2022 felt like yet another crossroads in the world of immersive audio and surround sound.
On the one hand, we are starting to see a rise in lots of new Dolby Atmos mixes featured exclusively on streaming services such as Apple Music & TIDAL.
On the other hand, this also means that we are seeing yet another shift away from physical media, one of the hallmarks of our profession.
This shift away from physical media towards streaming has allowed us to access lots of new immersive audio releases without having to plunk down loads of $$ for a physical disc that would more than likely be tied into a big, physical box set. However, the downside is that we now have to pay streaming services a monthly subscription fee without having the kind of access and freedom that physical media (like DVDs and Blu-rays) have provided us, not to mention that the streaming quality isn't quite as good as the audio quality we would get on a Blu-ray Disc too.
This is all to say that 2023 should prove to be a very interesting year for our profession in that we will see whether the trend towards exclusive streaming releases will continue or if we will see more of a return to form with an increase in more physical releases.
Here's a rundown of what we can hope to see (or not see) in 2023. (This rundown will mostly consist of classic remixes and reissues of preexisting albums, a further rundown of anticipated new album releases will follow at some point):
-BEATLES: Alright, let's just get this one over with, shall we? I think we have now seen the end of any immersive audio releases from the Beatles on physical media after they shanked us and released the Dolby Atmos mix of "Revolver" exclusively on streaming services. It was indeed a sad and abrupt way to end what was an incredible run of high quality box sets from arguably the greatest band of all time. I anticipate that any further remixes from the Beatles (both collectively and individually) will be streaming only...
-PINK FLOYD: Now on to happier subjects. (Can't believe I'm writing this by Pink Floyd, lol.) After years of waiting (along with lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth) our patience was finally rewarded in 2022 with the highly anticipated release of the brand new remix of their classic 1977 album "Animals", so what will come next for the Floyd in 2023? The most obvious answer of course is a 50th anniversary edition of their biggest album "Dark Side of the Moon." Now of course since DSOTM has already been released in 5.1 surround in a variety of different formats and configurations, the obvious follow up question is, will they up the ante and produce a new Dolby Atmos mix of the album, or will any 50th anniversary releases simply contain a reissue of the existing 5.1 & Quadraphonic mixes? Of course the other possible release for 2023 is the much anticipated 5.1 remix of the album "The Wall", which was recently completed by their longtime engineer James Guthrie. I know we are pretty much all hoping for the latter in 2023, but depending on what they have in store for the 50th anniversary of "Dark Side", "The Wall" remix might be bumped until 2024...
-STEVEN WILSON REMIXES:
-ESOTERIC RECORDINGS: One of our favorite labels, Esoteric Recordings, will get 2023 off to a very good start with the long-awaited remix of the classic Barclay James Harvest album "Once Again", remixed by our friend @Stephen W Tayler. Maybe we can also expect a remixed and expanded edition of "Baby James Harvest" later on in 2023. Then a month later (in February 2023) Esoteric will FINALLY release the long-awaited box set for the Alan Parsons Project album "The Turn of a Friendly Card", which will feature a new 5.1 surround mix from Alan Parsons himself. One can only hope that "I Robot" will follow in the latter half of 2023. We will also see if Esoteric Recordings will continue to provide us with any more remixed and expanded box sets from the incredibly extensive catalogue of Bill Nelson following on from this year's fabulous Red Noise box set. Last but not least, towards the end of March 2023, Esoteric are set to release a massive Hawkwind box set, featuring 3 albums ('Quark, Strangeness And Charm’, ‘Hawklords – 25 Years On’ and ‘PXR 5’) all remixed by Steven Wilson.
-FRANK ZAPPA: December 16, 2022 will see the release of an exciting new box set called "Waka/Wazoo" which will feature new 5.1 and Dolby Atmos mixes of Zappa's albums "Waka/Jaka" and "The Grand Wazoo", so for 2023, I am anticipating an extensive box set centered around the classic 1973 album "Over-nite Sensation" or this supposed box set could combine material from both "Over-nite Sensation" and "Apostrophe" into a single box since a lot of material from both albums were recorded during the same sessions. Besides new 5.1 & Dolby Atmos mixes, this supposed set could also feature the original Quadraphonic mixes for both albums too!
-MARILLION: 2023 should see the release of the final deluxe edition in Parlophone's series which will be 1989's "Seasons End", the first Marillion album to feature their current lead singer Steve Hogarth. Apparently the group and their management are also looking at possibly releasing further deluxe editions in the future, so we will wait and see what other releases they will have in store for us for 2023 and beyond. Marillion's original lead singer Fish is also promising us a slew of deluxe edition reissues of his solo albums to also begin in 2023, and these deluxe editions will include new remixes in 5.1 surround & Dolby Atmos.
-RUSH: A much delayed 40th anniversary edition of "Moving Pictures" was finally released in April 2022 which featured a new Dolby Atmos mix of the album from their engineer Rich Chycki, so I am also anticipating a similar edition of "Signals" to follow in 2023 which will probably be just as budget busting as this year's box set was...
-THE BAND: Continuing on with their much appreciated 50th anniversary series, I'm anticipating a 50th anniversary remix in 5.1 surround & Dolby Atmos from Bob Clearmountain of their 1973 album "Moondog Matinee" in 2023.
-DAVID BOWIE: Following on from the recently released "Divine Symmetry" box set which celebrates and explores "Hunky Dory", I predict that a similar set will be put together and released centered around "Ziggy Stardust", and I'm further predicting that this set will contain the 5.1 mix on Blu-Ray for the first time. The only outstanding question will be if they will decide to take things a step further with a new Dolby Atmos mix of the album.
-CLASSIC QUADRAPHONIC RELEASES: I fully anticipate that Sony Japan will continue with their slate of 50th anniversary Quadraphonic releases for Santana with the albums "Welcome" and "Love Devotion Surrender" (the latter recorded with Jon McLaughlin.) I also anticipate that Dutton Vocalion will continue their slate of classic quadraphonic releases on SACD as well.
-R.E.M.: Not anything earth-shattering for sure, but I am expecting that the band will continue their 25th anniversary series with a 25th anniversary edition of the album "UP" which will include the previously released 5.1 mix on Blu-Ray.
Also a final shout out is due to our friend @PaulatSDE for the amazing slate of exclusive Blu-Ray audio releases that he provided us with in 2022. He's already got a few good releases lined up for the beginning of 2023 so of course we await with bated breath for more good things to come throughout 2023!
If there's anything you feel that I missed concerning any classic album remixes and reissues, comment below, but again, I also hope to post a rundown of anticipated new album releases for 2023 very soon!
On the one hand, we are starting to see a rise in lots of new Dolby Atmos mixes featured exclusively on streaming services such as Apple Music & TIDAL.
On the other hand, this also means that we are seeing yet another shift away from physical media, one of the hallmarks of our profession.
This shift away from physical media towards streaming has allowed us to access lots of new immersive audio releases without having to plunk down loads of $$ for a physical disc that would more than likely be tied into a big, physical box set. However, the downside is that we now have to pay streaming services a monthly subscription fee without having the kind of access and freedom that physical media (like DVDs and Blu-rays) have provided us, not to mention that the streaming quality isn't quite as good as the audio quality we would get on a Blu-ray Disc too.
This is all to say that 2023 should prove to be a very interesting year for our profession in that we will see whether the trend towards exclusive streaming releases will continue or if we will see more of a return to form with an increase in more physical releases.
Here's a rundown of what we can hope to see (or not see) in 2023. (This rundown will mostly consist of classic remixes and reissues of preexisting albums, a further rundown of anticipated new album releases will follow at some point):
-BEATLES: Alright, let's just get this one over with, shall we? I think we have now seen the end of any immersive audio releases from the Beatles on physical media after they shanked us and released the Dolby Atmos mix of "Revolver" exclusively on streaming services. It was indeed a sad and abrupt way to end what was an incredible run of high quality box sets from arguably the greatest band of all time. I anticipate that any further remixes from the Beatles (both collectively and individually) will be streaming only...
-PINK FLOYD: Now on to happier subjects. (Can't believe I'm writing this by Pink Floyd, lol.) After years of waiting (along with lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth) our patience was finally rewarded in 2022 with the highly anticipated release of the brand new remix of their classic 1977 album "Animals", so what will come next for the Floyd in 2023? The most obvious answer of course is a 50th anniversary edition of their biggest album "Dark Side of the Moon." Now of course since DSOTM has already been released in 5.1 surround in a variety of different formats and configurations, the obvious follow up question is, will they up the ante and produce a new Dolby Atmos mix of the album, or will any 50th anniversary releases simply contain a reissue of the existing 5.1 & Quadraphonic mixes? Of course the other possible release for 2023 is the much anticipated 5.1 remix of the album "The Wall", which was recently completed by their longtime engineer James Guthrie. I know we are pretty much all hoping for the latter in 2023, but depending on what they have in store for the 50th anniversary of "Dark Side", "The Wall" remix might be bumped until 2024...
-STEVEN WILSON REMIXES:
-THE WHO: As of right now, it appears that the most anticipated release of 2023 will be the expansive box set of the Who's biggest album "Who's Next", which will include new 5.1 & Dolby Atmos mixes of the original album and lots of other tracks from the sessions, in what will probably be one of the greatest surround releases of all time!
-Jethro Tull: 2023 should finally see the release of the much anticipated 40th anniversary remixed edition of the 1982 album "Broadsword and the Beast" and it is also anticipated that this will be the final Jethro Tull remix that Steven Wilson works on, so we will probably have to wait until 2024 to see if the remixes will continue under a different engineer for the possible 40th anniversary reissue of the controversial album "Under Wraps".
-Ultravox: After the delayed release of the remixed and expanded edition of "Rage in Eden" in 2022, I am hoping that 2023 will see the release of an also delayed 40th anniversary edition of their 1982 album "Quartet", originally produced by George Martin!
-Tears for Fears: The 30th anniversary of "Elemental" will occur in 2023, so I am hoping that we will see a 30th anniversary edition released complete with new 5.1 & Dolby Atmos mixes from Steven Wilson. (The 40th anniversary of "The Hurting" will also take place in 2023, but since the album was reissued quite expansively in 2013, I don't know if the band and Universal will put out another expansive deluxe edition for its 40th anniversary, but maybe if we're lucky, we might see a new Blu-Ray audio release of the album with new 5.1 & Dolby Atmos mixes as part of the SDE surround sound series, especially due to Paul's close working relationship with the band.)
-Gentle Giant: After the much lauded 2021 remix of "Free Hand", we are still waiting on further remixes for the albums "Interview" and "The Missing Piece" so hopefully both of those remixes will arrive in 2023.
-Grateful Dead: One of the most surprising Dolby Atmos releases of 2022 (streaming only at the moment) was a new Dolby Atmos mix of the album "American Beauty", but according to SW himself, more remixes, including possibly in physical formats, are supposed to follow soon!
-ABC: It's been noted on QQ that SW has completed remixes of the classic 80s album "The Lexicon of Love" by the group ABC, and the remixes are due for release in a deluxe edition in 2023!
-Other miscellaneous remix rumors: Hints have been dropped throughout QQ that there are other remixes that SW has been working on, including albums by David Gilmour, a-ha, and the Cars! (It should be further noted that an SW Atmos mix of a-ha's "Take on Me" is already available on all Dolby Atmos streaming providers.)
-Finally. even though there is nothing confirmed or even anticipated specifically for 2023, I still hope that one day we will see further remixes from both the XTC and Roxy Music catalogues!
-ELTON JOHN: One of the most surprising releases of 2022 was a new deluxe edition box set of Elton's classic album "Madman Across the Water", which featured the 2004 5.1 mix released for the first time on Blu-Ray audio. Thanks to some fantastic insiders on SHTV, we now know that Elton and his record label are looking at producing further box sets for more of Elton's classic albums, and while many (including myself) naturally expected that the next box set would be for 1972's "Honky Chateau", the insiders also revealed that such a set is not happening because they do not have enough material available to create a box set for the album. Instead they are turning their attention towards a 50th anniversary box set for the album "Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player..." in 2023 which will hopefully include Greg Penny's long-shelved 5.1 mix of the album, giving us the chance to hear the remix for the first time!! I also anticipate that 2023 will see the release of a 50th anniversary edition of Elton's biggest album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", potentially accompanied by a new Dolby Atmos mix of the album.-ESOTERIC RECORDINGS: One of our favorite labels, Esoteric Recordings, will get 2023 off to a very good start with the long-awaited remix of the classic Barclay James Harvest album "Once Again", remixed by our friend @Stephen W Tayler. Maybe we can also expect a remixed and expanded edition of "Baby James Harvest" later on in 2023. Then a month later (in February 2023) Esoteric will FINALLY release the long-awaited box set for the Alan Parsons Project album "The Turn of a Friendly Card", which will feature a new 5.1 surround mix from Alan Parsons himself. One can only hope that "I Robot" will follow in the latter half of 2023. We will also see if Esoteric Recordings will continue to provide us with any more remixed and expanded box sets from the incredibly extensive catalogue of Bill Nelson following on from this year's fabulous Red Noise box set. Last but not least, towards the end of March 2023, Esoteric are set to release a massive Hawkwind box set, featuring 3 albums ('Quark, Strangeness And Charm’, ‘Hawklords – 25 Years On’ and ‘PXR 5’) all remixed by Steven Wilson.
-FRANK ZAPPA: December 16, 2022 will see the release of an exciting new box set called "Waka/Wazoo" which will feature new 5.1 and Dolby Atmos mixes of Zappa's albums "Waka/Jaka" and "The Grand Wazoo", so for 2023, I am anticipating an extensive box set centered around the classic 1973 album "Over-nite Sensation" or this supposed box set could combine material from both "Over-nite Sensation" and "Apostrophe" into a single box since a lot of material from both albums were recorded during the same sessions. Besides new 5.1 & Dolby Atmos mixes, this supposed set could also feature the original Quadraphonic mixes for both albums too!
-MARILLION: 2023 should see the release of the final deluxe edition in Parlophone's series which will be 1989's "Seasons End", the first Marillion album to feature their current lead singer Steve Hogarth. Apparently the group and their management are also looking at possibly releasing further deluxe editions in the future, so we will wait and see what other releases they will have in store for us for 2023 and beyond. Marillion's original lead singer Fish is also promising us a slew of deluxe edition reissues of his solo albums to also begin in 2023, and these deluxe editions will include new remixes in 5.1 surround & Dolby Atmos.
-RUSH: A much delayed 40th anniversary edition of "Moving Pictures" was finally released in April 2022 which featured a new Dolby Atmos mix of the album from their engineer Rich Chycki, so I am also anticipating a similar edition of "Signals" to follow in 2023 which will probably be just as budget busting as this year's box set was...
-THE BAND: Continuing on with their much appreciated 50th anniversary series, I'm anticipating a 50th anniversary remix in 5.1 surround & Dolby Atmos from Bob Clearmountain of their 1973 album "Moondog Matinee" in 2023.
-DAVID BOWIE: Following on from the recently released "Divine Symmetry" box set which celebrates and explores "Hunky Dory", I predict that a similar set will be put together and released centered around "Ziggy Stardust", and I'm further predicting that this set will contain the 5.1 mix on Blu-Ray for the first time. The only outstanding question will be if they will decide to take things a step further with a new Dolby Atmos mix of the album.
-CLASSIC QUADRAPHONIC RELEASES: I fully anticipate that Sony Japan will continue with their slate of 50th anniversary Quadraphonic releases for Santana with the albums "Welcome" and "Love Devotion Surrender" (the latter recorded with Jon McLaughlin.) I also anticipate that Dutton Vocalion will continue their slate of classic quadraphonic releases on SACD as well.
-R.E.M.: Not anything earth-shattering for sure, but I am expecting that the band will continue their 25th anniversary series with a 25th anniversary edition of the album "UP" which will include the previously released 5.1 mix on Blu-Ray.
Also a final shout out is due to our friend @PaulatSDE for the amazing slate of exclusive Blu-Ray audio releases that he provided us with in 2022. He's already got a few good releases lined up for the beginning of 2023 so of course we await with bated breath for more good things to come throughout 2023!
If there's anything you feel that I missed concerning any classic album remixes and reissues, comment below, but again, I also hope to post a rundown of anticipated new album releases for 2023 very soon!
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