Most of these will have appeared over the years in the various Listening to in Surround type threads. As great as these are, it's sometimes tricky to remember where certain discs are mentioned. I thought I'd bump this thread up and share a few of my favourite Surround Encoded CDs
I've owned a Yamaha receiver with Dolby Pro Logic II decoder for a little over two years now and I've put together a nice little set of Surround Encoded CDs.
Henry Mancini was definitely up there with Tomita as one for whom RCA released many Dolby Surround encoded CDs.
I have six of his eight Dolby Surround encoded CDs (that I can count), some of them compilations for various albums, others albums proper.
As Time Goes By and other Classic Movie Love Songs (RCA Victor 09026-60974-2) 1992
This is a laid back yet classy affair with top arrangements and playing thoughout. The tracks are songs featured in movies and written between 1931 and 1991 but with none of them sounding out of place.
Cinema Italiano: Music of Ennio Morricone & Nino Rota (RCA Victor 60706-2-TC) 1991
Mancini's interpretations of some of his favourite movie music composers' greatest works offer a wide array of styles. The Morricone cuts are all sublime. The showstoppers though, are Nino Rota's three selections from The Godfather which conclude the disc. I often find myself playing these in a loop.
Top Hat Mancini: Music from the films of Astaire & Rogers (RCA Victor 09026-60795-2) 1992
Much of the Great American Song Book was written for the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals which were released by RKO in the 1930's. Mancini not only pays a heartfelt tribute to these songs but a bonus medley of songs from Astaire movies sans Rogers shows how important a figure Astaire was for Pop Music in the 20th Century. The disc starts with a medley that features a tap dancer and the Dolby encoding allows us to hear the taps going from speaker to speaker covering all four corners. The effect actually works in the context of the music without feeling gimmicky. A treat for lovers of these fine songs.
The Godfather & Other Movie Themes (RCA Victor 09026-61478-2) 1993
This is a compilation of a few albums recorded in the 70's. My favourite tracks on this one are the Symphonic Suite from The White Dawn, The Disaster Movie Suite (Earthquake, The Towering Inferno and Jaws) and The French Collection (The Windmills of Your Mind, A Man and A Woman, Love Story and The Summer of '42).
Moon River (RCA Victor 09026-61513-2) 1993 and
Mancini In Hollywood (Mr. Lucky and other Film & TV Greats) (RCA Victor 09026-61517-2) 1993
These two discs also feature some fine music but please take note that some of the tracks were recorded in the late 50's/early 60's on three-track tape, which limits the Surround experience a little, but the music is still timeless and quite enjoyable.
