extra surprise at this production! If only we could get DoReMe, In Search of Space, and Mountain Grill mixed to surround by him, right?

Most of what I'm hearing here is greatness! Some touches on the mixes especially with the PXR5 album that I wouldn't have expected. Robot stands out. And a couple of the other overdubbed live tracks that I wouldn't have guessed had the potential shown here.

Only two disappointments jump out. I would have been expecting a new level of something from Hassan I Sabbah - a favorite track from Quark. I actually wonder if these guys lost another track (like with the Warrior album) and this one isn't an upmix? This is the one track that's clearly substandard to the original mix.

Then we have Steve Wilson's apparent hate of speed manipulation tricks in songs rearing its head again! I can't get past the static speed mix in Automotion! Love the rest of the new mix. I actually had to spend an evening working the speed changes performance to duplicate the original with the new mix. You know, like one might do with a new album one just bought, right? And all is right again and with a new mix!

Outside of those two tracks, this is greatness! And I'm not really upset even with those.

 

[sjcorne]

I would have been expecting a new level of something from Hassan I Sabbah - a favorite track from Quark. I actually wonder if these guys lost another track (like with the Warrior album) and this one isn't an upmix? This is the one track that's clearly substandard to the original mix.

The following tracks on this set are Penteo upmixes:

• "Hassan I Sabah"
• "Forge of Vulcan"
• "Deathtrap"
• "Infinity"
• "Lifeform"

 

[jimfisheye]

The following tracks on this set are Penteo upmixes:

• "Hassan I Sabah"
• "Forge of Vulcan"
• "Deathtrap"
• "Infinity"
• "Lifeform"

No kidding? Well, that explains that then!

Would have been better served inserting the original stereo mixes with blank surround channels. I guess it took a favorite track to jump out immediately to me. What the PXR5 remix could have been though with those other 3 in place!

So that's what Penteo upmixes sound like then? Just damaged!

 

[artwwweb]

Two technical points:

1: All of the CDs gave me ripping errors on a couple of tracks. I re-tried ripping those tracks and after 1,2 or 3 retries I got perfect rips. It is rare to find a disc that does not rip perfectly first time so although all was OK in the end I wonder if there is a problem with the discs or pressing.

2: In MakeMKV I can see that the disc has PCM 2 and 6 channel, and DTS-MA 6 channel with a DTS core. Which is pretty standard. But when I tried to extract the audio from the MKV with MMH, MMH reported 2 and 6 channel PCM and 2 x 6 channel (lossy) DTS streams (at 24/48). So the DTS-MA was not being noticed by MMH. Again, not too much of a problem as I just used the PCM stream, but not quite right.

Anybody else notice this?

 

[FusionHead]

Hawkwind are one of my favorite bands. Some of their album mixes can get pretty low budget. Most of the early major label releases had a certain level but things still got weird. Just getting copies of some of the earlier ones that weren't some CD edition with screaming treble eq applied was nearly impossible before the 24 bit remasters came out very recently. So surprises like the Warrior album and now this trio getting remixed by no less than Steve Wilson and in freakin' surround no less lo less is out of this world! These are certainly 'hardcore fans only' kind of Hawkwind albums too. The Quark album WILL get people to leave! So extra surprise at this production! If only we could get DoReMe, In Search of Space, and Mountain Grill mixed to surround by him, right?

Most of what I'm hearing here is greatness! Some touches on the mixes especially with the PXR5 album that I wouldn't have expected. Robot stands out. And a couple of the other overdubbed live tracks that I wouldn't have guessed had the potential shown here.

Only two disappointments jump out. I would have been expecting a new level of something from Hassan I Sabbah - a favorite track from Quark. I actually wonder if these guys lost another track (like with the Warrior album) and this one isn't an upmix? This is the one track that's clearly substandard to the original mix.

Then we have Steve Wilson's apparent hate of speed manipulation tricks in songs rearing its head again! I can't get past the static speed mix in Automotion! Love the rest of the new mix. I actually had to spend an evening working the speed changes performance to duplicate the original with the new mix. You know, like one might do with a new album one just bought, right? And all is right again and with a new mix!

Outside of those two tracks, this is greatness! And I'm not really upset even with those.

I agree regarding Hassan I Sabbah - one of my favourite tracks, and was SO sad that this was one of the two tracks on QS&C that they could not find the complete multitracks for! Oh well, the rest of the Wilson-remixed tracks are done so well, it makes up for it a bit.

 

[artwwweb]

[Post updated to include all three albums]

Quark:

Mix: 4/5: Two tracks are upmixes. Even the other tracks are slightly disappointing. Not always much going on and just not as spectacular as the music. Probably because the instrumentation is fairly simple so there wasn't much for Steven Wilson to play with.

Sound: 3/5: Absolutely fine, nothing spectacular.

Music: 4/5: Some pieces are amazing, a lot good.

Score: 4*3 + 3*2 + 4*1 = 12 + 6 + 4 = 22/30 = 7.33 = 7/10


25 Years On:

Mix: 4/5: Most of the time the mix is excellent, but not perfect. The arrangements are fairly sparse so there's not always much to work with but Wilson has managed to create as much surround fun as reasonably possible. The drums seem to have been recorded in a kind of fuzzy mono. When there are little extra touches (e.g. sfx) they are often panned around the room.

Sound: 3/5: Bass guitar is fat but still crisp but it felt lacking in the higher frequencies.

Music: 5/5: At its best this album is on a par with Pink Floyd. The surround remix has enabled me to refresh my enjoyment of songs I love and increase my appreciation of the (relatively) lesser material. This is not all 5 star material but the ones I love, I love so much that giving it any less would be unrepresenative of my opinion.

Score: 4*3+3*2+5*1 = 12+6+5 = 23/30 = 7.66/10 = 8/10


PXR5:

Mix: 5/5: Occasionally could have done more but basically lots going on, with a lot of pans, which is appropriate for the style of music.

Sound: 4/5:

Music: 4/5: A few fillers but some great songs - great performances and, unlike their early albums, well-produced with focussed writing, not just lengthy jams. (Though Robot is possibly overlong.)

Score: 5*3 + 4*2 + 4*1 = 15 + 8 + 4 = 27/30 = 9/10

Overall score 8/10.

For once, I don't think this is an over-priced box. I will enjoy the extra CD tracks but I appreciate that if you are not a big fan and bought this just for the surround (something I often do for other bands) the extra CDs and ephemera are just wasted space and money. However, you get three albums in surround for £90, that's £30 each. That's not much more than an SDE bluray once postage is factored in (£28). Clearly, still a problem if you only want one album.

 

[artwwweb]

The following tracks on this set are Penteo upmixes:

• "Hassan I Sabah"
• "Forge of Vulcan"
• "Deathtrap"
• "Infinity"
• "Lifeform"

I would not have guessed that Deathtrap is an upmix - the car whizzing around the room is very effective. But, thinking about it, I suppose that Penteo is just taking the extreme lefts and rights and putting them in the rears. The clues being that the cymbal crashes are also in the rears and that the car effect doesn't spin around the room in a full circle but instead hits SL then goes back SL -> FL -> FR -> SR -> FR -> FL. But I like it that way.