This is my first listen to a Elliot Scheiner mix and I am happy to say that is has lived up to all the rave reviews. A very well balanced mix with a little movement. Every bit of that panning is really tasteful and not overdone in my opinion (Though I love gimmicky surround mixing as well).
Blackest Eyes: What a great song to start out an album with. Loved the guitar starting out in the rears before the band comes in. The trippy guitar strums alternating between the fronts and rears was an awesome ear catching moment. There’s another moment of the lead vocal in the center and the doubled vocals coming out of the phantom rear that caught my ear (took a couple of listens though!) Such a wonderfully balanced song. Rears used to their full potential with everything that is placed back there.
Trains: It's just a stunning song with an amazing riff in it. Nothing really caught my ear until those vocal delays halfway through. The clapping at the break, panning around the room while the shaker was in the phantom rear was great!
Lips of Ashes: What an amazing start to this song. Guitars and keyboards moving all around the sound field. The backing vocals coming out of all 4 corners was fantastic. Ends with a great solo as well.
The Sound of Muzak: Again, backing vocals from the (mostly) rears sound amazing. The last half of this song sounds just beautiful in surround. It seems like Scheiner’s mixes start off rather mundane and by the end of the song, evolve to just an amazing mix. Loved how the acoustic went to the rears for that portion.
Gravity Eyelids: Loved the ‘piercing’ sounds moving around in the rears. And the ‘Skipping” sound moving throughout the speakers was nice. The middle of this song was pretty awesome, but it was the first moment where you can totally here how compressed this mix is. Those guitar strums just have nowhere to breathe. I’m just not really into this song as a whole. One of the ones I usually skip and even after listening to it in surround, I feel the same way.
Wedding Nails: Keyboards in the rears was the only really great moment of this mix. A straight rocker for the most part. The break in the middle was well done. That shaker in the phantom rear and looping keyboard sound moving around were great. And the haunting end made me twist my head to see where those sounds were coming from.
Prodigal: The chorus lyrics being in the surrounds was awesome! The song totally opens up in those sections as well as the end. Everything is masterly placed as usual.
.3: The guitar sounds at the beginning moving around was awesome. When the acoustic comes in, the electric strums moving around the room are wonderful. The strings getting louder and louder in the rears was awesome. and when it comes to full strength, you still have some electric guitar (or is it a keyboard?) moving around a bit. I usually skipped this song whenever it came on and am now totally impressed by it.
The Creator Has A Mastertape: The guitar starting in the surround left and moving up center then all around was awesome! And the keyboards starting up in the fronts and panning to the rears and then all around was awesome as well! The keyboards moving all around at that little break was awesome! The end of this one is rough though. The guitars sound SO compressed. That’s how they sound on the studio version as well, but it is heightened in this mix.
Heartattack in a Layby: The vocal delays/reverbs are incredible. As well as the backup vocals in the surrounds trading off with the one in the center. A real triumphant surround moment! Its another one I usually skipped as well and now I will not do that ever again.
Strip The Soul: Nice moments for the backup vocals in the surrounds. A nice ear catching moment was that acoustic bridge. That note near the end moving around the field was cool. Otherwise this is kind of a bland song that has never really caught my attention and is still that way in surround.
Collapse The Light Into Earth: Vocal delays are nicely used fading into the surrounds and open up what would be a pretty bland part of the song without them.
Drown With Me: What a PHENOMENAL song. How is this not on the main album?!?!? Probably my favorite PT song ever. The vocal delay to the rears was awesome and then when the backup vocals start bouncing off every speaker, that was breathtaking. There is a bit more delay/reverb on the main vocal in the 5.1 version, but it make sense with the lyrical content! It's definitely drowning in delay and reverb. I wish that guitar/keyboard solo was a pinch louder but other than that, what a fantastic song. I think I replayed this about a dozen times right off the bat.
Chloroform: The vocal sounds haunting in the beginning, great reverb as well. The “Ah’s” moving around between the fronts and surrounds was great. A pretty great song as well. Even the B-sides are fantastic for SW.
Futile: Nice to have the acoustic in the rears. Another pretty great song but can see why it was left off the album.
Mastering is pretty compressed and also a bit bright. Sometimes those cymbals, acoustic strums and snare impacts can be like needles to my ear at a loud volume! I’ve listened to this record 4 times all at different volumes and its such an exhausting listen no matter what. By Strip the Soul, I am ready to just turn this off. Definitely need to take a break for a bit after listening to this. I saw someone mention that a lot of DTS Entertainment discs are like this, which is a little unfortunate. It's also a shame that there was no 96/24 version of this mix anywhere. Looks like just the 2003 master is all that is left. I’m sure we’ll get a proper remix / Atmos mix of this for the 25th or 30th Anniversary…
Also, the LFE is a little low and I had to bring the volume of my sub up a bit to make it sound level. Don’t know if its like this on the DVD-A but having to manipulate my sound system makes me take off a point. It would have been two or three if they didn’t include a corrected BD-A with the center channel fixed (it originally was completely out of phase on both the DVD-A and original BD-A in this set).
Value: I was really impressed with the book when I didn’t think I would be. Lots of cool pictures of this time period and I really loved the pictures of the input lists and studio notes. I love that the demos are full fledged band instead of just usually acoustic guitar. That CD will be stuck in my car for the foreseeable future. It was cool to hear a couple of favorites a little differently. The 96/24 stereo mix is also lovely and a welcome addition. For me, it was not worth it at its original price point. If I didn't get it at the price I did, I would be waiting for yet another standalone release of the surround mix or I would be going after the DVD-A.
It’s an 9. Fantastic mix with some great moments. The videos/images that play during the album were nice and i'll always commend a bit of effort for that part when it could just be a static image. I can tell Scheiner knows how to evolve mixes as the song goes on and keep a listener at full attention. My second favorite PT album after Stupid Dream. Some songs I would normally skip on the stereo mix (.3), I am digging on this surround one. I can really see where SW honed his 5.1 mix skills from.
Mix Highlights: Blackest Eyes, .3, The Creator Has A Mastertape, Heartattack in a Layby, Drown With Me