In the beginning, there was mono and it was meh. Then came hi-fidelity stereo and things were getting warmer. Then audio geeks figured that if two channels were good, four might be mack. So quadraphonic sound appeared and it was really good--especially, believe it or not, the 8-track versions (except for the fading out of one program into another right in the middle of a song; that'll never NOT suck). The vinyl quad stuff, not so much. But sometime in the late 70s, 4-channel audio faded into the sonic sunset and remained dormant until....DVDs! That's when multi-channel home hi-fidelity returned with a passion, this time with FIVE speakers and a sub woofer. The 5.1 Phoenix, in movie format and the subsequent DVD Audio and SACD discs, was the greatest thing these ears had experienced since those crankin' quad days of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's triple live album, "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends."
And speaking of them progressive rock blokes, we've come full circle.
If you've got a 5.1 system set up at home you'll want to check out all the multi-channel mixes of classic albums. The latest? Emerson, Lake & Palmer's first two albums: the self-titled debut and Tarkus. Razor & Tie have done a phenomenal job of not only remastering and repackaging these but enlisting Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson to remix new stereo AND 5.1 Surround Sound mixes. Steven did remarkable jobs on Jethro Tull & King Crimson releases besides being Grammy-nominated for his work. And take it from a longtime fan, these new ELP mixes are beyond superb. As Steven did with many of the softer passages on Tull's Aqualung, the analog tape hiss from the quieter moments on things like "Take A Pebble" finally has been eliminated. Back in the bell-bottomed days of stereo components--separate turntables, receivers and the like--there were a few well-produced & engineered albums you would bring in to the stores to compare the speakers. ELP's debut was one of those albums (along with Doobies' Captain & Me and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon) and the new remixes make their first album that much brighter and crisper.
The great thing about 5.1 versus simple stereo is that quite often musical passages and nuances get lost in the compacting of two channels. 5.1 lets the music breathe and allow you to hear things that have always been there but that you might have never heard. It happens almost every time I listen to a 5.1 mix--at some point I'll think "That's been there all along? What was I, medicated or something?"
You can find out more about ELP's first album here and their second, Tarkus, here. It's a very decent price for 2 CDs and a DVD plus great new liner notes about the making--and remaking--of each.
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