This was the release I was most looking forward to writing a proper review for, so here it goes!
First off, the pause before "Garden of Earthly Delights" kicks in was a little jarring for me at first as I'm used to it going straight in after the short psychedelic intro, but enough about that! On to the surround mix!
"Garden of Earthly Delights" has a very good surround mix that expands on the dense blend of percussion, guitars, keyboards, and vocals. Steven particularly has some fun with the psychedelic-style guitar solo in the middle. After that, I love when the backing vocals come in from behind you in the surround channels as you can more clearly hear exactly what's being sung by Colin. It's a wonderful way to start this album, that's for sure, and the long fade-out at the end sounds great too!
Next up is probably the most well-known song from this particular album, "The Mayor of Simpleton". Steven's use of the surround channels for the backing vocals is particularly effective in this song with the call-and-response effect between the lead vocal and the backing vocals in the verse sections, plus the backing vocals towards the end sound great in surround too. Not a standout mix, but it's solid and does exactly what it should do.
Then comes one of my absolute favorite songs on the album, "King for a Day". Andy's guitar part is in the surround channels with the guitar on one side and the echo on the other. Really nice, and once again the backing vocals feature prominently in the surround channels. Man, XTC had some fantastic harmonies!
The next track, "Here Comes President Kill Again", delves into the political realm. Like the other tracks that come before, there's no real surprises or effects to butter up this surround mix, but everything sits in its right place.
On vinyl, it would be time to flip over to Side 2, for "The Loving"! It starts off with the fake crowd noise in the surrounds (as those of you who know the album well might have guessed) before going into the verse. There's one thing that annoys me about this particular surround mix, and that is the vocal echo in the surround channels. I never remembered hearing it on any of the stereo mixes before, so it came off as a surprise to me on this mix, but it's tucked back enough to where it really doesn't bother me that much. Also like other songs heard so far, the backing vocals are placed in the surround channels to a great and enveloping effect.
Then comes what is probably the first really big standout track on this album from a surround perspective, "Poor Skeleton Steps Out". The slinky skeleton-like percussion emanates from behind you along with the backing vocals, and it just sounds too cool! Then after verse 1 comes a clean guitar part that's brought to the forefront for this surround mix. Those of you who love really discrete and full surround mixes will just love this track!
Next up is another Colin Moulding composition, "One of the Millions". The trend of backing vocals in the surround channels continues, but it's a good trend, that's for sure!
"Scarecrow People" follows "One of the Millions" with its bluesy acoustic guitar fills centered in the surround channels. There's also some cool percussion parts from Pat Mastelotto that feature in the surround channels too. Like "Poor Skeleton Steps Out", it's another stand-out surround mix on the album.
Side 3 always begins with a song that initially gives me a headache before my brain could get adjusted to the overly bright and harsh sound of this particular song entitled "Merely A Man". Yet, when I listen to Steven Wilson's remixes of this song (both in stereo and surround), the bright and overly harsh sound is gone, and instead, we get a warm and rocking track with amazing baroque-like trumpet parts by Mark Isham, who's fantastic playing is sprinkled all over this album!
The final Colin Moulding composition, "Cynical Days", is up next. The song is rather tame in surround until the chorus when the guitars decorate the sides of the mix. There's also a lovely muted trumpet part from Isham. A very beautiful composition, made even more beautiful by the Beach Boys-like counter melodies emanating from the surround channels.
The end of "Side 3" has what is probably the best and most immersive surround mix on the whole album, "Across this Antheap". The surrounds are punctuated by Mastelotto's wonderful percussion playing along with Andy's crowd shouts. If there ever was a song on this album that was too big for stereo to contain, it's this one. There's also some keyboard stabs by David Gregory, an essential and incredibly underrated part of the indelible XTC sound. Isham continues to decorate the album with his trumpet playing and it circles around the surround channels with frantic energy. This is just pure surround fun and a demonstration track from this demonstration disc!
The final side begins with what have always been for me the two weakest tracks on the album, "Hold Me My Daddy" and "Pink Thing". The former track is not really that special in surround until the closing African-inspired coda. "Pink Thing" has the handclaps punctuating the surround channels, but like "Hold Me My Daddy" there's not really a lot of special surround action happening in this song either.
Closing out the album are two of Andy's best songs for this album, "Miniature Sun" and "Chalkhills and Children". To me, "Miniature Sun" has changed the most from the original stereo mix to the new mixes, all in very subtle ways, but I'm so attuned to how this particular track sounds that nothing escapes my grasp! One cool thing about this remix is the trumpet as now its double-tracked nature comes to the forefront in a way I never noticed before. The human element comes to the forefront with slight tuning issues that actually add color to the double-tracked performance. The keyboards also sound different in the bridge section, complementing the Pet Sounds-like backing vocals. The 2nd time the bridge comes in, we're treated to one of my favorite bass lines from Colin Moulding, an incredibly prolific and underrated bass player that came up with some of the most melodic and unique bass lines I have ever heard on record.
"Chalkhills and Children" finishes things off in the most beautiful and profound way. Andy's vocals are spread around, and once again, the Pet Sounds influence comes off very strongly. You almost need to get a hanky out to wipe the tears away after this one finishes. The surround mix does everything it should do without distracting you from the beautiful composition that Andy wrote. I always got chills listening to it in stereo, but in surround, the feelings evoked are even stronger!
How does it get any better than this? It simply doesn't. I know I have recently written glowing reviews for both "Fragle" and "Octopus", and yet if there's any release you absolutely need, it's this one! Along with "Hand Cannot Erase", this is simply the best surround release of 2015 and one that you would be remiss to not own yourself. XTC's songs are among the best the world has ever received, and that is only more readily apparent thanks to Steven Wilson's stellar surround mix!
10! 10! 10! (Need I say more?!)
