HiRez Poll Zappa, Frank - APOSTROPHE [Blu-Ray Audio (Dolby Atmos)]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this brand new reissue of Frank Zappa's classic album "Apostrophe".
This 50th anniversary edition includes a Blu-Ray audio disc that contains brand new Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround mixes along with the original 1970s Quadraphonic mix, available again for the first time in 50 years!

 

[ogrequad]

Definite 10 for me. I first listened to the Atmos mix (through my 5.1 set up) and absolutely loved it. Adventurous and discreet and sonically just beautiful. Highlights were the Yellow Snow suite and Stink-Foot, both of which make full use of all the speakers, but the other tracks are great too. Currently listening to the quad mix and this is a significant upgrade over the quad transfer DVD-A that I’ve been listening to for years. That transfer always sounded pretty flat to me but the Blu-Ray has been mastered to perfection. As for the rest of the package, I’ve only listened to the Colorado show and, outside of the surround content, that performance alone makes this set worth every penny. Can’t wait to check out everything else but I am already a happy Zappa fan! Keep em coming!!

 

[stoopid]

[5.1 only] Crisp and fun. And I still need to get through all the bonus content. Pricey but worth it for any FZ fan. Easy 10. Stoked for One Size Fits All, coming up next presumably.

 

[shedsoundsmedia]

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY ! This is a fantastic boxed set, an embarrassment of riches ! Here's my detailed thoughts.

 

[SomethingAnything]

Most enjoyable on Atmos. I've listened to it on Tidal, so I won't vote upstairs, but it's a ten.

 

[Matt Wilson]

Yeah, I'm going with a 10. I seem to be rather generous with my 10s lately. Now, whether that's because I'm getting less picky in my old age, or that they're making better surround sound discs, I dunno - but I ain't complainin' either.

 

[shedsoundsmedia]

Yeah, I'm going with a 10. I seem to be rather generous with my 10s lately. Now, whether that's because I'm getting less picky in my old age, or that they're making better surround sound discs, I dunno - but I ain't complainin' either.

This year has been particularly generous with great atmos / surround mixes I think. Looking forward to Red by King Crimson in Oct.

 

[Michael Marshall]

Now THIS is how a deluxe box set should be done! I can only imagine that the ZAPPA archives are unique unto themselves (Prince's estate and the archives held within might be a distant second) as the material available for this (and other) release(s) is vast and deep. I watched several of the "official" YouTube videos this morning (shortly before the USPS derived my copy) and was floored by amount of and how, literally, EVERYTHING, was saved and archived and under one roof! It was as if his estate was being curated by the Smithsonian Institute, latex gloves and all (watch the videos and you'll understand). I have only made it through the Blu-ray so I can only comment on the sonic merits of the Apostrophe Quad and Atmos mixes and they are BOTH stunning! As much as I love the recently released OverNite Sensation box set, this takes things to an even higher level of detail and execution. An absolute MUST buy and beyond worthy repeated listens.

 

[Intruder461]

As with all these Zappa boxsets they are vastly overpriced but as it's Frank, they have me by the balls to keep spending my cash on them. The Blu Ray with the surround mixes is my real enticement to lay the extra 60 bucks they charging for it simply because in any CD package that comes in a Clamshell box such as this you can get anywhere from 4 to 6 CD's in one from 20 to 30 bucks. The Clamshell box was also originally designed to sell all or part of most bands and artists' discography on the cheap and for a package that costs 99 bucks, this is not cheap. I would even go as far as to say that the presentation totally SUCKS! and Franks's music is worthy of being treated better than this.

The surround mixes are to die for and as with any of these boxsets the extra live content on the CD's is killer though I should add that no way are the 5 CD's that come in this package worth any more than 20 to 30 bucks which is the genuine price point so the Zappa trust is obviously making a killing on these things. I should also add that there is no way I would lay out silly money like this if the boxset only contained CD's such as the Hot Rats boxset for example which did not interest me one bit, especially at the extortionate price they put it out for.

The one thing that is puzzling me right now is why with the multichannel content did they start with the Waka/Jawaka and Grand Wazoo from 1972, surely they must have the multichannel tapes for all the other albums that came before them.