I concur with the previous posts about this disc in general terms - the first half (the 'Exorcist' LP) is slightly better sounding and more discrete, but the whole thing is great sounding. I was really impressed with the low end on this disc as well, especially on the more upbeat tracks it packs a serious wallop. I suppose this disc would be filed under 'easy listening', but at least half of this disc is anything but.
Highlights for me were all the Lalo Schifrin tracks, Don Ellis' French Connection theme (surprised Ellis' Connection album from 1973 didn't get quad release, since Tears of Joy did), and Tubular Bells, which does that jazz thing where they start off with a pretty standard reading of the main theme and then go on a 2 minute fantastic jazz freakout before returning to the theme again at the end.
The musicianship throughout is top notch as well - not having heard any of Ray Davies other albums, I had some worries that this disc was going to be really schmaltzy, but it's not the case at all. The playing is superb throughout, and even aggressive at times. I'm a huge fan of 70's soundtrack music, especially anything that has a jazzy or funky element to it, so this stuff is right up my street, not to mention the fact that this kind of music is hugely under-represented in quad.
Also, I think it's worth noting how rare these Japanese CD-4 quad albums are. Not that it matters at all if you don't like the music, but the two Japanese CD-4's that comprise this disc are so difficult to find they make the Japanese Motown CD-4s look common by comparison. It's kinda crazy to think that for all the work that went in to creating, producing and manufacturing these albums, only about 6 people in Japan ever heard them in quad, until now. Amazing to be able to get these for 10 quid in master tape quality when if you ever managed to find them on ebay you'd probably out more than 10x that amount with no guarantee they'd even sound half as good.
