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Brian Wilson:

DTS

List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]

Review by Aaron Beierle | posted July 25, 2001 | E-mail the Author

The Music:

1. Your Imagination
2. She Says That She Needs Me
3. South American
4. Where Has Love Been?
5. Keep An Eye On Summer
6. Dream Angel
7. Cry
8. Lay Down Burden
9. Let Him Run Wild
10. Sunshine
11. Happy Days

SOUND: Former Beach Boy Brian Wilson's latest solo effort "Imagination" is presented here in 20 bit DTS 5.1 audio. I certainly have no objection to different or interesting ways to mix music for surround sound, as long as they are appropriate. Mixed by the artist himself, Bela Fleck's "Bluegrass Sessions Vol. 2" DVD-Audio took all of the different members of the band and spread them out around the room, with both of the surrounds offering different music. It was original, it allowed the elements of music to stand out on their own and it sounded terrific.

Wilson's DTS CD has music specifically placed in the surrounds, while his vocals are spread out across the front two speakers. Although after starting the presentation I thought that the center channel was not put into use, it came into play shortly after the song started. This is how it functions throughout much of the album, coming in and only used for instrumentals, not vocals. Although I was afraid that Wilson's vocals spread out across the front two main speakers might make them sound a bit "far off", they had fine presence in the mix, coming through clearly and fully, not lost behind the playing of the superb accompanying musicians.

The surrounds are nicely used throughout the album, highlighting the guitars, occasional horns ("South American") and other instruments. Background vocals are also placed quite well in the surrounds ("Keep An Eye On Summer", for example or Jimmy Buffett's background vocals in "South American"), adding to the experience and used appropriately, not becoming a distraction. The way that the songs are mixed generally stays the same, which is fine as mixer Frank Pappalardo has seemed to have locked onto a pleasing way to position the material and sticks with it. Although unfortunately, there are times when the album musically also starts to sound the same, as well. The highlights, for me, were the songs that had a bit more modern flavor. "South American", for example, is a pleasant and enjoyable pop tune with a nice, up-tempo beat and a great amount of detail to musical composition, with several instruments in the mix at once. "Your Imagination", although rather light, also is a catchy, simple tune that is one of the album's best tunes, as well.

The audio quality throughout the album is quite good, although just coming a touch short of the kind of exceptionally smooth, full sound that the format is capable of presenting. The musicians are captured well, as the album presents all of the background music with good clarity and detail. Vocals also sounded fine, coming through clearly from either the main speakers or the background vocals from the surrounds. This is often a very good sounding presentation, but I didn't feel that there was quite the dynamic feel or depth to the sound that is usually apparent with the best DTS efforts.

Extras: No extras are included on DTS CDs.

Final Thoughts: Although not musically too intricate, "Imagination" is a fun and enjoyable album that has more positives than negatives. The DTS presentation is also solid, although not the most remarkable example of the format. Still, the mix presents the music well and sound quality is very good throughout. Recommended for fans only.

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