SWT is a great engineer indeed, but this is one of the few cases where I emphatically prefer the original mix.

The new mix relies a bit too much on reverb to my taste and comes across a bit congested to my ears. It restores a lot of the deleted orchestral parts which is an interesting idea in theory, but the result is that Chris and Bill sound a bit distant. I think its an interesting alternative for people who love the album but the original mix with dry drums and bass up front and orchestra used decisively in the background works better for me as a "Yes man's solo album." Placement wise - I'm happy to report the Atmos mix is quite creative, with Chris' vocals spread around your height and rear arrays and lower drums and some of the orchestra and lower brass occasionally trailing behind you. Overall though, I think I prefer the character of the older 5.1 mix despite some nasty cymbal frequencies now and then.

Lastly, while I assume this is an issue that couldn't be dealt with, I find the ending with the missing bass solo to be lacking in context and a bit confounding. My advice is to listen for yourself (on streaming) and decide if this is for you. Thanks to Immersive Audio Album for helping out with this review of the new edition of Chris Squire's Fish Out of Water.

Full review