HiRez Poll Bread - BABY I'M-A WANT YOU [Blu-Ray Audio]

[par4ken]

This is the title that I was the most stoked about from the last batch of Quadios. I already had it on Quad Reel. This is quite a bit of a sonic upgrade.

I think that it is a bit of a disservice to refer to Bread as "Soft Rock". While many of their hits fall into that category they are much more diversified than that. Mother Freedom and Down on my Knees do not qualify as "soft" IMHO.

About half the tracks where bona fide hits and appear on "Best of Bread". My favourite non hit track is "This Isn't What the Governmeant" it has a bit of a country flavour and reminds me of the Five Man Electrical Band. The vocals on that one even sound like Les Emmerson.

This is a ten for me!

 

[4-earredwonder]

Blu~ray.com's review. Be sure to read the funny reminiscence in the final 'recommendation' of the review:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Bread-Baby-Im-A-Want-You-Blu-ray/368110/#Review

 

[steelydave]

More revelations from the master tape photos included in the gatefold of the booklet, this time it's that the quad mix was engineered by the legendary Armin Steiner, owner and operator of Sound Labs, the studio where this mix was done. Steiner has stereo engineering credits on a number of albums that were also released in quad (three Helen Reddy titles, David Gates First, Diana Ross Live at Caesar's amongst others) but this is the first one we can definitively attribute to the man himself, so 50 years later he's getting his just desserts. There's a great interview on MixOnline from 2001 that delves into his extensive career, if you're interested in learning more about him.




It's also interesting to see the notation of 'THIS IS NOT ELEKTRA STANDARD' about the channel assignments, in the context of the discussion in this thread about possible problems in this regard. I haven't actually listened to this yet so I can't offer an opinion as to whether they're right (or wrong) but the channel assignment you see here (1=LF / 2= RF / 3=LR / 4=RR) is the one used by CBS (and any label doing mixes for SQ LPs) whereas the WEA group (and RCA, and most labels issuing CD-4 LPs) used 1=LF / 2=LR / 3=RF / 4=RR.

The upshot is that if you take a tape with one of these channel assignments and wrongly transfer them using the other set, you end up with the two front channels (FL / FR) in either the two left speakers (FL / RL) or the two right speakers (FR / RR). From a listening perspective this makes it sound like the whole soundfield has been rotated 90 degrees, either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Once again, I'm not suggesting that this album suffers from this, but if it did, this would probably be the explanation. Once I get this disc ripped I'll have a look at it in my DAW and try and reach some kind of definitive conclusion one way or another.

 

[gvl_guy]

I was surprised by just how many of the songs on this album I actually had heard before. Sure, I have The Best of Bread (on CD-4) but who doesn't own that album, even if you're not a huge fan? It's a classic. Bread was always a non-offensive band. It was kinda rock when they came out. I remember hearing their songs on rock stations. But now they are truly just "soft rock." No classic rock station is playing Bread in 2024. But there are songs on this album that are really rock tunes. Not all of them are "Diary." Mother Freedom and Daughter kinda rock out.

The mix is excellent! And, as you'd expect, it sounds incredibly better than my CD-4 of The Best of. I heard instruments that I never heard before.

When I bought this disc, I figured that I'd play it once and it would get filed. But I'm already on my third listen.

This one, although not to the aggressive mix of The Divine Miss M, probably wouldn't be one I'd use to showcase my system, but it's pretty spectacular still.

Solid 10 for me.

 

[beerking]

David Gates vocals are what does it for me.
It is pitch perfect.
And the songs reflect this in their depth and beauty.

And yet I did not buy any Bread music back in the day. I was into various styles of music but mainly Rock and Prog Rock. Not forgetting ELO, my favourite group.

Now I will happily listen to all sorts of genres.
As long as it's in surround

A toasty 10

 

[quicksrt]

The mix is excellent! And, as you'd expect, it sounds incredibly better than my CD-4 of The Best of. I heard instruments that I never heard before.

This one, although not to the aggressive mix of The Divine Miss M, probably wouldn't be one I'd use to showcase my system, but it's pretty spectacular still.

Solid 10 for me.

If I knew the person likes 70’s pop and rock I would use this to demo what good quad sounds like sure. It need not be aggressive (if we still use that term), it only needs to have strong separation and high quality sound, and this has both.

I’m interested in hearing opinions on the sound quality comparisons of the same tracks which appear on the AF SACD,

 

[barfle]

I've been a Bread fan since forever, and this album reinforces that fandom.

I think people would be surprised how many rock tunes are on the disc since most of their hits were romantic ballads. Very well done. Easy 10.

PS, it's on discogs now. You're welcome.

 

[quicksrt]

I've been a Bread fan since forever, and this album reinforces that fandom.

I think people would be surprised how many rock tunes are on the disc since most of their hits were romantic ballads. Very well done. Easy 10.

PS, it's on discogs now. You're welcome.

I see no Bread Quadio on Discogs? Maybe my browser is failing to refresh or something. I searched three different ways.

But thanks anyway.

 

[par4ken]

I see no Bread Quadio on Discogs? Maybe my browser is failing to refresh or something. I searched three different ways.

But thanks anyway.

Discogs relies on people like us to add in new releases.

Discussion here https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...h-5-for-august-2024.36175/page-52#post-798601

 

[barfle]

I see no Bread Quadio on Discogs? Maybe my browser is failing to refresh or something. I searched three different ways.

But thanks anyway.

Try it with the bar code.

TBH, I don’t know if discogs exposes new entries to the users right away. I know I see my own stuff immediately, and id I check the “add this to my collection” box, it’s there as soon as I submit it.

 

[par4ken]

Try it with the bar code.

TBH, I don’t know if discogs exposes new entries to the users right away. I know I see my own stuff immediately, and id I check the “add this to my collection” box, it’s there as soon as I submit it.

Maybe post the Discogs link, then we'll see if it comes up.

 

[barfle]

Maybe post the Discogs link, then we'll see if it comes up.

https://www.discogs.com/release/31506617-Bread-Baby-Im-a-Want-You

 

[par4ken]

Got it, added it, rated it 5! (Discogs, 5 out of 5)

 

[inspclouseau]

More revelations from the master tape photos included in the gatefold of the booklet, this time it's that the quad mix was engineered by the legendary Armin Steiner, owner and operator of Sound Labs, the studio where this mix was done. Steiner has stereo engineering credits on a number of albums that were also released in quad (three Helen Reddy titles, David Gates First, Diana Ross Live at Caesar's amongst others) but this is the first one we can definitively attribute to the man himself, so 50 years later he's getting his just desserts. There's a great interview on MixOnline from 2001 that delves into his extensive career, if you're interested in learning more about him.

View attachment 108422


It's also interesting to see the notation of 'THIS IS NOT ELEKTRA STANDARD' about the channel assignments, in the context of the discussion in this thread about possible problems in this regard. I haven't actually listened to this yet so I can't offer an opinion as to whether they're right (or wrong) but the channel assignment you see here (1=LF / 2= RF / 3=LR / 4=RR) is the one used by CBS (and any label doing mixes for SQ LPs) whereas the WEA group (and RCA, and most labels issuing CD-4 LPs) used 1=LF / 2=LR / 3=RF / 4=RR.

The upshot is that if you take a tape with one of these channel assignments and wrongly transfer them using the other set, you end up with the two front channels (FL / FR) in either the two left speakers (FL / RL) or the two right speakers (FR / RR). From a listening perspective this makes it sound like the whole soundfield has been rotated 90 degrees, either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Once again, I'm not suggesting that this album suffers from this, but if it did, this would probably be the explanation. Once I get this disc ripped I'll have a look at it in my DAW and try and reach some kind of definitive conclusion one way or another.

"Once I get this disc ripped I'll have a look at it in my DAW and try and reach some kind of definitive conclusion one way or another."

 

[quicksrt]

(edit, removing this post to apply it elsewhere)

I try and not listen to my Quadio discs incessantly, and give them at least a week between plays in an effort to keep them as fresh listens for a longer time frame..

But I want to hear this again, and going to play it now. I've only played it twice thus far. I think I'm going for a 10, because the deeper tracks are great too,.

 

[joelee]

(edit, removing this post to apply it elsewhere)

I try and not listen to my Quadio discs incessantly, and give them at least a week between plays in an effort to keep them as fresh listens for a longer time frame..

But I want to hear this again, and going to play it now. I've only played it twice thus far. I think I'm going for a 10, because the deeper tracks are great too,.

Tops for separation, like it more than the separation on the AF Best of Bread.

 

[spuddler]

Sounds good, but I find the quad mix to be a "mixed" bag. And for whatever reason, it seems more right front/right surround centric. The right channels sound louder than the left. I played a different quad disc after and it was fine (balanced) - so???

I feel like my right ear was being assaulted by the right rear channel on the first two songs. It was so unpleasant I took it off thinking there was a mastering error. Trying again and the third song is more balanced, however there are too many songs that are right rear channel heavy…. Quite disappointed and not convinced there hasn’t been a mastering error with this one…

 

[Bob Finholm]

Absolutely love the new quadio version of this classic Bread release. I was 10 years old at the time of its release in 1972 and already an avid fan of great pop music. I always thought the regular LP had great sound quality and it most certainly does. But the quad BluRay takes the cake. Excellent mix, creative use of quad separation and a very rich sound. 10/10.

 

[dquad]

Vote: 7

Best use of Quad: None

I know this is going completely against the grain. I found this mix to lack separation which I've come to know from other quad releases. It has a very big stereo approach to it. The music would transition from coming out of FR/BR and to FL/FR. I couldn't pick a single song which stood out because they all had the same sound. Again, I know this is not popular opinion but it's not what I'm use to in a quad mix. This is an amazing classic rock album but it's not demo material compared to other quad releases.

 

[JediJoker]

...Rhino quad mixes...

These aren't "Rhino" quad mixes. Rhino Records didn't exist when these albums were recorded, mixed, and originally released. The Quadio series simply presents these vintage mixes on Blu-ray as they are found in the Warner Music Group archives. Any similarities between them will be down to the mixing decisions of the original engineers.