Jethro Tull - Aqualung BluRay Audio Failing?

[scooob]

$70 was pricy for all those discs included on DVD and BR plus CD I think was included. I found them priced nicely consider concert material, videos, outtake mix of the album and finally 5.1 and 4.0 mixes. A total deal there before prices started going up.

Pricey for me, in the sense that I mainly bought it for the quad mix. I already had the 5.1 mix from the original SACD release. And of course I already had multiple versions of the original album. The video content, live stuff, early mix, demos and such are nice to have, but after hearing them a few times, I don't think I'll play them much. The two DVDs are wasted on anyone with a Blu-ray player, since all the content on them is duplicated on the BD disc. The scarf, marbles, coasters etc... not of value to me. Still, I'm glad I bought the box, and not just because of how much it's selling for now on the secondary market. I'll never sell it, but I hope my wife or kids get some nice cash for it, and the rest of my collection, after I keel over!

Now, in an attempt to get back on topic: I'm really glad I have the original Aqualung 40th Anniversary big box, even though that was very pricey, even upon release (actually, my mom of all people gave it to me for Christmas way back when; hurray for the Amazon wish list!). People complain about the mastering being too hot, but when I first played it, both the CD and the surround, the fidelity was such a revelation, given the murky sound of all versions of the album I'd ever heard up to that point. It gave the album a new life, even in stereo, not to mention the 5.1 mix, hearing the quad for the first time, and all the great bonus tracks. I still think it sounds good, mastered loud but not oppressively so. I'll never sell that either, even though I have the updated flat-mastered "book" version as well.

 

[uffeolby]

Now, in an attempt to get back on topic: I'm really glad I have the original Aqualung 40th Anniversary big box, even though that was very pricey, even upon release (actually, my mom of all people gave it to me for Christmas way back when; hurray for the Amazon wish list!). People complain about the mastering being too hot, but when I first played it, both the CD and the surround, the fidelity was such a revelation, given the murky sound of all versions of the album I'd ever heard up to that point. It gave the album a new life, even in stereo, not to mention the 5.1 mix, hearing the quad for the first time, and all the great bonus tracks. I still think it sounds good, mastered loud but not oppressively so. I'll never sell that either, even though I have the updated flat-mastered "book" version as well.

I have both releases and I agree with you. When I am in an Aqualung mode I always reach for the blu-ray first. My initial reactions when I played the DVD from the book set, being used to the blu-ray, was "this picture on the TV screen is really blurry" and "Isn't this a little dull sounding?"

The DVD set is worth keeping for the extended version of Wond'ring Aloud in 5.1 though.

 

[stoopid]

Now, in an attempt to get back on topic: I'm really glad I have the original Aqualung 40th Anniversary big box, even though that was very pricey, even upon release (actually, my mom of all people gave it to me for Christmas way back when; hurray for the Amazon wish list!). People complain about the mastering being too hot, but when I first played it, both the CD and the surround, the fidelity was such a revelation, given the murky sound of all versions of the album I'd ever heard up to that point. It gave the album a new life, even in stereo, not to mention the 5.1 mix, hearing the quad for the first time, and all the great bonus tracks. I still think it sounds good, mastered loud but not oppressively so. I'll never sell that either, even though I have the updated flat-mastered "book" version as well.

Aqualung really jumps from the speakers in the latest 40th anniv mixes, the original was murky sounding at best. Steven Wilson has done this for several recordings, specifically Yes's Fragile, CttE, and Relayer. The King Crimson remasters/5.1 mixes are improved (other than THRAK, which was unnecessary imho) but limited I think to the masters provided not being the best from the studio. SW is good at polishing a turd, but there's a point where it will just smudge. At least he seems to understand that, as I've not an outright bad SW mix yet.