HiRez Poll Pure Prairie League - TWO LANE HIGHWAY & IF THE SHOE FITS [SACD]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this 2017 Multichannel SACD release from Dutton Vocalion containing two original Quadraphonic mixes from the band Pure Prairie League of the albums "Two Lane Highway" and "If The Shoe Fits".
Both Quadraphonic mixes are also available to stream in Dolby Audio on Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/two-lane-highway/299607176https://music.apple.com/us/album/if-the-shoe-fits/1065979869

 

[mattB2]

Great surround mix on this. I'm not familiar with the original albums so this was a very pleasant surprise. Just makes you wish that the Eagles albums were given the same treatment.

 

[bmoura]

Great surround mix on this. I'm not familiar with the original albums so this was a very pleasant surprise.

Be sure to give it a rating in the poll.

 

[oxenholme]

Yet another band that I'd never heard of that turns out to be excellent.

Superb material, superb quad mix, superb sound.

10.

 

[Bob Romano]

DV hits it out of the park again. Two great albums - one awesome sounding disc. I just hope they keep this up. Highly recomended if you like country rock.

 

[sjcorne]

Totally awesome! An easy 10. The quad mix follows my favorite surround arrangement: rhythm section and vocal so upfront, with individual instruments and harmonies in each rear speaker. Some of the material is a bit too country for my tastes, but is for the most part rather catchy. I can see the comparison to the early Eagles LPs as others have noted. I like Two Lane Highway more than If The Shoe Fits, but there are some great tracks on each and I'm glad to have them both on the same disc.

 

[GOS]

Geez - this may be one of the quickest 10's I've voted. This whole set sounds amazing. Simply, amazing. If you have any amount of country rock inside of you...simply do not hesitate. This one is a big time steal!! There are so many influences here...even a tune that has a little blue-grass going on...

Eagles, Grateful Dead to mention a couple. I love it....

 

[TVB]

A huge upgrade from my CD-4 discs, everything just sounds better! Of course I've always loved the songs and the discrete Quad mixes. This disc is a 9 for me.. Thanks Vocalion. How about The Guess Who albums "Road Food" and "10" on the next disc.

 

[H.A.L.]

(That was a fast response, GOS, given all the other discs you just received!)

I posted my thoughts elsewhere, so I gave it a 9.

A great rating, the best, even, for 4.0 in my book. Sorry, I'm a noob who started with 5.1 a few years ago and can't rate 4.0 above a 9 because of that

Don't let my prejudice influence you, though. This is a great deal -- grab it!

 

[Which_One_Is_Pink]

Been a while since I have listened to any PPL albums as I only had these on cassette and my Nakamichi has been mothballed for a few decades now, well anywho, I always liked the first 2 PPL albums quite a lot (anyone know if they were ever quadified?), and Two Lane Highway was always a highlight with me mainly due to the title song but Kansas City Southern really shines here in Quad, listen to that whistle blow! If The Shoe Fits I am less familiar with as Lucille Crawfield was the only song I could remember liking from it but is an overall fine album and will become even more fine now as it sounds great in Quad. As with the AF Quad releases the fidelity is superb! Now if we could have the first 2 in a multi-ch format that would be grand!

Assessment - PPL TLH/ITSF QUAD SACD Score: A-9. Great Job Vocalion, looking forward to any and all popular QUAD releases you can bring us

 

[Clint Eastwood]

A little too country for my tastes...BUT...you have to appreciate the quality...an easy 9 for me...

 

[Which_One_Is_Pink]

A little too country for my tastes...BUT...you have to appreciate the quality...an easy 9 for me...

Yeah that's one of the problems with Country Rock it has that pesky Country in the Rock, fortunately in small doses bands like PPL, Poco, Little River Band go down pretty easy for the most part, of course I was born in Alabama so this may also have some influence.

 

[Perp]

Yeah that's one of the problems with Country Rock it has that pesky Country in the Rock, fortunately in small doses bands like PPL, Poco, Little River Band go down pretty easy for the most part, of course I was born in Alabama so this may also have some influence.

LRB? All I hear is pure adult contemporary pop/rock. Maybe, their early work? I'll look into it. Great band that I've really come to appreciate over the past two decades.

I've never heard either of these two albums until now. When I started playing it, I thought I was listening to The Eagles. The music on both albums is good but not something I'll play all the time. With the exception of That'll Be The Day (sorry, but I find that Linda Ronstadt is the only artist that can do justice to this tune), I tend to favor, If The Shoe Fits, out of the two albums. To me, the quad mix sounds great if I'm comparing it to what it is, 4.0, not 5.1. The one little problem I'm finding is the rear channels seem a bit too hot but this could be an adjustment I need to make. I will check into it before I vote but as is, right now, a solid 8 will be forthcoming.

Btw, the vocals are superb and the songwriting by Larry Goshorn is excellent.

 

[Which_One_Is_Pink]

LRB? All I hear is pure adult contemporary pop/rock. Maybe, their early work? I'll look into it. Great band that I've really come to appreciate over the past two decades.

Yeah the country influence was a little more more prevalent on the first 2 albums (listen to "Seine City" or "Sweet Old Fashioned Man" from "After Hours", with "Diamantina Cocktail" they started moving more towards Pablo Cruise Pop/Rock territory and reminding more of the rockier parts of the Eagles and Poco. And "First Under The Wire" was the last album I was familiar with where the change appears complete. Don't know much of what came after.

 

[quicksrt]

This is the first SACD I listened to out of my new batch of six DV titles. The performances, production, and quad mix job goes a long way here to please tough critics, and to satisfy for lack of hits on these albums.

My system is set up just a tad bright I've always felt, but this SACD sounds warm and perfectly balanced, and makes me thankful for the sound I got out of a limited budget and speakers that match in size but not make, or make but not model number. In other words not matched pairs at all.

This disc shows that I got lucky and surround sound is very cohesive with these speakers.

I'm leaning on 9 because of the demo disc qualities.

 

[John Svensson]

I'm in the same boat with Quicksrt, on My system, with all its mismatched speaker pair faults..... this is one of the nicest sounding m-ch SACDs I've had the pleasure to hear. There is a good variety of styles in the music I would conclude. Yes, that pesky pedal steel is in there to let you know there is a "country" element, something that I abhorred back in the day/decade, but I find it quite nice now in comparison to the schlepp pop that passes for country music now. In the 60-70's country music was at least "real", now it is get a guy/girl off the streets of Dallas, LA (name it..) move them to Nashville, plant a cowboy hat on them and teach them to sing with a drawl. Rant over....some great ballads and fast tempo songs, and a varied mix with the pedal steel, background vocals in the rears, etc. All with a high state of fidelity. Hard to beat it. Keep them coming Dave Z. and DV. Oh yeah, I was a 10 vote....but my girl says that I'm easy.:yikes

 

[quicksrt]

I'm saving the 10 ratings for discs that have material which is exceptionally stellar. The "Full Sail" album type of deal. This music does not hit that high watermark on each and every track. Some tracks perhaps yes.

 

[DuncanS]

I have heard these before (in stereo on good old vinyl many years ago) as I recognised a few tracks.

Music: There are some really good tracks, some Ok and some I'm not sure about. I think the albums miss original vocalist Craig Fuller's vocal talents, but good musicianship all round, and overall good Country-rock (I'm not the greatest fan of the pedal steel guitar though!). An 8.

Sound: The quality is great, a 9

Quad Mix: A really nice mix, instruments all around, a 9

So its an 8-9

NB: One of my favourite albums is Pure Prairie League's Bustin' Out, which if D-V put out in stereo (it never had a Quad mix as far as I know) I'd buy instantly!

 

[edisonbaggins]

NB: One of my favourite albums is Pure Prairie League's Bustin' Out, which if D-V put out in stereo (it never had a Quad mix as far as I know) I'd buy instantly!

Their self-titled is really good too.

 

[skherbeck]

The mixes on "Two Lane Highway" are excellent for the most part; very discrete and very clean sounding. The piano solo is pretty hot (loud) on "Pickin To Beat the Devil", though. The sound is not quite as "clean" on "If The Shoe Fits", but still discrete activity going on... I don't like the mix as much (the drums are kind of spread out everywhere and there are fewer discrete elements in the rears). Musically, I prefer the more "Rockin' Country" music of the first album to the "Country Rock" of the second. Overall a good disc with some excellent tunes/mixes (about half of these will make it to my surround playlist). 8. (For Country fans, this is probably a 9 or 10)