Bronski Beat - The Age of Consent 40th Anniversary SDE Blu-Ray #26 (Oct. 18, 2024)

[vindaloo]

Finally arrived by post this morning!

 

[Nimbatus]

Just received the disc and popped it in. Make sure to listen to the Atmos track, even when only listening on a 5.1 system like myself.

The 5.1 is pretty underwhelming, thought something was wrong with my setup and immediately checked speaker levels. Everything was as it's supposed to be, so I switched to the Atmos track and... wow! It all opened up and there it was, the surround listening experience I expected this release to be.

I don't know what went wrong, but better keep your hands off the dedicated 5.1 mix.

Ok, back to listening...

 

[Scott65]

My mother was on the legal team that handled Apple's initial public stock offering in 1980. She even interviewed the Woz in the process. Needless to say, I grew up in a Macintosh household.

Part of the Macintosh Brigade?

 

[Uncle Obscure]

For those of you that have it in hand, can someone confirm if the original nine minute 12-inch single version of "Smalltown Boy" is included on the disc? It is easily identified by Jimmy Somerville's lead vocal kicking in at the same time as it does on the 45 single version. The only place I've ever been able to track it down on disc is on the superb sounding and exhaustively authentic RHINO UK, 12 Inch Dance 80s SYNTHPOP various artists collection. Thanks in advance for any information on this.

 

[fredblue]

For those of you that have it in hand, can someone confirm if the original nine minute 12-inch single version of "Smalltown Boy" is included on the disc? It is easily identified by Jimmy Somerville's lead vocal kicking in at the same time as it does on the 45 single version. The only place I've ever been able to track it down on disc is on the superb sounding and exhaustively authentic RHINO UK, 12 Inch Dance 80s SYNTHPOP various artists collection. Thanks in advance for any information on this.

as far as i can tell that particular version is not on the Blu-ray in Atmos. there are 6 versions of the track in all however, just not that 9-minute 12" version.

edit: i think it's maybe this one?

 

[Uncle Obscure]

as far as i can tell that particular version is not on the Blu-ray in Atmos. there are 6 versions of the track in all however, just not that 9-minute 12" version.

edit: i think it's maybe this one?

Yes! Thank you! That appears to be it. On the RHINO disc, the track clocks out to 8:57, however on the disc sleeve it lists it at 9:04. That's consistent with the Apple music version. What an odd omission. I wonder why RHINO UK was able to license it but SDE could not. The RHINO version is the original 1984 12-inch mix.

 

[SomethingAnything]

I remember there were initial fears about the mix for this one (at the same time there were concerns for the new Ziggy Stardust mix). So how good it is that those fears have been allayed.

 

[jaybird100]

Just received the disc and popped it in. Make sure to listen to the Atmos track, even when only listening on a 5.1 system like myself.

The 5.1 is pretty underwhelming, thought something was wrong with my setup and immediately checked speaker levels. Everything was as it's supposed to be, so I switched to the Atmos track and... wow! It all opened up and there it was, the surround listening experience I expected this release to be.

I don't know what went wrong, but better keep your hands off the dedicated 5.1 mix.

Ok, back to listening...

Same experience here. I was somewhat disappointed in this, but the Atmos tracks made up for it. Even in 4.0, they sounded much better than the 5.1. My rating for this one is 7.

 

[marpow]

Hi, I'm ripping this Blu Ray, a real maze of ripping, I have it figured out except the two stereos with vocals. All my little tricks have not worked.
I think the lower DR's per tracks is the original mix?
Original? DR's are 6's, 7's, 8's.
New 2024 mix? DR's are 9's, 10's, 11's, 12.
BTW I think the higher DR sounds better, but still not 100% positive.
What do you think.

 

[humanracer]

Hi, I'm ripping this Blu Ray, a real maze of ripping, I have it figured out except the two stereos with vocals. All my little tricks have not worked.
I think the lower DR's per tracks is the original mix?
Original? DR's are 6's, 7's, 8's.
New 2024 mix? DR's are 9's, 10's, 11's, 12.
BTW I think the higher DR sounds better, but still not 100% positive.
What do you think.

Hi
Yes in my opinion recordings with higher DR usually sound better.
The problem here is that "original mix" is actually the 2018 remaster. I think most people were expecting the actual original non remastered mix.

 

[Albert Dagger]

Hi, I'm ripping this Blu Ray, a real maze of ripping, I have it figured out except the two stereos with vocals. All my little tricks have not worked.
I think the lower DR's per tracks is the original mix?
Original? DR's are 6's, 7's, 8's.
New 2024 mix? DR's are 9's, 10's, 11's, 12.
BTW I think the higher DR sounds better, but still not 100% positive.
What do you think.

I agree that the issue with the original mix is the remaster. You can find a better version of the original mix on streaming services (the one with the crappy artwork with the coloured frame). I prefer the 2024 stereo remix, though. For Hundreds and Thousands, the difference between this new version and the old one is not that big. This new one sounds more natural, bass is better controlled, not as harsh overall.
I love the 2024 extended remixes, even though it can be a bit boring to relisten to the same three songs many times in a row!

 

[marpow]

I agree that the issue with the original mix is the remaster. You can find a better version of the original mix on streaming services (the one with the crappy artwork with the coloured frame). I prefer the 2024 stereo remix, though. For Hundreds and Thousands, the difference between this new version and the old one is not that big. This new one sounds more natural, bass is better controlled, not as harsh overall.
I love the 2024 extended remixes, even though it can be a bit boring to relisten to the same three songs many times in a row!

Thanks for the info, man this BD is in depth to say the least.
I was going to stop ripping as it is so challenging, but I decided I can beat it.
The Discogs SDE Blu Ray has the times for the tracks, thanks for that, if not for that I would have given up.

 

[marpow]

I have now found out from ripping just to show you what a nightmare this is for the ripping person.
Between Atmos, 5.1, and stereo there are 177 tracks that spread out over the disc.
And @Albert Dagger I totally agree with you, probably my biggest drag is many versions of same song.
I have been trained to listen as a whole album person, but a release like this I just can't. This has to be done over months, and some in the car, some on the home rig. And many just one time.
The value is fantastic, but it is overload, just cuz you can doesn't necessarily mean you should.
Also, 177 song versions, none live. Maybe they never played live?
On a positive note, I am not a Gay person, this release of course has many lyrics from a Gay person's point of view. I find them all lovely and well put together. Part of me dreads listening to all and part of me just wants to listen to all.
It is a great find, that leans on overload.

 

[fredblue]

in the words of Liberace

"too much of a good thing is wonderful..!!"

 

[JediJoker]

in the words of Liberace

"too much of a good thing is wonderful..!!"

Or as Lawrence Welk would say,

"Wunnerful, wunnerful, wunnerful..."

 

[ClassicalSurroundFan]

Is this still available for purchase?

 

[GOS]

Is this still available for purchase?

Doesn't appear to be, though I've yet to fully understand how/why SDE continue to show several SDE exclusive titles as sold out, yet others don't show at all. Makes no sense to me, but hey......something as old as Gilbert O'Sullivan is listed but as sold out. Bronski Beat, which is a much more recent release isn't listed at all.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Doesn't appear to be, though I've yet to fully understand how/why SDE continue to show several SDE exclusive titles as sold out, yet others don't show at all. Makes no sense to me, but hey......something as old as Gilbert O'Sullivan is listed but as sold out. Bronski Beat, which is a much more recent release isn't listed at all.

I've never understood this either.

As I've mentioned (a few times) before... SDE really should create a dedicated web page displaying all their 'Exclusive SDE Surround Series' Blu-ray disc releases and not mix them together with all their other releases!