Please rate the Hybrid SACD of Groove Armada's LOVE BOX disc.
HiRez Poll Groove Armada - LOVE BOX [SACD]
- Thread starter JonUrban
- Start date
Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:
The Rang
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Do enough people actually own this disc to get it into the ratings poll?
OppoFood
Senior Member
I own it and intend to vote but as it will be my first vote in the polls I am taking time to savour it.
When I asked Jon to add these GA disks I did suggest another rating - the "nar nar na nar nar" vote for those of us who do have it
When I asked Jon to add these GA disks I did suggest another rating - the "nar nar na nar nar" vote for those of us who do have it
I only got it in the last few months and I've only listened to it properly once, I wasn't totally knocked out at the time but I'll give it another airing for the QQ Poll.
I can't even remember when I got this, I couldn't find it when I had a look, it was not with the rest of my SACDs - not a good sign! After finding it, as I'm WFH I gave it another listen.
Musically it just never gets anywhere IMHO, there are moments where it could but just never does. Its very repetitive, and I got bored. It is accomplished in that the musicians can play, sing, but I don't like rapped vocals. There are some interesting bits in the mix where sounds move about. But 5.1 doesn't improve a bad album. I'm probably getting old but I'd say this was lift/elevator music. I'd rather listen to Lemon Jelly or Portishead which I have on CD and are interesting, and I listen to if I'm in the right mood.
So I'm going to give it a 4, mainly because I got bored - but others may like it.
WHOOPS - I just realised I'd got Vertigo not Love Box!
Musically it just never gets anywhere IMHO, there are moments where it could but just never does. Its very repetitive, and I got bored. It is accomplished in that the musicians can play, sing, but I don't like rapped vocals. There are some interesting bits in the mix where sounds move about. But 5.1 doesn't improve a bad album. I'm probably getting old but I'd say this was lift/elevator music. I'd rather listen to Lemon Jelly or Portishead which I have on CD and are interesting, and I listen to if I'm in the right mood.
So I'm going to give it a 4, mainly because I got bored - but others may like it.
WHOOPS - I just realised I'd got Vertigo not Love Box!
Last edited:
musically I preferred the other two GA albums that came out on SACD; Goodbye Country, Hello Nightclub.. & Vertigo.. surround mixes inconsistent on those two from what I can remember.. but still, while I'd rather have had acts like Air, Morcheeba, St.Germain, Lamb, Portishead, Massive Attack, more Goldfrapp (especially "Black Cherry") in Surround over GA, it makes a refreshing change just getting anything alone these lines in Surround.
OppoFood
Senior Member
I really like this disc, I was nervous when I pushed buy on Fleabay in case in did not live up to expectations but was very pleased with the purchase.
Have played it a number of times since it arrived, just had another listen prior to voting.
Enough happening in the rears to fill the room on some tracks but not intrusive in the main.
However unless the music is totally to your taste it probably is not worth paying the premium to get a copy.
I've given it a nine.
Have played it a number of times since it arrived, just had another listen prior to voting.
Enough happening in the rears to fill the room on some tracks but not intrusive in the main.
However unless the music is totally to your taste it probably is not worth paying the premium to get a copy.
I've given it a nine.
OppoFood
Senior Member
Uhm, can that four be removed ?
much better than i remembered! 
the Jive/Pepper surround stuff ought to be reissued now (especially the Kinobe and the 3 Groove Armada's) to capitalise on the resurgence of interest in MultiCh, back when this was out it was all too ahead of its' time and released in way too-limited numbers.. its all too too much! its a "10" 
the Jive/Pepper surround stuff ought to be reissued now (especially the Kinobe and the 3 Groove Armada's) to capitalise on the resurgence of interest in MultiCh, back when this was out it was all too ahead of its' time and released in way too-limited numbers.. its all too too much! its a "10"
i searched for many years without joy but one came up on eBay towards the end of 2013 for what was to me daft money (£95) but i was so done waiting on one to come up at a sensible price (like £20, i'm a tightwad!) i thought 'oh sod it' and went for it - and then only played it like 2-3 times in the last 6 years.. think i'd hyped it up to be better than it ever could be and was underwhelmed when i finally had the physical disc. oh well, i'll be playing it a lot more now thanks to fine folk in the listening to now in surround thread like beerking and Clement jolting me into giving the old stuff an airing with fresh ears
on reflection it was worth pursuing, don't give up Krmt you'll find one!
Me too.....been on my wish list for a loooonnnnnggg time......neva seen it below £100
Kin Hell
https://www.discogs.com/sell/item/810349355
i searched for many years without joy but one came up on eBay towards the end of 2013 for what was to me daft money (£95) but i was so done waiting on one to come up at a sensible price (like £20, i'm a tightwad!) i thought 'oh sod it' and went for it - and then only played it like 2-3 times in the last 6 years.. think i'd hyped it up to be better than it ever could be and was underwhelmed when i finally had the physical disc. oh well, i'll be playing it a lot more now thanks to fine folk in the listening to now in surround thread like beerking and Clement jolting me into giving the old stuff an airing with fresh ears
on reflection it was worth pursuing, don't give up Krmt you'll find one!
I think that's the problem with high-priced OOP stuff, when you buy something that's expensive, you want it to be commensurately good. But the problem is, OOP titles aren't expensive just because they're good, they're expensive because they're rare, so you get let down (as you said) because the hundred quid disc isn't five times better than the 20 pound bargain.
I was lucky enough to get this one from the now-defunct HMV flagship store on Oxford Street in London - I'd already bought and enjoyed Goodbye Country, Hello Nightclub so I was anticipating this one. I worked nearby and remember going to look for it there every few days for 2 or 3 weeks after its announced release date, and when it finally showed up, there was only 1 or 2 copies in the rack. You can see why formats like this failed from experiences like that - the album should've just been a single-inventory hybrid, and not some double-secret niche release that only had two copies sent to the biggest music store in the whole of the UK.
While I don't think this is as good of an album (or quite as discrete of a 5.1 mix) as Goodbye Country, Hello Nightclub, it's still really enjoyable, and well worth owning if you like this kind of music. Between groups like this and Moloko (another under the radar UK SACD that has a great 5.1 mix) there was a lot of fantastic smart dance music coming out of the UK around this time, that blended modern flourishes with live instrumentation and a lot of what I like of 70s and 80s music from the same genre. The standout track on the album for me is the disco-flavoured Easy, but Lovebox is one of those albums I can put on and enjoy every track. Another bonus point for me is that the 5.1 mix is very dynamic, even moreso than the stereo mix - I haven't measured it on the DR meter but I'm sure it's well in to the double digits, a rarity for modern 5.1 mixes, especially of so-called "electronic" music.
Too Funny. I was thinking lovebox is not elevator music. Vertigo is though.
Do you want to sell your Vertigo SACD?
Did you vote in this Lovebox SACD? I see it has 9 votes and one more will put it on the printed charts.I own it and intend to vote but as it will be my first vote in the polls I am taking time to savour it.
When I asked Jon to add these GA disks I did suggest another rating - the "nar nar na nar nar" vote for those of us who do have it
Similar threads
- Sticky
- Poll
