It is rumored that Sony helped subsidize the Super Audio CD release of this album in hopes of getting a hot new artist with a hot new record onto their fledgling new format. How much did they pay Blue Note, Norah's label, for the privelige? I just don't know. Hopefully not too much, because Jay Newland's 5.1 surround mix is a bit "hit and miss". I'm not quite sure exactly what it is, but something's not right with it. Foremost in my mind is the fact the surround mix relies much too heavily on placing Ms. Jones' vocals into the center channel. In most cases, her vocals seem isolated and much too dry. On the hit song, "Don't Know Why", this approach fails miserably because there isn't enough instrumentation placed into the other speakers to balance things out. Other times, the approach "sorta" works. In defense of the surround mix, I must admit that it seems to improve, and become livelier, as the album progresses from the first track to the last.
Rumors are that this SACD release failed to meet sales expectations. Was this caused by an awful mix? Or by the fact most consumers had already purchased the CD version? Or simply because Blue Note and Sony failed to set realistic goals? I'm guessing it was a little of each. As a result, it has been said that Blue Note has no intentions of releasing Norah Jones' sophomore album "Feels Like Home" on either of the new high-resolution formats. Still, it is my sincerest hope that Blue Note (and distributor Capital) reconsiders and allows a young and hungry company like DTS Entertainment to remix the album into 5.1 surround sound.*** (I suspect this is a possibiliy because Blue Note allowed DTS to release a DVD-Audio version of Mediski, Martin, and Wood's "Uninvisible" album.) And if this happens, I hope DTS is able to hire a genius like Elliot Schiener to do the surround mix so that we can hear justice done to Norah Jones' voice and her band.
In the meantime, all we've got is Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me" on Super Audio CD. At least it's a hybrid that contains a standard CD layer. So if you don't already have the album, you should consider getting it on SACD. Just don't expect too much as far as high-resolution or surround sound is concerned.
***Ha! Ha!! Ha!!! Man, it's just funny to read that statement all these years later. A "young and hungry" company? Perhaps I was living in a dreamworld back then, but it wasn't such a completely ludicrous statement at the time. But now? Rumors float that DTS is looking to sell off its entertainment business so that the company can focus moreso on licensing its technology. I guess us surround-o-philes aren't needed, anymore, to help the DTS codec gain acceptance.
