HiRez Poll Cooper, Alice - BILLION DOLLAR BABIES [Blu-Ray Audio]

[NYMo]

This album is a lot of fun !
Takes me right back to when I used to ride my 27inch semi racer around the place, wearing a genuine German WW2 helmet ( courtesy of my uncle) with a bullet hole in the side ….life was so simple then. Sigh.
Hi lights …Dennis Dunaways’ bass on BDB and lows being that Alice Coopers voice is way too loud on this mix release.
I voted 8

 

[jaybird100]

I'm not really a fan of Alice Cooper, but this one blew me away. Great sound, great mix. Long Live Quadio!

 

[quicksrt]

Isn't the mix on this one the same as on the CD-4 LP?

Yes, same exact mix, but most of us were not able to decode that CD-4 LP correctly at the time. This is the real decode of the mix for sure.

 

[RustyM]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this new reissue of the classic Alice Cooper album "Billion Dollar Babies".
This new Blu-Ray audio release is part of Rhino Records' Quadio series and marks the first time that the original 1970s Quadraphonic mix has been properly remastered and reissued on a high-res disc format.
Also please bear in mind that this Blu-Ray audio disc release has a distinctly different surround mix than the DVDA-V release here: HiRez Poll - Cooper, Alice - BILLION DOLLAR BABIES [DVD-A]

I enjoyed this yesterday and enjoyed the mix. It is also crankable. I found myself singing along as it brought me back to my high school days. It was the year that Alice Cooper performed at the Colussium in Madison Wisconsin and the Mayor gave Alice the key to the city. At the show, I tried to film the show with my 8mm camera...and failed. LOL. So many memories. Very happy that I picked this up and know that I will play it again often. Rhino, can I have some more please?

 

[ar surround]

For whatever reasons, I found most of this quad an annoying listen, especially compared to the other three quads in the Rhino bundle. Maybe it's the EQ or perhaps it's the vocals on a number of tracks which had a character that got under my skin. Also, the vocals seemed to be all over the place with no focus. I found that I had to sit exactly in a sweet spot otherwise they sounded 'neither here nor there.'

I liked a few songs: Hello Hooray, Billion Dollar Babies, Unfinished Sweet, and No More Mr Nice Guy. But that's it. Most other tracks have that thin sound like the song Elected. Oh well.

 

[Doug G.]

It's interesting how you have to get reacquainted with albums, sometimes. I bought the LP back when it was released and it eventually became kind of a continuous "story" or concept instead of individual songs, the more I listened to it. I heard it fairly often, back then.

When I first listened to the Quadio, and it had been a long time since I had played the LP (I never bought the CD-4 - close), it seemed kind of like individual songs again and not a cohesive experience. However, now that I have played it a few times, it is like back then when it became a whole, with the added wonderfulness of it being quad.

Doug

 

[Progfiend]

I know this album like the back of my hand, so it’s really cool to hear the quad mix with guitar parts jumping out that I don’t recall hearing before. Sound is crisp and clean. There are also some alternate takes that really add a level of enjoyment, bringing a few surprises to an old gem. An easy 10 for me.

 

[Healthcare29]

Voted a 6 on this, mainly due to the fact that I can't stand AC's voice to the point it annoyed me, he was another artist that had passed me by over the years & only knew the hits, I know we can't like 'em all & with that in mind I'm not sure I'm gonna like Bette Midler if that comes out despite recognising that she can sing, unlike Alice.

 

[quicksrt]

Voted a 6 on this, mainly due to the fact that I can't stand AC's voice to the point it annoyed me, he was another artist that had passed me by over the years & only knew the hits, I know we can't like 'em all & with that in mind I'm not sure I'm gonna like Bette Midler if that comes out despite recognising that she can sing, unlike Alice.

I totally get that. Some artists I also don't care for at all. But I usually don't buy their discs, and I don't review them - not based on that criteria.

 

[Healthcare29]

I totally get that. Some artists I also don't care for at all. But I usually don't buy their discs, and I don't review them - not based on that criteria.

Fair comment, I did think about not reviewing/scoring but decided too as not every review has to be positive.
One of the unique aspects of our niche collecting is finding albums that ordinarily we wouldn't have discovered (Billy Paul's Quad is one good example for me) so buying the Quad gives the artist a fair chance. I'd only ever heard 3 songs (I think) by Alice before & going by just hits heard on the radio can be at times a mistake.

 

[ar surround]

Voted a 6 on this, mainly due to the fact that I can't stand AC's voice to the point it annoyed me...

I totally get that. Some artists I also don't care for at all. But I usually don't buy their discs, and I don't review them - not based on that criteria.

For me it is a combination of several things that resulted in my 'meh' rating of 6. Yes, the characteristics of AC's voice is a known quantity to me, but the way it is presented 'all over the place' in this mix combined with the EQ is annoying. On some songs, it is unbearable.

 

[fetchmybeer]

Voted a 6 on this, mainly due to the fact that I can't stand AC's voice to the point it annoyed me, he was another artist that had passed me by over the years & only knew the hits, I know we can't like 'em all & with that in mind I'm not sure I'm gonna like Bette Midler if that comes out despite recognising that she can sing, unlike Alice.

I'm not a fan of his voice either, but found that he used it well on this album. I was surprised to hear that he could actually sing and sing well at times when he wasn't in character. His band is stellar.

 

[marpow]

I voted 8.
I 100% like the sound quality and mix better of my copy 2001's DVD-A MLP 24bit/96Khz with improved Dynamic Range at 11, 12's, 13's.
4.0 Rhino Quadio, everyone above me has valid and good points, the reader should just follow them.
24bit/192Khz. DR's are 11's, 12's, 13's.
2.0 Rhino Quadio: 24bit/192Khhz DR's are 9's 10's.
I think I overall prefer 5.1 good quality vs good quality 4.0. I like the direct center channel and LFE.
But with many 4.0's there is not a 5.1 counterpart.
Ripping: This was a stumble that above posters explain well. Once I figured it out the process was very simple using MakeMKV and MMH.
My listen was the rip played through JRiver, USB out to ExaSound DAC and analogue out to pre/pro.
Bass, was only via the large speakers.
As with all of the new Rhino Quadios, the settings if listening via Blu Ray player HDMI with LFE sounds wrong and horrible. The listener needs to find a way to temporarily change settings for these.

If you would like a better version, purchase this:

Please keep poll threads pure to your personal listening experience only.

 

[Dynamic Editor]

I voted 8.
I 100% like the sound quality and mix better of my copy 2001's DVD-A MLP 24bit/96Khz with improved Dynamic Range at 11, 12's, 13's.
4.0 Rhino Quadio, everyone above me has valid and good points, the reader should just follow them.
24bit/192Khz. DR's are 11's, 12's, 13's.
2.0 Rhino Quadio: 24bit/192Khhz DR's are 9's 10's.
I think I overall prefer 5.1 good quality vs good quality 4.0. I like the direct center channel and LFE.
But with many 4.0's there is not a 5.1 counterpart.
Ripping: This was a stumble that above posters explain well. Once I figured it out the process was very simple using MakeMKV and MMH.
My listen was the rip played through JRiver, USB out to ExaSound DAC and analogue out to pre/pro.
Bass, was only via the large speakers.
As with all of the new Rhino Quadios, the settings if listening via Blu Ray player HDMI with LFE sounds wrong and horrible. The listener needs to find a way to temporarily change settings for these.

If you would like a better version, purchase this:
View attachment 94299
Please keep poll threads pure to your personal listening experience only.

What do you prefer about the 5.1 mix?

 

[marpow]

What do you prefer about the 5.1 mix?

As I state above.

I 100% like the sound quality and mix better of my copy 2001's DVD-A MLP 24bit/96Khz with improved Dynamic Range at 11, 12's, 13's.

I think I overall prefer 5.1 good quality vs good quality 4.0. I like the direct center channel and LFE.

That's all I am able to comment.

 

[sjcorne]

What do you prefer about the 5.1 mix?

I like the direct center channel and LFE.

For me, the 5.1 mix - while conservative in comparison to the quad - seems to pack more low-end and visceral 'punch' to the rhythm section. Plus, the lead vocals are better balanced with the rest of the instruments.

 

[timbre4]

Oppo BDP-93 > Marantz 4140 > Advent Legacy III loudspeakers

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
I voted 10 because that’s as much as I can give it. The quad Blu Ray presentation is such a joy. Recommended without hesitation.

My relationship with this album began in early 1973 when it was released. I saw reporter Harold Greene do an Eyewitness News (ch 7 Los Angeles) segment on the band’s press conference. May still have an audio cassette from that broadcast. That was 5-6 months before Fall 1973 when Warner-Elektra-Atlantic launched Q8 / CD-4 and licensed Q4 reels eventually. We would get Muscle Of Love first, close to release date. It wasn’t until May(?) 1974 when we’d be able to buy a B$B Q8 or CD-4 album.

What a treat! WEA went back in the catalog and issued some strong previous albums (Paranoid, Sumner Breeze, etc) in quad formats. As many are well aware, the conversions we enjoyed all had to be derived from Q8 or CD-4 as, inexplicably (someone knows why?) there was no Q4 reel ever issued for B$B.

Side 1 is just about perfect to me; Side 2 comes pretty close. To my mind, Billion Dollar Babies was the pinnacle of Vincent Furnier’s rock star dreams. This album and tour was so far over the top; much like ELP’s Brain Salad Surgery, also released in 1973. [Artist: Where do we go from here?] I wanted to see it - I was 15 with no drivers license yet. The live concert on the 2 CD re-issue version of B$B is very good musically although tame by todays standards.

Muscle Of Love has some great tracks and a couple that fall kinda flat for me. MOL to B$B seems like what Who Do We Think We Are is to Machine Head. Identical musicians yet different results. I know Michael Bruce was very ill and future ACB members were already ghosting for him on tour. I can enjoy Muscle of Love for the most part because it’s the original band members producing that signature sound. What came later is certainly good, it’s just not the same. B$B is the winner, content wise.

One thing I’ve noticed about these QUADIO Blu Rays is no temptation to play with the remote balancer to correct or offset anything. Press PLAY and go. It’s such a powerful, clear, centered album presentation! Okay, maybe a few channel isolation moves like the old days but oh what this can reveal now.

During the Paranoid review I referenced a tambourine on a song ((Electric Funeral?) in the left rear channel. It was such a clear, tactile impulse insistently transmitted to the ear at such a level of fidelity. For Billion Dollar Babies, one such moment happens during I Love The Dead. Listen for a wood block in the right rear speaker. I did isolate the channel briefly which caused me to notice it. What’s cool is going back to the centered balance and still clearly hearing it! I will go back and find more of these elements that add up for a spectacular result.

All of the panning moves resolve better to me than any previous version I’ve heard. There were some foundational mid/band counterpoint instruments heard more clearly now in support all of that cacophony surfing on top of it! Sweet. The term ‘coherent’ comes to mind. Solid presentation. This one will get played the most of these first four QUADIO Blu Ray discs.

 

[quicksrt]

I started my third listen to this again this last night at 3:45am, lights low and volume up high. First thing is Alice's vocals are up in the mix especially early on in the program, and often later as well. This is not an issue for me because I personally think this is the guy in absolute top form here on most all of the tracks. The guitars emphasized in certain areas are not always what I expect but (excitingly) mostly revealing of layers not previously as obvious. And the controlled distortion on the guitars becomes intensified beyond what I recall from the stereo mix. Amazing rhythm and lead guitar parts more exposed, as this band could utilize and had an understanding of the use of distortion like feeback, a wah-wah and fuzz box on the level which Tony Iommi displays on Paranoid. That's saying a lot.

The things that pan around are almost always effects on vocal overdubs, and creepy sound effects rather than instruments, so not at all tacky or offensive. Only one time that I noticed a guitar being panned left and right. Bass is shy in some places, but I noticed that on "I Love The Dead" which moves along by the bass and piano. there is no lacking bass. This track is deep and majestic and wonderful in quad. I want to dig into each track here and mention the virtues of this unique mix of the entire album. But I'll do that later after one more good listen. But I listened enough to this entire BR disc (three times). A top rock album in a fresh unique mix with enough surprises sprinkled throughout that the quad has not gotten boring for me, amazing for a 50 year old album.

I can confidently rate this disc.

Material - 10
Performances - 10
Quad Mix - 9.75
Sound Quality - 10
= 10

 

[Tat]

I found the quad mix a more enjoyable listen, and with cleaner fidelity than the dvd audio version.
I wish these quadio blurays started with the RHINO intro like the dvd. It would give me a couple seconds to make sure my amp is set to quad and the volume is set correctly before the music starts. These quadio discs are plain with no extras, just the album, just the way i like it. I give a 9

 

[madscot]

One week to go for me, I can’t wait to hear my favourite AC album in quad