Ocean To Ocean is still one of my favorite Atmos mixes, so my expectations were pretty high going into this. But after one listen on Apple Music, I'm actually a bit disappointed. The mix is surprisingly front-heavy at times (in fact, there are long stretches in "Trouble's Lament" and the title track where it's just the front three speakers firing) and - at least to my ears - just not as creative or engaging as what was done for Ocean To Ocean. Of course it doesn't help that a good chunk of the songs are simple piano/vocal ballads, which obviously aren't as well-suited to the immersive experience.
Overall it definitely has that 'mixed from stems' vibe that so many streaming Atmos mixes have, where the bulk of the instrumentation is crammed into the front with little-to-no spillover into the other channels - so then when these intermittent bits of isolated activity appear from elsewhere in the room (like the "baby...baby" echoing vocals in "Trouble's Lament" or the tuba sound during the chorus of "Giant's Rolling Pin"), they seem really disconnected from everything else. Granted Ocean To Ocean may well have been mixed from stems too, but that mix sounds a lot more cohesive and enveloping to me than this one.
