Steven Wilson

[Dave Bryce]

Seriously...who does more surround remixes than this guy?  Or is better at it?

 

How many of his do you own?  I just got the 2015 remix of Oranges and Lemons - amazing.

 

dB

[Failed Muso]

I've tried to accumulate all of his multi-channel stuff. I have all his solo work, most of Porcupine Tree's 5.1 output and a ton of other stuff that he's done for other people. The Yes mixes are astounding, as are the XTC albums. His work on Tears For Fears 'Songs From the Big Chair' just made me love that album more, which I thought was impossible!

[Eric R. Fischer]

I'm convinced that he has a guy (or gal?) who sets up the mixes for him, gets it 75% of the way there. He can't possibly churn out that much work, including all of his musical activities. NO-ONE has that much time!

[Dave Bryce]

I know a few big name engineers who follow this process.

 

dB

[Failed Muso]

Check out the new Porcupine Tree album, "Closure/Continuation", available on Blu Ray as a 5.1 and Atmos mix by Mr Wilson, natch 😉

[Dave Bryce]

I will!  I have In Absentia in surround…

 

 

[Werno]

I'm a fan of SW's remixes, and I have me a few so I guess here's my chance to brag, or maybe confess.

 

I can see my surround shelves from here, so let's run it down:

the classic King Crimson, from itCOTCK through 3uvva plus SW's blu-ray 2nd stab at itCOTCK;

Jethro Tull (Benefit, Aqualung, and SftWood);

Gentle Giant (3 piece suite, Octopus, Power & Glory, Free Hand);

XTC (Drums & Wires, Black Sea, Skylarking, Oranges & Lemons, Nonesuch, plus the Dukes of the Stratosphere 'Psurroundabout Ride');

ELP (eponymous, Tarkus);

Tears for Fears (Big Chair, Tipping Point);

Yes (TYA through Relayer)

Caravan- In the Land of Grey and Pink

Okay, that didn't take as long as I expected. Clearly I need more... 

 

I had only heard a couple of XTC albums before i started buying SW remixes, so never-before heard Nonesuch and the 'Dukes' were pretty much revelations, but 'Skylarking' is still my fave. One thing that's surprised me is how great surround mixes of sparse material can be- 'Book of Saturday' on KC/Lark's Tongues just floats in the air like a melancholy cloud in perfect balance, which was probably the last song on that album I expected to knock me out in 5.1. 

 

Gentle Giant gets points for adding visuals to accompany playback, loses a couple for hyperactive overkill on 'Free Hand' and the relentless writhing suction cups on 'Octopus'. I turn off the screen.

 

TfF 'Tipping Point' is streamable in Atmos, but was briefly available on Atmos/5.1 Blu-ray in an edition of 2,000 through the 'Super Deluxe Editions' site, and then in a second 'however many people order' edition when the first one sold out in a day or two. The surround mix sounds much better than any brickwalled hyped stereo version I've heard online.

 

SDE is putting out other special surround blu-ray releases, might want to check them out occasionally. Wandering OT, I'm out.

 

 

[Failed Muso]

On 8/7/2022 at 3:21 AM, Werno said:

SDE is putting out other special surround blu-ray releases, might want to check them out occasionally. Wandering OT, I'm out.

 

 

 

I gave the Gilbert O'Sullivan release a swerve but the xPropaganda album is superb. Next up is Hormonally Yours by Shakespears Sister which should be fun!

Other SW mixes of note are Ultravox's 'Vienna', Roxy Music's first album, TFF 'Seeds of Love', Simple Minds 'Sparkle In The Rain', Marillion's 'Misplaced Childhood', as well as all his own solo material and Porcupine Tree.

 

Ultravox's Rage In Eden is being reissued with a SW 5.1 mix in September.

[Dave Bryce]

On 8/6/2022 at 7:21 PM, Werno said:

I can see my surround shelves from here, so let's run it down:

the classic King Crimson, from itCOTCK through 3uvva plus SW's blu-ray 2nd stab at itCOTCK;

Jethro Tull (Benefit, Aqualung, and SftWood);

Gentle Giant (3 piece suite, Octopus, Power & Glory, Free Hand);

XTC (Drums & Wires, Black Sea, Skylarking, Oranges & Lemons, Nonesuch, plus the Dukes of the Stratosphere 'Psurroundabout Ride');

ELP (eponymous, Tarkus);

Tears for Fears (Big Chair, Tipping Point);

Yes (TYA through Relayer)

Caravan- In the Land of Grey and Pink

 

I did not know he had done any other ELP records than Tarkus (got that one)!  
Re: TFF - get Sowing The Seeds etc if you can find it.  Spectacular 5.1 mix.

Re: Tull - I gotta try and find SFTW.

 

dB

[Ivan May]

I would really love to hear Steven Wilson remaster the first few Wishbone Ash albums, especially since Argus is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

 

I often wonder what a remixed, remastered version of Pilgrimage or Live Dates would sound like in the hands of Steven Wilson.

[Dave Bryce]

12 minutes ago, IMMusicRulz said:

I would really love to hear Steven Wilson remaster the first few Wishbone Ash albums, especially since Argus is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

 

I often wonder what a remixed, remastered version of Pilgrimage or Live Dates would sound like in the hands of Steven Wilson.

 

Well, he’d have to really like the record first.  That’s apparently what made him stop doing ELP - wasn’t feeling the love for the music.  Go figure…

 

dB

[Werno]

For the Tull fans here, I just saw that Wilson's mix of TAAB is being reissued in October. Here's the Amazon link, or support your preferred non-continent-spanning retailer.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008S6B480/?tag=forumyield-20

[Dave Bryce]

Got it when it was originally released.  Love it.

 

 

dB

[Werno]

The initial run of TAAB had some mastering and QC issues when first released, and there was a corrected version that some folks got back in the day. FWIW, from the 'Quadrophonic Quad' thread where I saw the reissue announcement, here's someone's summary of the differences between the original release and the upcoming reissue:

 

Reason to buy: The remix stereo with 2015 mastering sounds good on DVD. 

Before replacement DVD 5.1: At about the 7 minute mark there's slight cymbal torture, and 3 glitches noted at the beginning of side one. First two drop outs are strangely enough on the first two uses of the word down. Then something strange (drop out?) at the 3:03 mark. (Defects with the 5.1 at times 2:32, 2:48 & 3:03 of "Side 1")

+Steven Wilson acknowledged that the Peter Mew mastering is too bright.
Ian Anderson quietly says 'yeah' at the very end. It is missing on Mew's mastering. Only the 5.1 was corrected with a yeah at the end. 

Crazy enough, the "yeah" is also missing from the original stereo flat transfer on the 40th.

 

[Dave Bryce]

I love stuff like that.  
 

Thank you for sharing that, brother! 

 

dB