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I ripped the stereo 24/96 to my Pono and use it often as demo material, both the live and the hotel stuff. The instruments leap out of the speakers.
HiRez Poll Browne, Jackson - RUNNING ON EMPTY [DVD-A]
- Thread starter JonUrban
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markshan
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
The "live" on stage songs, like the title tune, have the old "Stage" mix, with the main music up front, audience in rears. It is very clear and distinct. When you first start the DVD-A, you can hear stuff you never could with the CD, at least I could not. During these stage bits, there are some instruments and music in the rears, so it's an "agressive" stage mix.
On the "Hotel Room" songs is where the 5.1 mix shines. "Cocaine" for example, (both versions) has a VERY discrete mix, guitars are all over the place!"The Road" has the fiddle in the rears, "Rosie" has background vocals in the rears. There is a lot of stuff here in the rears. Makes a quad guy happy!
This is exactly what I hear. I gave it a nine, only because it's not "Late for the Sky".
A “9”.
Not much to add here that hasn’t already been said. An all time favorite album of mine. The disparity of mixes between the concert and hotel room tracks was always jarring and now is even more so, but obviously that was the intent. The hotel room songs are all benefit by the “put you in the middle of the room” mix —-between that and looking at the photos I felt like I was!—-and the quality of the stage songs makes up for the lack of immersion.
Love it. Gonna play it a lot. One of those albums I forgot how much I loved. Back in my road musician days, we played this one all the time as it was our soundtrack. Takes me back.
Not much to add here that hasn’t already been said. An all time favorite album of mine. The disparity of mixes between the concert and hotel room tracks was always jarring and now is even more so, but obviously that was the intent. The hotel room songs are all benefit by the “put you in the middle of the room” mix —-between that and looking at the photos I felt like I was!—-and the quality of the stage songs makes up for the lack of immersion.
Love it. Gonna play it a lot. One of those albums I forgot how much I loved. Back in my road musician days, we played this one all the time as it was our soundtrack. Takes me back.
Yowza!!! They were pretty damn serious about that volume slider, weren't they?
I love this release and I think it sounds phenomenal, but man, sometimes it's just painful when you open some stuff in Audacity.
I love this release and I think it sounds phenomenal, but man, sometimes it's just painful when you open some stuff in Audacity.
What song is that?
It's more than one song. From left to right, it's "You Love The Thunder", "Cocaine", "Shaky Town", "Love Needs A Heart", "Nothing But Time", and "The Load Out/Stay".
Most WEA 5.1 mixes from that 2000-2008 period are mastered pretty loud, and will look infinitely worse when you open multiple tracks at once. If you really want to wince, take a look at Fleetwood Mac's Tusk.
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ngv99
Senior Member
Never expected such a discrete mix for a live recording. The Road is gorgeous with the violins coming out of the back. Such a treat to listen to. A solid 9.
Try those Cocaine tracks for the ultimate discreet presentation
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Let me start by saying I do not like live recordings. No way. No how. Studio produced albums are always best IMHO. After listening to this, I was proven wrong.
Not only is this a very good album, but I'm shocked how well it sounds in surround. It's not just live stuff in stereo in the front with some reverb in the rear. Producers really made this active. In fact. On one tune, it was a little odd because the vocals came out in the right front only! (I don't have a center channel with my vintage system.) It was a little odd. But it worked. Eyes closed and you felt like maybe you were on stage.
9 from me
Not only is this a very good album, but I'm shocked how well it sounds in surround. It's not just live stuff in stereo in the front with some reverb in the rear. Producers really made this active. In fact. On one tune, it was a little odd because the vocals came out in the right front only! (I don't have a center channel with my vintage system.) It was a little odd. But it worked. Eyes closed and you felt like maybe you were on stage.
9 from me
Even if you have a center speaker, the vocal in "Shaky Town" still comes from front right. This 2001 interview with Greg Ladanyi (who mixed the album in 5.1 and unfortunately passed away in 2009) is a great read, it seems he put a lot of thought into how to specifically tailor the surround presentation for the 'concert' versus 'hotel room' tracks.
If I remember right, one of the songs was recorded on the tour bus? You can clearly hear the motor.
This is one of my favourite DVD-A's, gave it 10.
I am generally with you on that with a few very notable exceptions…and if you are my age, you know most of them…Peter Frampton, Kiss, Cheap Trick, there may be a few others, but those spring to mind
I'll give you Frampton, but I'm not a fan of the others. I'm told they did some amazing things with Frampton Comes Alive including adding stuff in and removing things, too, making it more than a live album. (Which is why I guess I liked it.)I am generally with you on that with a few very notable exceptions…and if you are my age, you know most of them…Peter Frampton, Kiss, Cheap Trick, there may be a few others, but those spring to mind
After reading the recent posts it prompted me to pull this out and give it a proper listen. To be honest I hold this album in high regard and it's definitely my favorite JB album (also one of the first 50 albums I purchase as a teenager). As a rule I don't really buy too many live albums for the surround mix because, usually, the surround channels just have crowd noise and, IMO, the people around me making extraneous noise is not the part of the concert I want to hear again. I have always thought that, as a live album, the crowd noise was always subdued on this album (compared to most).
There are actually music elements in the rears on this one though and maybe that's because a decent number of songs were not recorded in front of an audience at all. Some were recorded in hotel rooms, rehearsal and, yes, on a bus. So these songs were are given a much more traditional separation mix than most live songs. My favorite might be "The Road", love those violins in the rears.
Additional points for the live songs being recorded at Merriweather Post Pavilion, a venue that I have lived within 20 miles of my entire life.
With all that said this is a definite 10 for me.
Edit: and if we are name checking other live albums that are highlights of a bands discography, I'd add Priest's - "Unleashed In The East", Skynyrd's - "One More From The Road" and UFO's - "Strangers In The Night" (in addition to Frampton CA, KISS A1 and Cheap Trick LiB).
There are actually music elements in the rears on this one though and maybe that's because a decent number of songs were not recorded in front of an audience at all. Some were recorded in hotel rooms, rehearsal and, yes, on a bus. So these songs were are given a much more traditional separation mix than most live songs. My favorite might be "The Road", love those violins in the rears.
Additional points for the live songs being recorded at Merriweather Post Pavilion, a venue that I have lived within 20 miles of my entire life.
With all that said this is a definite 10 for me.
Edit: and if we are name checking other live albums that are highlights of a bands discography, I'd add Priest's - "Unleashed In The East", Skynyrd's - "One More From The Road" and UFO's - "Strangers In The Night" (in addition to Frampton CA, KISS A1 and Cheap Trick LiB).
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My personal favourite has always been Little Feat's 'Waiting For Colombus'. A surround mix would do that proud.
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I believe that is true about Frampton.
“Live at Budokan” was my introduction to Cheap Trick as a teenager…and when I went back and found the studio albums, they sounded flat by comparison. They were missing the energy and excitement of the live performances.
But..we are getting far afield from Jackson Browne, and I generally agree with you - 99% of the time, I’ll take the studio versions - especially in surround!
How come I never voted on this? I gave it a 9. The unique thing about this recording compared to the other live albums mentioned is that this one was conceived as a live album from the very start. It isn't just a band playing its studio tracks in a live setting. The tracks on Running On Empty have no studio version counterparts. The concept is pretty brilliant IMO, being that most of the tracks have something to do with being on the road.
I only just got this. Have not played in full yet, but I wanted to say the whole package is nicely done. Good liner notes and the photos are copious and excellent - they have also been well combined in the video montages with sensitive, minimal animation. And they've added a bit more audio to the original album (without dragging in a whole extra CD of alternate versions, which can often dilute the quality rather than enhance it). So I am already impressed.
But in case you missed it, it's worth flicking through the photos to find the photo of them recording in one of the hotel rooms. They really are crammed in, there is almost no room to move around. Great photo!
But in case you missed it, it's worth flicking through the photos to find the photo of them recording in one of the hotel rooms. They really are crammed in, there is almost no room to move around. Great photo!
Mix: 4/5: Very good, couldn't really have been any better given the style and instrumentation. On-stage tracks are 'normal' live style but they sound good and there are a lot of 'studio' (hotel room) which are very discrete though tend to be simple. Layout is non-standard sometimes but that is actually good for once - you really feel like you are in the room with them (e.g. Shaky Town has the lead vox on the far right, halfway back).
Sound: 4/5: Non-stage tracks clear but the stage ones are a bit boomy. I'll forgive the sound of the tour bus on one track as it is all part of the atmosphere!
Music: 3/5: Quite pleasant but little bite.
Extras:
A very well put together package. There is a gallery of many, good tour photos. Manu of these are used in 2 photo montages, which include animations.
A weighted score of 4*3 + 4*2 + 3*1 = 23/30 = 7.66/10 = 8/10
Sound: 4/5: Non-stage tracks clear but the stage ones are a bit boomy. I'll forgive the sound of the tour bus on one track as it is all part of the atmosphere!
Music: 3/5: Quite pleasant but little bite.
Extras:
A very well put together package. There is a gallery of many, good tour photos. Manu of these are used in 2 photo montages, which include animations.
A weighted score of 4*3 + 4*2 + 3*1 = 23/30 = 7.66/10 = 8/10
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