HiRez Poll ABC - THE LEXICON OF LOVE [Blu-ray Audio (Dolby Atmos)]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this brand new reissue of the classic debut album from the group ABC entitled "The Lexicon of Love".
The album has been newly remixed by Steven Wilson and is available in two different formats:

• An exclusive single-disc Blu-ray Audio release from SDE which features the following content:
  • Steven Wilson 2023 Dolby Atmos Mix
  • Steven Wilson 2023 5.1 Surround Mix
  • Steven Wilson 2023 2.0 Stereo Mix
  • Steven Wilson 2023 2.0 Instrumental Stereo Mix
  • Original 1982 2.0 Stereo Mix

The other edition is a 4LP/Blu-Ray deluxe edition box set that features the following content on the Blu-Ray:

• 1983 "Mantrap" film (first time ever on Blu-Ray or DVD)
• Promo videos for Poison Arrow, The Look of Love, and All of My Heart
• The following audio mixes:
  • Steven Wilson 2023 Dolby Atmos Mix
  • Steven Wilson 2023 5.1 Surround Mix
  • Steven Wilson 2023 2.0 Stereo Mix
  • Steven Wilson 2023 2.0 Instrumental Stereo Mix

The Dolby Atmos mix is also available to stream on all Dolby Atmos streaming providers:

Pre-release thread for all shipping/ordering queries and non-poll related posts:
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...s-coming-in-august-2023-sde-blu-ray-12.32564/

 

[beerking]

Ten
TEN
Ten
TEN

To we play it again and again.

 

[elroy]

This is one of my top two "white whales" (other is Supertramp Crime of the Century - sigh).

These songs provide so much to work with and SW did a great job. Songs I'd heard many many times before just pop out of the speakers.

A delight! 10

 

[sjcorne]

Easy "10" for what is definitely one of my favorite 'new-old' music discoveries in recent years. It screams for this kind of production and SW doesn't hold anything back, it's a pretty daring mix even by his standards. My only gripe - and someone else pointed this out in another thread - is that "Show Me" sounds a bit too dry and overexposed, but otherwise I can't find much fault in the Atmos mix.
https://immersiveaudioalbum.com/abc-the-lexicon-of-love-5-1-surround-sound-dolby-atmos/

 

[Matt Wilson]

Pretty damned good. A 9. It's Wilson, what'd you expect?

 

[4-earredwonder]

ABC's debut album THE LEXICON of LOVE was always a great New Wave pop confection and now it's even better as remixed by Steve Wilson and its availability as a stand alone Pure Audio BD~A courtesy of Paul Sinclair's SDE.

An easy 10!

 

[Juggsnelson]

I'm going with a 9 on this one. The only reason I knocked a point off was that I feel "All of My Heart" sounds soooo much more emotionally present in its congested stereo mix. It's my favorite ABC song and the surround mix did not hit me as hard as the rest of the album. Every other song sounds AMAZING!!! And All... does not sound bad by any means but it just isn't insanely great like every other track. The rest of the album sounds punchy, vibrant, crystal clear, coherent and quite simply stunning! The bass is just perfection. Steven did an amazing job on this mix....and All of My Heart has its moments.....like towards the end when you get the isolated Martin vocal where he softly sings " All of My Heart" isolated in the center speaker. Brilliant!

 

[kfbkfb]

__8_ - 4 of the 6 mixes (didn't rate Atmos and Instrumental Stereo Remix)

(my post in the ABC SDE thread explains why there are 6 mixes)


Kirk Bayne

 

[splinter7]

Voting on just the Atmos Mix on a 5.1.2 system: While the mix does mess with my muscle memory of the album, I feel the rating is 9 for the '80s children that have loved this album for decades and a 10 for newcomers. The only knocked point are my feelings that:

1: SW de-emphasized too much of Fry's backing vocal work or assigned them to rear height channels that I do not have and my receiver's logic isn't compensating for.

2: Fry's main vocals sound drier and at times subjected to too much effects than on the original. This comes across mostly on the more spoken word portions of vocals like on 'Poison Arrow' - "I thought you loved me, but it seems you don't care" and on 'Look of Love' - "Martin, maybe one day you'll find true love - And I say, maybe there must be a solution to The one thing, the one thing we can't find". My favorite part of the original mix is when Fry almost sighs out "And I say maybe" but the new mix makes the vocal sound to clinical and misses the emotion. Or maybe I am listening too hard.

3: The saxophones seems to have also been deemphasized in several of the songs. It's still there but it doesn't feel as important as in the original mix.

Those are my issues with listening to this album frequently over the last 40 years - YIKES!

A fabulous quirky '80s jem that I am so happy to have in surround!

 

[Wagonmaster_91]

I listen to the 5.1 and 7.1 mixes yesterday and both are excellent. This was a perfect album to include an instrumental version because the songs are so lush. It doesn't bother me that not every mix isn't in surround. I have lots of decoders/synths to do the job when needed. I wish it included some of the various 12" mixes that were done for the singles, but I have those on vinyl. This disc sounds so good that now I am tempted to get the vinyl box set, too. Thank you Paul & Steve for this gift. I hope more of the ABC albums are given this treatment.

 

[Lensflair]

I have to admit, that back in the 80's I didn't care much for the majority of the pop music that the decade produced. Sure, I heard the singles from this album but they didn't really grab me. Since I recently put in a surround system, and have been experiencing some of the wonderful Steven Wilson mixes of XTC and Tears For Fears, I have a growing fondness for the music produced back then. That being said, I bought this solely because of it's Steven Wilson mix, and to support the wonderful people at SDE. I am so glad I did. This is a wonderful release. I only have a 5.1 set up, but this made my system dance. Having never heard the album before, I enjoyed the entirety of it. The mix was outstanding. One of Mr. Wilson's best. I can't give this anything other than a 10.

 

[H.A.L.]

I gave it a 7, which is rather high if you consider it against ABBEY ROAD, etc. The surround was quite jumpy and active, and I really liked it.

Sounded just like a John Peel session: and that's a good thing! I do think it became filler material toward the end, sadly, so content, not Wilson, is the low rating point here.

 

[tcassette]

I listened on a 7.2.4 Atmos system. I give this a 10 because it includes a high-rez version of the original 1982 Trevor Horn mix. Steven Wilson's new mix is very good, but I agree with the previous comments about the vocals, saxes, and "All of My Heart." However, the dedicated sub channel on the surround mix hits hard like it should. When I listened to the original Horn mix, it just emphasized how wonderful that version is; he knocked it out of the park. When decoded using Dolby Surround, including height speakers, it is positively panoramic. Both versions thankfully allow Anne Dudley's excellent string arrangements to shine.

 

[rusinurbe]

Not expecting to like this as much as I have, the music mix is punchy enveloping, but has a lot of those 80's sounds that put me off so much chart music at the time. The mix thought is fully immersive Punchy and may be a little less 80's than I remember.
If it was just the mix its a 10 out of 10 still not so keen on 'poison arrow' and 'look of love' . And the music in general so drops a point.

 

[baward]

'Poison Arrow' - "I thought you loved me, but it seems you don't care" - the woman giving the spoken word lines is Karin [sic] Clayton, who was at that time the girlfriend of Gary Langan (I don't know if they are still together) and my boss at Sarm West studios.

 

[Malhomme]

I like this. The mix is super clear, well space-placed, and that complements the style. My only niggle which led to 9) is that the lower end is pretty weak but I would have to assess this with the original. I reallly hope Beauty Stab gets the same treatment

 

[Pitscher]

Really nothing to criticize. One of Wilsons best jobs. A perfect 10 - no doubt.

 

[Perp]

Another Dolby Atmos mix, 10 from the Maestro, that’s Steven Wilson. Not a bad or mediocre song on this album. It’s been imbedded in my head for decades now. That’s how much I’ve played it over the years. Now, I’d like to get the Deluxe Box Set too.

 

[minimumtumbleweed]

I give it a 9. I first heard this album last year when it was mentioned here that SW was doing a mix. Not what I would usually listen to, but I like the style and it's pretty catchy. The mix is great, very punchy and lively and I think the clarity is pretty great as well. I only take away a point for the terrible transitions between songs, especially on the Atmos mix. I was listening to it on Emby, which doesn't have gapless playback, and they were all over the place - the end of one song completely in the beginning of another song and so on. This seems to happen with some of SW's mixes (The Future Bites is pretty bad as well); not sure why though.

 

[jaybird100]

Sounds and mix are first-rate. The music didn't blow me away.