I did a search here at HTF but couldn't find any info regarding this release, mind you a lot of discussion in the past about how great of a forthcoming release this disc would be in Hi Rez.
Quote:
‘Out of Time’ was the album that made R.E.M. world-wide rock stars, and for many years there has been a resultant backlash against the album for that very reason. Aficionados of the band may point out that it doesn’t have the focus of ‘Automatic for the People’ or ‘Murmur’, nor does it have the nervous energy of ‘Reckoning’ or ‘Lifes Rich Pageant’. But what it does have is a madly flowering sort of creativity that demands respect, even if in its heedless gushing it produced the band’s most notorious number, ‘Shiny Happy People’. Perhaps the time has come to revisit the album in its new remaster for DVD-Audio by Warner Brothers, and be swept away again by a burst of invention which changed the face of mainstream pop and opened the doors to the tidal wave of angst which was about to sweep rock in the 1990’s. Before starting, I should mention that this release comes coupled with a regular audio Compact Disc version of the album, but it shows no signs of remastering. This isn’t a DualDisc, instead it’s what Warner call a “Double Disc”, a DVD and separate CD in a gatefold sleeve...
In summary...
What is perhaps most important is that the album works as a total entity, amounting to far more than the sum of its parts. Though some of these songs have been overexposed and taken out of context over the years, their combined impact is powerful and masterful, with oblique storytelling gradually replaced by stark openness. As such, the album remains essential listening for anyone interesting in quality songwriting and modern rock performance. The DVD-Audio remastering opens up the textures for increased enjoyment, although overall more could have been done with the surround mix. Great things are not achieved without risk, but Elliot Scheiner’s mix plays it safe. The sound is very handsome, but the eighty percent rating is a comment on the safeness of the mix. Although at 192kHz 24-bit, one of the few R.E.M. reissues boasting the maximum two-channel DVD-Audio fidelity, the Advanced Resolution stereo sound brings essentially the same mix as the standard audio compact disc in slightly higher resolution.
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You can read it the full review
here
I have been waiting for this release in Hi Rez for some years. It has always stood as one of my favorite albums, and even though its been a couple years since I have listened to the entire CD, upon stumbling on this article I of course needed to throw it in the Cd player and 45 minutes later I'm pleased to say none of the magic has been lost.
The surround mix is stated as being "safe" which unfortenetly as many of us know can be a bit boring at times. However, I would rather much have safe than butchered.
I have been scouring CD Universe (pretty much the only place I buy music from online) and there was no mention of this in the DVD Audio or SACD sections. Perhaps because of the CD "Double Disc" name it was put into a classification within the site that IMO shouldn't have been. They really need some better organization, I would hate some lost treasures being buried within the CD sections of retailers.
Anyhoo, can't wait to get this in the mail
edit: upon doing some more searches here at HTF I do see that it was announced in the past and that this disc has been out for sometime. Too bad its so easily overlooked or I would have had this already.
