DVD/DTS Poll Van Der Graaf Generator - H TO HE WHO AM THE ONLY ONE [DTS DVD]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this new 2021 reissue of the classic Van Der Graaf Generator album "H to He Who Am the Only One".
The album has been remixed in 5.1 surround by @Stephen W Tayler.

 

[GOS]

Oh my gosh! I bought all 4 titles, individually. I have to say that these DVD's sound simply amazing. The fidelity is just super. This is a wild album. Reminds me of parts King Crimson, Hawkwind, Gentle Giant. Just amazing!!!!

The 5.1 mix has a lot of punch, super tasteful surround experience. I just love how this sounds. It cranks!! I have to give this particular title a 10.

 

[Matt Wilson]

Great, a 9. Love that these albums from VdGG are now in 5.1. Hooray!!

 

[user 1679]

Solid 10 for me as with all the VdGG sets...Stephen did them more than justice....gave this one an awesome immersive mix.

 

[fetchmybeer]

Another 10. That sax is doing all sorts of crazy things on Killer, especially at the end. Drums on this release sound probably the best of all of them, especially in War Room. Fidelity and punch are great. All 4 of these sound fantastic, though I'd say this one and Pawn Hearts are the most adventurous mixes.

I don't get every surround release there is, but I own quite a few and these have become favorites for me, up there with Steven Wilson's "Hand Cannot Erase" and Wilson's mixes for Topographic Oceans and the XTC catalog. Surround mixes are almost always interesting to me in some way, but there are some like these that just breathe new life into a release.

 

[sjcorne]

New listener to the band - I like this one a lot more than Pawn Hearts, but not as much as Godbluff or Still Life.

I think this might be the biggest improvement sound-wise of the four remixes - the 2021 remaster of the original stereo mix sounds pretty drab in comparison to the remixed 5.1 & stereo. That being said, I feel that the 5.1 mix is mastered a bit louder and brighter than it needed to be. I listened to the DVD-A of King Crimson's In The Wake Of Poseidon right before this and had to lower the volume considerably.

From a surround perspective, it's definitely more adventurous than the 5.1's of Godbluff and Still Life. The aforementioned swirling sax solo in "Killer" is great, but my favorite moment on the disc is the crazy instrumental break around five minutes into "The Emperor In His War Room" - there's phased drums panning up and down the room, the B3(?) in the rears, dueling electric guitars on each side, and the sax screaming from upfront. It's really one of those "made for surround" moments, where you get bombarded with different sounds from all angles of the listening space.

Again, kudos to Esoteric for making these VDGG titles available as standalone CD/DVD sets - really glad I got to hear the 5.1's without springing for the big box (which I was fully prepared to skip).