It wasn’t so long ago that high-resolution audio formats like SACD and DVD-Audio were shelved alongside CDs at major retailers such as Best Buy, Barnes and Noble and Borders. Yet with today’s retail landscape perhaps irrevocably altered (and still evolving and shrinking, thanks to the likely-imminent liquidation of Borders), those formats have been consigned to niche shoppers. For those who discovered high-rez and 5.1 audio late, the best source for many releases has been eBay, often at outrageously steep prices. Well, slight relief may be forthcoming. The Japanese SACD market has been booming of late, with Universal having issued a number of titles as stereo SACDs, including some new to the format. Now, Warner Japan is one-upping its rival label with the August release of five 5.1 surround SACDs drawn from the long-dormant Warner Bros./Rhino DVD-Audio line and six further additions in September. Unlike the Universal titles, these will be hybrid multichannel SACDs, with the stereo layer playable on all CD players. And while the prices of Japanese SACDs are indeed high, they’re in most cases lower than what the original DVD-Audio titles are currently commanding on the secondhand market.

The five titles launching the series are all bona fide classics of popular music: Eagles’ Hotel California; Deep Purple’s Machine Head; Yes’ Fragile; Chicago’s Chicago V and Linda Ronstadt’s What’s New. These will be followed in September by another round of five acclaimed titles: Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, The Doobie Brothers’ The Captain and Me, Foreigner’s 4 and The Doors’ self-titled debut album. The majority of these titles were originally mixed for surround and released by Rhino on DVD-Audio between 2001 and 2003. The Nightfly was reissued in 2004 as a short-lived experiment in the DualDisc format and again as an “MVI” disc in the 2007 Nightfly Trilogy box set (that last one lacking Advanced Resolution), while the surround mix of The Doors arrived in 2006 as part of Rhino’s Perception box.

For collectors, these could be a great boon. CDJapan (one of the many trusted sites from which to purchase Japanese imports) offers the titles at roughly $38 USD a pop.  At the time of this writing, the least-expensive Amazon Marketplace prices for the original DVD-As (most, used) are much higher: $124.95 for Hotel California, $69.69 for Machine Head, $50.00 for Fragile, and $69.93 for Chicago V. What’s New is the most affordable title of the first batch in the DVD-A format, available now for $25.50. Of the second batch, Foreigner 4 is another high-priced title at $124.97; the others hover around the $50.00 mark, and The Doors is making its stand-alone surround debut.

Three of these titles have been mixed into surround by the dean of the format, Elliot Scheiner. His 5.1 mixes are notable for generous (but not gimmicky!) use of all channels for a truly immersive, atmospheric listening experience. The Scheiner titles included in the first two waves are Hotel California, The Nightfly, and The Captain and Me.  Any of those three would make a terrific introduction to surround music and, in fact, The Nightfly is this author’s reference-quality disc of choice.

Hit the jump for the complete track listings to these titles! We have included the bonus tracks present on the original DVD-Audio releases, as it is thought they will be included on the new SACDs.

Chicago, Chicago V (Columbia KC 31102, 1972 – reissued Warner Japan WPCR-14168, 2011)

1. A Hit by Varese
2. All is Well
3. Now That You’ve Gone
4. Dialogue (Part I)
5. Dialogue (Part II)
6. While the City Sleeps
7. Saturday in the Park
8. State of the Union
9. Goodbye
10. Alma Mater
11. Dialogue (Live at the Aerie Crown Theatre, Chicago, 1972) (Bonus Track)

Deep Purple, Machine Head (Warner Bros. BS-2607, 1972 – reissued Warner Japan WPCR-14166, 2011)

1. Highway Star
2. Maybe I’m a Leo
3. Pictures of Home
4. Never Before
5. Smoke on the Water
6. Lazy
7. Space Truckin’

The Doobie Brothers, The Captain and Me (Warner Bros BS-2697, 1973 – reissued Warner Japan WPCR-14172, 2011)

1. Natural Thing
2. Long Train Runnin’
3. China Grove
4. Dark Eyed Cajun Woman
5. Clear as the Driven Snow
6. Without You
7. South City Midnight Lady
8. Evil Woman
9. Busted Down Around O’Connelly Corners
10. Ukiah
11. The Captain and Me

The Doors, The Doors (Elektra EKS-74007, 1967 – reissued Warner Japan WPCR-14174, 2011)

1. Break on Through
2. Soul Kitchen
3. The Crystal Ship
4. Twentieth Century Fox
5. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
6. Light My Fire
7. Back Door Man
8. I Looked at You
9. End of the Night
10. Take It As It Comes
11. The End
12. Moonlight Drive (Version 1) (Bonus Track)
13. Moonlight Drive (Version 2) (Bonus Track)
14. Indian Summer (8/19/66 Vocal) (Bonus Track)

Eagles, Hotel California (Asylum 1084, 1976 – reissued Warner Japan WPCR-14165, 2011)

1. Hotel California
2. New Kid in Town
3. Life in the Fast Lane
4. Wasted Time
5. Wasted Time (Reprise)
6. Victim of Love
7. Pretty Maids All in a Row
8. Try and Love Again
9. The Last Resort

Donald Fagen, The Nightfly (Warner Bros. 9-23696-1, 1982 – reissued Warner Japan WPCR-14170, 2011)

1. I.G.Y.
2. Green Flower Street
3. Ruby Baby
4. Maxine
5. New Frontier
6. The Nightfly
7. The Goodbye Look
8. Walk Between Raindrops

Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (Warner Bros. BSK-3010, 1977 – reissued Warner Japan WPCR-14171, 2011)

1. Second Hand News
2. Dreams
3. Never Going Back Again
4. Don’t Stop
5. Go Your Own Way
6. Silver Springs (Bonus Track)
7. The Chain
8. You Make Loving Fun
9. I Don’t Want to Know
10. Oh Daddy
11. Gold Dust Woman
12. Songbird

Foreigner, 4 (Atlantic SD-16999, 1981 – reissued Warner Japan WPCR-14173, 2011)

1. Night Life
2. Juke Box Hero
3. Break It Up
4. Waiting For a Girl Like You
5. Luanne
6. Urgent
7. I’m Gonna Win
8. Woman in Black
9. Girl on the Moon
10. Don’t Let Go
11. Juke Box Hero (“Nearly Unplugged,” 1999)
12. Waiting For a Girl Like You (“Nearly Unplugged,” 1999)

Linda Ronstadt and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, What’s New (Asylum 60260, 1983 – reissued Warner Japan WPCR-14169, 2011)

1. What’s New
2. I’ve Got a Crush on You
3. Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry
4. Crazy He Calls Me
5. Someone to Watch Over Me
6. I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance Without You
7. What’ll I Do
8. Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be)
9. Goodbye

Yes, Fragile (Atlantic SD-7211, 1971 – reissued Warner Japan WPCR-14167, 2011)

1. Roundabout
2. Cans and Brahms (Extracts from Brahms’ 4th Symphony in E Minor, Third Movement)
3. We Have Heaven
4. South Side of the Sky
5. Five Per Cent For Nothing
6. Long Distance Runaround
7. The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)
8. Mood for a Day
9. Heart of the Sunrise
10. America (Bonus Track)