HiRez Poll Lynyrd Skynyrd - SOUTHERN SURROUNDINGS [DVD-AUDIO/BLU-RAY AUDIO]

[JonUrban]

Please rate this DVD-Audio/BluRay disc release on GEFFEN from UMe (Universal Music Enterprises)

[NOTE: This disc was re-released in 2015 by Universal as a BluRay Audio Disc. The information below concerns only the original release, as it was quite an unusual event being retail store specific, and a DVD-A release that appeared long after UMe seemed to have stopped DVD-A production]



The following is from the official press release for this title. Scans will follow:

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - Aug 6, 2012) - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Lynyrd Skynyrd will release a three-disc CD/DVD set, SOUTHERN SURROUNDINGS, exclusively with Walmart, on August 7, 2012.

The deluxe collection will include a CD featuring 14 of the band's greatest hits, featuring "Sweet Home Alabama," "Saturday Night Special," "That Smell" and a live "Free Bird"; a seven-track DVD-Video from a live performance on BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test, and a 10-song DVD-Audio/Video boasting 10 classic songs newly mixed in 5.1 surround sound by Grammy-winning producer Elliott Scheiner.

The BBC DVD features live performances of "Double Trouble," "I Ain't The One," "Call Me The Breeze," "I Got The Same Old Blues," "Every Mother's Son," "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird" from a performance originally broadcasted on November 11, 1975.

The DVD-Audio/Video disc showcases in 96kHz/24-bit uncompressed and 48kHz/24-bit Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, "Saturday Night Special," "Gimme Three Steps," "Swamp Music," "Gimme Back My Bullets," "The Ballad Of Curtis Loew," "You Got That Right," "That Smell," "All I Can Do Is Write About It," "Simple Man" and "Free Bird" (the complete, 10+ minute extended version).

SOUTHERN SURROUNDINGS offers a superb overview of their career, both as a live act (which can be seen in the BBC footage) as well as a recording group, with the Scheiner-mixed 5.1 surround sound versions adding a whole new perspective to the group's groundbreaking catalog. There are also some rare gems, including an acoustic version of "All I Can Do Is Write About It" on Disc 1 and a scintillating take on J. J. Cale's "I Got The Same Old Blues" from the Old Grey Whistle Test on the BBC DVD disc.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-rel...surroundings-as-walmart-exclusive-1687346.htm

 

[Bob Romano]

I have listened to this disc twice now. I gave it a 10! Despite missing "Sweet Home Alabama", this disc is a winner! ES has created some really great mixes in the past and these, IMO, rank right up there with the best of them. Never gimmicky but always adding just the right amount of depth and punch. These tracks really stay faithful to the original mixes while opening them up at the same time. Great bottom end too! This is a no-brainer at $11.88 for a three-disc set. I would have paid twice that. I am just glad I didn't have to. I wish and hope that there are more sets like this coming.

BTW... "Free Bird" on the DVD-A disc is the full length studio version in 5.1 while the CD has the live version.

 

[zabble]

Wow! The first thing that hit me was Al Kooper's Moog synths on the first cut "Saturday Nite Special". I never noticed that before upon hearing it on the radio a zillion times. There's a low wavering synth in the front left and a high one in the front left. Another thing I never noticed in the stereo version before were the bongos in "Gimme Three Steps" which are present in the rears throughout. Hearing them today was almost like hearing the bongos in the quadraphonic version of the Doors' "Rider's on the Storm" for the very first time.

Buying this is a no brainer, even if you are as tired hearing these songs from radio overplay. I'll probably never play the stereo disc, but the 5.1 mix is very well done and quite the revelation at times.

 

[holland123]

I have to give this disc an 8 overall, I would give the surround field a solid 10, excellent. i have to give the sonics however a 6. definitely not as well done as some of the better hi rez Dvd-a's out there, keep in mind i am not rating the content or the price. the dynamic range is just not quite there hi-hats and ride cymbals not crisp like a top notch dvd-a, bottom end slightly muddy, not tight and chest thumping, i had to adjust LFE crossover up to 125hz to detect anything at 0db, at 1 db adjusted down to 75hz comes through slightly washed. overall though it is a good solid disc. just not as good sonicly as i had hoped. to be honest step away from the surround arena and the mastersounds gold and the mfsl gold disc's of their first 2 albums are slightly better sonicly. still an awsome purchase and a total surprise , hopefully more to come. i would like to thank my canadian friend otto who alerted me to this and ironicly can't even get it in canada, but i've got you covered bud.

 

[quattroatl]

Another wasted trip to a Walmart...

Disc is nowhere in sight...

 

[dabl]

Another wasted trip to a Walmart...

Disc is nowhere in sight...

Yeah I didn't bother, just ordered it online for store pickup next week.

 

[JonUrban]

Added scan of the DVD-A itself and the front with the Walmart price and exclusive sticker. I found one today. ONE.

 

[byrdman7]

A very BIG surprise on this release. I have listened to the DVDA (3) times and really enjoyed the mix. I score this a 9 1/2 which is not possible so a 9 will have to work. I could use more surprises like this.

 

[DKA]

Easily the best recent non-Steve-Wilson high-profile surround mix out there, and it's not particularly close. Excellent sound quality, and I agree with Zabble in that it seemed like, on every track, there was something new brought out in the music to differentiate the listening experience from the stereo. Every track here is elevated in the way a successful surround mix should by Mr. Scheiner into a new experience for the listener, no matter how much you may think you know a particular song. I should also add that my one year-old NYC-born-and-bred little boy was dancing his ass off to "Gimme Three Steps." My only criticism here is that, for all the fantastic instrumental separation here, the decision to mix the vocal as wide as it is here is somewhat perplexing. It's not a distraction in the way it was on, say, the "Quadrophenia" or "WYWH" mixes, but it is the difference between a perfect and almost-perfect mix. You have the multis, Mr. Scheiner. Put that lead vocal where it belongs. Wilson does it.

9 out of 10. An almost perfect experience.

 

[fredblue]

... and this already has 8 votes on QQ!?

WOW!

I've been trawling through the Polls on here lately and there are a fair few titles(*) that have never attracted 8 votes, even after years of being out there for folks to buy, listen to and then log onto rate here for others at QQ to discover!

hoping (beyond hope!) that the business this is doing is being monitored by the decision makers at Universal -- and that this release will pave the way for MORE of the SAME!

*(some are of fairly high profile albums, at least in their redbook incarnations, which pretty much flopped on SACD/DVDA! Not because they are bad 5.1 mixes, just not the right choice for the demographic of so many 5.1 music buyers, unlike this new Lynyrd Skynyrd DVDA.. I'm looking at you Destiny's Child/Beyonce..! those "Survivor" and "Dangerously in Love" SACDs must have been disastrous sellers, compared with their redbook sales..!?)

 

[EMB]

A new title by an established act should garner quite a few reviews, and the novelty of this one 'coming out of nowhere' as it were, probably means a lot, too.

I gave it a '9' overall, and since content is a factor, the lack of "Sweet Home" forced me to that number. Overall, though, the sonics seem pretty solid to me.

As for "Free Bird," haven't heard the old '73 debut Lp in a while, but didn't it end with a fadeout there? Here, it runs about 10:05 and ends cold, and I don't remember that last minute being on the Lp or on any later comp that I remember (more recent CD comps I haven't bothered with at all). Maybe someone can clarify this?

ED

 

[JonUrban]

Now that I've heard it a few times, I like it a lot. Like I said, I only knew the "hits", but most of these tunes are clearly multi-listen worthy.

Despite all of the euphoria about this sudden DVD-A release, one still has to step back and wonder "WHERE THE HELL IS SWEET HOME ALABAMA????"

With 3 discs for $11, this has to be the absolute best value surround disc package every sold. An ES Mix to boot, and it has to be a 10. However, the lack of having their #1 hit not included on the surround disc is tugging it strongly into 9 territory for me. Need another listen.

 

[EMB]

I followed them through the '70s, not much more after that, the Rossington-Collins stuff I mildly remember. As for the hits, there is another significant omission: "What's Your Name" a #13 hit from '77. But it's not ubiquitous the way "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird" are, so its absence doesn't bother me as much. And at the price, it's hard to bitch at all without sounding like an ingrate. Still, with two more tracks, the 5.1 disc could have had enough to satisfy most fans. As it is, exceptional, but what's missing is something I'd like to ask the compilers about, if they were willing to discuss it.

ED

 

[georgeshannon]

As for "Free Bird," haven't heard the old '73 debut Lp in a while, but didn't it end with a fadeout there? Here, it runs about 10:05 and ends cold, and I don't remember that last minute being on the Lp or on any later comp that I remember (more recent CD comps I haven't bothered with at all). Maybe someone can clarify this?
ED

Right you are Ed. On the CD Free Bird fades out at 9:00.

 

[EMB]

I thought as much, George. I wonder if a longer stereo version turned up on a later box set or Millennium Collection or something. I've heard none of those, but if Mr. Scheiner gave us a little first-time bonus, it's more than welcome here.

ED

 

[kvsawilson]

Wow! What a great surprise. This reminds me of the pre-internet days when you'd go down to the record store and find a new release from one of your favorites that you didn't know was coming out. I had been gone for a few days and came back to see this was out and went straight to walmart to find they didn't have it. Was in a little town 35 miles away and checked their store and they had two.

Skynyrd was my favorite band back in the mid-70's and I've listened to all these songs many, many times. Of course, I was into quad back then and there was never any Skynyrd released in quad. So for this to appear was awesome. And this disc was like hearing these songs for the first time all over again. Great mix by ES and, while the overall sound varies from the early albums to the last, it all sounds better than I've ever heard it. Each song has moments that I've never picked out before and the layers of guitars really get room to breathe.

I've got to wonder about the song selection. Particularly to pick Swamp Music from Second Helping instead of Working for MCA, Needle and the Spoon, Call Me The Breeze (maybe since they didn't write that one) or, of course, Sweet Home Alabama seems real odd to me. It sounds great though. My hope is that they have the whole thing mixed in surround and ready to release if this sells well enough. Keeping SWA off this would make people more likely to shell out money again if they were to release Second Helping. Then again, maybe they just don't have the multi channel tapes? I actually wonder if there's any chance all 5 albums were mixed. Wish ES would let someone know. I'd love to buy all 5 and have this one become unnecessary.

One last thing, has any else had problems with the first note of each song being cut off just a little. I notice that when I play through my hdmi cable and have it decoded by the receiver, that's what happens. But when I play it via my analog outs (an OPPO bd player) it plays fine. I figure its my receiver, but think it's odd that the disc was authored in a way that causes it. Can't think of another one that does it. But there is a long gap between each song and I think it loses it's sync.

Anyway, a great release! Hoping for more surprises to come.

K

 

[cupboy]

Does anyone know what the specs are on the stereo PCM that plays on dvd-video players?

 

[grill]

Does anyone know what the specs are on the stereo PCM that plays on dvd-video players?

DD 2.0

 

[cupboy]

DD 2.0

Yes. I was going to mention that but you beat me to it. Pretty funny. Either you have a dvd-audio player or you're screwed.

The linear PCM that is mentioned can be found on the other DVD with the live performance. The video is in standard aspect ratio so don't play it in widescreen or everyone will be fat.

 

[quattroatl]

Wow! What a great surprise. This reminds me of the pre-internet days when you'd go down to the record store and find a new release from one of your favorites that you didn't know was coming out. I had been gone for a few days and came back to see this was out and went straight to walmart to find they didn't have it. Was in a little town 35 miles away and checked their store and they had two.

Skynyrd was my favorite band back in the mid-70's and I've listened to all these songs many, many times. Of course, I was into quad back then and there was never any Skynyrd released in quad. So for this to appear was awesome. And this disc was like hearing these songs for the first time all over again. Great mix by ES and, while the overall sound varies from the early albums to the last, it all sounds better than I've ever heard it. Each song has moments that I've never picked out before and the layers of guitars really get room to breathe.

I've got to wonder about the song selection. Particularly to pick Swamp Music from Second Helping instead of Working for MCA, Needle and the Spoon, Call Me The Breeze (maybe since they didn't write that one) or, of course, Sweet Home Alabama seems real odd to me. It sounds great though. My hope is that they have the whole thing mixed in surround and ready to release if this sells well enough. Keeping SWA off this would make people more likely to shell out money again if they were to release Second Helping. Then again, maybe they just don't have the multi channel tapes? I actually wonder if there's any chance all 5 albums were mixed. Wish ES would let someone know. I'd love to buy all 5 and have this one become unnecessary.

One last thing, has any else had problems with the first note of each song being cut off just a little. I notice that when I play through my hdmi cable and have it decoded by the receiver, that's what happens. But when I play it via my analog outs (an OPPO bd player) it plays fine. I figure its my receiver, but think it's odd that the disc was authored in a way that causes it. Can't think of another one that does it. But there is a long gap between each song and I think it loses it's sync.
Anyway, a great release! Hoping for more surprises to come.

K

I play my sacd and dvd-audio discs through my Harman Kardon DVD48, and every one of my dvd-a discs loses sync between each songs when played through hdmi. Super annoying but it is what it is. Like you, when I play analog out, then it's fine. I think the surround mix is great also. The packaging on the other hand is aweful. Spend an extra 50 cents and give me a jewel case!