Intervention Records: Joan Armatrading's 1976 Self-Titled Classic on Hybrid CD/SACD on pre-order

[DuncanS]

My SACD turned up today and I had to play it, and as I know this album really well I decided to play it through the SM2 to 'freshen' it up to my ears. I did notch up the rears a tiny bit, it sounds really great in Involve 4.0 mode, lots of discrete instruments, and when its not its immersive. The vocals tends to be in the fronts along with the drums, and guitars & keys in the rear. Track 9 "Like A Fire" starts with the acoustic guitar in the rears.

 

[humprof]

I'm not always sold on Kevin Gray's work, but this one is a winner. This album has never sounded better. It really sparkles.

 

[califcab]

Thanks for the feedback. I will order this one.

 

[humprof]

Jon Pareles has a profile of Armatrading in today's New York Times--on the occasion of the release of a new album:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/15/arts/music/joan-armatrading-consequences.html

 

[DuncanS]

Jon Pareles has a profile of Armatrading in today's New York Times--on the occasion of the release of a new album:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/15/arts/music/joan-armatrading-consequences.html

Got an email yesterday to say that my signed copy of the album is on its way to me!

 

[4_everyman]

Joan...what a wonderful person.

I had the pleasure of seeing Joan perform back in 1977 when she was opening for Al Stewart on the Year Of The Cat tour. I got more than my money's worth out of that concert ticket.

 

[atrocity]

Joan...what a wonderful person.

I had the pleasure of seeing Joan perform back in 1977 when she was opening for Al Stewart on the Year Of The Cat tour. I got more than my money's worth out of that concert ticket.

It was either 1977 or 1978 when I saw her, though she was headlining her own show at the time. Got there early and had nothing better to do but wander around, whereupon I was shocked to find her sitting with someone else in a van listening to (as I remember it) her own album at a pretty high volume. Didn't want to disturb her, so just kept walking, but it was an interesting moment.

Great show, though she had an apparently stoned heckler who kept yelling out intelligent comments like "ACID!!!" At one point she asked "Are you going to talk to me all night?"

 

[atrocity]

It was either 1977 or 1978 when I saw her

After *decades* of being on the Internet, I still often forget that I can Look Stuff Up...Joan Armatrading Concerts 1970s has her in Davis, California on December 3, 1977. I remember where I was working at the time and remember it already being completely dark well before the show, so that sounds right.

Of course, the venue was UC Davis, not "Davis College", but oh well.

Given that I saw her seated in a van and the prior night's show was in Portland, Oregon, I can't help but wonder if everyone actually made that drive to get to Davis. It's doable, but...ugh.

Man...that would have been less than a month after I started my first real job (stayed with that company about 7 months shy of 20 years!) and now I'm in my sixth year of retirement. Mind-blowing.

 

[DuncanS]

Joan's new album has arrived, it wasn't in the porch at 7:30pm when I looked wondering were it had got to, but at 9:15pm I saw a shape on the mat and there it was! The delivery drivers have a long day, probably for not a lot of money either.

 

[knifeman]

My SACD turned up today and I had to play it, and as I know this album really well I decided to play it through the SM2 to 'freshen' it up to my ears. I did notch up the rears a tiny bit, it sounds really great in Involve 4.0 mode, lots of discrete instruments, and when its not its immersive. The vocals tends to be in the fronts along with the drums, and guitars & keys in the rear. Track 9 "Like A Fire" starts with the acoustic guitar in the rears.

Not familiar with Involve 4.0. This disc is only stereo, correct? This isn't a deal breaker, as I was always a fan of hers. The label's site doesn't mention multi-channel, so I'm assuming it's only stereo.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Not familiar with Involve 4.0. This disc is only stereo, correct? This isn't a deal breaker, as I was always a fan of hers. The label's site doesn't mention multi-channel, so I'm assuming it's only stereo.

There’s another thread for that -
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...ounds-amazing-with-the-surround-master.20908/

 

[DuncanS]

Not familiar with Involve 4.0. This disc is only stereo, correct? This isn't a deal breaker, as I was always a fan of hers. The label's site doesn't mention multi-channel, so I'm assuming it's only stereo.

Yes the album is stereo only. The Involve Surround Master, SM2 is essentially an Involve version of a QS decoder along with an SQ one, and can can be used to split a stereo album into Quad 4.0 or Surround 5.1 modes, so makes use of any out-of-phase information between channels/instruments. JP has given a good thread as to its worth on non-Quad album playback. I prefer the Involve 4.0 mode for processing stereo. It is being replaced by a new SM3 version.
NB: All set-ups should have an Involve Surround Master!

 

[humprof]

Interview with Joan on today's Weekend Edition Sunday:
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/20/1008449139/one-woman-band-joan-armatrading-releases-22nd-album

 

[4_everyman]

Interview with Joan on today's Weekend Edition Sunday:
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/20/1008449139/one-woman-band-joan-armatrading-releases-22nd-album

That was a thoroughly enjoyable interview. For my money, it could've gone on for an hour. It certainly motivated me to buy her new album.