HiRez Poll Cooper, Alice - MUSCLE OF LOVE [SACD/Blu-Ray Audio]

[JonUrban]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this November 2015 SACD release from Audio Fidelity of Alice Cooper's MUSCLE OF LOVE album, containing the original QUADRAPHONIC mix.

As of 10/25/2024, the Quadraphonic mix is now available as a 2CD/Blu-Ray edition from Rhino records.

PRE-RELEASE DISCUSSION THREAD: https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?21155

2CD/Blu-Ray packshot:

 

[filper]

I will very interested in the comments about this one.

I managed to find a copy of the original LP last summer and it confirmed the reason I had passed it on.

The content is far from the previous album's caliber due to some challenges the band was facing.

 

[GOS]

I will very interested in the comments about this one.

I managed to find a copy of the original LP last summer and it confirmed the reason I had passed it on.

The content is far from the previous album's caliber due to some challenges the band was facing.

Well, if it's the content you didn't like - that certainly won't change here. I assume most are buying it for the Quad experience. Well, OK - I am. I don't like the content as much as other albums, I admit - but I cannot wait to hear some Alice in Quad. What a treat....

 

[Cyber 1]

please Mr postman hurry up

 

[Cyber 1]

So got mine today and man it's great, a total winner defiantly a major upgrade from the original reel to reel.

 

[kvsawilson]

I have always been a big fan of this album and thought it was a very good quad mix from back in the day. This is is the best it's sounded and I'm loving it. The production quality is great and the quad presentation really makes it a better listen, imo.

K

 

[JerseyEd]

This is another album that held a special place in my heart. One of the rock bands I was in during my college days included a 4 piece horn section (one of the perks of being a music major) and a female singer. We made it a point to play "rock" tunes that had horns instead of just the usual Chicago, etc. "Never Been Sold Before" was one of those tunes, along with "Under My Wheels" from Killer. But I digress...

I always thought this was a good album. Granted it had a bit of a different vibe after the Bob Ezrin produced albums, but I thought the Jack Richardson/Jack Douglas production was fine. A bit like Love It To Death (which Richardson and Ezrin co-produced) but with a bit more polish. I like all the songs, so the content portion of my vote was already high. And from the point that the guitars enter on Big Apple Dreamin' (Hippo), I felt the surround mix was excellent. Therefore, I voted this a 10.

2 side notes...
1) For some reason, while listening to Working Up A Sweat, I could picture this song being done by Spinal Tap.
2) Listening to the violin at the end of B.A.D.(H.), this sounds to me like parts of 2 songs... starting at about the 4:43 mark, where the violin begins his second time through it's coda, the first 13 notes sound to me like the melody of the first line of America by Simon & Garfunkel (and of course Yes), ending on what would be the second syllable of the word "toget..". Since America is about traveling and this song is about going to NYC I could see that tie in. That's followed by what sounds like the melody for "hold my hand and I'll take you there.." from the song Somewhere from West Side Story (also a NYC reference and we know Alice is a W.S.S. fan having covered the Jets song on School's Out and naming his second album Easy Action which was a line in that movie). What does anyone else think about this?

 

[par4ken]

I first bought this album in stereo as a cut-out in about 1975. I immediately recognized "Teenage Lament 74" from the radio although it didn't really make it as much of a hit. I thought that the rest of the tracks were also decent, especially "Never Been Sold Before" and "Muscle of Love". I latter purchased the CD-4 LP and then sold the stereo copy. Still latter I got the reel to reel tape and sold the CD-4. I now wish that I had kept one of the LP's for the cool cardboard box cover!

The mix is good much like a typical stereo mix but expanded to four channels, no noticeable gimmicks or added echo.

I actually prefer this album to "Million Dollar Babies" which is too commercial for my taste. The hit "Elected" from "Babies" is actually "Reflected" off the first LP!

 

[edisonbaggins]

"9"
Sounds damn good. Man, am I surprised by this album. I was expecting Schools Out for 40 min, I guess.
Thank goodness it's way more interesting. Some very cool guest artists. Love me some Liza...

 

[edisonbaggins]

Oh, importantly, this is not a funky-ass, uber-quad, drums in one speaker mix.
Feels very balanced. Also has quite discrete, playful moments. This will get mucho listenos.

 

[quicksrt]

I just got this in the other day and only have played it once. I already know the material intimately from various stereo issues. The quad mix lets you listen into the effects placed on certain instruments in a more intense way. This album is actually produced with much mixing and effects artistry which is shown off in quad as I said. I am surprised at what detail is revealed here because in stereo it appears that these effects and the mix artistry is so much more subtle. Or maybe there is some additional active mixing going on in the quad mix compared to the stereo. It's a wildly arranged album with a fancy complex mix, the quad brings this out in a way the stereo never did.

I am going to listen more before voting, but I am leaning towards a solid 10 due to the material standing tall on it's own merits, the mix being carefully and so artistically satisfying, and the basic sound quality (regardless of the quad mixing) is sensational. I may never end up listening to this in stereo again.

I was one of the folks who had this high on the AF request list. I'm happy that when it arrived - it's way up there where I had hoped quality wise.

 

[Cibola]

I just got this in the other day and only have played it once. I already know the material intimately from various stereo issues. The quad mix lets you listen into the effects placed on certain instruments in a more intense way. This album is actually produced with much mixing and effects artistry which is shown off in quad as I said. I am surprised at what detail is revealed here because in stereo it appears these effects and the mix artistrry is so much more subtle. Or maybe there is some additional active mixing going on in the quad mix compared to the stereo.

I am going to listen more before voting, but I am leaning towards a solid 10 due to the material standing tall on it's own merits, the mix being carefully and so artistically satisfying, and the basic sound quality (regardless of the quad mixing) is sensational. I may never end up listening to this in stereo again.

I was one of the folks who had this high on the AF request list. I'm happy that when it arrived - it's way up there where I had hoped quality wise.

My thoughts exactly, just need to listen uninterrupted in surround. I've heard this on lo-fi stereo vinyl, eight track, cassette and CD. Never sounded like this. If you're an Alice fan seriously consider this.

 

[DennisMabry]

I bought this one when it was initially released on LP. It was never my favorite Alice Cooper title for content and that opinion hasn't changed much, but this Quad mix is very good and raises it's worth considerably. Listening to this again after all these years has been a bit of a nostalgic ride. A few songs, especially in Quad are much better than I remembered and some are not. I'm giving this an 8, which is pretty good actually. Definitely worth the purchase for the mix and sound quality.

 

[quicksrt]

This is for me the most prized 4.0 SACD from AF thus far.

I listened again the other night to the entire disc. The quad presentation for this album is a more active listening experience. The hot horn arrangements come in at times and really command their place which is saying something because there is some scorching lead guitar parts all over this album.

I appreciate that they resist doing much panning. Some guitar parts do movr around, but for the most part things stay where they are assigned - and they are effectively placed.

Here is hoping for more album rock and hard rock titles coming soon in 4.0 from AF. The soft rock/pop stuff is nice but my top faves so far in the series are Alice, Mahavishnu, and BS&T. Two of the three had no commercial quad R2R release.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

This is a excellent release. Good mix. Decent sonics. And I've been a fan of the content all along. While the mix is the same as the Q4 release which I compared it to, the SACD does manage to lift a few veils from the overall sound. I gave it a 9.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Got this last week..great mix-...
Sonics= MUD...

I mean, I know these are old tapes..but I JUST DON'T LIKE ANY OF THE SH "remasters"

Don't these people know how to ..POLISH IT A BIT???
I'm not talking "Nick Davis Genesis" MCH mixes OVER BRIGHTNESS (which BTW is still up in the air ...debating whether it was Nick or the deaf person who did the mastering)

Don't they know that SACD can ACTUALLY go BEYOND 22K and still sound great????(am I gonna have to mention AGAIN the Tomita SACD that ACTUALLY goes ALL THE WAY (a GRAND SLAM!!!)????

This is one of the muddiest SACDs in my collection..and much to my chagrin, the contents really don't do it for me.. I bought it cause I thought it was gonna be cool....but that's beside the point..
MUD
MUD
MUD

SH(India Tango)
STOP DOING THIS AND LEAVE IT TO YOUR OTHER MINIONS who can do a better job with earplugs on!!!!!

It's a pity cause we're getting all of these "Legacy mixes" (even the SPECTRUM, which came out of left field!!!!)
But
IT
SOUNDS
LIKE
a
fckn
CHEAP
Q8

(pardon me, Q8s...cause there are some that sound BETTER than these!!!)

(rant over..for now)

 

[JerseyEd]

I think I read on one of the forums (believe me, I searched for it, but to no avail) that it takes 10 votes before a SACD, DVDA, etc. can appear on the Hi-Rez Poll Chart. Since there have been 13 votes for Muscle Of Love, shouldn't this show on the Hi-Rez Poll Chart?

Duh, it says it right on the Poll Chart page. Saw it after I posted.

 

[kvsawilson]

Got this last week..great mix-...
Sonics= MUD...
(rant over..for now)

Wow Kap'n. For me, this is the best of the bunch of the AF releases so far. I think it sounds terrific. Just like it should. Just curious, were you a fan of the album before you heard this release? Also, your comment about sounds above 22K. I'm pretty sure there wasn't an instrument in that studio that was putting out sounds anywhere near 22khz.

K

 

[marpow]

I just voted 10, because I too love this disc and sounds great. I also just bought the stereo download of Alice Coopers Greatest Hits. Alice Cooper is super good.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Got this last week..great mix-...
Sonics= MUD...

I mean, I know these are old tapes..but I JUST DON'T LIKE ANY OF THE SH "remasters"

Don't these people know how to ..POLISH IT A BIT???
I'm not talking "Nick Davis Genesis" MCH mixes OVER BRIGHTNESS (which BTW is still up in the air ...debating whether it was Nick or the deaf person who did the mastering)
....blah blah blah...

(pardon me, Q8s...cause there are some that sound BETTER than these!!!)

(rant over..for now)

OK, so the source tape had only THAT much info,
BUT I 'LL TAKE IT ALL BACK---
Sorry ..
it looks fine---although there is a very strange straight line at 30 K and , of course , all that noise around 34K to about 48 K for it being an SACD, which will or won't make your pets scramble out of the room while you are listening to this....
anyway...
it's just a very muddy mix..to me...great separation though...