Robbie Williams: two albums worth of 5.1 studio material available on DVD-V singles (DD and dts)

QuadraphonicQuad

Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

haikubass

7.0.4
Joined
Aug 2, 2008
Messages
2,515
Location
Prague
Fellow member fredblue has just posted pics of his collection of Robbie Williams's DVD-singles with tracks in 5.1 and he wasn't the only one down this path ;)

You may remember a thread where these releases were briefly discussed – now, several years later, I've finally decided to do some digging and ended up with a total of 22 songs in surround (a dozen of these accompanied by a video) by the Madchester lad. The vast majority comes from the 2000 – 2005 DVD-V singles which can be snagged dirt cheap these days. The last two tracks from the list below I've ripped from the multi-media documentary DVD 1 Giant Leap (but there's a video out there with slightly altered 5.1 mix, too) and the end credits of the movie A Knight's Tale respectively.

This mixed bunch makes for a great surround compilation if you ask me, and I've sure spun it many times since late summer. The songs in dts format definitely sound better than those in DD only, but I wouldn't skip single one. And the quality of mixes is ranging from good to very good, let's say in the vein of Nick Cave's surround discography.
If you're doubtful and in need of an initial sample, I'd recommend either Something Beautiful (pop rock) or Somethin' Stupid (Sinatra covers), each containing three tunes in surround, the former single even in dts.

RWtrklist.jpg

RWsmall.jpg
 
Last edited:
I've never even heard of this guy....I had to look him up on wiki. Nothing rings a bell even after reading about him. :(

He never really hit it big in the US, very famous in the UK though. with a ton of hits.Here's a song or two you may have heard that were among his most well known in the US...





Hope this helps
 
He never really hit it big in the US, very famous in the UK though. with a ton of hits.Here's a song or two you may have heard that were among his most well known in the US...





Hope this helps

Hmm, OK. So, Angel reminds me of a simple Elton John...never heard it. That second one...maybe, just maybe, it sounds vaguely familiar.
That all said, this would have been the kind of music I simply would not have listened to....back in the day.
 
Yeah think he could be the biggest selling male artist of the 21st Century over here, he's massive! I like the albums "I've Been Expecting You" and "Escapology", both quite good Pop albums you can run all the way through.... Never was a massive fan of the song Angels though, always thought it was a bit goopy. But a lot of his stuff is good pop. I quite like the more recent era single "Candy", find it quite funny... Thanks for the tip! Just managed to find 4 of the singles on eBay.... :phones
 
Do you know who mixed the singles in surround? RW is not my favourite artist but I agree on the quality of the mixes... And they immediately got the wife's approval...
 
Do you know who mixed the singles in surround? RW is not my favourite artist but I agree on the quality of the mixes... And they immediately got the wife's approval...
Bob Clearmountain, Al Schmitt and Steve Power, AFAIK and as abbreviated in the tab above. There's not much difference throughout the tracklist, though - I'd say the format (dts) or/and hits vs. b-sides aspect play bigger role here.
 
I've never even heard of this guy....I had to look him up on wiki. Nothing rings a bell even after reading about him. :(

Add me to that list...this happens to me quite a bit on here...and YET these artists seem to be able to get some surround music out there while a LOT their more famous counterparts have nothing...nada...zilch....puzzling to me how/why this happens so much:unsure:...I guess I shouldn't be surprised... as some artists like Kate Bush just don't care for surround
 
The Rock DJ song was on rotation on MTV back in the day when my kids and wife watched it constantly. I know she liked that particular one and I can see why from the video Ha.... Whatever gets your motor running. But definitely that was the only thing from him in the states. Too bad that type of music promotion died, the industry could use more of it especially in surround format. We had a stereo 32 inch TV at that juncture, imagine in houses today with home theater 5.1 systems how well that would translate.
 
Bob Clearmountain, Al Schmitt and Steve Power, AFAIK and as abbreviated in the tab above. There's not much difference throughout the tracklist, though - I'd say the format (dts) or/and hits vs. b-sides aspect play bigger role here.
Thanks, I always read the forum from my mobile and I completely missed the abbreviations below the table.
 
I've found out that there's a hi-rez version of Somethin' Stupid available on the Robbie Williams - Live At The Royal Albert Hall blu-ray (released in 2007, shot 2001).
The difference between Dolby Digital (found on the DVD-V single) and dts-HD [16/48] is remarkable, just like the upgrade of accompanying video to full HD. Man, what a collection would that be if released on lossless media!

Anyway, the concert is well worth checking out if you like the way RW swings. And yes, the big band swings in the rears nicely.
 
Okay, there's one more: Make Me Pure, complete with video, can be found on the CD+DVD edition of the album Intensive Care.
A decent enough song, fine mix by Bob Clearmountain (huge choir in the rears). Dolby Digital only, but the sound is OK.

Besides that, there's a 23+ minute long documentary, including snippets of songs in true 5.1, not available anywhere else: Ghosts, A Place To Crash, Random Acts Of Kindness and The Trouble With Me.
 
Last edited:
Thanks haikubass,

Just picked this last one up... Hopefully this completes the set?! :phones

I have to say it's definitely a worthwhile pursuit picking all these singles up... There's some good surround on most of the songs. And it was quite fun putting them all together... And they can generally be found really cheap!

I remember a couple of the songs having some serious clipping which I fixed in Audacity. Plus I think on 'Misunderstood' there was some audio from the video that needed to be edited out... 'Come Undone' was a bit of a disappointment but 'Rock DJ' 🕺 is excellent! And well worth getting the DVD just for that song in 5.1.

I decided to sort of arrange the track list personally in order of best song/mix/flow of the album... It's quite fun putting an album together!

RW track.jpg
 
Thanks haikubass,
Just picked this last one up... Hopefully this completes the set?! :phones
My (guilty) pleasure! 🥳

I'd think we really have the complete set to toy with now - I picked Intensive Care up almost by accident, cause I was almost certain that Make Me Pure was stereo only, but then again why there would be a documentary in 5.1, right? Also, Bob C. did a great one in surround before for Bruce Springsteen...
@fredblue has confirmed that the following (video)singles Sin Sin Sin and Lovelight were stereo only.

Actually, I'd still swear I've seen&heard the Kids video in surround years ago, but couldn't find it in 5.1 on any official release (Kylie's included) so far.
 
My (guilty) pleasure! 🥳

I'd think we really have the complete set to toy with now - I picked Intensive Care up almost by accident, cause I was almost certain that Make Me Pure was stereo only, but then again why there would be a documentary in 5.1, right? Also, Bob C. did a great one in surround before for Bruce Springsteen...
@fredblue has confirmed that the following (video)singles Sin Sin Sin and Lovelight were stereo only.

Actually, I'd still swear I've seen&heard the Kids video in surround years ago, but couldn't find it in 5.1 on any official release (Kylie's included) so far.

It's a bit like Indiana Jones hunting for secret surround treasure! 🗺

It wouldn't surprise me if there was a surround Kids somewhere?! That video got a ton a airplay... And what a great video it is! 💃🕺 Maybe Gary Barlow and Bouncer from Neighbours conspired to stop it's official release?! 🐶

And thanks for the Bruce tip. Didn't know about that and just ordered that too! Hopefully will make up somehow for the poor mix on Devils & Dust...
 
I see a deluxe version of Escapology from 2011 with a CD and a DVD. That DVD contains Feel among other tracks. Anyone know if those are also these 5.1 mixes?


Discogs link
 
I see a deluxe version of Escapology from 2011 with a CD and a DVD. That DVD contains Feel among other tracks. Anyone know if those are also these 5.1 mixes?

Discogs link
Can't really remember if I've checked this one myself, but I think it's safe to say that these vids are all live (or maybe "live", too) performances and the back cover says they're PCM stereo (see the bottom).

My source of Feel in 5.1 is this DVD-V single, backed with You're History.
 
Back
Top