HiRez Poll John, Elton - TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION [SACD]

[John Svensson]

Perhaps I'm the last person on earth to have bought this SACD but it was the last of the Elton John's that I was missing, I gave it a 9 and it was a real surprise. I had never heard this LP all the way through before in my life (maybe only heard 2 songs off it in fact) but was impressed that, unlike all his other albums, there was a consistency of theme and mood here, and not a pastiche of songs as all the rest of LPs seem to be. Not that I dislike all his other material, individual songs really shine, but full LPs have been difficult to wade through, for me. The mix is inventive to my ear and the sonics great on the old masters. The bonus Madman track with Mick Ronson's guitar puts the released version to shame. A happy sursprise, will give it repeated play. John S.

 

[Frantic]

I have had this for sometime but I never voted on it.
I gave this disc a 10.
This is one of my favorites from EJ and along with Madman Across the Water, gets most of the playtime from his offerings.
Superb mix of some very down to earth music.

 

[dr. simple]

Perhaps I'm the last person on earth to have bought this SACD but it was the last of the Elton John's that I was missing, I gave it a 9 and it was a real surprise. I had never heard this LP all the way through before in my life (maybe only heard 2 songs off it in fact) but was impressed that, unlike all his other albums, there was a consistency of theme and mood here, and not a pastiche of songs as all the rest of LPs seem to be. Not that I dislike all his other material, individual songs really shine, but full LPs have been difficult to wade through, for me. The mix is inventive to my ear and the sonics great on the old masters. The bonus Madman track with Mick Ronson's guitar puts the released version to shame. A happy sursprise, will give it repeated play. John S.

I felt this way about all of the Elton SACDs. I was always a fan of Elton's hits, but not familiar with his albums. When I started buying these SACDs I was blown away, one by one. But "Tumbleweed Connection" has become my favorite (thanks in part to Cameron Crowe and "Elizabethtown").

 

[filper]

A beautiful sounding SA-CD.

A very tasteful surround mix by Greg Penny.

The brilliant Paul Buckmaster arrangements are perfectly placed in the mix.

9

 

[BobInEdmond]

Just recently upgraded my av system. Had no way to play SACDs before. I have about 7 or 8 SACDs now with the arrival of EJ's Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across the Water today. I've listened to TWC twice now and I think it is outstanding. The only thing I have to compare it to are some BD and DVD disks with either Dolby or DTS 5.1 formats but SACD, at least on TWC and MATW, blow the others away. If I can get my wife to sit long enough to hear my new SACDs she may actually understand why I've upgraded everything in my system Oh yeah, I voted "10"!

 

[filper]

Bob, get ALL the Elton SACD's while they are still available.

There isn't one I don't like.

 

[EMB]

I bought it out of interest. And the fact that there's been little on the SACD front that I have a vast interest in recently sadly. We live in desparate times.

Thought I'd bring this quote up, chiefly for the last line. I felt the same way investing in a Britney Spears DVD-A, but it turned out Ok, though not something I'd make a habit of playing--ever.

Still, Elton is hardly the most 'middle of the road' act in pop history. The quad releases of Enoch Light, Mantovani, and a few others prove that...

But today? Twenty years ago? That Elton John has no interest to me, the magic I heard in some of that early material was long gone by then, never to be recaptured.

ED

 

[BobInEdmond]

Bob, get ALL the Elton SACD's while they are still available.

There isn't one I don't like.

Along with Elton John I now have 3 of his SACDs. Looking at Goodbye Yellow Brick Road next

You said, "get them while they are still available". Am I just getting in on SACDs at the end? Is the format going to die out? I hope not because for the first time in a long time I have a good enough system and the time to start enjoying music again :sun

 

[EMB]

Yeah, buy now; or buy later for a lot more, or hope you luck into something nice'n'cheap. Now is better, and SACD titles were pressed in limited numbers to begin with(new format and all that), so there is no reason to wait on anything, however recent, as most of these have been dropped from mainstream retail outlets(bad sign early on).

ED

 

[BobInEdmond]

Yeah, buy now; or buy later for a lot more, or hope you luck into something nice'n'cheap. Now is better, and SACD titles were pressed in limited numbers to begin with(new format and all that), so there is no reason to wait on anything, however recent, as most of these have been dropped from mainstream retail outlets(bad sign early on).

ED

I agree. I was at BB and I asked if they carried SACDs and they told me "there may be some left mixed in with all the others, we don't have a section for them" and today I called CD Warehouse and asked if they carried SACDs and the guy on the phone said "what's that?".

You think they will start puttin out multichannel music on Blue-ray formats?

I know some people don't care if they hear AM coming out of a radio on the kitchen table but you would think there are enough of us out there that want truly great sounding music

 

[filper]

I can assure you that very shortly there will be no HiRes discs available at any Best Buy in Canada.

I don't know about the U.S.

 

[JonUrban]

I agree. I was at BB and I asked if they carried SACDs and they told me "there may be some left mixed in with all the others, we don't have a section for them" and today I called CD Warehouse and asked if they carried SACDs and the guy on the phone said "what's that?".

You think they will start puttin out multichannel music on Blue-ray formats?

I know some people don't care if they hear AM coming out of a radio on the kitchen table but you would think there are enough of us out there that want truly great sounding music

Hang in there Bob. Sorry you're late to the game, but there IS stuff out there. You just have to look - and look hard. Grab anything you can find that seems to be of interest. Look through these HiRez Polls to read about what is out there (there are many more titles than are in the polls but these will give you a good start)

 

[BobInEdmond]

Hang in there Bob. Sorry you're late to the game, but there IS stuff out there. You just have to look - and look hard. Grab anything you can find that seems to be of interest. Look through these HiRez Polls to read about what is out there (there are many more titles than are in the polls but these will give you a good start)

Thanks Jon, I found the link to this forum in another "Multichannel" post on another forum. Should have 1 more SACD in the mail today and have 4 more queued up at amazon to order today

 

[uffeolby]

If I can get my wife to sit long enough to hear my new SACDs she may actually understand why I've upgraded everything in my system

Good luck! I had the same idea some years ago but I have now given up to strive for her blessings for any system upgrade.

//Uffe

 

[BobInEdmond]

Good luck! I had the same idea some years ago but I have now given up to strive for her blessings for any system upgrade.

//Uffe

I hear you! I told my wife to sit back and listen to at least 1 song in surround, it was "Madman Across the Water". Her initial reaction was "this song is over 8 minutes long!", I had the display on the screen, my bad The next thing I heard was "5 MORE MINUTES LEFT". I guess I'm in the same boat as you

1 thing about having a wife that just isn't interested at all in my av system (she just wants it to play when she wants it to play) is that she's easily fooled. After I upgraded my mains, center, receiver and BD player I decided I needed a new sub. I ordered the new HSU ULS-15 and when it arrived I just told her "when I ordered my new speakers this was back ordered but now it's here :sun" (not even the same brand), no questions asked, end of discussion

 

[EMB]

Well, my wife's never been an Elton John fan, so you can imagine her eyes rolling when she hears him on our system....\

Still, she's tolerant, I'm tolerant...not that EJ gets a lot of play anyway, but if there is any ONE Elton SACD I'd listen to, it's either GYBR or TUMBLEWEED.....

ED

 

[The Rang]

Am just starting to sample my MC discs in the last few days.

Now that I seem to have my DVD player set-up properly I'm "getting it".

Tumblweed is one my favourite EJ albums and I love it in 5.1.
Gave it a 9.
Hard to give anything a 10 until I have a larger frame of reference.
Can't wait to play the other Elton's.

 

[rtbluray]

Gave this disc a '10' (just like all of the classic EJ 5.1 mixes)

It's nice to have a mixer like Greg Penny who's not afraid to have really loud, really discrete rear speakers in his mix.

The standout tracks for me on this release are Come Down In Time, Country Comfort, and especially Amoreena (which happens to be the only track that Elton's live band played on for this album). Can't listen to that track now without thinking of the film 'Dog Day Afternoon'.
Also kudos to Penny for mixing the bonus tracks in 5.1 too.

This disc (along with all the other classic EJ SACDs) should be in everyone's collection, and the best part is unlike a lot of older surround releases, these are still readily available for a great price.
I'm still holding out hope that eventually UMG will have the clarity of mind to release the other 4 5.1 mixes that Greg Penny did.

 

[fredblue]

Gave this disc a '10' (just like all of the classic EJ 5.1 mixes)

It's nice to have a mixer like Greg Penny who's not afraid to have really loud, really discrete rear speakers in his mix.

The standout tracks for me on this release are Come Down In Time, Country Comfort, and especially Amoreena (which happens to be the only track that Elton's live band played on for this album). Can't listen to that track now without thinking of the film 'Dog Day Afternoon'.
Also kudos to Penny for mixing the bonus tracks in 5.1 too.

This disc (along with all the other classic EJ SACDs) should be in everyone's collection, and the best part is unlike a lot of older surround releases, these are still readily available for a great price.
I'm still holding out hope that eventually UMG will have the clarity of mind to release the other 4 5.1 mixes that Greg Penny did.

Great to hear your love for this one "rt"..!

talking of love, "Love Song" is gorgeous here too.

in fact the whole thing is a sonic delight, probably the best-sounding SACD of all those Eltons that did get released and a couple of those are right up there with the best of the best too, imho.

the biggest hitter for me on the Tumbleweed SACD though, is the Mick Ronson version of "Madman". there's a lovely homage to quads' crazy panning stuff here in Greg Penny's 5.1 mix, it's playful but it also reinforces the power of Micks' guitar absolutely brilliantly. just amazing demo-worthy stuff.

I'm convinced these EJ SACDs are still readily available because - despite selling extremely well, relative to SACDs general sales figures - they haven't gone out of print yet!

can someone in the know here confirm this please!?

also.. what is the possibility that this SACD, together with the SACD of "Honky Cheateau", the Steely Dan "Gaucho" and "Marvin Gaye Collection" (all UMG SACD hybrids) have been secretly re-pressed all along?

I only ask, as the HMV on Oxford Street seems to have a seemingly endless supply of these particular titles - even to this day!

I've bought backups of them all over the years and my friend has bought the self same titles there at the self same store again on SACD a little while later and I've observed them disappearing from the racks over the years and periodically being re-stocked on the shelves.. I'm like a hawk looking out for these things in stores.. and there they are time and again, back on the sales floor.. and as of just two weeks ago, HMV still had the Marvin Gaye, the Gaucho and the Honky Cheateau SACDs, just one copy of each title, out in the racks.

I used to think it was just that these were pressed in inordinately large numbers (by SACD standards) and therefore stock would still be available, though diminishing and they are officially OOP.. but now I'm not so sure what their status is..!?!

as for the other 4 EJ 5.1's.. "Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Universal records..!!" Let's just have them now on Deluxe Ed's with 5.1 DVD-A and be done with it..!!!

mmm.. now here's a thought., I'm going to see Elton at Wembley on Friday night..
I've stopped counting but it must be my 50-something'th time seeing him in concert.. now maybe I should make a banner -- and chant out (to the tune of "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep"...!) "Where's your 5.1? Where's your 5.1? Far, far away..!!"

meh.. maybe not! I feel like I've done my bit, I've asked the people I have access to in the fan club about these things (and the rest!!) and they know diddly squat about the remaining 5.1's.

I've mentioned this here before.. but it bears repeating, I feel.. a close member of Elton's entourage remarked, when I asked her if/when the next SACDs were coming, "Oh! I thought they'd all been released already..!?"

A big fat "D'OH..!" moment eh..

 

[Quad Linda]

10. I've been a fan for over 40 years, and this is his best album, IMHO. i like the mix and the music is spectacular. Not a bad one in the bunch.