Skylarking: XTC’s most commercially successful album was, for many years, also its most mythical with tales of “lost” multi-track tapes (sadly true of other XTC albums but not this one).
A song originally dropped from the album only to be replaced when it inadvertently became a hit single in the USA, a perfect match, on paper, between the ideal Britpop band a decade before the term was invented & an Anglophile super-producer that turned rather imperfect in personality terms but still resulted in a classic album.
Still, a masterpiece remains a masterpiece however traumatic its origins & this is one of those few albums that sounded great at the time & sounds just as great, if not better, now.
When Steven Wilson remixed the album in 2016 – for new stereo & 5.1 Surround Sound editions, the release was successful again with both original & a new generation of fans.
Offered the opportunity to expand upon his 2016 work, Steven has now remixed the album for Dolby Atmos.
This new edition features the complete album in Dolby Atmos, along with four additional tracks & instrumental versions in that format.
The Blu-ray also includes the 2016 mixes in DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround, 24/96 Hi-Res Stereo plus instrumental versions – all mixed by Steven Wilson.
The Blu-ray also includes the original, Todd Rundgren produced, album mix in 24/96 Hi-Res stereo (corrected polarity edition).
The 2016 stereo mixes appear on the accompanying CD.
Tracklisting
1 Summer's Cauldron
2 Grass
3 The Meeting Place
4 That's Really Super, Supergirl
5 Ballet for a Rainy Day
6 1000 Umbrellas
7 Season Cycle
8 Earn Enough for Us
9 Big Day
10 Another Satellite
11 Mermaid Smiled
12 The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul
13 Dear God
14 Dying
15 Sacrificial Bonfire
+
16 Extrovert
17 Let’s Make a Den
18 Little Lighthouse
19 The Troubles