DVD/DTS Poll Electric Light Orchestra- First Light [DTS 96-24/DD DVD+CD]

[Bob Romano]

Please post your comments on Electric Light Orchestra- First Light (DTS 9624 and Dolby)

 

[rusinurbe]

As a long term ELO and Move fan what could be better than the album that was born of the latter group but spawned the former ?
This is the sound of 3 guys haveing a blast in teh studio doing exactly what they want.
How can the man who wrote so many great three minute pop songs (Roy wood)come up with somthing so progressive and totally uncommercail as 'Battle of Marston Moore' ?

The DTS mix on this is wild and very much experimental as is much of the music. There are so many changes in 'Mr Radio' it could almost be a different take. The mix is old school but is just a flat out blast. Good on EMi for finally getting this out. drops a mark for not being a full DVDA at least there is a flat transfer of the stereo 96/24 LPCM. i suppose iof i were pickey EMI could have tried to get the ITV 'Set at Six' program (though most of that is on the Total rock Review DVD) as well as the original 10538 overture promo on the disc. minor quibble though

 

[oxenholme]

A superb release. Easily the best I've ever heard the album. Discrete, plenty going on in the rear speakers - the 'cellos sound wonderful.

10

 

[sjc]

This was a really pleasant surprise. Agree with the above... It really is a fun quad era mix....

 

[bugdaddy]

Fantastic. Big upgrade in quality from the old SQ conversion I have. 10

 

[Robert van Diggele]

Lovely release. I only knew a few tracks, so the album is a nice surprise. Only thing I would have expected that the opening cello's on 10538 Overture would have been more dramatic in surround. The stereo version is better imo.

 

[quadsearcher]

I posted this in the wrong thread, so here it is.

Finally got mine in the mail last night. Stunning, creative mix. Extremely discrete almost to a fault, but that is exactly what I like about it. The mix is so strong, it is the polar opposite of stereo, as stereo is to mono. I've had this on (stereo) vinyl since the mid '70's and it's one of those where I tried to like it, but didn't quite "get" it. Except for 10538 of course, but I always thought even that felt cramped, claustrophobic, just too dense. To remix this in quad back then makes so much sense as this is one of those where the "opening up" of quad really helps the enjoyment of the music. I seriously want to send thanks to the people who made this happen, I suspect even if I had the original quad with a Tate it wouldn't match the excitement of the mix that comes through on this.
Oh yeah, and the price is VERY good.

A 10.

 

[fredblue]

still processing how I feel about this. on face value & after one quick skip through when i got it the other week, its clearly had love put into it and the mix is extremely discrete and the content pretty engaging. I just don't know how to rate it.. yet. the fact that it's not high-res doesn't seem to matter, it still sounds amazing!

if I were to grade it on what it represents; another brilliant quad reissue of a once high-profile group, priced very competitively and presented in a logical way*.. I'd have to give it a "10".

* I should qualify that by saying I'd happily see all future surround releases in this kind of format, preferably if they were to contain 96/24 DTS mixes on the DVDs but now that's not a deal breaker either as it occurs to me going back through the Polls on this site just how many releases I've enjoyed, particularly of late but for quite some years now, that aren't high-res. So if this is the best we're going to get at this point in time, bring on more of the same!

 

[kap'n krunch]

Another 9 from me...
Tape degradation is evident, but I love ELO and this is , although more quirky than later albums (thanks to Roy Wood), a great LP...
Extra ponts for the blurb in the last page regarding techie talk about the xfer...
Deduct one point because it not real Hi Res....
Otherwise, awesome!

 

[rusinurbe]

Another 9 from me...
Tape degradation is evident, but I love ELO and this is , although more quirky than later albums (thanks to Roy Wood), a great LP...
Extra ponts for the blurb in the last page regarding techie talk about the xfer...
Deduct one point because it not real Hi Res....
Otherwise, awesome!

Agree Roy has always been a bit of a throw everything including the kitchen sink producer

 

[John Svensson]

Agree with the whoops above, I ordered this in March and it shows up yesterday! I will have to retire the earlier 'unofficial' DTS release, great mix and the non-Overture songs really come alive for the first time on here. John

 

[GeezerJem]

I've had this for a while and it's been on 'listen to this when there's no distractions' pile. I also have the SQ LP ( https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...r-and-NO-VOCAL-!&p=82132&highlight=#post82132 ) . I've been listening to the CD in the set and really like the music ( even the quirky tracks ), and yesterday managed to get the DTS disc on..... WOW ! Superb discreteness of instuments and a lovely sound. I really really like the quad. mix of this !!!! This is how I though cello's should sound. A couple of the cello stabs in the rear channels made me jump, which was nice Demo material. If you like the Roy Wood penned tracks, I would recommend listening to his Boulders album. If only that were in quad ...... A 10 from me.

 

[quadsearcher]

I gave it a 9 just now, dropping a point only because it isn't Boulders, Mustard, or even Super Active Wizzo. Of course they weren't mixed in quad, nor were Looking On, Message From The Country, or Shazam. I'd have to buy all those titles again if they were mixed for surround, to hear the extra detail that happens with multichannel would be amazing.

This does sound great.

 

[steelydave]

It's also worth mentioning that this disc can still be had new from marketplace sellers on Amazon for the bargain price of about £8 (amazon.co.uk) or $12 (amazon.com).

 

[cupboy]

Super Active Wizzo? Cool insider talk? Does it clean floors?

 

[Disclord]

OK, I know nothing about this album, but I just bought it from Amazon UK for 9 quid. I based my purchase on all your raves about it - I've never done that before.

 

[quadsearcher]

Super Active Wizzo? Cool insider talk? Does it clean floors?

It's an album by Roy Wood group Wizzo from about '77. A little Jazz-leaning, some good songs.

 

[Failed Muso]

OK, I know nothing about this album, but I just bought it from Amazon UK for 9 quid. I based my purchase on all your raves about it - I've never done that before.

Ditto here! Although I know the album, I only had it as a quad rip and it sounded pretty good on that. But seeing as this was, as you say, very cheap on Amazon, I bought it based on the comments here.

It is undeniably British musical eccentricity at its finest, courtesy of Roy Wood. I've often wondered how ELO would've turned out if he had stayed on board, not to say that how they turned out wasn't great, but they certainly weren't as bonkers as this album is.

This is a rare treat

 

[Snood]

Snood voted an 8...........really liked the surround mix. Great use of the rears and balanced front speaker action. While not my fave release by ELO by far, it was nice and pretty cheap toooooooooo all the way from Germany. The extra tracks in stereo were a nice bonus and the video was entertaining. lol

Thank god back in those days the record companies still had people that noticed talent and let it blossom. I am a huuuuuge Jeff Lynne fan. Pretty much grew up with ELO playing all the time.

Would have loved to see Eldorado, New World Record or Out of The Blue come out in any kind of surround. :banana:

 

[jdmack]

I should have voted and posted about this much earlier, because I extracted the audio from this disc and remixed it to my own satisfaction, but I don't remember everything I did. I do remember using the front channels of "10538 Overture" to make a stereo file, using Adobe Audition's center channel extractor to separate out the vocals from the music, taking some of the harsh midrange out of the vocals and then bringing them up in the mix. This made the song much more listenable to me.