HiRez Poll John, Elton - DIAMONDS [Blu-Ray Audio (Dolby Atmos)]

[fredblue]

The other consideration is that not all source material spanning a career this vast will be similar. Especially older tracks, instruments and vocal parts were often mixed down to make room for other things, it's not an endless supply of individual tracks like in modern digital production. Even if someone wanted to replicate a concept of a plan so every track was 'identical', there would inevitably be a gulf they wouldn't be able to bridge and differences/compromises result. It's generally easier with well produced studio albums to have track to track mix consistency, but across albums is an unreasonable expectation IMHO.

absolutely! very well said!

something i did wonder in a few cases, is the question of availability of source elements.. are these choices made in the Atmos of parts previously unused on the multitracks or of alternate takes or are parts missing and have had to be comped from best available sources or is it just my imagination running away with me?

there were instances in the Atmos (off the top of my head things like Crocodile Rock, Bitch Is Back, Lucy In The Sky.., Something About The Way You Look Tonight, The One) where i felt like some alternate vocals and parts had possibly been used from those in the original Stereo mixes.

maybe i was mistaken but i surmised that in a few instances the originals were potentially only flown in during the Stereo mixing process and so not printed to the multitracks.. or those elements may be unavailable now for some other reason like tape access/wear/damage..!?

 

[PK]

https://www.eltonjohn.com/stories/eltons-75th-birthday-presents-diamonds-in-atmos

 

[fredblue]

yes, yes though as you read in my comment, i find ROCKET man the best Atmos track here, not one of the more recent

looking at some later tracks after the 70's Classics, from just the Stereo of a song like "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" you can tell there's going to be less to work with in Surround than there would be when you listen to "Nikita" in Stereo.

the two songs are only a couple of years apart, both from the mid-80's but you can tell in 2-channel they are light years apart in terms of production, recording, engineering, arranging, etc., so it comes as no surprise the more layered, more intricately produced (and arguably better recorded) song turned out more immersive in Surround.

 

[Titch]

Probably the best SDE Surround Series release so far.

 

[PurpleMoustache]

Giving this one an 8. There’s a lot of great stuff on this, the all time Atmos demo track (for me) in Rocket Man, and a bunch of other really solid mixes. There’s a lot of content on one disc, but boy is most of the back half dull. I listened to all nearly 4 hours in two sittings, Track 1-26, and tracks 27-48. The tracks 1-26 is a solid, consistent fun listen… the back half not so much. If you’re a bigger Elton fan than I (mostly familiar with the hits), I bet this is more rewarding for you but I feel like some editorial culling could have gone a long way to make this a more consistent disc for me. For me the value on this one will be when I rip it and dip into a song here or there, but I can’t see myself sitting down and spinning the whole dang thing happening again.

A solid disc, with solid mixes, but a bit… monolithic.

 

[edisonbaggins]

I will only ever cherry pick some tunes off of this one.
I think it’s perfect for that. Menu easy enough to navigate frustration free.
Very, very happy with this.

 

[Bobby Martini]

Giving this one an 8. There’s a lot of great stuff on this, the all time Atmos demo track (for me) in Rocket Man, and a bunch of other really solid mixes. There’s a lot of content on one disc, but boy is most of the back half dull. I listened to all nearly 4 hours in two sittings, Track 1-26, and tracks 27-48. The tracks 1-26 is a solid, consistent fun listen… the back half not so much. If you’re a bigger Elton fan than I (mostly familiar with the hits), I bet this is more rewarding for you but I feel like some editorial culling could have gone a long way to make this a more consistent disc for me. For me the value on this one will be when I rip it and dip into a song here or there, but I can’t see myself sitting down and spinning the whole dang thing happening again.

A solid disc, with solid mixes, but a bit… monolithic.

Elton's best stuff was in the 70's and early 80's. The drugs helped him write some amazing tunes, the same with the Beatles, Rolling Stones etc.

I know for a fact my drumming is better when I'm off my tits on codeine.......or is it louder ......?????.......the neighbours could probably answer that one better than me.

 

[madscot]

I’m giving it a 10 because why not, first half is brilliant and the second half is really good, a great atmos mix from Greg Penny which brings some of the less great songs up a notch

 

[BillSamm1]

If the SDE folk lurk here (Thx for all you do PaulS)... please, please, please release an atmos version or at the very least the already created 5.1 Greg Penny mixes of: Don't shoot, Caribou, Rock of the Westies, Blue Moves... Pretty sure they'd sell out in a heartbeat.

Also to Paul S.: If those 4 were to be packaged together as a boxed set of 4 Blu-Rays, it would still sell out in minutes. Yes, it would be spendy. Most of us would bite the bullet and order up anyway. Just don't make too many, so it would make economic sense to do it. Thanks!

 

[hi-res_edition]

I am stil dreaming of a complete box set of the EJ early years, including all of the Penny (released and unreleased) mixes and new Atmos mixes. Since a couple of the albums are already streaming in Atmos... a box much like the Chicago Quadio would be fantastic! Bring it on, my wallet is open for that one.

 

[svtmike]

I'd love to have an Atmos mix of that sublime original version of Madman Across the Water on the Tumbleweed Connection SACD.

An Elton John Quadio but with Greg Penny Atmos mixes sounds great to me.

 

[HomerJAU]

Giving this one an 8. There’s a lot of great stuff on this, the all time Atmos demo track (for me) in Rocket Man, and a bunch of other really solid mixes. There’s a lot of content on one disc, but boy is most of the back half dull. I listened to all nearly 4 hours in two sittings, Track 1-26, and tracks 27-48. The tracks 1-26 is a solid, consistent fun listen… the back half not so much. If you’re a bigger Elton fan than I (mostly familiar with the hits), I bet this is more rewarding for you but I feel like some editorial culling could have gone a long way to make this a more consistent disc for me. For me the value on this one will be when I rip it and dip into a song here or there, but I can’t see myself sitting down and spinning the whole dang thing happening again.

So what you’re saying is: It gets an 8 because there’s too many tracks on the release. It would get a 10 if it only had 24 tracks. Would it need to be half the price too

I voted a 10 BTW. Bargain of the millennium. Great mix and audio quality. And it’s Elton. And it has 48 Atmos songs.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

This hits the rare air of a 10 for me.

 

[ar surround]

So what you’re saying is: It gets an 8 because there’s too many tracks on the release. It would get a 10 if it only had 24 tracks. Would it need to be half the price too

I voted a 10 BTW. Bargain of the millennium. Great mix and audio quality. And it’s Elton. And it has 48 Atmos songs.

Given that we have the 5.1 SACD's, I bought the set for the surround (Atmos) mixes of the songs that come from Don't Shoot Me, Caribou, and EJ's later material. The Atmos mixes of the later material don't appeal to me as much as the mixes of the earlier stuff, so I rated the set an 8. However, it is still a bargain and a wonderful, mandatory purchase.

But a more interesting question is: Do blu-rays Down Under spin in the opposite direction?

 

[HomerJAU]

Do blu-rays Down Under spin in the opposite direction?

From your view, yes. But it’s really just spinning upside down

 

[TheAbsentMind]

.

 

[SomethingAnything]

Given that we have the 5.1 SACD's, I bought the set for the surround (Atmos) mixes of the songs that come from Don't Shoot Me, Caribou, and EJ's later material. The Atmos mixes of the later material don't appeal to me as much as the mixes of the earlier stuff, so I rated the set an 8. However, it is still a bargain and a wonderful, mandatory purchase.

But a more interesting question is: Do blu-rays Down Under spin in the opposite direction?

Another person in Oz also confirming, yes they spin the other way. Though for us, of course, it's the correct way. Yours spin in the opposite direction.

 

[jaybird100]

I'd love to have an Atmos mix of that sublime original version of Madman Across the Water on the Tumbleweed Connection SACD.

An Elton John Quadio but with Greg Penny Atmos mixes sounds great to me.

Won't happen, though. Elton's recordings are issued by Universal, not Warner Music.

 

[stoopid]

I also bought this (5.1 playback) for the non previously released on SACD material. Surprisingly, the older material already on SACD was objectively the best sounding. Very crisp without being harsh, really good. Probably slightly better than the SACD mixes which were, as mentioned, already highly regarded.

The 1980s and later material was more "music factory" type production, and especially those couple mid-80s albums, were far too reliant on electronics (synths, drums) and this translated to a somewhat sterile overall soundscape. Plenty of "surround" still taking place, just revealed how uninteresting some of this was musically and reliant on a strong hook/melody those albums were.

Still though, this package is immense, immersive, and immaculately curated (yes, I also would have liked Funeral FaF included). I even enjoyed the pop-ier later career smash hits, even though I had long panned Elton as a pop crooner/ballad performer by that stage in his career and where I was at by that time in my own musical listening journey. Easy 10 for the overall value and quality of mixes. I don't see needing to go back very often to my SACDs except for the handful of tracks I like not included here.