Quad LP/Tape Poll Stevens, Cat: Foreigner [SQ/Q8]

[steelydave]

Released in July, 1973 at the height of A&M's commitment to quad, Foreigner saw Cat Stevens producing himself for the first time, and moving in a slightly more R&B direction. Notable for the 18-minute side-long Foreigner Suite, the album didn't receive favourable reviews at the time despite reaching #3 in the US charts and going gold. It yielded only one single, The Hurt, which barely scraped into the US Top 40.

The album features some fantastic American R&B musicians including drummer Bernard Purdie, guitarist Phil Upchurch, and the Tower of Power horn section.

Most of Cat Stevens early albums are fake quad, but this is one of the few that features a genuine discrete quad mix.



A&M QU-54391 [SQ LP] Q8-54391 [Q8]
Discogs links: LP / Q8

Quad mix done at A&M Studios, Hollywood by Marv Bornstein and engineered by Bart Chiate.


Side 1:

1. Foreigner Suite

Side 2:

1. The Hurt
2. How Many Times
3. Later
4. 100 I Dream

 

[sjcorne]

Just popped my Q8 in as I didn't remember much about this one. The "Foreigner Suite" is a really fun and engaging piece of music - it kept my attention for the entire 18-minute runtime. Supposedly Coldplay plagiarized a section of it for their hit "Viva La Vida"? I didn't notice any resemblance.

The quad mix is quite good as well - the rears usually carry the rhythm section (stereo drums!) and backing vocals, while Cat and the piano are upfront. One thing I will say is that if you want to hear this one properly, go for the Q8. Unlike at CBS, A&M's engineers didn't mix their quads to take advantage of the SQ matrix and as such the LPs decode rather poorly. I A/B'd the Q8 with the SQ LP through my Tate decoder and it's no contest. Going with an "8" overall.

 

[JonUrban]

According to some industry insiders I've communicated with, it was a horrible decision by A&M to let Marv Bornstein be the one to do the A&M quad mixes. Somewhere in the forum is a thread about this and his philosophy on creating a quad mix.

Needless to say, although this is one of the better A&Ms (on Q8 anyway), it's nothing to write home about, although I do like them music in "the Suite"

 

[sjcorne]

According to some industry insiders I've communicated with, it was a horrible decision by A&M to let Marv Bornstein be the one to do the A&M quad mixes. Somewhere in the forum is a thread about this and his philosophy on creating a quad mix.

I think Bornstein & Chiate were capable of doing a solid quad mix - The Carpenters' Now & Then, Joan Baez's Diamonds & Rust, and the three Rick Wakeman LPs are all pretty good. However, my personal favorite A&M quads happen to be the ones not done by them - Quincy Jones' Body Heat and You've Got It Bad Girl (mixed by Phil Schier) and Joan Baez's Come From The Shadows (mixed by Norbert Putnam).

 

[par4ken]

I've been ripping a lot of my vinyl lately and finally got around to this one. I have to say that once cleaned up it sounds damn good. Surround wise it was always a so so album, but decoded through the S&IC is sounds very discrete. "Foreigner Suite" was the side (track) that in the past, I seldom ever played but really enjoyed it. The mix has an openness/airiness to it with very discrete instrumentation across the back channels. That openness would be reduced/destroyed by any decoder employing fixed blend I'm sure. Lesser decoders don't do justice to this SQ mix. The Hurt is a tad better in the discrete version but not by all that much. I'm giving it an eight.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I only have a conversion of the Q8. It is the best quad Cat I've heard. The earlier A&M Cat stuff is even more ambient. Still, the quad conversion I have of Bull seems better than the stereo version. Maybe an artist for DV to consider for SACD release.

 

[sjcorne]

I only have a conversion of the Q8. It is the best quad Cat I've heard.

Buddha & The Chocolate Box is pretty good too, having been mixed by Robin Black (who did all the Jethro Tull quads). Those two would make a great Dutton two-fer if the 4-channel masters still exist.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Buddha & The Chocolate Box is pretty good too, having been mixed by Robin Black (who did all the Jethro Tull quads). Those two would make a great Dutton two-fer if the 4-channel masters still exist.

I'm not sure I have Buddha. I'll have to look.

 

[Bob Romano]

Don’t know how I missed this thread. This was one of the first Q8’s I got as a kid (coaxed my dad into buying it) but it’s my fave Cat album and I like the surround mix especially because of Foreigner Suite.