Return To Avalon!

Artist: Roxy Music
Title: Avalon
Format: SACD

5.1 mix By Bob Clearmountain
Mastered by Bob Ludwig

Roxy Music will be remembered as one of the most influential bands of their time. From the mid seventies to the early eighties they released many albums that paved the way for artists like Talking Heads and The Fixx. Combining a danceable beat with superb musicianship and the suave delivery of frontman Bryan Ferry, they had a huge hit with Love Is The Drug, and finally hit their musical peak with the release of Avalon in 1982. In 2003 Avalon was released as a multichannel Super Audio CD. It was worth the wait!

The music:
Starting with the opening track, More Than This, we are taken on an exotic, erotic and intoxicating musical journey. More Than This is simply dreamy, with a lovely melody and Phil Manzanera's guitar's echoing around the steady backbeat of Andy Newmarks drums. The Space Between is as funky as a group of white men can get. The title track, Avalon, is the musical equivalent of a soft core porn movie. Sultry and sexy with a laid back feel. I could go on and on. This might be one of the best albums to have as a background to a dirty evening!
Score:10/10

The mix:
Bob Clearmoutain states in the booklet that he envisioned something more than stereo when he mixed the tracks in 1982. He finally got what he was looking for. His 5.1 mix is almost perfect. Drum hits, guitars and keyboards fill almost every speaker. He uses reverb to dramatic effect on songs such as The Space Between, where the vocal reverb sweeps to the rears. Lush keyboard fills take advantage of the extra speakers, giving it a truly 3 dimensional feel. On the instrumental song India, the entire song swirls around the room (the multi-track tapes could not be found, and Clearmountain had to improvise by using the stereo tracks, but revolving them around the 5 speakers!) If I had one minor gripe, it would be that I prefer drums to come from a phantom center between the main speakers rather than the center channel speaker. Sometimes there is a bit too much info in the center channel. However, overall..... Incredible!
Score: 9/10

The sound:
Very analog feel. Rich and airy, a Bob Clearmountain specialty! No gripes here at all.
Score: 10/10

Overall: 9.5/10

A perfect example of how one can take a classic record and transform it into a classic 5.1 release. Wish we could see more like this.