Imagine my surprise to see this as the lowest rated XTC mix!
I absolutely love this album, and I love this mix.
First things first, it is most certainly the most 80s sounding of the XTC output. For that reason alone, it may bias some ratings out of the gate. It is also an enormously busy and dense record, even by XTC standards. I doubt that there is a more difficult mix to craft in their catalog.
Garden of Earthly Delights is a perfect example. There are about a zillion things going on in this song, but you have absolutely no hope of comprehending them all in a stereo mix. None. This surround mix has me hearing things I haven't heard before, and hearing things I had heard with much more clarity. This song is the most obvious example, but examples abound all over this album.
The backing vocals are in the rear throughout the album and are perfect that way. They really do deserve their own spot because they are stunning at times.
Mayor Of Simpleton is probably the most straightforward song on the album and it still sounds enveloping and full. Even "simpleton" XTC is not so simple...
As always, there are a number of extras that come with it that are icing on the cake. SW's stereo mix is very good, with that little touch of added clarity that you expect. Just a phenomenal job on the surround mix though for what I imagine was a very challenging project.
Easy 10.