To be honest I didn't really listen to anything after Experience...?...so...I'm probably not the best judge of which of their albums should get the 5.1 treatment?My choice would be The Fat of the Land. I realize that probably makes me a Prodigy normie.
The Fat of the Land (3rd album) is, by far, their biggest selling album.
I think it's more likely going to be U.K. releases...?...it's a U.K. company and (I think?) so far all of their releases have been U.K. bands. Shakespeare's Sister were U.K. based and believe it or not (and I'm finding it hard to get my head around) Ten Years After are a British band?
I think it's more likely going to be U.K. releases...?...it's a U.K. company and (I think?) so far all of their releases have been U.K. bands. Shakespeare's Sister were U.K. based and believe it or not (and I'm finding it hard to get my head around) Ten Years After are a British band?
I'd love a 5.1 of Steve Hillage's Motivation Radio. Goofy, cheesy and weird (imo) but so good, and just fills me with joy
But I think number one on my list would have to be Ozric Tentacles' Technicians of the Sacred; the best thing they've ever released (imo) by quite a margin and in much higher quality audio than their earlier stuff; definitely archetypal Ozrics, and just an amazing album in its own right; an amazing culmination to a long career; matured and evolved; I can't recommend it enough.
Not sure how it all works but I'd imagine that due to the nature of how the Ozrics do things, they should be very approachable...?...probably low hanging-fruit for a company like SDE, due to Ozrics being very independent...?...although they might be a little averse to it being a limited release and not freely available...?...but, I'd honestly be hard pressed to name an album that'd sound better as a multi-channel release than Technicians of the Sacred:
Another example: Butterfly Garden...
That explains a lot. It occurred before the internet. Pre-internet most of us had to rely on what we heard on the radio or read about in magazines.Given that Shakespears Sister actually released their 'Hormonally Yours' album (along with a couple of singles) over in the US of A, I reckon they're more likely to be known than Propaganda. However, this all happened 30+ years ago
You know, I find it perplexing why so many fringe bands seem to be putting out multi-channel releases and making it economically worthwhile. I wonder why it's feasible for bands like VDGG, Hawkwind, Barclay James Harvest, Mr. Big, etc., to release multi-channel releases but more well known bands (ELO, Zeppelin, Sabbath, etc.) can't seem to find a way.
Also, given the years when this stuff originally released (even if in the US), 32 years ago, I was starting a family. Music took the back burner and still...if it wasn't rock or classic rock...I wasn't going to give it a chance at all. Shakespear could have been played every 5 minutes on the radio...I still wouldn't have heard it because I wouldn't have been listening to those sort of stations.Given that Shakespears Sister actually released their 'Hormonally Yours' album (along with a couple of singles) over in the US of A, I reckon they're more likely to be known than Propaganda. However, this all happened 30+ years ago
I suspect it's basically because they have no need to. For a lesser-known band, having a surround release might make a few more sales so it is worth their effort, but for a really successful band who are not intrinsically interested in surround, they think why bother. And smaller bands are also more motivated to agree on mixing decisions, release format, etc. whereas a band that doesn't need the money can spend years aguing about whether to include marbles or a scarf.
Suede have been credited with kick-starting the whole "Brit-pop" phenomenon? If you believe the music press, they were the catalyst for that cycle. If you've heard any "brit-pop" then supposedly it's thanks to Suede...?...although I only read that recently. Having lived through it over here in the U.K. I would have thought them distinct from that whole movement.
Could be because smaller, independent labels are more flexible...?...whereas huge publishing behemoths are a lot slower and more cumbersome, if indeed they choose to move at all, when they probably don't really need to?
) who eschews high definition Blu-ray audio and the like...?...then the above probably sounds like an atrocity to you, but personally, I can't wait for it to get here. 
(hoping I don't get chased off of Quadraphonicqad.com by vinyl purists with torches and pitchforks for being an audiophilial heretic) 
All excellent points but I’d still like to hear a Zep album in surround and judge for myselfSuede have been credited with kick-starting the whole "Brit-pop" phenomenon? If you believe the music press, they were the catalyst for that cycle. If you've heard any "brit-pop" then supposedly it's thanks to Suede...?...although I only read that recently. Having lived through it over here in the U.K. I would have thought them distinct from that whole movement.
Could be because smaller, independent labels are more flexible...?...whereas huge publishing behemoths are a lot slower and more cumbersome, if indeed they choose to move at all, when they probably don't really need to?
Also, I heard that the Led Zeppelin masters have deteriorated to the point where they're unusable...?...I'm not sure if that's true or if I'm just perpetuating a myth...?...but it might be that there would need to be a Peter Jackson, Let it Be, style restoration that the market might not currently be able to support for less "globally ubiquitous" bands?
But it's possible that developments in AI might one day provide an app that lets us restore, enhance and convert stuff into multichannel on a PC just by checking a few boxes...I think it's probably inevitable, just a question of when such an app will emerge.
If you're a "music's better on vinyl" and/or "the artist intended the music to sound just like it sounds on vinyl" type person (we'll overlook your graphic equaliser
To be able to convert music to how it would have sounded in the studio...?...regardless of the source's sound quality...?...for me...?...would be absolutely amazing.
...and if we can nerf Donovan's harmonica...?...so that I can listen to To Try For the Sun at a reasonable volume without risking bursting my eardrums...?...it would be a definite plus.
But yeah...I digress.
I think it's probably financial, technical and bureaucratic restraints that are stopping the larger labels from releasing multichannel media; either that or they just don't need to (because they're already doing perfectly fine for their share-holders) and/or they just don't have the will to so?
...or it could be because they're worried it'll "break the charm" for the existing fans of the music and kill the cash-cow...?...don't try and fix what's not broken?
I can see that being the case with Zeppelin, specifically because that style of music tends to loose something when it's broken apart into discreet channels; it's not actually an improvement...?...blended into stereo it's more than the sum of its parts.
For instance, some Pixies tracks just seem kind of bland when you hear it all pulled apart; the 5.1 mix of Motorhead's stuff is very minimal, probably for that reason. "Wall of Sound" four-piece and "power-trio" stuff just doesn't seem to work that well in multichannel...prog is different, because of how multi-layered it is to begin with.
I recently heard the Quad release of Mountain's Nantucket Sleighride; an album I've wanted in surround for as long as I've known of 3D audio's existence, and I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed by it. For me, the one standout on the quad release of that album was Animal Trainer and the Toad; a song I'd always just skipped past and basically ignored in it's stereo mix.
So yeah, I really think if we did get the early Zeppelin albums in 5.1, they'd probably be a bit disappointing, compared to what we might be expecting. 5.1 audio sounds like magic, but it's not, it's only as good as long as the music suits it, and sadly (largely) I don't think Zeppelin does?
...as far as Zeppelin's concerned, based on my experience of similar types of music in 5.1...?...I think we've all been waiting for something we probably wouldn't really want if we got it.
