This hybrid disc is required listening for anyone with a system capable of multi-channel Super Audio CD. It's not the original Alan Parson's quad mix from the 1970s. Rather, this is a brand new 5.1 surround mix created by producer/engineer, James Guthrie, who has enjoyed a long association with the band. Some listeners prefer Parson's quadraphonic mix over Guthrie's SACD mix, but I personally have zero complaints either way. Both are quite excellent, but currently the SACD is the only commercially available version. Now... This is "Dark Side", after all. So expect to hear sounds bouncing from one speaker to the next. Lots of them, really! However, Guthrie's surround mix also has enough serious moments where the additional speakers simply increase the sense of depth and expand the overall soundstage. And, frankly, it has been my opinion for quite some time that the absolute best surround mixes are capable of having a healthy balance between the two extremes of total gimmickry and total ambience. So, in my opinion, that makes this SACD a winner! The fact this disc also has excellent sonics/fidelity should just about seal the deal for most anyone.
Note: Many initial pressings of this SACD were defective. They developed very small cracks around the center of the disc. I owned one of these and, in my experience, the cracks didn't go far enough to actually destroy the data on the disc. But it looked horrible and I didn't feel comfortable playing it in any of my equipment. Later pressings appear to have fixed the issue (at least to the best of my knowledge), but there are probably still some versions of each pressing floating around in stores or internet retailers. I've owned copies of both. From what I can tell, the so-called "good" copies will have artwork on the back of the case which states, in the fine print, "disc pressed in Japan" and "artwork printed in USA". Stay away from the US pressing.
