What are your top 3 "go-to" surround music demo tracks?

[blitztorte]

Please move to another section if needed. I looked on QQ and didn't see a post like this. If you have a friend over who hasn't heard surround sound music before and you want to give them a glimpse of what all the passion with surround music is about, what top 3 specific tracks/songs would you want to play without hesitation? They can be obscure. This can be a fun list.

Here are 3 from me:
1) "Time is right" from Nightingales & Bombers [Mannfred Mann's Earth Band]
2) "Frame by frame" from Discipline [King Crimson]
3) "The Prophet's song" from A Night at the Opera [Queen]

Your turn. GO!!

 

[halbroome]

AVALON - Roxy Music
THICK AS A BRICK - Jethro Tull
ABBEY ROAD - Beatles

. . . but there are a lot more, considering who the new listener might be and their personal taste in music. One friend got turned on to surround by the old 5.1 SACD of DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. Another, a classical music lover, couldn't get enough of the Auryn quintet output from TACET!

edit: in retrospect you wanted tracks -- just pick one from any of these. Technically, THICK AS A BRICK is one track .

 

[blitztorte]

TAAB was a sneaky addition. I need to check out Avalon.

 

[jimfisheye]

Money from Floyd. Partly because this is the album that put surround systems in a lot of homes early on. Usually people are familiar enough with this one that the greatly expanded 4.0 mix is striking. Still a great mix too! (The original 4.0, not the 5.1 remix.)

People from KC Thrak - This is a great example of a mix that can't be delivered in stereo. Dueling drum kits front and back and all.

It varies so much after that (and sometimes before). A lot of Steve Wilson mixes come up nowadays. Depends on the listener and what they might be into.
Bitches Brew and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots are another two iconic album mixes and that really depend on the audience!

 

[LuvMyQuad]

1. Pink Floyd: Money (4.0 AP mix)
2. Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody
3. Dire Straits: Walk of Life

Honorable Mention
Elton John: Honky Cat

 

[blitztorte]

nice list so far. Money is the first duplicate

 

[TimDoyle]

Please move to another section if needed. I looked on QQ and didn't see a post like this. If you have a friend over who hasn't heard surround sound music before and you want to give them a glimpse of what all the passion with surround music is about, what top 3 specific tracks/songs would you want to play without hesitation? They can be obscure. This can be a fun list.

Here are 3 from me:
1) "Time is right" from Nightingales & Bombers [Mannfred Mann's Earth Band]
2) "Frame by frame" from Discipline [King Crimson]
3) "The Prophet's song" from A Night at the Opera [Queen]

Your turn. GO!!

I love your #1 choice, but was there an actual multi-channel release, or do you just run it through the Surround Master or something?

 

[The56Kid]

Please move to another section if needed. I looked on QQ and didn't see a post like this. If you have a friend over who hasn't heard surround sound music before and you want to give them a glimpse of what all the passion with surround music is about, what top 3 specific tracks/songs would you want to play without hesitation? They can be obscure. This can be a fun list.

Here are 3 from me:
1) "Time is right" from Nightingales & Bombers [Mannfred Mann's Earth Band]
2) "Frame by frame" from Discipline [King Crimson]
3) "The Prophet's song" from A Night at the Opera [Queen]

Your turn. GO!!

Time Is Right has rightfully always blown my mind - but in stereo only. Is this sonic masterpiece available in surround?

 

[The56Kid]

I hate to cheat and include 6 instead of 3 songs as requested by Blitz, but it really depends on your audience and their personal music wheelhouse. I think given the following 6 songs, I can ensure that independent of who my novice guest is, they’re going to be impressed:

Elton John - Rocket Man
David Crosby - Orleans
Jeff Beck - AIR Blower
Porcupine Tree - shesmovedon
Yes - Starship Trooper
Billy Paul - I See The Light

 

[Beefalo]

All 5.1 SACD songs:
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasure Dome.
Donald Fagen - The Goodbye Look
Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil (Rolling Stones mix)

 

[sjcorne]

Three just isn't enough for me - I gotta take it to five, and this is from digital releases only (rather than analog quad LPs/tapes):

1. Beck - "The Golden Age"
2. O'Jays - "For The Love Of Money"
3. Pink Floyd - "Money" (Parsons' 4.0)
4. Roxy Music - "Take A Chance With Me"
5. Derek & The Dominos - "Bell Bottom Blues" (Scheiner's 5.1)

 

[Larry Geller]

Doobies-Black Water
Elton-Love Song
Doors-Riders On The Storm quad

 

[blitztorte]

Time Is Right has rightfully always blown my mind - but in stereo only. Is this sonic masterpiece available in surround?

I love your #1 choice, but was there an actual multi-channel release, or do you just run it through the Surround Master or something?
[/

It was a dts-cd I have had for a very long time. But when I did a google search for it I can’t find a listing of it so I guess it’s a fake. But it sounds very discrete.

 

[blitztorte]

Thanks for all the replies above. Great feedback!

 

[Ninecats]

Ouch, this could look different by tomorrow, but here’s a try:

Toy Matinees ”Toy Matinee”
King Crimsons ”Larks’ Tounges In Aspic (Part One)”
Talking Heads ”I Zimbra”

 

[salsdali]

Talking Heads - Brick - The Overload, Psycho Killer, Burning Down the House
Fleetwood Mac- Oh Daddy, The Chain, Tusk
Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man
Metallica- Orion, One (Through the Never)
Depeche Mode - Clean, Waiting for the Night
R.E.M - Drive
Kraftwerk - 3D: THE CATALOGUE- Autobahn
Davis, Miles - BITCHES BREW SACD Any Track
Marley, Bob - LEGEND (30th Anniversary) - Exodus
Emerson Lake & Palmer - BRAIN SALAD SURGERY - Still, You Turn me On
Eagles - HOTEL CALIFORNIA [DVD-A/BDA] - Hotel California

 

[blitztorte]

3 more surround tracks:
Burning down the house - talking heads
Captain Fantastic - Elton
Welcome to the machine - PF

 

[GaryG]

I could swear we had a thread on this same subject years ago. I couldn't find it doing a search, maybe it was lost when the forum upgrade happen.
Anyway here are my 3:
Up The Pool - bonus track from Jethro Tull Aqualung Blu-ray
Madman Across The Water - bonus track from Elton John Tumbleweed Connection SACD
Good Question - bonus track from Townshend Lane Rough Mix DualDisc

 

[--Moe--]

I demo'd some cuts a couple of weekends ago.

I started with:
1. "Heart Attack in a Lay By" Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
2. "Blood On The Rooftops" thru "Afterglow" Genesis - Wind & Wuthering
3. "Fall Of The House Of Usher" - Alan Parsons Project - Tales Of Mystery & Imagination

Then added more based on Listener's comments/requests … like
"Locomotive Breath", "Wind Up" - JT
"Strip The Soul", "Gravity Eyelids" - PT
"Sirius" - APP
"Watcher Of The Skies", "Supper's Ready" - Genesis

 

[weekendtoy]

When demoing 'hi-rez' to someone, I generally (when time permits) start with a 2 channel release, then move on to 5.1, and then ATMOS. The songs should be recognizable and enjoyable to the listener. A sample session may be:

Peter, Paul & Mary: In The Wind (perhaps Blowin' In the Wind or Don't Think Twice...)
Talking Heads: Speaking in Tongues (Burning Down the House, alternate version for something different)
Beatles: Abbey Road (Come Together)