The title track, "The Beautiful Letdown", is quite fitting for this release. You see... This DualDisc doesn't technically belong in a "Recommended SACD/DVD-Audio Thread" because Sony Music opted to leave out any high-resolution DVD-Audio tracks. Instead, Elliot Mazer's thoughtful surround mix is compromised because the only way to hear it is via Dolby Digital. It's not the world's best surround mix, but it certainly deserves better than this. Most tracks start out with some sort of cutsie intro that has fairly discrete surrounds, but then things settle down a tad and we can enjoy the spaciousness of the overall mix. For the most part, the surrounds are subtle yet effective; and vocals tend to be spread across the front. It sure beats all of those lame mixes that are too center-channel heavy! In fact, whist I'm trying to judge this disc based solely on what it is; I just can't help but to believe that "The Beautiful Letdown" would be upgraded to a slightly higher "Kazaamies" rating had high resolution audio been offered---be it DVD-Audio on the DualDisc or separately on an SACD. The lossy compression of Dolby Digital just doesn't allow the mix to properly breathe. Let's keep our fingers crossed that maybe Sony reconsiders and decides to release this on SACD.
EDIT: On 12/20/05, Sony released a Hybrid SACD version.
EDIT: 02/11/08 - Purchased an SACD version of this, too.
