Tears for Fears: The Hurting on Blu-Ray Audio (product review)
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Tears for Fears: The Hurting (High Fidelity Pure Audio edition)
Universal Music
High Fidelity Pure Audio is a range of physical HD audio products from Universal Music Group which uses Blu-ray technology to deliver the ultimate listening experience to the user. High Fidelity Pure Audio discs are playable through all Blu-ray devices.
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The Hurting never sounded so good.
In the latest round of audiophile products, the Blu-Ray Pure Audio disc has surfaced as the new dominant format, with Tears for Fears seminal debut album, The Hurting, being part of the latest batch of releases.
Universal Music also features classic titles from The Velvet Underground, The Sex Pistols, Lenny Kravitz, Genesis, John Lennon, and the Rolling Stones, with most out next Tuesday here in the U.S. W♥M managed to get an early listen to the Tears for Fears disc, to give our thoughts on the format, and on this particular release.
Firstly, these are not made for the typical consumer and really target the higher-end audiophile as their core audience. The releases feature 24bit/96 khz High Fidelity Audiophile Sound with No Compression, resulting in a clean and clear audio experience. Most also offer several audio options (DTS, Dolby TruHD, and PCM) to give the listener a choice and are playable on any Blu-Ray compatible player or game console.
An MP3 download code is also included with each release, making it easy to take the music on-the-go, but is also the opposite of what can be considered high fidelity sound, which makes for a strange combination.
The Hurting was originally released by Tears for Fears in March 1983, peaking at the top of the UK Album Chart, eventually reaching Platinum status in 1985. In many ways, this was the album closest to Tears for Fears’ original vision of a primal scream psychology influenced sound, with heartbreaking lyrics from a fragmented childhood, and a sound influenced by Talking Heads and Brian Eno.
Singles ‘Change’, ‘Mad World’ and ‘Pale Shelter’ all did well, especially in Europe, but it was a slow rise for the band in the U.S. before their breakthrough album, Songs from the Big Chair, launched them into superstardom.
I personally ran my original cassette of this album into the ground with multiple plays, and the CD was re-mastered in 1999, with a deluxe 3CD edition (w/ limited DVD) also just released at the end of last year. As I don’t have either re-issues, I can state it sounds definitively improved over the original CD release, which I do still own.
Drums boom, xylophone bells echo, and the ache in Roland Orzabal’s voice are crisp and well defined. There is some slight audio hiss present, probably a result of the original recording technology. Only a simple menu and the album’s original ten tracks are on this release.
All in all, a bit of a mixed bag—a good format idea that needs better execution in relation to more additional and appealing content. With the different options available, most would be more than satisfied with the Deluxe CD Edition of The Hurting and all its extra content, but the audiophile still may have a soft spot for this top-line audio format.
In the latest round of audiophile products, the Blu-Ray Pure Audio disc has surfaced as the new dominant format, with Tears for Fears seminal debut album, The Hurting, being part of the latest batch of releases.
Universal Music also features classic titles from The Velvet Underground, The Sex Pistols, Lenny Kravitz, Genesis, John Lennon, and the Rolling Stones, with most out next Tuesday here in the U.S. W♥M managed to get an early listen to the Tears for Fears disc, to give our thoughts on the format, and on this particular release.
Firstly, these are not made for the typical consumer and really target the higher-end audiophile as their core audience. The releases feature 24bit/96 khz High Fidelity Audiophile Sound with No Compression, resulting in a clean and clear audio experience. Most also offer several audio options (DTS, Dolby TruHD, and PCM) to give the listener a choice and are playable on any Blu-Ray compatible player or game console.
An MP3 download code is also included with each release, making it easy to take the music on-the-go, but is also the opposite of what can be considered high fidelity sound, which makes for a strange combination.
The Hurting was originally released by Tears for Fears in March 1983, peaking at the top of the UK Album Chart, eventually reaching Platinum status in 1985. In many ways, this was the album closest to Tears for Fears’ original vision of a primal scream psychology influenced sound, with heartbreaking lyrics from a fragmented childhood, and a sound influenced by Talking Heads and Brian Eno.
Singles ‘Change’, ‘Mad World’ and ‘Pale Shelter’ all did well, especially in Europe, but it was a slow rise for the band in the U.S. before their breakthrough album, Songs from the Big Chair, launched them into superstardom.
I personally ran my original cassette of this album into the ground with multiple plays, and the CD was re-mastered in 1999, with a deluxe 3CD edition (w/ limited DVD) also just released at the end of last year. As I don’t have either re-issues, I can state it sounds definitively improved over the original CD release, which I do still own.
Drums boom, xylophone bells echo, and the ache in Roland Orzabal’s voice are crisp and well defined. There is some slight audio hiss present, probably a result of the original recording technology. Only a simple menu and the album’s original ten tracks are on this release.
All in all, a bit of a mixed bag—a good format idea that needs better execution in relation to more additional and appealing content. With the different options available, most would be more than satisfied with the Deluxe CD Edition of The Hurting and all its extra content, but the audiophile still may have a soft spot for this top-line audio format.
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PROS
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CONS |
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Despite its technical superiority in this format will not survive against downloads even I think so..
i have it too, and it sounds fine. a 5.1 mix would be too gimmicky, so i don’t really care. i have the deluxe boxset, so i don’t need all the extra tracks again.
this does what it says. it’s just for the music.
i don’t care for the bluray format anyways, it’s just another container for the audio.
As far as I know these Pure Audio Blu-rays are only officially released in Europe. My copy had a “Made in France” sticker on it.
Totally agree with your Pros/Cons given that so far I have only seen Queen “A Night at the Opera” feature 2 channel and a brand new spanking 5.1 mix.
I’d like to see multiple albums/anthologies together on one of these Blu-rays, or the ability to pull up the album art and lyrics when using a TV versus playing music alone without a TV. I fear that without this kind of value-add this format won’t survive against downloads despite its technical superiority. The music industry has a chance here to make something collectible that is greater than the sum of its copyable parts. Hope they wisen up.