Top 20 Surround Albums of 2022 (including Quad and Immersive)

#review #music #surroundsound
Recapping the 20 most notable Quad, surround and immersive physical releases of 2022.
The Quadraphonicquad (QQ) List:
www.quadraphon...
My Top 20 list (in chronological order of release):
2/4 John Williams The Berlin Concert
store.deutsche...
2/16 Dutton Epoch 6 New Classical and Soundtrack Quad SACDs
www.duttonvoca...
2/18 Pink Floyd PULSE
www.amazon.com...
2/25
6/17 Tears for Fears The Tipping Point
www.thesdeshop...
3/4 Marillion An Hour Before It's Dark
www.discogs.co...
www.amazon.com...
4/15 Rush Moving Pictures
shop.udiscover...
5/13 The Pineapple Thief Give It Back
burningshed.co...
7/22 Mary Fahl Can't Get It Out of My Head
maryfahl.com/
www.markdoyle....
8/3 Toto IV
www.cdjapan.co...
8/26 TUVAYHUN Beatitudes for a Wounded World
shop.2l.no/en-...
9/1 Kris Kristofferson The Silver Tongued Devil And I & Border Lord / Jesus Was a Capricorn & Spooky Lady's Sideshow
www.duttonvoca...
9/16 Pink Floyd Animals
shop.pinkfloyd...
9/16 Marillion Holidays in Eden
www.marillion....
10/7 The Tragically Hip Fully Completely
thetragicallyh...
10/14 Big Big Train Summer Shall Not Fade
burningshed.co...
10/14 Brian Eno FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE
www.thesdeshop...
11/11 Katatonia Dead End Kings
burningshed.co...
11/30 Santana Caravanserai
www.cdjapan.co...
12/2 Jethro Tull Thick as a Brick
burningshed.co...
2/7 Charles Gerhardt & National Philharmonic Orchestra Star Wars & Close Encounters of the Third Kind
www.duttonvoca...
12/16 Frank Zappa Waka/Wazoo
www.amazon.com...

[@gingerovertone2929]

Animals SACD is sensational! I was a Pink Floyd fan that didn't think much of the original version,but no longer. On high rotation. Thanks for info on the newer music.

[@lifeinsurround]

My pleasure. Happy you're enjoying Animals. Happy New Year.

[@Tomtmayaolcom]

I got both the Blu-Ray and the SACD, and liked the SACD better. Just wonderful.

[@texeast8680]

Thanks Mike, I really appreciate your informative videos on multi-channel titles!

[@elsamariasorforger5788]

great video, i wish you a happy new 2023,stay healthy

[@lifeinsurround]

To you, as well!

[@southendonseaarts]

I just got myself a Emotiva BASX A-5 which opened my surround right up and away from my Marantz AVR - so much more definitiion, disappointed in Revolver not having a surround mix but I did manage to catch it on Amazon music, an opporunity missed there - The Berlin concert atmos is superb its like actually being there. Got the Thick as a brick and got a bargain on ebay with Aqualung. both sound great - my standout this year is managing to get all 3 Genesis SACD sets from 1970 up for £760 from a ebay seller they are like gold dust they-re in the post so I'll can't wait to hear those. I've bought all the SDE releases so far and the fact they started doing slipcovers as well which is so nice. I'm a big Orbital fan and looking forward to their new release in 2023 not to mention the George Harrison concert - I think they're doing a brilliant job, even Gilbert O'Sullivan sounded good the Tipping Point was a highlight for me- other purchases this year was the Marillon, Porcupine Tree and Rage in Eden from Ultravox, Animals and Toto IV of course,(love those 7" packages) and you did mention the brilliant Caravanserai from Santana Japanese release to add to the existing collection. I think overall a quieter surround year with releases but still some gems came out. I have just heard some goodies are on the way next year e.g. ABC so I'm getting my credit card ready.

[@lifeinsurround]

New amp means you gotta listen to all your favorites all over again! Nice score on the Genesis boxes! I plan to start doing some Genesis reviews soon.

[@davidkingston8992]

An excellent video Mike. The Santana looks to be an essential purchase! Have you checked out the And You Will Know Us..album XI:Bleed Here Now ? The quad on both the blu-ray and vinyl sounds incredible on my system. The other is the Suzanne Ciani vinyl that shipped with its own QS decoder! Really looking forward to your videos and recommendations in 2023.

[@lifeinsurround]

I haven't checked out Bleed Here Now, just based on limited time and budget. Happy to add it to my wish list!

[@slowburn1022]

This was awesome, Mike! Animals, Moving Pictures, Caravanserai and The Tipping Point knocked my socks off! I’m looking forward to hearing the Zappa when it arrives tonight and eventually Thick As A Brick whenever it finally shows up. Happy New Year!

[@lifeinsurround]

The Zappa set is awesome. Enjoy!

[@ieltxumetal]

Good recap!! I missed a couple of them. I have some homework now for 2023. Thanks!

[@lifeinsurround]

Thank you and happy listening!

[@dylansantos5958]

Could you please do a video showing your audio equipment? Have a Very happy new year 👏

[@lifeinsurround]

I have, occasionally. If you have specific interests, lmk and I can do an update. It has been a while for the Atmos/Auro system. I did the Quad/5.1 system recently.

[@jondon9963]

Thank you! Can’t wait to check some of these out.

[@lifeinsurround]

My pleasure! Happy listening.

[@MarkDoyleMusic]

Thanks so much for all you do, Mike, and thank you for the props on the Mary album. Wishing you a wonderful and prosperous 2023. 🎉

[@lifeinsurround]

Props are well deserved! HNY!!!

[@machschau6558]

Really enjoy your channel. Just wanted to correct your Kristofferson factoid. It was Roger 'King of the Road ' Miller that sang the songs for Disney's Robin Hood. Would love to have heard 'Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down' instead though. Looking forward to more great content in 2023.

[@lifeinsurround]

Thanks for the clarification. Their singing is spot-on, to my ears! When I did an internet search, I saw enough confirmation that I just went with it. There's often one wrong thing in my videos!

[@beomille509]

Wish you all the best for the coming new year - thanks for all your highly enjoyable and informative videos

[@lifeinsurround]

Thanks for the encouragement! Happy New Year, to you.

[@robertg3903]

Firstly I would like to wish you and your loved ones a happy and prosperous New Year Mike! Thanks for everything that you have done (surround related) as your thoughts and opinions have been a major influence in many of the surround sound purchases that I have made this year. Keep up the excellent work sir!!

[@lifeinsurround]

Aww, thanks! Happy New Year.

[@chas218]

Thanks for this list, sir!

[@lifeinsurround]

You're welcome! Happy new year and happy listening.

[@ehlerhog]

I love love love Brian Eno and if you haven't heard Foreverandevernomore voiceless it's SO very awesome as well with different mixes It seems. Animals was worth the wait too and that was a long time coming.

[@WatcherXP]

Awesome roundup mike and this gives me some stuff to check out over the long weekend! Thanks!

[@lifeinsurround]

Hopefully you found some exciting titles!

[@brucehausmann3526]

Great show Mike. Any updates on the release of Who's Next. My credit card has been locked in my hand for almost a year.

[@lifeinsurround]

I don't know anything definitive. Last I heard, Q1 2023 was the target.

[@LeeLucas]

Quite a good selection of goodies there for sure Mike and speaking of the new Zappa boxset mine finally arrived yesterday even though it was dispatched by Burning Shed on the 13th and the reason for the long delay was due to the postal strike here in the UK. If you got yours for $40 you did very well when it first came up for pre-order I noticed Amazon UK had it priced at £71 around $85 which is why I pre-ordered mine from the Shed and with the postage it cost £54 ($65). I know as a rule Amazon always try and guarantee you the best price but with that high price they had it marked up at I was not taking any chances and you can now get it on there slightly cheaper at around £48. To be honest, it's price point I do think is overpriced especially as it is a Clamshell box and contains more CD's and only one blu ray and in general, most of these types of boxsets that come with 4 or 5 CD's generally retail under 20 bucks such as The Police for example. Obviously, with multichannel material, you will pay more but when I compare this Clamshell package with Quadio by The Doobie Brothers which I paid around the same price of £48 the fact that you get 4 blu rays with that set is what I would call an honest price. I personally think this Zappa package should have retailed for no more than £35 which is around the price you got it for. That's not to say I am not happy with my purchase and as I love both albums that much this box set was a must for me especially having both albums in surround. Though the thing that impresses me about this boxset is the actual CD's and the 4 CD's you get in this package is some of the most impressive bonus content I have seen in ages and some of these outtakes I think are better than the tracks that made the original studio albums. The recordings are also excellent and I would much rather have this type of bonus content in relation to demos that come with most box sets cause they are mostly things you might play once whereas these recordings I could play to death lol. So far I have only played the Atmos mix of the two studio albums on the blu ray and in general, I always find the Atmos mix does not sonically cut the mustard like the 5.1 mix. The good thing is that if like myself you don't have Atmos you get a 7.1 mix but I have always found the 5.1 mix sonically better for some reason. My observation of the Atmos mix is that it's good but could have been mixed better. That may change of course when I play the 5.1 mix cause in general I do find that mix to bring out more detail. Although I have not read the booklet yet I have to say it looks very well-detailed and full of informative content which is also one of the good things about this box set and it's a shame that the Doobie Brothers never had one included in their package. Anyway, I hope you and your family had a GREAT! Christmas and wish you all the best for the New Year and always look forward to the GREAT! informative content your channel provides as always and THANK YOU!

[@lifeinsurround]

I am glad I was able to save some $$ on this set. I wouldn't be quite as pleased at the $75 mark. With all the inflation that has been occurring, I wonder where prices for multichannel releases will finally settle (if they do). Near pre-pandemic prices? Much higher? Yes, the 4 CDs in the Zappa set are killer. I'm astounded how good they sound. And they are packed with fun material. Especially the 20-piece cut. FWIW, the Atmos and 5.1 for these albums sound equally good, to me, on my system.

[@douglasclemens4247]

Check out Cherry Red's Renaissance re-issue sets which have a 5.1 surround sound mix disk included for "Scheherazade", "Azure d'Or" and "Turn of the Cards" as well as some nice live concert material.

[@lifeinsurround]

I've looked into those sets briefly. Are any real surround mixes? Seems to me that one or more were upmixes when I checked. Great group, so I'd love to hear any of their albums well-mixed in surround.

[@douglasclemens4247]

@@lifeinsurround each box set has a Blu-Ray disk with 5.1 surround mix and stereo re-mix.

[@patbarr1351]

@@lifeinsurround I'm guessing when they say "upmix" it is derived from stereo. Maybe using Pentio or something? I wonder at what we might see using the technology that made the new *Revolver* possible! (I hear that method takes a lot of work to extract & remix.)

[@alix_was_here4602]

I hope they go a little further in the work of Frank Zappa, it's so suitable for surround sound, I was impressed, and still am, by Quaudiophiliac. This year I also remember Animals, like many, and Holidays in Eden, when a new mix brings a lot to a somewhat forgotten album. Happy New Year's Eve to you and your family!

[@lifeinsurround]

Quaudiophiliac is very cool. I was trying to compare the version of Jaka/Jawaka on it, to those of this new set. I was a bit distracted, so no great comparison yet. But all enjoyable!

[@southendonseaarts]

I get what you're saying about the box sets - they are somewhat bloated and its usually the surround mix I'm usually after. Oh just got the Charles Gerhardt & NPO Dutton Vocalion a great label bases in Watford, here in the UK.

[@lifeinsurround]

I hope you love the Gerhardt disc. I'll be ordering it soon.

[@stayathome2]

Always like to hear other people's best of lists, and this one didn't disappoint. I haven't been on QQ that much lately, so I was making a list, as I didn't know some of these titles were available. I only wish the SDE titles were available in greater quantities because by the time I found out they were out there, they weren't. One question concerning quad vinyl: will a stereo cartridge pick up the four channels or do you need a dedicated turntable to play these?

[@surroundjunkie5388]

For matrix formats, a stereo stylus works. That covers a LOT of Quad vinyl, so... have at it!

[@lifeinsurround]

Gotta grab those SDE blu-rays when they're announced, or pretty quickly. Unfortunate, in some cases. As already said, a stereo stylus will work fine with SQ, QS, IA and other matrix formats. You'll need a decoder.

[@drumsinthedeeptv]

Thanks for the great channel and your enthusiasm for immersive audio! I am thinking about doing what you did with the Rush box and carefully removing the blu ray and resealing for resale. How much did you reduce the selling price based on the missing disc? Is there a site which would be more beneficial to sell on other than ebay to get a good return on my investment?

[@lifeinsurround]

I used eBay. You might want to try facebook marketplace. They haven't charged me for stuff I've sold on there. Reduced price by around $30, if memory serves.

[@msmmagnum]

Hey Mike great video 😊in your opinion do you think Animals SACD or Blu-ray ? Any pros and cons with the two formats thank you Martyn

[@lifeinsurround]

Blu-ray. For the menu art and the bonus music behind it.

[@patbarr1351]

I've been enjoying the Guess Who's quad releases on Vocalion. Sound is quite good on those as is the mix from an uncredited engineer (except for "No Time" from *Canned Wheat* which has a dizzying guitar pan). I'll only buy a remix if it's in multichannel or if I didn't think the sound was quite what it should've been in the original. I liked BeBop Deluxe's stereo remixed *Drastic Plastic* so much that I retired my copy & bought the box, which includes a 5.1 from Steven Tayler. To me there is a magic in a great multichannel analog tape that is sometimes lost when it's dubbed to stereo tape. Digital can often restore that magic.

[@lifeinsurround]

Stephen W Tayler is among the surround mixing greats, at this point!

[@wirralnomad]

Waka/Wazoo is absolutely top drawer!

[@lifeinsurround]

Yep! The authoring of the blu-ray is a little... weird. But, once passed that, the music and mixes are awesome.

[@wirralnomad]

@@lifeinsurround Absolutely, the way the screen saver flickers is a little annoying but I guess no-one ever is going to actually sit and watch it right the way through.

[@garymey4314]

Lovely overview but very much missing Exposures by Robert Fripp, Porcupine Tree Closure/ Continuation and the 5.1 reissue of Ayreon's Universal Migrator. 2022 was a great year!

[@lifeinsurround]

Glad to have you add favorites for everyone's awareness!

[@sarajamus]

🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽

[@thomasroth4533]

Agree about 2L and I own many of their releases. Most of them are still unopened though.

[@lifeinsurround]

I hope you get around to opening them all soon!

[@thomasroth4533]

@@lifeinsurround Well, I won't actually and I don't know what to do with them. I live in Sweden and the second hand market here is almost non existent. I saw in one of your earlier videos a copy of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra with Boulez. I suppose that it is the Dutton version? I have the old Sony SACD and they did not present the quad version at all.

[@whatevahz531]

All I heard was: "Blu-rays can rot." @04:32 NO!!! LOL

[@mikevieira8583]

YES!!! LOL en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot

[@patbarr1351]

Of course no digital disc can "rot" unless it's stored in the tropics (maybe Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66). They may possibly oxidize, but in my experience with CDs, that only happens due to a manufacturing defect and problems will start happening within a year or two. I've lost a grand total of 3 CDs to oxidation (2 were on the Nimbus label from the '80's) out of about 400, but no DVDs or Blurays. Or maybe I should double check 🧐

[@whatevahz531]

@@patbarr1351 My reply was a joke mate, relax. Sometimes people use words to shorten and more easily describe a generalized situation. Like 'disc rot'...we know it is oxidation. Rotten oxidation! 😆

[@lifeinsurround]

Whatever one calls it, discs becoming unreadable is scary stuff! Happened to a lot of EU DSOTM immersion blu-rays, if memory serves...

[@patbarr1351]

@@whatevahz531 I know they call it "rot" since the laserdisc era. I wonder who thought that up? Maybe some rotter, eh?

[@silkhead44]

SDE...did not make enough

[@lifeinsurround]

Well, they did two pre-orders and produced a bit more than ordered.

[@calummcgregor3662]

Although it can be frustrating to miss out, SDE m.o. (as I understand it) is to basically only produce enough discs to satisfy pre order demand plus a few spares (Each release is released in limited batches to balance / manage cash flow for a tiny company satisfying a [currently] niche market [but growing ?]) ... Do add yourself to the SDE mailing list as, I believe, there will be a stream of issues on almost a monthly basis going forward ... Paul Sinclair, who runs SDE, communicates regularly re the issue sequence and routinely sends out "last order" reminders before the pre order window closes ... I have 3 of the releases to date (Gilbert O'Sullivan, Brian Eno, Ten Years After) and pre ordered Tubular Bells and Fragments due in the next couple of months ... quality is great and price point is "ok" (£24 plus postage) but not as cheap / tempting as the £14.99 plus shipping for the Alan Parson's Project stand alone blurays from Cherry Red in the UK which look like a teal steal for a couple of classic albums .... cool video ... CMcG, Aberdeen, Scotland