2022 was a landmark year for immersive music – both for contemporary new releases and remixes of classic albums – and that momentum carries through 2023 thus far, with more than ten upcoming physical Blu-Ray or DVD releases already available to pre-order and at least that many rumored or pending announcements.
In this article, we break down twenty-three upcoming immersive releases likely to hit shelves before 2023 is out. It’s looking like a great time to be an immersive music fan!
Note: this article last updated May 24, 2023.
Artist: Bob Dylan
Title: Time Out Of Mind (2022 Remix) (1997)
Label: SuperDeluxeEdition (Sony)
Format: Blu-Ray, Streaming
Immersive Mix By: Michael Brauer & Fernando Reyes (Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: 5/12/2023
Dylan’s 1997 comeback album – newly-remixed by award-winning engineer Michael Brauer for inclusion in the Bootleg Series Vol. 17 set – is disc #8 in the SDE Surround Series. The Dolby Atmos mix is already available to stream via Apple Music and sounds fantastic!
Artist: Marillion
Title: Seasons End (1989)
Label: EMI/Parlophone
Format: 3CD/Blu-Ray
Immersive Mix By: Michael Hunter (5.1)
Release Date: 5/19/2023
Seasons End (1989) is the final entry in an acclaimed series of reissues covering the British prog-rockers’ first eight albums released under EMI records. Seasons End is best remembered as the band’s first album to feature lead vocalist Steve Hogarth, who remains as part of the lineup today. As with 2019’s Afraid Of Sunlight (1998) reissue, stereo & 5.1 remixing duties are once again handled by longtime producer/engineer Michael Hunter.
Artist: The Alan Parsons Project
Title: The Turn Of A Friendly Card (1980)
Label: Cherry Red/Esoteric
Format: Blu-Ray
Immersive Mix By: Alan Parsons (5.1)
Release Date: 5/26/2023
Following the release of the February 2023 3CD/Blu-Ray deluxe edition, fans rejoiced when Cherry Red/Esoteric announced an inexpensive single disc Blu-Ray edition – featuring Parsons’ brand new 5.1 remix and a new remaster of the original 1980 stereo mix – for release this coming May. This should fit nicely on the shelf alongside the single-disc Blu-Ray editions of Tales Of Mystery & Imagination (1978), Eye In The Sky (1982), and Ammonia Avenue (1984).
Artist: Mike Oldfield
Title: Tubular Bells (1973)
Label: SuperDeluxeEdition (Virgin)
Format: Blu-Ray
Immersive Mix By: David Kosten (Dolby Atmos), Mike Oldfield (5.1), Phil Newell (4.0)
Release Date: 5/26/2023
The tenth entry of SDE’s Surround Sound Series is among the most jam-packed to date, featuring three unique spatial audio mixes of Mike Oldfield’s classic debut album: the 1975 quadraphonic version (previously released on Super Audio CD in 2001), the 2009 5.1 surround mix (previously released on DVD in 2009), and a new Dolby Atmos mix by renowned producer David Kosten.
Artist: Tears For Fears
Title: The Hurting (1983)
Label: SuperDeluxeEdition (Virgin/UMR)
Format: Blu-Ray, Streaming
Immersive Mix By: Steven Wilson (5.1 & Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: 6/9/2023
Announced just in time for the album's 40th anniversary on March 7, the ninth release in SDE's "Surround Sound Series" is Tears For Fears' classic 1983 debut LP The Hurting. As with last year's The Tipping Point, the Blu-Ray disc contains new 5.1 surround & Dolby Atmos remixes from Steven Wilson. Fans may recall a prior Blu-Ray Audio release of this album in 2013, but it only contained a stereo remaster rather than immersive mixes.
Artist: Gentle Giant
Title: Interview (1976)
Label: Alucard Music
Format: CD/Blu-Ray, Streaming
Immersive Mix By: Steven Wilson (5.1 & Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: 6/16/2023
IAA readers voted the CD/Blu-Ray edition of Free Hand (1975) as the best immersive music release of 2021, so naturally there’s a ton of excitement for the next set of reissues in this fantastic series from the band’s label Alucard. Steven Wilson confirmed to us that, as of July 2022, he’d completed new stereo, 5.1 & Dolby Atmos mixes of Interview (1976) and that the band had approved his new stereo mix of The Missing Piece (1977).
Interview is finally due for release on June 16, again as a CD/Blu-Ray set with Wilson’s remixes in stereo, 5.1 & Dolby Atmos plus the previously-unreleased 1976 quadraphonic version mixed by Paul Northfield. The title track is already available to stream in Atmos on Apple Music and sounds phenomenal!
Artist: The Pineapple Thief
Title: How Did We Find Our Way? (1999-2006)
Label: Snapper/KScope
Format: 8CD/Blu-Ray
Immersive Mix By: Bruce Soord (5.1 & Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: 6/23/23
Ever since Bruce Soord embraced immersive audio for his 2015 self-titled solo album and The Pineapple Thief’s eleventh studio album Your Wilderness (2016) – the first to feature Gavin Harrison’s drumming – fans have wondered if he’d ever consider going back and remixing the band’s vast discography for surround.
The new How Did We Find Our Way? box set covers the band’s early years on the independent Cyclops label, featuring new 5.1 & Dolby Atmos mixes of the albums Abducted At Birth (1999), One Three Seven (2002), Variations On A Dream (2003), 10 Stories Down (2005), and Little Man (2006).
Artist: TBD
Title: Quadio
Label: Warner/Rhino
Format: Blu-Ray
Immersive Mix By: TBD
Release Date: June 2023
This coming June, rumors indicate that Warner/Rhino are due to revive their on-and-off Quadio series of ‘70s-era quadraphonic reissues on Blu-Ray disc. Following the 2016’s Chicago Quadio box from 2016 and 2020’s Doobie Brothers Quadio, these new single-disc reissues are set to feature quadraphonic titles from the archives of Warner Brothers, Atlantic, Elektra, and Grunt.
Possible candidates for release include best-selling albums by the likes of Deep Purple, James Taylor, Black Sabbath, Jefferson Starship, Joni Mitchell, Alice Cooper, and more!
Artist: Ultravox
Title: Quartet (1982)
Label: Chrysalis
Format: 6CD/DVD
Immersive Mix By: Steven Wilson (5.1)
Release Date: 7/7/2023
Following the acclaimed September 2022 Rage In Eden deluxe box set, the series is set to continue with 1982’s Quartet – originally produced by George Martin and mixed by Geoff Emerick – reissued in the same multi-disc configuration with new stereo & 5.1 remixes from Steven Wilson. Wilson’s 5.1 remixes of Vienna and Rage In Eden were incredible, so this upcoming release will likely be a must have for any Ultravox fans.
Artist: A Bad Think
Title: Short Street (2023)
Label: Windmark Recordings
Format: Digital Download, Streaming
Immersive Mix By: Bob Clearmountain (Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: 7/7/2023
Michael Marquart’s follow-up to X (2022) sees him once again teaming up with master mix engineer Bob Clearmountain to deliver a Dolby Atmos version. The album will feature 12 brand-new original compositions from Marquart, featuring personal lyrics about his experiences growing up in Wisconsin throughout the 1960s and ‘70s.
Artist: Suede
Title: Suede (1993)
Label: SuperDeluxeEdition (Demon Music Group)
Format: Blu-Ray
Immersive Mix By: Steven Wilson (5.1 & Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: 7/7/2023
SDE Blu-Ray #11 celebrates the Britpop icons’ classic debut album just in time for its 30th anniversary. The Blu-Ray will include brand new mixes of the album by Steven Wilson in stereo, 5.1 surround sound & Dolby Atmos, plus a definitive remaster of the original 1993 stereo mix.
Artist: ABC
Title: The Lexicon Of Love (1982)
Label: Mercury/UMe
Format: 4LP/Blu-Ray
Immersive Mix By: Steven Wilson (5.1 & Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: 8/4/2023
In a Summer 2022 interview, ABC frontman Martin Fry revealed that Steven Wilson created a new Dolby Atmos mix of the band’s classic 1982 debut album The Lexicon Of Love as part of a 40th anniversary reissue. Though an official announcement has yet to be made, early online retailer leaks suggest that the box set will include 4LPs and a Blu-Ray disc with Wilson’s remixes in stereo, 5.1 & Dolby Atmos plus the remastered Mantrap short film.
Artist: Steven Wilson
Title: The Harmony Codex (2023)
Label: Virgin
Format: TBD
Immersive Mix By: Steven Wilson (5.1 & Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: 9/29/2023
Steven Wilson is set to release his seventh studio album, The Harmony Codex, through Virgin Music later this year. Wilson first teased the album in his recent autobiography A Limited Edition Of One – the book closes with a fictional short story of the same name – and has since revealed tantalizing few details about the project, including the involvement of longtime collaborator Ninet Tayeb and that much of the recording/composition was done with Dolby Atmos in mind. We expect it’ll surely be a new benchmark for immersive music production.
Artist: Jethro Tull
Title: The Broadsword & The Beast (1982)
Label: Chrysalis
Format: TBD
Immersive Mix By: Steven Wilson (5.1)
Release Date: September 2023
Following 2021’s acclaimed A (A La Mode Edition) box set, 1982’s The Broadsword & The Beast is next in line to receive the deluxe treatment. In July 2022, Steven Wilson revealed to us that he’d mixed a whopping 35(!) tracks in stereo & 5.1 surround sound for inclusion in the set and that this is set to be his final remix for the Tull series. Rumors currently suggest that the box set will contain 5 CDs & 3 DVDs, and is due for release this coming September.
Artist: The Who
Title: Who’s Next/Lifehouse (1970-72)
Label: UMe
Format: TBD
Immersive Mix By: Steven Wilson (5.1 & Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: TBD
In what is surely the most anticipated reissue of the year for many immersive music fans and audiophiles, Universal have long been teasing an extensive multi-disc deluxe reissue of The Who’s 1971 classic. Intense speculation began when Pete Townshend first revealed that the set – along with a new Dolby Atmos remix of the album – was being worked on in early 2022. The set is also said to feature a number of previously-unreleased recordings from Lifehouse, Townshend's unfinished sci-fi rock opera originally intended as a thematic follow-up to 1969's Tommy.
This past July, Steven Wilson revealed to us that he’d remixed the original album (plus 14 additional songs recorded during that 1970-72 period) in 5.1 surround sound & Dolby Atmos for inclusion in the set. Rumors continue to fly online about the configuration, release date, and cost of the set, though an official announcement by the label has yet to be made.
Artist: King Crimson
Title: Larks' Tongues In Aspic (1974)
Label: DGM/Panegyric
Format: 3CDBlu-Ray
Immersive Mix By: Steven Wilson (5.1 & Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: Autumn 2023
Following the conclusion of the acclaimed CD/DVD-A 40th anniversary series and the massive 1969 box (which features a new Dolby Atmos remix of In The Court Of The Crimson King), it looks like Steven Wilson will continue to revisit the early King Crimson catalog with new Atmos mixes. Based on this teaser image from Uncut magazine, it looks like Larks’ Tongues In Aspic (1974) will be the first of the new reissues followed by 1970’s In The Wake Of Poseidon and Lizard.
Artist: Camel
Title: Air Born: The MCA & Decca Years (1973-1984)
Label: UMe
Format: 27CD/5Blu-Ray
Immersive Mix By: TBD
Release Date: TBD
Camel are perhaps the only 70s-era progressive rock band not to have revisited their catalog with immersive reissues, and Universal Music appears to have rectified that with this massive upcoming box set covering the band’s mid-70s/early-80s tenure under the MCA & Decca labels. The box set will include new 5.1 surround sound mixes of the albums Camel (1973), Mirage (1974), The Snow Goose (1975), Moonmadness (1976) and Nude (1981).
Artist: Fish
Title: 13th Star (2008)
Label: Chocolate Frog Records
Format: Blu-Ray
Immersive Mix By: Andy Bradfield & Avril Mackintosh (Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: TBD
Following the acclaimed Weltschmerz deluxe release in September 2022, the ex-Marillion frontman has long been teasing an extensive series of reissues covering his solo catalog. According to Fish’s latest news blast, the deluxe edition of 13th Star (2008) is on track to release later this year and will include a Blu-Ray disc with a new Dolby Atmos by Andy Bradfield & Avril Mackintosh. Marillion fans may already be familiar with Bradfield & Mackintosh for their stereo & 5.1 remixes of Script For A Jester’s Tear (1983), Fugazi (1984), and Clutching At Straws (1987).
Artist: Storm Corrosion
Title: Storm Corrosion (2012)
Label: Roadrunner
Format: TBD
Immersive Mix By: Steven Wilson (Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: TBD
Steven Wilson has long been teasing a 10th anniversary edition of Storm Corrosion (2012), the experimental one-off collaboration with Opeth frontman Mikael Akerfeldt. Though the album was previously made available in 5.1 as part of the 2012 CD/Blu-Ray release, this reissue is set to include a brand new Dolby Atmos mix of the album.
Artist: XTC
Title: The Big Express (1984)
Label: Ape House
Format: Blu-Ray
Immersive Mix By: Steven Wilson (5.1 & Dolby Atmos)
Release Date: TBD
After a four year hiatus, the acclaimed “Surround Sound Series” of XTC reissues is set to continue with 1984’s The Big Express. Originally thought to be lost forever, the multitrack tapes for this album were finally located in 2022 and newly-remixed by Steven Wilson in stereo, 5.1, and - for the first time in the series - Dolby Atmos. Two “pitchblack playbacks” of the Atmos mixes were already held for a select number of fans by L-Acoustics in London and Los Angeles.
Artist: Elton John
Title: Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player (1973)
Label: Rocket/UMe
Format: TBD
Immersive Mix By: Greg Penny (5.1)
Release Date: TBD
Since the surprise 50th anniversary 3CD/Blu-Ray edition of Madman Across The Water (1971) appeared last year, there's been wild fan speculation over whether other classic '70s Elton albums would get the same treatment. Though most would have assumed that either 1972's Honky Chateau or 1973's Goodbye Yellow Brick road would be next-in-line, inside sources have indicated that 1973's Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player will instead be the next reissue.
Perhaps the most tantalizing prospect of this release for immersive music fans is the rumored inclusion of Greg Penny's long-completed 5.1 surround sound mix, originally produced for Super Audio CD release two decades ago!
