VERY gratifying to hear that MILES OF AISLES has a discrete soundstage. Released in 1974 as a double LP, it probably wasn't commercially released as a CD~4 as even then QUAD was beginning to wane in popularity but it did reach #2 on the Billboard charts and I consider it a TREASURE nonetheless!I've only listened to selected tracks on two discs (FTR and AOM) as I was interested in hearing the Quad mixes of each.
I can say this....This IS a mind blowing experience for this Joni fan!
The Quad mix on AOM is very very good. It is immersive and puts you in the middle of the stage. Can't help but wonder why this never seen the light of day?
Joni across the front with lead guitar in rear left, keyboards in rear right, horns across the back. Very nice.
The AOM Atmos is like listening in a completely different venue. I prefer the Quad on some tracks and Atmos on others.
The Quad for FTR is good, but the Atmos is "Blow you away" good with the Sonics and mix.
Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire in Atmos is a religious experience for me.
SO much more to dig into, but GAWD, this is good.
Your gonna love it!
Fine if they want to try out different plane routes and airlines, but their previous problems seemed to be their packing and shipping routines right there at the input of order and output of shipping labels, and the physical wrapping up of four simple discs and then the repeat of that exact same transaction 600 to 800 times exactly the same.This time, Rhino (Gnarlywood that is) chose to use FedEx. So far, so good. Says ETA of this Wednesday.
So thankful for the good news, and attention to detail here.I've only listened to selected tracks on two discs (FTR and AOM) as I was interested in hearing the Quad mixes of each.
I can say this....This IS a mind blowing experience for this Joni fan!
The Quad mix on AOM is very very good. It is immersive and puts you in the middle of the stage. Can't help but wonder why this never seen the light of day?
Joni across the front with lead guitar in rear left, keyboards in rear right, horns across the back. Very nice.
The AOM Atmos is like listening in a completely different venue. I prefer the Quad on some tracks and Atmos on others.
The Quad for FTR is good, but the Atmos is "Blow you away" good with the Sonics and mix.
Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire in Atmos is a religious experience for me.
SO much more to dig into, but GAWD, this is good.
Your gonna love it!
1974 was when the labels did deep dives into the catalogs looking at remixing some slightly older but big hit albums. The sky seemed the limit and the quadraphonic bins at the stores were bulging with brand new and some slightly older titles mixed in quad.
Joni’s live album being a double LP set, I’d expect that they held off waiting to see how the album in general was going to perform. Then it got lost and fell through the cracks as quad really did begin to lose traction in late ‘75. Or the labels began to release less and by ‘76 its fate was sealed. I was still looking for quad versions of albums in ‘75 and the bins were loaded up that summer I can attest. So exciting to my little mind that was being blown by the thought of hearing these killer albums in four fricken channels.
I was more surprised that none of Joni's magnificent REPRISE albums were never remixed and released by WB in CD~4 ...not to mention James Taylor's Sweet Baby James and Mud, Slide, Slim. Whoever was in charge of these QUAD releases obviously failed to cater to popular demand.What's interesting about it being a double album is that they did release the MJQ Live album, which was a double LP Quadradisc. I don't know how many of those got pressed, but I can tell you as a quad freak from almost the beginning, I never saw this double album in a record store when quad albums were available. The first time I saw one was when I was visiting Pittsfield, Mass for work and I stopped into the (at the time) famous Berkshire Record Outlet, which was essentially a barn filled with records for sale. They had a ton of cut-outs, and in those cut-outs were about 15 copies of the MJQ Live double Quadradisc!!
Even on eBay this double album rarely shows up whenever I've been looking through the quad stuff
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Now, you would think that the folks at WB would think that a Joni live album would sell more than a live jazz album, so I am not sure if the fact that it was a double impacted it's appearance or not. Could be. But whatever it was, it's a shame, as it would have been a highly sought after release back in 1975 or so
Probably Asylum and Atlantic were run as completely different labels and only pressing and distribution was under WEA.What's interesting about it being a double album is that they did release the MJQ Live album, which was a double LP Quadradisc. I don't know how many of those got pressed, but I can tell you as a quad freak from almost the beginning, I never saw this double album in a record store when quad albums were available. The first time I saw one was when I was visiting Pittsfield, Mass for work and I stopped into the (at the time) famous Berkshire Record Outlet, which was essentially a barn filled with records for sale. They had a ton of cut-outs, and in those cut-outs were about 15 copies of the MJQ Live double Quadradisc!!
Even on eBay this double album rarely shows up whenever I've been looking through the quad stuff
View attachment 104704
Now, you would think that the folks at WB would think that a Joni live album would sell more than a live jazz album, so I am not sure if the fact that it was a double impacted it's appearance or not. Could be. But whatever it was, it's a shame, as it would have been a highly sought after release back in 1975 or so
Very sad that something good for the listeners, and that got that much product to market just died on the vine.I was more surprised that none of Joni's magnificent REPRISE albums were never remixed and released by WB in CD~4 ...not to mention James Taylor's Sweet Baby James and Mud, Slide, Slim. Whoever was in charge of these QUAD releases obviously failed to cater to popular demand.
And of course without a world wide internet at the time, most QUAD releases were unceremoniously placed in bins apart from their stereo counterparts and no one really knew what was available.....especially in Japan!
Advertising for QUAD in those days was relegated to stereophile rags and we all know where that went: KAPUT!
Even though Miles of Aisles did reach #2 on the Billboard charts ....... and was remixed for QUAD ......it does not bode well for the folks at her record label who didn't deem it worthy of a CD~4 or for that matter a Dolby b Quad Open Reel release.
It only took 50 years but alas, it's here and sounding better than EVER!
(Edit)What's interesting about it being a double album is that they did release the MJQ Live album, which was a double LP Quadradisc.
I found a Mint / Sealed copy of the CD-4 MJQ LP at the Pasadena City Swap Meet for $10. Did a needle drop of the CD-4 in stereo and it sounds wonderful. I then listened to the reg stereo release on CD, and it sounds wonderful in a different way. It’s just a really good recording and hearing that Joni MOA has strong quad mix gives me more hope for this one too.Even on eBay this double album rarely shows up whenever I've been looking through the quad stuff
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My Fedex drivers like to leave boxes out in the open or in front of a garage door so it can get rained on or run over backing out.Fine if they want to try out different plane routes and airlines, but their previous problems seemed to be their packing and shipping routines right there at the input of order and output of shipping labels, and the physical wrapping up of four simple discs and then the repeat of that exact same transaction 600 to 800 times exactly the same.
Now you are rubbing salt in my wounds! In 1973 Quad was still in its infancy. The industry had just been born and was quickly killed off (infanticide!) before being given half a chance. I didn't get my first (non-logic) decoder until late 1973 or 1974. I remember reading reports that sales were down in 1975 but that was attributed the recession. IMHO the early adopters are often early quitters as well!For the labels the writing was already on the wall for quad by the end of 1974 - sales peaked in '73, and in that business if you're not growing, you're dying. Consumer sales of recorded tape (one of the best ways to get quad) was also in sharp decline - Ampex got out of that business in 1975 and so did GRT and Stereotape (who sold their quad business to The Reel Society) which tells you how fast the popularity of the 8-track, which was like the cultural equivalent of the iPod in terms of introducing portability to music 10 years previous was declining.
The UK was different, 8-track never took off here even in stereo (ignoring our rather different quad scene).Still in the mid seventies I remember it being hard to find a cassette deck for the car as everything was still 8-track.
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