Billy Joel - Streetlife Serenade 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Mch SACD of Quad mix from Sony Japan)

[key_wiz]

There’s a new Atmos mix of Glass Houses that came out on streaming a few months ago, but obviously that won’t work on SACD.

I haven’t heard that one yet. I’ll check it out. I hope it’s better than the streaming mix of Turnstiles which disappointed me.

Glass Houses is probably my favorite BJ album, although that entire run from Turnstiles through An Innocent Man is one of the best 6 album runs by any artist ever.

 

[sjcorne]

I’m hoping for “Turnstiles” soon as well, but I know there are couple of major flaws with that quad mix. So a new Atmos mix would be most welcome, although I do find the one that is streaming to be underwhelming. His catalog deserves much better than just some rushed, sounds-cool-for-earbuds streaming Atmos mix.

Say what you will about the Atmos mixes of BJ's catalog, but they are definitely not tossed-off rush jobs just done for earbuds. All the albums with the exception of The Stranger were mixed by Brad Leigh, who was assistant engineer to Jim Boyer and Phil Ramone at the original sessions. I interviewed Brad last year and I know that he definitely checks his work on a 7.1.4 speaker setup.

I haven’t heard that one yet. I’ll check it out. I hope it’s better than the streaming mix of Turnstiles which disappointed me.

With the exception of "Summer Highland Falls" (which is basically just a stereo mix in front with surround reverb, at least until the horn break in the front heights), I thought it was a solid effort. It's not as extreme as the quad mix, but there's a lot of instrument seperation: acoustic guitars only in the side speakers in "Say Goodbye To Hollywood," backing vocals solidly in the rears in "James," the horn solos in "I've Loved These Days" are in the height speakers, etc. I would think even in 5.1 it should still sound pretty surround-y?

The mix on Glass Houses is pretty similar. The electric rhythm guitars in the first two tracks are completely isolated in the side speakers (and the synth parts that come in after the chorus in "Sometimes A Fantasy" appear from above, to very cool effect). The piano solo in "You May Be Right" comes entirely from behind. The call-and-response vocal parts in "It's Still Rock 'n' Roll To Me" alternate between the front and side speakers. The dueling guitar solos in "Close To Borderline" are mostly in the height speakers. Not every track is jaw-dropping in surround ("All For Leyna" and "I Don't Want To Be Alone Anymore" are kind of underwhelming), but I'd certainly rather listen to this than the stereo mix.

 

[key_wiz]

Say what you will about the Atmos mixes of BJ's catalog, but they are definitely not tossed-off rush jobs just done for earbuds. All the albums with the exception of The Stranger were mixed by Brad Leigh, who was assistant engineer to Jim Boyer and Phil Ramone at the original sessions. I interviewed Brad last year and I know that he definitely checks his work on a 7.1.4 speaker setup.

With the exception of "Summer Highland Falls" (which is basically just a stereo mix in front with surround reverb, at least until the horn break in the front heights), I thought it was a solid effort. It's not as extreme as the quad mix, but there's a lot of instrument seperation: acoustic guitars only in the side speakers in "Say Goodbye To Hollywood," backing vocals solidly in the rears in "James," the horn solos in "I've Loved These Days" are in the height speakers, etc. I would think even in 5.1 it should still sound pretty surround-y?

The mix on Glass Houses is pretty similar. The electric rhythm guitars in the first two tracks are completely isolated in the side speakers (and the synth parts that come in after the chorus in "Sometimes A Fantasy" appear from above, to very cool effect). The piano solo in "You May Be Right" comes entirely from behind. The call-and-response vocal parts in "It's Still Rock 'n' Roll To Me" alternate between the front and side speakers. The dueling guitar solos in "Close To Borderline" are mostly in the height speakers.

I’ll give Turnstiles another listen. I certainly didn’t find it up to the quality of the Frank Filipetti 5.1s of Stranger and 52nd Street, but maybe I just didn’t have my ears on that day. (It happens) or maybe it doesn’t “fold down” to 5.1 all that well?

I’ll revisit it. And I’ll check out Glass Houses for sure.