Island Records, one of the Universal Music Group record labels has added two of their new releases to the list of upcoming Super Audio CDs as well. Also newsworthy this week is the pricing of the upcoming Godsmack Surround Sound SACD, the decision of Universal to move back the release date of the two Allman Brothers Band Surround Sound SACDs and the word that work has been completed on a 5.1 Surround Sound mix of one of Van Morrison’s albums on Universal. Here’s a quick summary of these items.
Island Records Adds 2 SACDs to Upcoming List
Earlier this week, Island Records announced that the new albums by rock group Everlast (White Trash Beautiful) and R&B singer Christina Milian (It’s About Time) will also be released as Surround Sound Super Audio CDs. While final release dates for these two SACDs has not been set, they are tenatively set for in-store availability on May 25th.
Pricing on Godsmack Surround Sound SACD
Universal/Republic Records has released the pricing on the upcoming Godsmack Surround Sound SACD due out on May 4th. Even though it is a Surround Sound Super Audio CD, it will carry a list price of $13.98 rather than the usual $18.98 for a one disc, Hybrid SACD.
When checking on this, I was told that the Godsmack disc has only 7 tracks and therefore also carries a lower list price on Stereo CD. According to an official at Universal’s eLabs group, “The Godsmack CD is priced at a great value and it was determined to have the SACD be at a great value as well.”
Allman Brothers Band Surround Sound SACDs Moved Back
Moving to the two Allman Brothers Band Surround Sound Super Audio CDs, this week found both albums moved from their previously planned release date of May 18th to the future release list. In checking with Universal eLabs I was told that both discs are definitely coming in the near future. However, the discs were moved off the official release list at the moment to “work out the details” of their release. Given the interest around these two Surround Sound SACDs, we will keep a close eye on their status.
Universal’s Upcoming SACD Release List
Other changes to the release list from last week include moving the 6 Oscar Peterson SACDs back one week from April 13th to April 20th and moving Sting’s Brand New Day back from April 27th to May 11th. Here’s how Universal Music’s upcoming Surround Sound SACD release list looks with these additions and changes:
April 20, 2004 SACD Releases
April 27, 2004 SACD Releases
May 4, 2004 SACD Release
May 11, 2004 SACD Releases
May 25, 2004 SACD Releases
June 15, 2004 SACD Releases
July 20, 2004 SACD Releases
SACD Releases Coming Soon
Van Morrison Mixed to Surround Sound
Also worth noting here is a story in this week’s edition of Billboard Magazine that Van Morrison’s recording engineer has recently completed a 5.1 Surround Sound Mix of his album entitled Down The Road. Down The Road was released in 2002 on the Universal Records label which makes one wonder when this album might be appearing on one of Universal’s high resolution audio format release lists! So far, it hasn’t appeared on the upcoming list but that may change in the weeks ahead. We’ll certainly watch and let you know if and when it does.