- Joined
- Jan 19, 2006
- Messages
- 222
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.
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!
What song is that?Yowza!!! They were pretty damn serious about that volume slider, weren't they?
View attachment 39553
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?
Try those Cocaine tracks for the ultimate discreet presentationNever 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.
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.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.
During "Shaky Town" the drums come out of the rear speakers, because that was the layout [consults vintage black & white photograph from the date]. Danny is playing acoustic guitar in the front and Jackson is sitting off on side of room. We wanted to replicate that room layout.
If I remember right, one of the songs was recorded on the tour bus? You can clearly hear the motor.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.
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 mindLet 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
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
My personal favourite has always been Little Feat's 'Waiting For Colombus'. A surround mix would do that proud.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).
I believe that is true about Frampton.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.)