HiRez Poll Blue Oyster Cult - AGENTS OF FORTUNE [SACD]

[JonUrban]

Please post your comments, thoughts and observations.......
https://music.apple.com/us/album/agents-of-fortune/217555955

 

[Cai Campbell]

Very disappointing. Dull, bland, lifeless surround mix. Not sure what happened here but they really dropped the ball. There are a couple of shining moments that hint at how great this could have been, but overall a supreme disappointment. Too bad since the music is fantastic and is one of my favorite BOC albums.

 

[MIDIQ]

Very disappointing. Dull, bland, lifeless surround mix. Not sure what happened here but they really dropped the ball. There are a couple of shining moments that hint at how great this could have been, but overall a supreme disappointment. Too bad since the music is fantastic and is one of my favorite BOC albums.

I'll second that. My opinions exactly. I give it a 3.

 

[Guy Robinson]

Needs more cowbell.

 

[timbre4]

An opportunity blown; mix is chaotic at best. Blurry might describe it; should be much more refined than it is. You can clearly hear things you never heard before but it's actually distracting in the way that it was done.

 

[EMB]

I've only played it twice thus far, so perhaps my '8' rating might change over time. Having said that, I do like the mix in one regard: it does open things up a bit, and the differences between this and the stereo original are more profound for its period than most other 5.1 mixes, for some reason. I guess the remix engineer and producers got a bit adventurous. Bothersome to some, but it works for me here.

ED

 

[Foxman]

I was dissapointed with this disk as well as Aerosmiths toys in the attick.

 

[zabble]

I hesitantly got this one after hearing so many bad things about it. It sounded better than I had expected. An uneven mix for sure, and some cheesy panning as well. However, since I was only familiar with a few of the songs originally, It wasn't much of a letdown. Having low expectations helped as well.

 

[Eggplant]

A nominee for the worst (modern) MC release of a classic.

Reaper, the most famous track, is a complete throwaway here.

What the hell were they thinking?
Do they let just anyone remix a million-selling classic?

I give it a 2, just because
a) at least they released it and
b) any track still beats Gladys Knight/Midnight Train to Georgia.

 

[ArmyOfQuad]

Well this is pretty much what I expected, knowing Shelly is very conservative when it comes to stereo mixing.

 

[mcherdering]

I give this a 7. For the most part, tastefully mixed, with ambience and an occasional guitar, drums or backing vocals in the surrounds. The mix reminds me of the currently released Steely Dan mixes, except the guitars, drums and vocals aren’t at as high a volume in Agents of Fortune.

My favorite track is Tenderloin. It’s got excellent presence. Each time I hear it, it sends shivers up my spine.

Now, if they’d only release Cultösaurus Erectus, in surround…

 

[stormchaser]

I was a huge BOC fan back in high school and although my passion for them has cooled a bit with age, I still really like this band. I read the mediocre reviews before I picked this up so I knew what I was getting into. I think Cai said it best. This mix is really lifeless. While these songs do get opened up a bit by the surround mix, several of them (most notably "Reaper") also get deadened. BOC's work is prime material for multi-channel in my opinion which makes this mediocrity more sad. Still, the effort is not a complete waste, but a major disappointment nonetheless and I give this a 5.

 

[oxenholme]

I do not understand the reactions against this disc. I bought it solely as a rather extravagant SACD single of Reaper, and I'm well pleased with it. It sounds pretty good on both my systems.

 

[oaqm]

Very late to the party, but I just got this last night...

While it is certainly not the direction I would have taken if I were doing the mix, I was surprised and somewhat delighted by the direction Shelly Yakus ultimately took. There is a lot of detail there, I just had to crank up the levels on the rear channels to hear it. I am leaving this one in the spinner for a few days to see how it wears.

 

[JonUrban]

I do not understand the reactions against this disc. I bought it solely as a rather extravagant SACD single of Reaper, and I'm well pleased with it. It sounds pretty good on both my systems.

This is why I bought this disc as well, and I thought that this song, at least, sounded pretty nice in HiRez surround.

I am not a BOC follower, so the rest of the songs do not mean much to me, but the spread of votes on this disc is very interesting. It's the only disc in the HiRez Polls that has at least one vote in each choice, and it's pretty much lived at the bottom of the HiRez polls since it came out.

Has anyone else revisited this disc and changed their opinion, or do most of the members still look at it as a disappointment?

 

[MyCuff]

After listening to off and on for several years, I cast my vote and give it a hearty 5! I can say with the utmost confidence it sounds better than Greg Kihn: All The Right Reasons, which is the dog of all dogs. So, this is better than nothing, but pretty disappointing considering what could have been. Kind of flat, compressed and dull. The real missed opportunity IMO, was not doing a 5.1 mix of "Fire of Unknown Origin". I wore out that album. If anyone wants to attempt an upmix of that.... I know, I know - why don't I do that!

 

[fredblue]

not deserving of its dreadful reputation at all, imho. I've enjoyed it for some time over many repeated listens and though I agree the 5.1 mix isn't the best, nor aspects of the sound quality, there's something so likeable about the material it just draws you in and before you know it the albums over and you're onto the bonus tracks!

from all the bashing it got, I long resisted and passed by a couple of reasonably priced copies on store shelves (FOOL!) until a copy came up on eBay that was so cheap I just had to go for it.. and blow me down,it turned out to be a very pleasant surprise indeed. I've encountered much worse in surround over the years!

It's a (potentially controversial but hey it's my vote!) solid "7' from me.

 

[paligap]

I've been buying MC discs for only a few years, but as a huge BOC fan, this was one of my first. I had not even discovered any forums that discussed MC music, so I wasn't aware of the negative reviews of this disc. I was disappointed, to say the least. I still don't know enough about MC and/or hi-rez music to describe exactly why, but to this day, it just doesn't sound much better to me than my CD version. I gave it a 5.

 

[Quad Linda]

5. I've been following O' Cult from the start. Don't Fear the Reaper is one of their best songs. I have all three Quads. Secret Treaties is my favorite albums of theirs and one of the better albums by anyone. Oh, were we supposted to be talking about the album with the guy and those cards on the cover? OK. Yeah, that's how I feel about this album. It's far from bad. It's OK. No great shakes, save for that reaper tune. Mix isn't bad, but far from spectacular. I've bought several of their remasters, including the 2 disc Some Enchanted Evening. I love some of the alternate versions and covers.

 

[mandrix]

Hee hee. I love it if only because I loved the stereo LP version, with which I used to blast my noisy apartment neighbors late at night lo those many years ago. Infinity 1001's cranked up in an old wood frame house get pretty loud.
But yeah, the mch mix could have been done better.