HiRez Poll Pink Floyd - A MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON [Blu-Ray Audio]

[Kangmella]

I gave it a seven. It was probably my least favorite PF work but the surround and new mix was very well done. Enough has been said about this album already and the high-ish score was really due to the recording.

 

[JediJoker]

Why? Wasn’t this mostly a 16/44 (or maybe 48) recording - and more importantly a 16/44 digital master?

All the more reason to include it on the Blu-ray. Wouldn't take up that much more space.

 

[marcb]

All the more reason to include it on the Blu-ray. Wouldn't take up that much more space.

Or just buy the 2011 CD. You can probably get it for $2.

And honestly, how many people who bought the BD didn’t already have the CD?

 

[César]

A bit out of topic, but I'm a Floyd sucker and I couldn't help purchasing the vinyl (I confess I did because I liked the new booklet, we all have our weaknesses).
To my surprise, the sound quality is stunning. I love for instance how the bass sounds on YAM. And in terms of 3Dness, there are moments that the record sounds almost as it was in surround. Without wanting to judge again the new mix, these 45s are really recommendable

 

[MyCuff]

Long rant coming on.....

In the mid-80's, Floyd fans were wondering if the band would ever play again. Gilmour and Waters had done their solo albums and tours in '84. Gilmour had said that Pink Floyd was "gathering dust" while Waters said that being in the band was "not much fun anymore". So it was a sense of great relief when it was announced that despite Waters' departure, Gilmour and Mason would continue on as Pink Floyd with Wright returning to the fold. My hope was that musical interplay between Gilmour and Wright that had made albums like Meddle, Dark Side and Wish You Were Here so special would be reignited. When Lapse was released in September '87 I was greatly disappointed. Wright's presence on the album was virtually non-existent. Gilmour's writing and soloing was subpar. There were a few songs that I thought were ok, but much of it was unlistenable. When The Division Bell was released seven years later, I was similarly unimpressed, although I thought the album was an improvement over its predecessor. Needless to say I wasn't a big fan of this era of the band. Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised several years back when I heard Andy Jackson's wonderful surround mix of The Division Bell. It made me reevaluate the album. The mix of course was wonderful but I found that for the first time I was really enjoying the music as well, sometimes even listening to it in stereo. When a surround mix of Lapse was announced, I was hoping for a similar epiphany. Sadly it was not to be so.

Andy's surround mix here is decent, it probably betters mixes from many other engineers. However it seems to lack the "wow" factor that has made many of his other mixes so special. The two instrumental tracks are the highlights. It's kind of hard to describe the mix. You certainly feel the rear speakers, and it's not just a big-stereo type of scenario. But I don't also feel that much is happening in the surround field. Hard to articulate it. A lot of press was given to the fact that they de-80's-ed the album, trying to give it a more natural feel. But a lot of what they removed could probably be effective in the surround field. In terms of fidelity it doesn't really shine either. Not awful, but again not great. It probably could be a more enjoyable experience if the songwriting was up to Gilmour's previous level of excellence, but unfortunately that's not the case here.

One of the things that I had always loved about Pink Floyd was that every album was a new experience. They never tried to recreate their past glories. They always forged ahead and were trying new things. Wish You Were Here didn't sound like Dark Side, Animals didn't sound like Wish You Were Here and so on..... Unfortunately on this album it felt like GIlmour was trying to recreate some sort of classic Floyd sound. The opening sequence felt like an attempt to recreate the opening of "Shine On", the beginning of "One Slip" felt like an attempt to make an 80's version of "Time", etc.... Additionally on many songs Dave seemed to forget how to write a decent melody. His monotone droning grows tiresome very quickly. "On the Turning Away" is a notable exception to that. It's pretty nice but it also does feel like a rewrite of "Out of the Blue" from About Face. "Learning to Fly" and "One Slip" are perfectly acceptable 80's AOR, but they're not anything special. Tony Levin's solo on "One Slip" is a rare musical highlight on the album. The second half of the album though gets pretty tedious. I keep waiting for something to happen, it never does. The final track, "Sorrow", is pretty torturous. Sadly it's not the worst thing the album has to offer. That dubious distinction is saved for "The Dogs of War". Not only my least favorite cut on the album, but my least favorite song ever released under the Pink Floyd name. It feels like a Def Leppard reject. The only thing more embarrassing than the song itself was its accompanying screen film that was shown on the Lapse tour. (Interestingly, the most embarrassing part of that film was excised from the new reissue of Delicate Sound of Thunder). A big deal was made out of that fact that some of the 80's artifacts were removed for this new mix, however doing so only seems to underscore the deficiencies in the songwriting. Not surprising, Waters was critical of the album and referred to it as a "forgery". More surprising, Wright later concurred and called Waters' criticisms "fair".

Mix: Not up to Andy's usual standards, but not a Rich Chycki style disaster either: 2/3
Content: The low point of the Floyd catalog. Uninspired performances. A few listenable songs: 1/3
Fidelity: Something recorded by a major act in 1987 should sound better: 2/3
High-res: They did release it on Blu-ray: 1/1
I am going to dock a point because of the unnecessarily high list price. For that kind of money they could have thrown in some marbles and a scarf.
Total: 5

If you want post-Waters era Floyd, better to go with The Division Bell. It's got better songs, a better mix, better fidelity and better performances.

 

[Sal1950]

^^ Is there something you wanted to way ???

 

[Suffolk David]

Just a 6 from me; for the most part the surround mix just didn’t enhance the listening experience in the way that DSOTM, WYWH and the Division Bell did, and the mix really needed to be a top drawer one to lift what I find a relatively mediocre album (by Floyd standards). It all had a ‘processed‘ feel to it, not always particularly sharp in fidelity, which I know is how a lot of 80s recordings are, but I didn’t find the new remix improved things much. (Of course this may depend on my system set up, but like everyone else here I have a vast range of other releases for comparison) Even the bonus items were a let down and the interview only stood out for possibly being the shortest one I have on any release!

The cost is also far too high, especially when you look at the Early Years stand alone releases, and all the audio/video content they had, as well as inserts of posters and replica tickets etc.

in summary, a disappointment for a release I had ‘high hopes‘ for.

 

[madscot]

Just a 6 from me; for the most part the surround mix just didn’t enhance the listening experience in the way that DSOTM, WYWH and the Division Bell did, and the mix really needed to be a top drawer one to lift what I find a relatively mediocre album (by Floyd standards). It all had a ‘processed‘ feel to it, not always particularly sharp in fidelity, which I know is how a lot of 80s recordings are, but I didn’t find the new remix improved things much. (Of course this may depend on my system set up, but like everyone else here I have a vast range of other releases for comparison) Even the bonus items were a let down and the interview only stood out for possibly being the shortest one I have on any release!

The cost is also far too high, especially when you look at the Early Years stand alone releases, and all the audio/video content they had, as well as inserts of posters and replica tickets etc.

in summary, a disappointment for a release I had ‘high hopes‘ for.

I turned up the rears by 3 db’s and am finding a lot of joy in them, a couple of times I actually turned and looked at the rears in shock

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I turned up the rears by 3 db’s and am finding a lot of joy in them, a couple of times I actually turned and looked at the rears in shock

This is definitely one of those releases where the surround treatment did not elevate the stereo experience for me. I prefer the old stereo mix, even if I run it in faux surround.

 

[JimHansonDC]

Just got this & I'm quite happy with it. Full disclosure I like the album a lot. It was a pleasure when it came out after The Floyd seemed done. It does have the feel of a Gilmour solo record with Floyd seasoning to spice it up. And since I'm also a fan of Gilmour solo that factors in too.

The listenability is really nice to me. We have a tendency sometimes to focus on discreteness. I get it and I'm a fan of that especially when doing critical listening. But in the end I love listening to music I like and this mix takes a record I dig and gives me an immersive version.

The surrounds often have the same main elements as the fronts, but the dynamics shift between them. It doesn't feel like just an echo/reverb effect at all. The full mix is 360 and very enjoyable to sit in the middle of.

One odd thing is the vocals and lead instrument are in the fronts and quite dominant in them. This gives a good centering and projection for them, BUT why not just do the Steven Wilson and put them in the center? Vocals share a lot of frequencies with the other main instruments so they are fighting for space in the fronts, hence the elevated levels to make them pop. The center mostly has bass and ambience so it seems a missed opportunity to give all the pieces more room to breathe.

I do love the overall dark sound of the record and mix even with the drum reverb removed. It matches the time this record came from and it never felt as fatalistic or pathologically dark as the Floyd with Waters, especially at the end. The Wall is brilliant, but it is pure asylum bait.

I gave this a 10 partly to offset some of the other lower scores and partly because I just really like listening to it.

 

[Blrac]

I gave it a 9. I don't buy into the 80s beatdowns I have read. I take offense to that, because as stated, thats the way the 80s were. You can't go back and change that, so dont judge it now. I really liked this album then and still do. I was very much looking forward to Sorrow and it didn't disappoint. I was pleasantly surprised by the rest as well. A giant improvement over the original disc I have owned since release. I guess I didnt dissect this into clarity, which instrument went where, new drums, etc. I listened and enjoyed the improvement. No, it is not the best surround album ever. Yes, it is really good. And my 15 year old son came out of his room to hear this. DO NOT underestimate that!!!

 

[timothyemerson]

I voted an 8. Yet Another Movie and Sorrow I've found to be my favourites on this newly mixed BD. How about that couch-shaker in Learning to Fly right before the "Above the planet" lyric? Dang, it's low. Had to pop the grill off the sub and watch it do its wobble. Good times.

 

[timothyemerson]

Just changed my vote to a 9. Had another listen last night at varying volume levels and noticed more in the surrounds this time.

The drums are spectacular. I cranked up Sorrow pretty loud and took the sub up as much as I could before it started drawing attention to itself and it was shaking my entire hallway wall (the other side of which is the "rear" wall of the lounge). Picture frames were rattling on it and it was even shaking the door in a cupboard off the hall.

Afterwards, I put on Dire Straits' So Far Away (Brothers in Arms and AMLOR seem to go together for me, probably due to their release dates) and there was a buzzing coming from the centre speaker. Had me worried I'd popped a cog but all the shaking had worked the peg grill loose so I gave it a push and all was right again in the sweet spot.

It'd be great if every release had drums that hit as hard and low as AMLOR. Andy Jackson rules. Anyone know what he's been up to lately and if he plans another album? I dug his first two - a couple of underheard gems.

 

[key_wiz]

Afterwards, I put on Dire Straits' So Far Away (Brothers in Arms and AMLOR seem to go together for me, probably due to their release dates)

Nearly 2 1/2 years apart.

 

[key_wiz]

It's near unforgivable that the latest James Guthrie remaster (from 2011) of the original mix was not included on the Blu-ray, nor—I think—even in the Later Years box. Given that everything is now administered by Pink Floyd Records (to my knowledge), I can't imagine there are any licensing issues.

uh..jusT going out on a limb here…but I’m gonna guess that they didn’t go to all the trouble to remix the album and record new drums because they wanted people listening to the old one.

 

[JediJoker]

uh..jusT going out on a limb here…but I’m gonna guess that they didn’t go to all the trouble to remix the album and record new drums because they wanted people listening to the old one.

But there's no reason not to include the original mix. The real estate is there. The ownership is there. Other major artists have done this (Yes, Jethro Tull, etc.).

 

[key_wiz]

But there's no reason not to include the original mix. The real estate is there. The ownership is there. Other major artists have done this (Yes, Jethro Tull, etc.).

But those other groups didn’t completely re-record new parts. They just did new mixes. Obviously PF was very displeased with the original recording or they wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble to re-do it
.
There are other reasons they may have not wanted to include the original beyond just “ownership”. Clearly they felt the original artistically inferior

 

[Petr Kropotkin]

I cranked up Sorrow pretty loud and took the sub up as much as I could before it started drawing attention to itself and it was shaking my entire hallway wall (the other side of which is the "rear" wall of the lounge). Picture frames were rattling on it and it was even shaking the door in a cupboard off the hall.

The best way to hear music!

 

[Klaus Rosenthal]

The new Animals mix has me revisiting other Floyd albums, particularly the 'lesser' eras. I was never a huge fan of AMLOR, but there are quite a few decent tracks, enough to be worth picking up for sure. Plus I'm a big fan of late '80s rock, and seemingly in the minority in that I really like the original mix with the heavy reverb and glam rock sound. The decision to replace the original drums with newly recorded ones is a huge mistake in my opinion. Allegedly it was done to de-'80s-fi the album, but there are still so many artifacts left behind that the only way to remove them would be to record the whole album again. Doing a side by side listen, the original drums sound great, big sound, well rounded, energetic. The new drums sound muffled and low energy while also not blending into the album. I wish they had included the original mix in 5.1 alongside the new one, but since they did not it's score is going to have to be a 6 from me. The 5.1 mix is fine, but the attempt to modernize it strips the little bit of character this album had in the first place.

 

[Matt Wilson]

I don't know, this mix is getting a beating here. I'm blasting it right now (can't believe I didn't review it in 2019), and it sounds pretty damn good to me. I do appreciate the Nick/Rick overdubs and feel it's more of a PF album now.

9