HiRez Poll Pink Floyd - The Division Bell [BluRay Audio]

[Jeddia]

This is a great surround mix. If I had a complaint, and it would be a very minor complaint, it would be the lack of center on the vocals. With as much reverb as they used on Gilmour's vocals, there are times when they sound a bit buried in the L/R. But it's infrequent and easily tolerated due to the strength of the rest of the mix. The LPCM 5.1 mix is just beastly. Take It Back's verses nearly crushed my ribs; the bassline is like a freight-train.

I have great memories surrounding this album. While it's not my favorite Floyd LP, it's the only time I was priviledged enough to see them live along with a group of my favorite people in the world. We had a great time. So hearing this new mix was very pleasant. Gave it a 10.

 

[bossfan]

Don't have the BD but the DTS versions certainly a 10.

 

[ji eff]

wow, Wow, WOW ! On my first listen, I felt the guitar solos in Keep Talking and High Hopes weren't as loud and piercing as the original release (not a bad thing, btw). Then, I popped in the 1994 cd version for a side-by-side comparison... Holy crap! The new Andy Jackson mix sounds sooooooooo natural. Every EQ, volume, enhancers, whatever, are different.. The original cd sounds waaaay overprocessed. I reached for the booklet to see who mixed the 1994 version.. on page "3": recording and mixing engineer: Andrew Jackson.. How could that be? Then I saw on page "2": Mixed by Chris Thomas and David Gilmour. That explains the different aesthetics..

My hat goes off to Andy Jackson. NOW I understand what everone was talking about... A hell of an engineer!

I'm rediscovering this album all over again.. And, in 5.1 ^_^ Had the chance to see them on the tour that year; they filled the Montreal Olympic Stadium three nights in a row. Was there on the second.. what a night!

Mix-wise, I haven't found anything bothering me.. You just love the tracks, or you don't (I really liked the fact that David's vocals on Keep Talking are on the left, and the back vocals "reply" on the right).

A solid 10 for me. I can't vote right now, since I'm a new member, but will do soon!

If you like the original, you MUST hear this new version.. Highly recommended!

"hello? ... yes ... is that charlie? ... yes ... hello charlie!"


JF

 

[mch007]

Let me start by saying...I am a huge Pink Floyd fan and I have listened to this album too many times since I bought the CD about 16 years ago. I received my copy from amazon uk this weekend and I had a blast listening to it just now...

Such a great album (my 2nd favorite Floyd album after DSOTM) which was unfairly treated by critics/fans alike initially...but I do believe over the years it has bettered its reputation. Superb mix and there are so many layers I discovered today which I could not hear in my 50 or so earlier listens...

10 Sparkling Stars...without a doubt!!!

 

[depeche76]

I have waited 2 years to post my thoughts on this title. And is a solid 10 for me (im talking about the Blu Ray on the 20th anniversary Box Set). 10 for Sonics (the clarity and definition of sound is incredible), 10 for Surround, 10 for content (come on, just having the pleasure to listen to "High Hopes", "Marooned" and "A Great Day for Freedom" in surround, is heaven on earth) and 10 for the package (beautiful pictures and images, and at least it does not include marbles or scarfs @:@.

I would recommend anyone to get a copy if you can.

 

[Zhup]

I have waited 2 years to post my thoughts on this title. And is a solid 10 for me (im talking about the Blu Ray on the 20th anniversary Box Set). 10 for Sonics (the clarity and definition of sound is incredible), 10 for Surround, 10 for content (come on, just having the pleasure to listen to "High Hopes", "Marooned" and "A Great Day for Freedom" in surround, is heaven on earth) and 10 for the package (beautiful pictures and images, and at least it does not include marbles or scarfs @:@.

I would recommend anyone to get a copy if you can.

It does have a very sentimental meaning to me... One of the best things I have heard in the past few years anyway.

 

[sbrom]

DVD version of The Division Bell finally obtained! Overall this is a clear 10.

With respect to the music, this is nearly as engaging for me as WYWH, DSOTM, and The Wall. The surround mix and audio quality are simply excellent. I'm so happy to finally have this in my PF stable.

 

[belaruskamerican]

DVD version of The Division Bell finally obtained! Overall this is a clear 10.

With respect to the music, this is nearly as engaging for me as WYWH, DSOTM, and The Wall. The surround mix and audio quality are simply excellent. I'm so happy to finally have this in my PF stable.

Glad you were able to get it! DSOTM is my all-time favorite. But, I find myself listening to TDB more often than the others. Andy Jackson really did a fine job with this.

 

[edisonbaggins]

I'm going to vote 5 for the DVD. I don't see why they had to mix Roger Waters completely off the album!

J/K

This album does suffer from the lack of Water's input. The angsty, cynical, skeptical part of PF, that I grew to love with Animals and The Wall is just gone.
We're now whimsical, pensive and kind of depressed. There is some interest and beauty here. But this isn't truly PF to me. It's more like a DG solo record with Nick and Richard supporting. Though I think one of them sings on Wearing the Inside Out, which works for me. IDK, mixed bag.

The mix is generally great. If you can find this at a reasonable price, get it. I scored it off the PF web site for <$20.

I would truly vote an 8. A stand-alone BD would have been even cooler and no Roger. It just can't be a 10 for me.

 

[DuncanS]

Waters left PF in 1985 so I didn't think he had anything at all to do with the album, as it was released in 1994.

I do think that the artistic 'clash' between Gilmour & Waters in Pink Floyd's earlier albums produced the better songs (but I don't like the Final Cut), I also think the same is true for the Jagger-Richards & Lennon-McCartney song writing.

I'm going to vote 5 for the DVD. I don't see why they had to mix Roger Waters completely off the album!

J/K

This album does suffer from the lack of Water's input. The angsty, cynical, skeptical part of PF, that I grew to love with Animals and The Wall is just gone.
We're now whimsical, pensive and kind of depressed. There is some interest and beauty here. But this isn't truly PF to me. It's more like a DG solo record with Nick and Richard supporting. Though I think one of them sings on Wearing the Inside Out, which works for me. IDK, mixed bag.

The mix is generally great. If you can find this at a reasonable price, get it. I scored it off the PF web site for <$20.

I would truly vote an 8. A stand-alone BD would have been even cooler and no Roger. It just can't be a 10 for me.

 

[edisonbaggins]

Waters left PF in 1985 so I didn't think he had anything at all to do with the album, as it was released in 1994.

I do think that the artistic 'clash' between Gilmour & Waters in Pink Floyd's earlier albums produced the better songs (but I don't like the Final Cut)

Check and adjust your sarcasm detector! Yeah, Final Cut is mostly a Waters solo record. Parts of it sound exactly like Hitchhiking and other solo moments.
How it ended up being a PF album is bizarre to me.

 

[weekendtoy]

Voted a 10. A vote of anything less should be considered a crime

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Check and adjust your sarcasm detector! Yeah, Final Cut is mostly a Waters solo record. Parts of it sound exactly like Hitchhiking and other solo moments.
How it ended up being a PF album is bizarre to me.

The story is, after The Wall was completed and it was time to start a new project, Waters came in with demos of two concept pieces, one being The Final Cut, and the other being Pros and Cons. Gilmour and Mason (Wright had already been "dismissed" during The Wall sessions) claimed they didn't like either of them but chose The Final Cut as the next Pink Floyd project. Waters later used Pros and Cons as his first official solo project.

Make no mistake though, The Final Cut essentially IS a Waters solo project with Gilmour and Mason acting as session musicians. Note the album packaging that states something to the effect...

The Final Cut. A Requiem for the Post War Dream by Roger Waters. Performed by Pink Floyd.

FWIW, I think The Division Bell sounds more like a Floyd album than any of Waters or Gilmour's solo outings, at least since the Waters-Floyd breakup anyway. Gilmour's two solo efforts when he was still in Floyd with Waters are exceptional and very Floyd like in spots.

 

[César]

The story is, after The Wall was completed and it was time to start a new project, Waters came in with demos of two concept pieces, one being The Final Cut, and the other being Pros and Cons. Gilmour and Mason (Wright had already been "dismissed" during The Wall sessions) claimed they didn't like either of them but chose The Final Cut as the next Pink Floyd project. Waters later used Pros and Cons as his first official solo project.

Make no mistake though, The Final Cut essentially IS a Waters solo project with Gilmour and Mason acting as session musicians. Note the album packaging that states something to the effect...

The Final Cut. A Requiem for the Post War Dream by Roger Waters. Performed by Pink Floyd.

FWIW, I think The Division Bell sounds more like a Floyd album than any of Waters or Gilmour's solo outings, at least since the Waters-Floyd breakup anyway. Gilmour's two solo efforts when he was still in Floyd with Waters are exceptional and very Floyd like in spots.

Uhmmm, I think it was after Animals when Roger came up with Pros and Cons and what ended up as The Wall. The Final Cut is a different beast, originally it began as a soundtrack for The Wall, but ended up as I completely different project.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Uhmmm, I think it was after Animals when Roger came up with Pros and Cons and what ended up as The Wall. The Final Cut is a different beast, originally it began as a soundtrack for The Wall, but ended up as I completely different project.

Good catch Cesar, You are indeed correct. I got the albums mixed up. As quoted from Wikipedia...

In July 1978, Waters played some of the music demos of what he had pieced together, but he also played parts of another album he was preparing titled Bricks in the Wall to the rest of his bandmates in the group Pink Floyd.[4][5] After a long debate, they decided that they preferred the concept of Bricks in the Wall instead,[5] even though their manager at the time, Steve O'Rourke, thought that Pros and Cons was a better-sounding concept,[6] and David Gilmour calling Pros and Cons stronger musically.

It does however share some attributes with The Final Cut as told below.

Track 7, 4.50 am (Go Fishing) includes the same refrain as "The Fletcher Memorial Home" from Pink Floyd's The Final Cut uses for the line: "The Fletcher Memorial Home for incurable tyrants and kings". This song also includes one of the car sounds and the slightly changed chorus melody from that album's "Your Possible Pasts".

 

[Antonuzzo]

Late to this one, but I've just obtained a copy (which was no easy task).

It's incredible. The use of space and positioning is inspired and the whole thing just sounds way more intense. Gilmour's solos leap out and yep, you hear so many details that you hadn't before.

It makes the original sound like mono.

 

[Strilo]

This is another PF release I would own. Hopefully it comes out again someday...

 

[edisonbaggins]

This is another PF release I would own. Hopefully it comes out again someday...

Can't even find the stand-alone DVD-V? I have it and it sounds fantastic.

 

[Antonuzzo]

It's not easy to find these days, trust me on that!

And yes, it does - it's absolutely huge.

As an aside, I ripped it to .flac to play on my WDTV box, and then had a look at the .flac files in Audacity. You can mute or solo individual channels, which is interesting in itself - but you can also make guitar-less mixes of the tracks to play along with.

 

[erebus]

I just snagged a copy. Acoustic Sounds has limited stock of the box set containing the 5.1 on Blu-ray. I was a huge Floyd fan as a teenager in the early to mid-80s, but had lost interest in the band by the time this album came out. This is the only Pink Floyd studio album I've never listened to. I don't recall ever hearing any songs from it. Can't wait to crank it up!