BluRay Music Video Poll Pink Floyd - DELICATE SOUND OF THUNDER [Blu-Ray]

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Rate the BD of Pink Floyd - DELICATE SOUND OF THUNDER

  • 7

    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
    13

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Please post your thoughts and comments on this 2020 reissue of the classic Pink Floyd concert film "Delicate Sound of Thunder".
This new edition has been completely re-edited from the original camera negatives which have been scanned at 4k quality.
The audio has also been completely remixed in 5.1 surround by Pink Floyd's sound engineer Andy Jackson.

The 5.1 surround mix is also available to stream in Dolby Audio on Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/delicate-sound-of-thunder-2019-remix-live/1532571287
(y) :)(n)

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After digesting this title for almost a year now, I think I am finally able to review it....

Let me start by saying this recording (audio and video) are my favorite recordings of any music of all time. Growing up, I wore out three copies of this video on VHS. I own the audio and video recording of this title on more formats than any other title in my collection. The impact the original video had on my life cannot be overstated. This film inspired me to play guitar, learn audio engineering and has been a common bond between me and my family for my entire life.

That being said, when I heard that this show would be reissued on bluray after extensive restoration, remixing and remastering in a 'Later Years' box, I was ecstatic. FINALLY. After 20+ years of waiting, holding out little to no hope we would ever see a proper digital release of this film..... I spent weeks researching every rentable movie screening facility in the Portland, Oregon area to rent a venue to screen this film with family and friends for the occasion on the day of release (looking back now, I am so thankful I got to do this event before COVID).

Overall, I am pretty happy with the release - but it is far from perfect (considering the Floyd's track record for botching releases as of late, I didn't hold my hopes too high). I voted an 8 for the following reasons:

- The mastering on this title is a bit too hot for my taste. There are certain moments of absolute distortion.
- Reverb sounds a bit weird on certain drum fills and clashes with the rest of the relatively dry mix. It's painfully obvious in certain songs, ie. Run Like Hell.
- Money was edited strangely. I wish they would have kept it more like the original cut and edit.
- The background vocals during the verses of Comfortably Numb sound awful. It blows my mind how this passed QC. Absolute grinding distortion on vocals that shouldn't be there to being with. They cut one of my favorite bits of the second guitar solo out of the new mix. My biggest issue with this release so far.
- Yet Another Movie, Round and Round, Terminal Frost should have been included in the new cut - not included as bonus tracks.
- No 4K release with ATMOS
 
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Just finished this and really enjoyed it! Solid 10 from me and my wife. Nice, punchy, not hammered 5.1 mix, beautiful full 16:9 restoration of the 35mm film complete with film grain intact. Sometimes they go full-screen with the background films played normally on the round screen behind the band but not too much - tastefully done, very nice.
Too bad Pulse from 4 years later will be forever limited to the smudgy 4:3 analog video it was recorded in. But this looks really terrific!!
Bass player extraordinaire Guy Pratt looks like a 12 year old kid here :).
 
- Yet Another Movie, Round and Round, Terminal Frost should have been included in the new cut - not included as bonus tracks.
- No 4K release with ATMOS

I was pleased it was extended (Shine On You Crazy Diamond is intact instead of just the intro the Laserdisc has). But I'll be holding onto the Laserdisc just the same. They utterly changed much of the footage. As you say closeups of the Mister Screen footage while the laserdisc shows the crowd view and even views of the crowd. When Signs of Life starts, the laserdisc shows a view of the lasers set up on stage framing Mister Screen. You get none of that on the Blu-Ray on that track. I know it's subjective what to show in a concert film, but showing the footage like it's a music video instead of the concert feels wrong to me. On the plus side, it's incredibly sharp by comparison, even if not 4K. I think if they really did do an Atmos remix and left it out, that's a bloody shame in and of itself as Atmos folds down to 5.1/7.1 just fine most of the time (Besides, they had enough room to include a separate track even on a regular Blu-Ray). I agree it would have been nice to see footage of the other tracks performed live on the CD version. I'm sure they had footage. Still, it's high definition and widescreen and overall puts the laserdisc to shame. But I still have an excuse to watch that one as well.
 
I just noticed Pink Floyd's Delicate Sound of Thunder is now available in 4K on iTunes (still no Atmos mix, though). It's strange many releases are now coming out in 2K Blu-Ray only but in 4K in streaming (e.g. The Golden Child has a limited edition new Blu-Ray but it's only 2K, but it's 4K Dolby Vision on iTunes). This one isn't even HDR, though and of course the audio is Dolby 5.1 only (Blu-Rays have 2-channel 24/96 and 5.1 DTS HD-MA sound. Of course, I wouldn't have complained if the Blu-Ray came with a digital copy in 4K.
 
I have not yet seen it complete to cast my vote. However, I think that the audiovisual producer of this concert did a great job, totally different from any of the other dozens of concerts that I have on dvd or blu ray. He uses shots never seen by me in other concerts, such as the close-ups of the chorus girls or how he films the interpretation of Wright or Mason. In general I am amazed at the atmosphere of the recording. Great concert.
 
I just noticed Pink Floyd's Delicate Sound of Thunder is now available in 4K on iTunes (still no Atmos mix, though). It's strange many releases are now coming out in 2K Blu-Ray only but in 4K in streaming...
Same with Waters' Us + Them, available to stream in 4k, but (so far) only just in 2k on the Blu-ray. Maybe it's a cost issue - less to stream it in 4k than produce a 4k UHD disc?
 
@bgf1973 - The old version had closeups of the girls too. I know because I always thought the girl on the far right (facing the stage) was seriously hot and enjoyed every camera pass. ;)

@Petr Kropotkin - It also doesn't have Atmos on Us & Them, which is nonsense since movies on iTunes have it now. I'd rather have 2K & Atmos than 4K with 5.1 (plus it's lossy DD+ on iTunes; whether that's audible or not is another matter, but one more thing in the disc's favor (I dump them all to my server storage anyway so either way I don't normally play off the disc unless it's to see an extra I will likely only watch once). It would have been nice, given the cost, if the 4K digital copy was included like many studio codes that support iTunes directly.
 
I voted 10. Fantastic audio quality and mix, great concert, superb video quality. If I was feeling churlish I'd knock half a point off for the card packaging rather than a proper plastic blu ray case, but it's well done card packaging (unlike Animals you don't scratch the disc getting it out here) and the rest of it is so great it deserves a 10.
 
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