HiRez Poll XTC - BLACK SEA [Blu-Ray Audio]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this 2017 reissue of the classic XTC album "Black Sea".
This fifth installment in the 'XTC Surround Sound Series' contains new stereo & 5.1 surround mixes remixed by Steven Wilson along with a whole host of extras!
(more scans to follow)

 

[marpow]

I voted 10, I really enjoyed the pop music and the mix is superb in surround. Here is a review from Roland Orzabal.
http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/r...a-roland-orzabal-reviews-xtcs-latest-reissue/

 

[elmer]

XTC and Steven Wilson continue to maximize the capabilities of Blu Ray by offering a wealth of content. The 5.1 mix is superb - full of energy and playful in all the right places. This is XTC at the point where they are getting more sophisticated in the songwriting and studio craft but still have the rough edges of youth to make it more jagged than jangly. SW's mix exposes the depth of these recordings that previously were not evident. A 10!

 

[kap'n krunch]

I voted 10, I really enjoyed the pop music and the mix is superb in surround. Here is a review from Roland Orzabal.
http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/r...a-roland-orzabal-reviews-xtcs-latest-reissue/

IIRC , Roland (besides being a genius!) has written a book, so he is an excellent writer.
VERY happy to see him "promote" someone else's disc in MCH...shows that he's not a "stuck up diva"

Loved this part :"Anyway… the problem with listening to this album for the first time in years is that I now have (track one) Respectable Street stuck in my head. And it just won’t go away. Then, when the track plays out in my mind, it immediately segues into (track two) General and Majors. It’s a brilliant segue and one that we musicians dream of both live and in the programming of our own records. Listening to those two tracks alone, I am immediately reminded why I list Black Sea among my favourite albums of all time."

Sooo, how does it feel to a taste of your own medicine, Rolando? (I still have "Call me mellow" in my head!!!)

Thanks , marpow!!! awesome link!!!

 

[himey]

Second favorite (SW mixed) XTC album behind Drums and Wires. Mixed equally as well. Easy 10 after only one listen. Favorite XTC is English Settlement but these three are great with the others only a notch or two below.

 

[ChristopherLees]

when you first play it, have the levels set up loud...because when it's loud "Respectable street" is AWESOME !!!!!....guitars all around....

the sound quality here is noticably better than the original 1980 release...and it was pretty good to start with...Noticably the anvil on Towers of London sounds really good....and the package has every extra imaginable.....Hell he even did a 5.1 mix of "The history of Music". enough said if you like the band just buy it.........................................:banana:

 

[Scott65]

I gave it a 10. Would give it an 11 if I could. Always loved the 'anvil' sound in Towers of London, sounds even better on this mix.:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

 

[marpow]

This release is a great example of how QQ helps. Prior to this release I only had the surround of Oranges And Lemons, didn't really grab me. Then I saw some excited activity about Black Sea and I thought I'd give XTC another try. This Black Sea has just grabbed me, love it, I now understand XTC better and just ordered all of the XTC surrounds that I don't have. I'm a little skeptical about Skylarking but we will see. Also as a surround enthusiast when a artist comes out with "The Surround Sound Series" it's a good idea for me to support them, plus mixing by Steven Wilson, can't really go wrong. The packaging is minimal but the Blu Rays are stuffed full with a TREMENDOUS amount of music. I look at some of the recent box sets and there is so much junk and not that much music. These XTC surround releases should be the model for surround enthusiasts. I am now an XTC fan, maybe not a die hard, but a good fan.

 

[sjcorne]

This release is a great example of how QQ helps. Prior to this release I only had the surround of Oranges And Lemons, didn't really grab me. Then I saw some excited activity about Black Sea and I thought I'd give XTC another try. This Black Sea has just grabbed me, love it, I now understand XTC better and just ordered all of the XTC surrounds that I don't have. I'm a little skeptical about Skylarking but we will see. Also as a surround enthusiast when a artist comes out with "The Surround Sound Series" it's a good idea for me to support them, plus mixing by Steven Wilson, can't really go wrong. The packaging is minimal but the Blu Rays are stuffed full with a TREMENDOUS amount of music. I look at some of the recent box sets and there is so much junk and not that much music. These XTC surround releases should be the model for surround enthusiasts. I am now an XTC fan, maybe not a die hard, but a good fan.

If Black Sea really grabbed you then Drums & Wires is a must. It's even more quirky and energetic IMO. Skylarking is a bit more mellow, but there are still some harder tracks ("Earn Enough For Us" is a real killer). Nonsuch also has some great tracks ("Crocodile" is probably the hardest).

 

[Which_One_Is_Pink]

The finest 10 of any 10 yet! The finest XTC made even finer by Mr. Wilson's finest mix, simply put W OW! x10

 

[hwkn]

If this 10 were any more 10 it might be an 11 or even a 12.

 

[Scott65]

This release is a great example of how QQ helps. Prior to this release I only had the surround of Oranges And Lemons, didn't really grab me. Then I saw some excited activity about Black Sea and I thought I'd give XTC another try. This Black Sea has just grabbed me, love it, I now understand XTC better and just ordered all of the XTC surrounds that I don't have. I'm a little skeptical about Skylarking but we will see. Also as a surround enthusiast when a artist comes out with "The Surround Sound Series" it's a good idea for me to support them, plus mixing by Steven Wilson, can't really go wrong. The packaging is minimal but the Blu Rays are stuffed full with a TREMENDOUS amount of music. I look at some of the recent box sets and there is so much junk and not that much music. These XTC surround releases should be the model for surround enthusiasts. I am now an XTC fan, maybe not a die hard, but a good fan.

Marpow, I was doubtful about Skylarking, but absolutely love the 5.1 mix. It's now one of my favourite XTC albums.

 

[marpow]

Marpow, I was doubtful about Skylarking, but absolutely love the 5.1 mix. It's now one of my favourite XTC albums.

Agreed, I have been listening to the surround titles via my Tidal stereo account on my shit computer speakers at work, and I am still getting and liking XTC.

 

[Scott65]

when you first play it, have the levels set up loud...because when it's loud "Respectable street" is AWESOME !!!!!....guitars all around....

the sound quality here is noticably better than the original 1980 release...and it was pretty good to start with...Noticably the anvil on Towers of London sounds really good....and the package has every extra imaginable.....Hell he even did a 5.1 mix of "The history of Music". enough said if you like the band just buy it.........................................:banana:

yep, the louder the better :banana:

 

[Scott65]

If Black Sea really grabbed you then Drums & Wires is a must. It's even more quirky and energetic IMO. Skylarking is a bit more mellow, but there are still some harder tracks ("Earn Enough For Us" is a real killer). Nonsuch also has some great tracks ("Crocodile" is probably the hardest).

there's something about the Steve Wilson remixes that makes a good album great.

 

[key_wiz]

How can not give this a 10? Wilson and XTC knock it out of the park again! Great album, incredible surround mix, and more extras on the BluRay than anyone could ask for.

Love it!

 

[fac23]

Apart from the singles this album was new to me. Turns out this might become my new favourite XTC album. The dial is in just the right place between quirky and catchy. Great songwriting, great surround mix and a wealth of content in a nice, small package. In its fourth year/fifth instalment still an exemplary series which I hope will continue.

 

[rusinurbe]

What everyone else has said another home run, as if this album could get better. 10 from me

 

[himey]

A review by someone special! Thanks Jimbino over @ SHF. http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/reviews/a-partridge-and-the-black-sea-roland-orzabal-reviews-xtcs-latest-reissue/

 

[humprof]

Jumping on the bandwagon here. I would especially second elmer, marpow, and fac23's reviews, which really resonate with me. I'm just getting to know XTC, too--I started with Skylarking, which is flat-out brilliant--and this is my second.

I tend to save my 10’s for tours de force like Close to the Edge, where the lush instrumentation & complex arrangements give Wilson so much more to work with. (And where I love every second of the music.) Skylarking noses into that category for me. But SW finds lots of room for subtlety in comparatively spare stuff like Black Sea, too. I love how he moves the sustained chord that ends “Rocket from a Bottle” from front to back as it decays, for instance, or how he foregrounds the counterpointed guitar at the beginning of “Paper and Iron.” And then there’s just the workmanship of the ordinary things we tend to take for granted: isolating certain lines and licks so you really hear them (including the rhythm guitar in “Love at First Sight”); parceling out the background vocals and the drumkit across two or more speakers. (And I could swear the toms in “Respectable Street” are so resonant they almost sound like they’re moving around on their own.) Anyway: I’d give it a 9.5 if I could. Splitting hairs, maybe.