Fish - Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors and Internal Exiles to be mixed in Atmos (4CD+BluRay Deluxe Sets Shipping July 29, 2024)

[splinter]

I listened to the Atmos mix of Vigil in 5.1 now, and it is really a very much different experience from the 5.1 mix regarding surround stage and discrete elements. I am not sure if I heard everything as intended, as the AVR at my desk is pre-Atmos and treats the Atmos stream as TrueHD only. I have the feeling that some elements, epsecially discrete things placed in the rears (e.g. guitar solos, drum intro of the Cliché finale), are too low on volume. But still the overall experience is much closer to what I expected from the surround mix.

I wonder what the 5.1 mix is intended for then...

 

[peterzach]

WOOHOO, the husband/wife team finally got to mine as I got a shipment notice email this morning that the post office has my shipment of the 2 deluxe releases.

 

[Juggsnelson]

Received my Exile set and have enjoyed 2 run-throughs of the Atmos mix. Im finding it immersive and very enjoyable. Kudos to Fish and team for really making this an actual deluxe edition. Atmos mix, Demos, b-sides, tons of live content, documentaries and the promo videos....and an amazing booklet!!!

 

[splinter]

and an amazing booklet

After reading that (actually I read all four deluxe books in a row) I cannot wait for his autobiography.

 

[srbjab]

Received 2 emails yesterday indicating my order was processed and is leaving the U.K. Hopefully will be here in a few days.
An amazing job getting these out so quickly.

 

[NB100]

I won’t be buying this having seen how compressed the stereo is and the surround doesn’t sound great either.

I wonder if the vinyl has better mastering?

 

[splinter]

and the surround doesn’t sound great either

Be aware that the Atmos mix sounds immersive even in 5.1. In my initial review I only heard the plain 5.1 mix.

But regarding the stereo mix it is like it is sadly. I think the compression effectively destroys what has been achieved in clarity. I will most likely stay with the original CD as my go-to mix. I would not expect much difference from the vinyl release.

Overall, I find the releases overpriced. The demos are not more than nice to have and of limited quality. And for the live tracks I would have preferred a whole concert on the additional two CDs (which you can get if you rip it from the BD) instead of the individual tracks.

It still is a nice package with a high-quality feel to it, a solid piece of workmanship given that no big label is behind it, and well... it is Uncle Fish, he made a big contribution to my musical upbringing, and I am more than happy to give a little something to his retirement fund.

 

[SomethingAnything]

Be aware that the Atmos mix sounds immersive even in 5.1. In my initial review I only heard the plain 5.1 mix.

But regarding the stereo mix it is like it is sadly. I think the compression effectively destroys what has been achieved in clarity. I will most likely stay with the original CD as my go-to mix. I would not expect much difference from the vinyl release.

Overall, I find the releases overpriced. The demos are not more than nice to have and of limited quality. And for the live tracks I would have preferred a whole concert on the additional two CDs (which you can get if you rip it from the BD) instead of the individual tracks.

It still is a nice package with a high-quality feel to it, a solid piece of workmanship given that no big label is behind it, and well... it is Uncle Fish, he made a big contribution to my musical upbringing, and I am more than happy to give a little something to his retirement fund.

I haven't received my copies yet, but appreciate your comments, which feel balanced and once more have me looking forward to receiving this release. Thank you.

 

[M-K]

After listening to Vigil and Exile I rediscovered Raingods with Zippos which I bought when it came out.
The artwork was beautifully made by Mark Wilkinson.

Interesting is, that especially "7. Plague of Ghosts" sounds like a Steven Wilson production/contribution.
As the longtrack went on to iv) Waving at Stars, right from 0:00 I heard the "Sky Moves Sideways" guitar. After a short view into
the credits it was clear, and confirmed what I heard.

In 1999 I didn't know anything from SW or PT yet, that was about 5 years later.

Now I wish to get this album presented as Vigil, Exile, 13th Star. For the best Atmos experience SW should mix that entire album.

 

[minimumtumbleweed]

After listening to Vigil and Exile I rediscovered Raingods with Zippos which I bought when it came out.
The artwork was beautifully made by Mark Wilkinson.

Interesting is, that especially "7. Plague of Ghosts" sounds like a Steven Wilson production/contribution.
As the longtrack went on to iv) Waving at Stars, right from 0:00 I heard the "Sky Moves Sideways" guitar. After a short view into
the credits it was clear, and confirmed what I heard.

In 1999 I didn't know anything from SW or PT yet, that was about 5 years later.

Now I wish to get this album presented as Vigil, Exile, 13th Star. For the best Atmos experience SW should mix that entire album.

Don't know about that Raingods with Zippos, where he did play guitar on a few tracks, but SW did mix and co-write all of Sunsets on Empire, so maybe he would be willing to remix that one. Although, I think it's unlikely that Fish will change up the current team he has doing these remixes.

 

[JulesRules]

I also seem to remember that some of the multitracks from this era may not actually exist anymore, as they were on hard drives that have gone defunct since then. But maybe I'm mixing this up with something else.

 

[splinter7]

It is Fish, so never say never again but...
He seems pretty resigned that his self financing days of producing deluxe editions are coming to end.
While he might pull the trigger on a repressing of a few titles in his standard remaster series, there is doesn't seem to be any intention of even having 'Suits' or 'Sunsets' released in this deluxe edition form.

I think an outside interest would need to approach him and offer to finance & distribute any future projects. it doesn't seem possible that he would be able to package & distribute much from the new Hebrides home-base.

Well aside from the likely "live" release from the final tour. He hasn't mentioned that but it seems too logical to pass up.

 

[splinter7]

I also seem to remember that some of the multitracks from this era may not actually exist anymore, as they were on hard drives that have gone defunct since then. But maybe I'm mixing this up with something else.

Mostly Spot on @JulesRules
Fish indicated sometime ago (maybe in the liner notes of the 2019 remaster) that the multi-tracks were either lost or possibly erased by the label, Roadrunner, making it hard go at getting this one redone.

 

[splinter]

Mostly Spot on @JulesRules
Fish indicated sometime ago (maybe in the liner notes of the 2019 remaster) that the multi-tracks were either lost or possibly erased by the Roadrunner making it hard go at getting this one redone.

I would also think that SW is not too interested in redoing Sunsets, and he might be too expensive, too. I never heard him talk about that album, I don't think he regards it as an important point in his career.

Did Fish reflect on sales/pre-order numbers for the deluxe editions in any of his posts or Fish on Friday sessions? I would not expect other albums to sell considerably worse because this is for the more or less "dedicated fans" anyway, but given that the first two ones were the best selling of his solo career, other albums would most definitely not sell better if they got the deluxe treatment (and price). So it might not be worth the effort from his point of view.

I guess with these two it was also personal for him, because the labels dropped him for those albums back then, but he regarded them highly and maybe wanted to finally show them the late finger for that.

 

[Juggsnelson]

I won’t be buying this having seen how compressed the stereo is and the surround doesn’t sound great either.

I wonder if the vinyl has better mastering?

The Atmos mix is plenty immersive..... even in 5.1!

 

[splinter7]

I would also think that SW is not too interested in redoing Sunsets.

Did Fish reflect on sales/pre-order numbers for the deluxe editions in any of his posts or Fish on Friday sessions?

I would tend disagree with that first point. I bet SW would work it in if the multis are in good shape. No proof of that though other than my gut.

To my knowledge, Fish hasn’t directly reported the sales numbers for these editions. He has in general said the pre-order campaign did very well and the photos of the outbound yorkies supports that.

He did report that he is repressing vinyl for the EU store as “vigil” hit #3 and “internal” #9 on some Dutch vinyl chart.

 

[Thonolan]

I've been following this thread with interest, as I've not decided yet whether this is worth purchasing or not (the editions aren't cheap), and I'm constantly getting confused between @splinter and @splinter7

 

[splinter]

I've been following this thread with interest, as I've not decided yet whether this is worth purchasing or not (the editions aren't cheap), and I'm constantly getting confused between @splinter and @splinter7

Consider us a worthy addition to each other

Regarding the price tag: I hesitated as well, and only decided to preorder be ause it is unlikely we will ever see these releases being repressed. And because I am sympathetic to Fish. Not a hardcore fan though, he lost me after Suits and won me back with Weltschmerz.

If you usually pay 40 quid for for a good surround mix, then don't expect now that you get 1.5 times (or in my case more like 2 times, European continental prices are even higher) the value out of this package. Sheer content-wise it is more or less comparable to similar packages like e.g. the Jethro Tull releases, with the obvious and always prevalent debate about mix quality. For me, the emotional value is still higher, which is probably why I am more critical with the mixes. I heard better, and I heard worse. Does that help?

 

[Thonolan]

Does that help?

Still hesitant

 

[srbjab]

I only opted for the deluxe set of Vigil - just couldn't justify the price for Internal Exile. But even if the mix isn't that great, if the physical package is anything like 13th Star or Weltschmerz I'll be happy. They're gorgeous - like the Tull book sets on steroids.

It's a real shame they didn't give A Feast Of Consequences the same treatment. I'd love to hear that one in 5.1 or Atmos. Given the artwork and powerful, well reviewed music it's hard to understand why they skipped it for surround. Surely they didn't lose the multis for such a recent album.