The DVD-Audio format's been around for a couple of years, but simultaneous DVD-A and CD releases of new music have been few and far between. Warner Brothers is hoping to improve on that record with the upcoming album from Fleetwood Mac, Say You Will.A few years ago, when DVD-Video was just getting started, Warner Home Video's Warren Lieberfarb stressed the importance of "Day and Date" release schedules. Lieberfarb's idea was that if the home video industry was serious about the then new DVD-V format, it shouldn't make consumers wait for the DVD-V release after the video tape version of a film arrived. "For this format to work," Lieberfarb said, "we must have industry-wide support. Studios should support DVD-V day-and-date with VHS.""If you want to lead the parade, you've got to blow the bugle," was another bit of advice Lieberfarb (who has since left Warner) stressed during the DVD-V launch. However, search the Warner Bros or the official Fleetwood Mac websites and you'd be hard pressed to find any info on the DVD-Audio release, even though it is slated to hit the market the same day as the CD. Both should appear April 15 in the US and April 28 in the UK and Europe and are available for preorder in both formats at most music outlets.
The band's Rumours disc was one of Warner Bros early DVD-A releases back in 2001, and the new album will mark not only the first studio album from Fleetwood Mac in 15 years, but also the first time a DVD-A disc and CD have been released at the same time in the UK. In the US, Say You Will will sport a $18.98 retail price for both formats.The DVD-A will include four versions of the new album: both a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound track for DVD-V players, and both a 96kHz/24-bit 5.1 track for multichannel DVD-A systems and a 96kHz/24-bit stereo PCM DVD-A track.Warner says that the DVD-A is produced by David May, whose other DVD-A production credits include Miles Davis' Tutu, Eric Clapton's Reptile, and Paul Simon's You're the One. The company adds that all songs have been remixed for multichannel by Mark Needham.
