Thick As A Brick - 50th Anniversary Edition

Excellent Fantastic !!

I am very happy with the reissued version of the 40th Anniversary Thick As A Brick CD+DVD which I ordered from Amazon.uk on 17th January 2013 and arrived here in Brisbane, Australia just 8 days later. This was my second order for this item - they had very kindly refunded the cost of my November 2012 purchase when I advised them that I had the initial release version which had faults on the DVD disc (in the DTS 5.1 surround track there were 3 annoying and easily noticeable glitches of missing data between 2:32 and 3:02 of part one). The fault-free version of the DVD is distinguished from the first one by a 6mm wide .2mm thin black underline on the right side of the disc label, 1cm below where its says "DVD SIDE".On a separate forum surround engineer, mixer and producer Steven Wilson says that he decided to make this new version of the DTS 5.1 surround mix "flat" - meaning that there is none of the added equalisation which had most likely over-accentuated the phasing cymbals in the early part of the first version. That was a wise decision. The new DTS 5.1 track is also about 25% higher in volume and to my ears sounds noticeably superior - with an accent on power rather than dynamics.People can now order this product with full confidence that they are getting the fault free version - and now that it's in my possession, my review below is entirely true:Jethro Tull's 1972 two track epic album "Thick As A Brick" has just been released as a luxury 40th anniversary 2 disc CD/DVD edition, and it is a real treat. The DVD case sized package, presented as an inch thick hard cover book, includes extensive artwork, photos, notes and texts. The CD is of the 2012 remix by surround sound professional Steven Wilson (famed for his band Porcupine Tree and as the remixer of all the King Crimson 40th anniversary series). The regular DVD-Video (i.e. not "DVD-Audio") offers a tasteful and very impressive 96k 24bit DTS 5.1 surround remix by Steven Wilson (from the original multitrack tapes) and also the choice of two 96k 24bit PCM stereo versions: the 2012 Steven Wilson remix or a "flat" transfer of the original 1972 mix. Both are very good - with the 1972 mix sounding just a tad muddy while still being as powerful as I remembered. In the informed and passionately respectful Steven Wilson remix he has retained all of the punch, while making every instrument sound distinctly clearer. He also he gives the vocals a much more dynamic and panoramic presence. 40 years ago I was privileged to see Jethro Tull's "Thick As A Brick" tour at Brisbane Festival Hall. Ian Anderson introduced this non-stop 45 minute number, while rocking his hips back and forth (a crucifix swinging between his legs) "And now for a rather lengthy piece..." (that's how my memory records it).Regarding the format of the DVD-Video in this edition: I believe that this format of delivering high definition surround sound and stereo on one disc will work best for most people. The 96k 24bit DTS 5.1 surround track will play on the vast majority of DVD players and Blu-ray players. A production note states that some players may not have decoding devices which are able to take advantage of the full 96k sample rate - and they will instead play the file as if the sampling rate was 48k - but I'm sure I would struggle to tell the difference anyway. The trouble inherent in "DVD-Audio" discs is that the high definition "MLP lossless" PCM tracks can only be decoded by a player which is specifically designed for playing "DVD-Audio" discs (and very very few are). The annoying negative about listening to an "MLP Lossless" album on my Yamaha "DVD-S1800" model DVD-Audio/SACD/DVD player is that you hear a very noticeable blip at every transition from one track into the next - and with all of the Talking Heads DVD-Audio discs the start of every track is marred by this aberration. DTS 96k 24bit is technically compressed in comparison to MLP Lossless - but I doubt that I could hear the difference. The high definition DTS files play flawlessly and for that reason alone they are indeed superior (and the compatible players are not only very common but also very cheap.

I purchased this package on release but returned it due to mastering glitches. When Amazon got new stock I reordered, and I'm happy to report that the new stock is fixed. You can easily tell; play for example the DTS 5.1 mix and there are glitches on the original release at 2:32, 2:48 & 3:03 of "Side 1". The fixed release is perfect.I also noticed that the surround mix on the updated DVD is less bright than before, which personally I find an improvement. You will notice, for example, that the exaggerated cymbals from around about 7.00 minutes in on the old release are tamed in the fixed version. The story seems to be that the mix done by Steven Wilson was post-processed without his knowledge for the initial release, adding not only the glitches but also an artificially bright tonality. When the new DVD was created to fix the glitches, he took the opportunity to fix the equalisation as well, making this update doubly recommended.Note that the CD is unchanged as far as I am aware.Finally, a note on the entire package. What you get is a case produced like a hardback book, with CD and DVD in a plastic section at the back. The first 40 pages of the book reproduce the original newspaper that came with the initial LP release in the UK. All the content seems to be there, though the formatting is different to suit the smaller size and it does not quite capture the newspaper feel; then again it is easier to read in this format, if you like the quirky humour.The next half of the book is in colour and contains interviews, photos, the chronology of the original Thick as a Brick tour, and the lyrics in German. Don't worry if you don't speak German - the English lyrics are contained in the newspaper section.Overall the package is well done and the price is reasonable considering you get both original and new mixes in stereo and surround. It could be better; I would have liked a live performance included as well and this issue does not even include the 1978 Madison Square Gardens snippet included on the previous remastered CD. Never mind though; this is an excellent release of a most enjoyable piece of music. Just don't ask me what it is all about!Update: I notice that Amazon has at the time of writing again frozen its stock on this title. I can only imagine that a customer again received the old glitched version. I suggest checking your version at the points mentioned above on the surround mix - the glitches if present are quite obvious.You can also tell which DVD is which by looking on the DVD label. On the right, there is a heading DVD SIDE underneath which is some text about the aspect ratio etc. The corrected DVD has an underline beneath this block of text, while the original issue does not.

Product used for my own entertainment. I'm still enjoying listening to this album

Can think of no reason why anyone would want to make a record sleeve slightly larger than standard size. Doesn't fit storage that just about every other album (apart from boxsets) will fit.