Reading the comments and reviews (so far) for this one warms my heart. Although 'Paranoid' seems to be the clear overall winner of this Quadio batch, B$B gives Red Octopus hard competition as the runner-up. My older brother brought this home just before I turned 8, and it's the first full album of music that I fell in love with. Whether you love his voice or hate it, Vince was (and still is) a shouter in the tradition of Little Richard, and a character actor in the tradition of old Hollywood, of which he was becoming a part with this album. Personally, I LOVE that voice from whisper to scream. Though I came to love LITD through SO a lot more (and would love to hear those albums mixed to 5.1, if possible), there's no denying that this album was the band + Bob Ezrin at the peak of their powers and their most inventive and modern in the studio.
Before writing, I listened to the original stereo, then for perspective, I listened to the DVD-A, as well, and it was a good choice. Clearly the DVD-A owed MUCH to the quad, which I didn't realize. Though some tracks obviously had to be remixed for the DVD-A to more closely align to the stereo, there's a good deal of the quad in there such as most of the vocals being set center-left. Like some others, I found the DVD-A quite limp and disappointing overall when I bought it in the early aughts, which helped pump me up for this release.
Some have commented that they thought there were alternate takes used for the quad. The only one I heard was the final verse on 'Raped And Freezin', a song which is less edited than the stereo. There ARE little yelps and shouts throughout the album that sadly didn't make the quad. I think it was
@quicksrt that stated that the mixes here can be pretty wild. Agreed, but I'd say it's warranted, or at least understandable, due to the nature of this album. Alice in all speakers for 'Elected'? He's an annoying politician trying to get in your face, so sure, why not. For B$B, you've got Alice left front and rear, Donovan right front and rear, 1st guitar solo front left and right, 2nd guitar solo rear left and right. which I find absolutely cool, however unorthodox it might be.
The only real complaint I have as far as mixing goes is that the quad missed the stereo's cohesion in editing and building tension. The aforementioned 'Raped' is a good bridge song between 'Hello, Hurray' and 'Elected', but the less edited quad goes on for too long (much like this review
). 'Generation Landslide' unedited is interesting, but could have wrapped up without the drum outro. 'Sick Things' is missing the build up from the stereo where that ultra distorted guitar comes in at the 2nd verse, and is mixed more subtly, building up to that great guitar solo at the end. And the lack of segues between ST, Mary Ann, and I Love The Dead really takes energy away from the final quarter of the album.
ILTD is worth specific mention because, though it's always been a favorite and IMO one of the groups best recordings. I didn't comprehend what a kitchen sink/Brian Wilson type production it is. Hearing so many more of the elements here (and you can pick out a LOT in the stereo) was just mind blowing. Since the cowrite goes to Bob Ezrin, it seems reasonable that much of this baby was his creation, as well as the group's. The downsides are the missed lead guitar intro which really sets the mood for me (and unedited licks that don't add much), the mixing of the doo wop vocals to the front, where they can barely be made out amongst the cluster of voices and instruments (the DVD-A mix put them in the rears - one good move), and the editing (or lack of repeating) of the final 3 orchestral hits before Alice says "Nothing" (which the DVD-A unpardonably edited out altogether).
Sonically, this mix is SO clear and present and vibrant, that I found it infectious. For all the lifting that it did from the quad, the DVD-A has none of this. Some have complained that the surrounds were under used, but the balance seemed overall very reasonable to me, though with my configuration, I ended up bringing the surrounds DOWN 4 dB so as not to overpower the fronts. The bass and occasionally the kick drum were a bit too light for my taste, which could again be my setup, but the stereo sounds fine and well balanced.
To wrap it up:
Music - 9.5
Mix - 7
Sonics - 10
Overall rating - 9 out of 10