Rush - Moving Pictures BR 5.1

I have the DVI and the regular CD versions of S&A and I much prefer the regular CD. The 5.1 mix sounds too airy to me and lacks balls. I love the music very much but I rarely spin the DVI anymore. Im worried Moving Pictures will be similar and that would be a shame for such a classic.

 

final details


The 5.1 Surround Sound remix of RUSH's classic 1981 album "Moving Pictures" will be released on April 5. Two packages will be made available — a CD/DVD set and a CD/BD (Blu-ray disc) set. According to the RushIsABand.com web site, the CD will contain the stereo mix while the DVD/Blu-ray will contain the Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo mix. As an added bonus the DVD/Blu-ray will also contain 5.1 mixes of the music videos for "Tom Sawyer", "Limelight" and "Vital Signs".

"Moving Pictures" 5.1 Surround Sound remix track listing:

Disc 1:

01. Tom Sawyer
02. Red Barchetta
03. YYZ
04. Limelight
05. The Camera Eye
06. Witch Hunt
07. Vital Signs

Disc 2:

01. Tom Sawyer (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
02. Red Barchetta (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
03. YYZ (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
04. Limelight (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
05. The Camera Eye (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
06. Witch Hunt (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
07. Vital Signs (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
08. Tom Sawyer (Music Video - 5.1 & Stereo)
09. Limelight (Music Video - 5.1 & Stereo)

The 5.1 Surround Sound remix of "Moving Pictures" was handled by Canadian producer/engineer Richard Chycki — who is known for his work with AEROSMITH and OUR LADY PEACE, and who teamed up with Nick Raskulinecz (RUSH, DEATH ANGEL, STONE SOUR) on RUSH's last studio album, 2007's "Snakes & Arrows". He recently wrote on his official blog, "I finished tweaks on 'Red Barchetta' [on February 3]. It really was an amazing experience to spread the original tracks of such a classic CD into the 3D word of surround. (The car speeds off, goes behind and banks a sharp right in rear, [by the way]). The listening experience is drastically enveloping and coupled with songs and performances that epitomize this band, it's definitely a great time to re-discover RUSH.

"After discussion with the band, the goal here was to pay serious homage to the production of the era so a considerable amount of time was spent researching and working through effects, etc. that matched the original but would fare well in the 5.1 world. And, of course, placement was also a critical issue. I'm pleased with the results and [RUSH guitarist] Alex Lifeson was pretty blown away when he came in to listen to the finals."

RUSH's current "Time Machine Tour" is an evening with the band, where they perform their classics, give a taste of the future — and for the first time ever — feature the "Moving Pictures" album live in its entirety.

Released in 1981, "Moving Pictures" was RUSH's most successful album, certified four-times platinum and features some of the band's most well known songs and perennial radio favourites "Tom Sawyer", "Limelight" and the Grammy-nominated instrumental "YYZ".

 

Excellent news...

 

So I wonder what that "audiophile" means.

 

I was thinking about MP when I typed that, but now that you mention it, BOTH.

Brian

 

Strange how the band seems to shun the video for Vital Signs. It hasn't been included
in ANY video release in the past 10 years.

 

Exactly. It means nothing. Dual Disc tried to pass off 16/48 as high rez.

Why would they NOT say what the actual format will be?

I am afraid. Very afraid.

Brian

 

Hopefully they will handle this project like the Neil Young Archives set, meaning that both the DVD and Blu-Ray discs will offer hi-rez PCM.

 

Just like with dvd-audio, sacd and dvd releases, unlike for audio-related sites I've noticed music sites almost never mention issues like resolution, encoding format or any other "techie" aspects of an album. So maybe this is just another example of this and there will be hi-res tracks on the BD and maybe the dvd too. I can't see why there wouldn't at least be 48/24 tracks in LPCM form, especially since unlike with Dolby TruHD or DTS-MA there are no licensing issues I know of for the LPCM format (no one owns it AFAIK). And I think there's more than enough space on a single-layer BD disc with no moving video elements to contain a 5.1 channel 192/24 LPCM track.

And on another subject, notice how on some of the sites discussing this that the surround mix is mentioned in an off-hand manner or as just a bonus, as is it was thrown in there as an afterthought? So many people still don't realize surround is such a different listening experience, and to many people, a much more rewarding one than stereo.

 

So the best way to tout this engineer's prowess behind the desk it to mention OUR LADY PEACE as one of the projects he's worked on???!!!

 

One point I might add to this discussion is that for the Blu-Ray, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master are both lossless formats. In fact TrueHD uses the same compression type as DVD-Audio (Meridian Lossless Packing).

 

That doesn't help me and my circa-2000 home-theater set-up that can only handle PCM, Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS 5.1. One of these days I'll get current, but stereo is still my priority.

I have a Blu-Ray player in one stereo system, so I would really like to see hi-rez PCM stereo on the Blu-Ray disc. If the DVD offers hi-rez PCM in stereo and surround, that would also be good for me.

 

I assume the stereo portion will be the first of the 2011 remasters, as opposed to reissuing the late-90s version?

 

does complete Exit Stage Left concert exist?

Should have been nice to have more material, like King Crimson and Genesis did

 

I've never been a big RUSH fan, as I never liked the way that their albums sounded, recording wise or Geddy Lee's singing. They always had that "ASIA" type all highs, but little lows sound and I hate that. Maybe in 5.1, things will hold together better, so I may buy it? The one song by them that I've always liked is, "New World Man" and that is probably because it sounds like a song by The Police, with it's drum line, stolen directly from the hands of Stewart Copeland. I'd like to hear "New World Man" in 5.1

Chris C

 

I would think if you use your Blu-Ray player to decode the audio, then it will decode the lossless Dolby or DTS files and send the lossless audio through the analog outputs (if that's how your player is hooked to your receiver). I forget about how Dolby TrueHD works, but I recall reading that on players that don't support DTS-HD, the audio defaults back to regular DTS. Not lossless no, but unless your circa-2000 set-up was state-of-the-art, it's doubtful you could hear the difference between DTS- and DTS-HD.

 

Fantastic news, lets hope this ball picks up speed and grabs some major label attention in the next year or two.

 

I'm interested in surround but only have 2 speakers hooked up at the moment ... as well as for the foreseeable future. I'll get their eventually but if they get the basics right (that'd be hi-rez PCM...which means 24/96 minimum) the surround is icing on the cake.

 

huh? I can understand what your saying about Asia but Geddy Lee's bass playing has always been a staple of Rush recordings, whether it was a Rick, Steinberger, Wal or Fender Jazz.

Rush has been my favorite band for many years but until the announcement came that there was going to be a high-rez stereo track I had little interest in this release.

 

I kinda get what he means -- Geddy's bass sound is a lot more midrangey, very little to no low-end rumble, and Neil's drum sounds has been pretty thin and tight since around Farewell To Kings days (and even more so since the mid-80s).

Not saying I don't like 'em, just saying...

 

I wouldn't call the drums on Counterparts (for example) to be thin by any means.

 

If the drums on Red Barchetta are "thin" I don't know how to define the drum sound on 90% of rock, pop, soul, etc, etc

 

Sorry, I do think Counterparts is a somewhat thin sound, relative to the more natural drum sounds he used in the earlier days. Better than most of their other post-Grace Under Pressure albums but still not great.

IMO I think the art of recording drums peaked in the early 70s and it's been mostly downhill from there... I personally prefer a much more natural, "woody" sound rather than the tight, close-mic'd sound that has been so much more prevalent since the 80s or so.

And don't even get me started on the completely unnatural drum sounds most rock bands use nowadays... doesn't sound anything like a good drummer in a nice room...

 

I guess they were waiting for the right moment.

 

Detailed info from the Rush website:

http://www.rush.com/low/viewStory.php?id=403