Elton John "Madman Across The Water" 50th Anniversary Box Set (3 CDs & 5.1 Blu-Ray)

[Marplot]

Missing from the conversation is all the gnashing of teeth that will occur if a 5.1 BD drops for something not on SACD by those that pass on the release and now have a size and storage presentation mismatch on their shelves...looking at you Tull, Beatles and REM fans; of which I am included.

 

[DuncanS]

well in the meantime i'm ordering more Madman Across The Water Cushions, they'll come in handy for smothering people with!!

Phew, glad to hear those of us on this side of the water are safe then

 

[privateuniverse]

if i took off my QQ glasses, it'd be so static! a real stinker! i'd get on the dixie lily, via Grimsby, see the saucers with Pinky and the sun would go down on me quicker than you could say "Solar Prestige A Gammon"..!!

i cannot wait to add the Super Deluxe Cari-Boo-Boo to this little lot! Atmos or not, for me its a must!!

.. but how long will we have to wait my fellow QQ spec-wearers??

hear it, hear it.. Ticking, Ticking

View attachment 78163

Crazy boy, you'll only wind up with strange notions in your head....

 

[fredblue]

2024 at the earliest maybe for a super deluxe edition of "Caribou".
Pure speculation but I think everything up to and including "Captain Fantastic" could end up with a super deluxe edition.
Just not quite sure yet about anything else after that...

well that would be Amazingggg!! hopefully it all happens and if they all have some form of Surround, bonus tracks and a nice book, i'm in!
..b-b-b-(Bennie)-but i hope they also do SDE's with the 5.1's of Rock Of The Westies and (especially) Blue Moves, pretty please with "Sugar On The Floor" on top??

 

[rtbluray]

well that would be Amazingggg!! hopefully it all happens and if they all have some form of Surround, bonus tracks and a nice book, i'm in!
..b-b-b-(Bennie)-but i hope they also do SDE's with the 5.1's of Rock Of The Westies and (especially) Blue Moves, pretty please with "Sugar On The Floor" on top??

The only reason I don't feel quite as confident about SDEs for albums like "Rock of the Westies" and "Blue Moves" is that it doesn't seem like these 50th anniversary editions are meant to encompass all of the albums, otherwise they should have put out "Elton John" and "Tumbleweed Connection" in this form. Those certainly deserve an SDE more than "Rock of the Westies" does IMHO. (At least "Blue Moves" is better.)

 

[fredblue]

The only reason I don't feel quite as confident about SDEs for albums like "Rock of the Westies" and "Blue Moves" is that it doesn't seem like these 50th anniversary editions are meant to encompass all of the albums, otherwise they should have put out "Elton John" and "Tumbleweed Connection" in this form. Those certainly deserve an SDE more than "Rock of the Westies" does IMHO. (At least "Blue Moves" is better.)

they're bound to do a 50th Anniversary SDE for GYBR, naturally, even if there's no more material to pad it out with to me its a dead cert for a 50th and Captain Fantastic's his masterpiece so that'll probably get a 50th SDE too but beyond that i can't realistically see them doing a similar set for any of the other albums, especially the more "disposable classics" of his like Westies, Caribou & Honky Chateau. there's possibly a slim chance of a 50th of Don't Shoot Me.. but to me its slim, i personally love the album but we all know as successful as it was, it was totally eclipsed by GYBR. Madman was never seen as one of his truly great albums back in the day but it has taken on this mythical status in the intervening years and is now considered one of his all-time classics. personally i prefer the poppier stuff that came straight afterwards, Honky Chateau upto A Single Man is "my Elton", from Victim Of Love onwards he mostly lost me, with a smattering of absolute gems scattered throughout decades of mostly so-so albums.

 

[Tres Discrete]

"fade it!"

wow.. if all the bonus material in this set is like that demo i'll quit whinging on about the Atmos Schmatmos!

edit: oh yeah! regarding the 2016 remaster thing, i meant to say i'm pretty sure Ludwig remastered a number of EJ albums around that time and they all ended up on vinyl reissues (i remember them being kinda pristine yet a bit loud all at the same time?) but the Madman 2 CD Deluxe that was rumoured was a bit before that, around 2009-10 something like that anyway

Not sure what “fade it” means…does the “piano demo” have vocals - or just that aside? Thanks

 

[marcb]

With all due respect, you've beaten this topic into the ground - I think everyone reading this thread (and others you've contributed to) understands your argument regarding the decline of surround music on physical media, and these condescending remarks about 'QQ glasses' aren't exactly helping sway opinions. I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong, but let's agree to disagree about why there's no Atmos mix on the Blu-Ray and move on.

Assuming there is an atmos mix, why isn’t it on the Bluray then?

QQ glasses simply means if you’re perplexed, it’s because you’re looking at from a self-interested perspective. There’s nothing wrong with self-interest, but the music industry is doing the same.

 

[Bill B]

Assuming there is an atmos mix, why isn’t it on the Bluray then?

QQ glasses simply means if you’re perplexed, it’s because you’re looking at from a self-interested perspective. There’s nothing wrong with self-interest, but the music industry is doing the same.

There could be many reasons. You are probably correct but the lack of an atmos mix on this particular release does not prove anything.
Just like I couldn't use the fact that there is an atmos mix on the Moving Pictures box as proof that you are wrong.

 

[ar surround]

if i took off my QQ glasses, it'd be so static! a real stinker! i'd get on the dixie lily, via Grimsby, see the saucers with Pinky and the sun would go down on me quicker than you could say "Solar Prestige A Gammon"..!!

i cannot wait to add the Super Deluxe Cari-Boo-Boo to this little lot! Atmos or not, for me its a must!!

.. but how long will we have to wait my fellow QQ spec-wearers??

hear it, hear it.. Ticking, Ticking

View attachment 78163

Remember the "good 'ole days" Phase I when one could buy the EJ 5.1 SACDs for $18.95? Or the good 'ole days Phase 2 when AF was issuing Multichannel SACDs for $25 to $30. Now we have the good 'ole days Phase 3 where you can get a whoooooooole album in surround for only $100 . I would hope that at some point we will see a physical release of an Elton John Greatest Hits type of collection similar to Lennon's Gimme Some Truth for the semi-casual fans out there. For some, $100 just for the 5.1 of certain EJ albums might not be worth it. However...if it's Atmos...perhaps another story. (Hint. Hint.)

 

[fredblue]

Not sure what “fade it” means…does the “piano demo” have vocals - or just that aside? Thanks

oh, just playing that track on Apple, i found it funny that Elton hollars "fade it!" towards the end of the track and then whoever was at the controls dutifully faded out the track, possibly so co-operative was the engineer in the hope they might prevent one of "Reggie's Little Outbursts" (*TM)

 

[fredblue]

Remember the "good 'ole days" Phase I when one could buy the EJ 5.1 SACDs for $18.95? Or the good 'ole days Phase 2 when AF was issuing Multichannel SACDs for $25 to $30. Now we have the good 'ole days Phase 3 where you can get a whoooooooole album in surround for only $100 . I would hope that at some point we will see a physical release of an Elton John Greatest Hits type of collection similar to Lennon's Gimme Some Truth for the semi-casual fans out there. For some, $100 just for the 5.1 of certain EJ albums might not be worth it. However...if it's Atmos...perhaps another story. (Hint. Hint.)

(to the tune of Crocodile Rock.. )

"..i remember when Surround was cheap,
EJ SACDs by the heap!"

 

[Tres Discrete]

oh, just playing that track on Apple, i found it funny that Elton hollars "fade it!" towards the end of the track and then whoever was at the controls dutifully faded out the track, possibly so co-operative was the engineer in the hope they might prevent one of "Reggie's Little Outbursts" (*TM) ✌

Are there vocals on the track itself - or is it just instrumental?
P.S. - I watched “Tantrums & Tiaras” - so I know what he is capable of

 

[fredblue]

Are there vocals on the track itself - or is it just instrumental?
P.S. - I watched “Tantrums & Tiaras” - so I know what he is capable of

its EJ's piano and vocal.. and very cool it is too!

haha.. yes indeedy!! that's Elton!

 

[sjcorne]

Assuming there is an atmos mix...

Atmos remixes of the entire Madman and Yellow Brick Road albums have been done and dusted for several years now, Greg Penny said so himself in this video interview from April 2020.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Atmos remixes of the entire Madman and Yellow Brick Road albums have been done and dusted for several years now, Greg Penny said so himself in this video interview from April 2020.

So anyone purchasing this BD~A 5.1 would be cheating themselves out of the 2/4 overhead channels so WHY BOTHER?

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

For anyone who's interested... It's still possible to purchase the multi-channel SACD release from Amazon UK for less than £27.00.

Link: Madman Across the Water [HYBRID SACD]: Amazon.co.uk: CDs & Vinyl

 

[Perp]

I don’t need this but I went ahead and pre-ordered it off of Amazon anyway. I already have the 5.1 Greg Penny mix on SACD. I’m hoping they do the same thing with Honky Chateau because that is the only SACD album that I could not acquire. Also, I’m curious to hear the 5.1 mix on Blu-ray and compare it to the one on the SACD. Maybe, they’ll be a hidden Easter Egg on the BD that includes the Dolby Atmos tracks. One can wish!

What I find interesting that they couldn’t get surround sound music to sell in just the past two decades alone but here comes Dolby Atmos and it’s some big game changer that record companies, producers, mixers and streaming companies are pushing big time.

Also, I found it interesting on the video interview with Greg Penny that Amazon is involved with Dolby Labs in pushing Streaming Atmos for their devices. No mention of Apple there.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

I’m hoping they do the same thing with Honky Chateau because that is the only SACD album that I could not acquire...

Indeed, Honky Chateau appears to be the most expensive SACD of them all, second-hand

 

[privateuniverse]

It's now listed at some of the usual places. Import CDs is the winner at $64.48. Also:

Deep Discount: $76.60
Bull Moose: $80.97