HiRez Poll Marillion - SOUNDS THAT CAN'T BE MADE (A SUNDAY NIGHT ABOVE THE RAIN) [Blu-ray Audio]

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Rate the BDA of Marillion - SOUNDS THAT CAN'T BE MADE (A SUNDAY NIGHT ABOVE THE RAIN)

  • 6

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1: Terrible Content, Surround Mix, and Fidelity

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    8

rtbluray

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Please post your thoughts and comments on this 2014 release from Marillion of their album "Sounds That Can't Be Made", mixed in 5.1 surround and available on the 3-disc Blu-Ray set entitled "A Sunday Night Above the Rain".
Available on Marillion's website: A Sunday Night Above...

(y) :) (n)

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Marillion is my favorite band but their surround mixes were mostly dismal until the Deluxe Edition Campaign kicked off for their major label releases (Script - AOS). This particular release predates the Campaign and is essentially an independent product from the band themselves (no major label backing).

Other fans can correct me if I am wrong but historically it came across that the band themselves had little interest in surround (sad) & they were hesitant to finance surround mixes themselves.

Then one day, their longtime producer, arranger, mixer (Michael Hunter) seemed to try his hand at mixing some studio recordings into 5.1.
The early results began to show up as bonus content on subsequent live releases. I feel that most Marillion fans with a passion for surround found the mixes to be extremely lacking as you had to crank the rears to eek out anything almost considered “discrete”.

The mixes seemed to marginally improve each time a 5.1 mix was included on a release but they never really got to the quality levels that the band’s music deserves. Finally though, Hunter seemed to “get it” when his 5.1 mix of AOS was used for the Deluxe Edition. Still not Wilsonesq but an admirable effort. I do not have his follow-up effort of the “with friends” studio cuts that are included on the new live blu-ray to see if he is on a winning streak (its on order). Fingers crossed.

Don’t get me wrong though - Hunter has done fabulous work Marillion (but just not the surround mixes) and this particular release was just pedestrian.
 
Yeah, as artwwweb said in the poll voting thread today, "The mix is the most important, then the sound, then the music ." I personally find it more difficult to evaluate the mix than the other two components, so maybe that led to my surprise. I have this and three other Marillion releases, and I think highly of all of them, not necessarily because of their mixes.
 
I missed out on that 3-disc set when it was still available, now it seems to be OOP, at least here in Germany. I might be overlooking something, though - if anybody knows where to still get it, I'd love to get my hands on it.

I very much like both the album and the live shows on this, and was able to listen to the 5.1 mixes before. I remember that the live shows don't offer much in terms of surround, but sound good, and that the studio album was a pretty decent surround mix indeed. Obviously, I'd have to get my hands on the actual set to listen again and properly rate it, but from memory? Something around a 7 to 8.
 
My favourite Marillion album in 5.1, nowhere near as bad as some make out, plenty of discrete moments if you sit in the sweet spot and listen carefully, the first and last songs are in my opinion the best two songs they have ever written
 
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