Quad LP/Tape Poll Taylor, James: Gorilla [CD-4/Q8/QR]

[steelydave]

Released in May 1975, Gorilla was one of Warner Bros. final quad releases and spawned the hit singles Mexico and How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).



Warner Bros. BS4 2866 [CD-4 LP] WB L9B 2866 [Q8] WSTQ 2866-QF [Dolby QR]
Discogs links: LP / Q8 / QR
Wiki page for the album: Gorilla

Side 1:

1. Mexico
2. Music
3. How Sweet It Is {To Be Loved By You)
4. Wandering
5. Gorilla
6. You Make it Easy

Side 2:

1. I Was a Fool to Care
2. Lighthouse
3. Angry Blues
4. Love Songs
5. Sarah Maria

 

[fredblue]

alongside the 4 x Doobies Quads this for me is one of Warner's absolute best Quads, its wonderful in every way!

Lee Herschberg gets a general mixing credit but as with so many Warner CD-4's there's no specific credit on the Quad LP but whoever did it, its an excellent mix, at turns subtle and active holding back or bursting forth right when it needs to and is very nicely balanced with all manner of delicate little touches popping up all over plus backing and harmony vocals nicely isolated in the Rears (thank you Carly, how sweet it is indeed!)

to top it all off, musically it is one of my favourite records of his, so i've no hesitation in awarding this prize-winning Gorilla a top score of "10" Snoody Bananas



(a footnote for any fellow CD-4 fiddlers, i've found the mix really helpful in fine tuning a demodulator, with many tracks having little or no lead vocals in the Rears, so if you knob-twiddle those out of existence, or at least leave whispy reverbed traces of them, you know you're all setup as well as you can get the system.. that said i've never been able to get rid of the fuzzy muffled very low level crud resembling faint radio static in the Rear channels for the track "Wandering", a track that has very very little going on in the Rears much of the time.. maybe my disc is knackered or i just reached the limits of my CD-4 setup, either way when i stop playing channel futzing and fully engage all 4 channels as Quad intended that fuzz disappears since the Fronts dominate the mix on that track and all is well with the world for a while! )

 

[sjcorne]

100% agree with @fredblue's review. This is one of my favorite WEA quad titles - it's approached almost like a CBS mix with the lead vocal and rhythm section upfront, backing vocals, guitars, etc in the rears. The standout track for me is "Lighthouse" - I love how clearly you can hear Crosby & Nash's harmonies in the rear channels. I've got a conversion of the quad reel that has some weird speed issues (most noticeable in "Mexico"), so I prefer to listen to my own copy of the CD-4 LP which sounds surprisingly good.

that said i've never been able to get rid of the fuzzy muffled very low level crud resembling faint radio static in the Rear channels for the track "Wandering", a track that has very very little going on in the Rears much of the time.. maybe my disc is knackered or i just reached the limits of my CD-4 setup

I just spun my copy and it has the same problem, but you don't really notice the "fuzz" unless you isolate the rears. I think the issue here is the limitations of the CD-4 system itself rather than shortcomings in our respective setups. On the reel, the rears are completely silent for the first 30-or-so seconds of that song. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it's possible to do a silent channel on an LP--quad or stereo--because of the Westrex 45/45 system.

"Wandering":

 

[JonUrban]

I can't believe after all these years that I never voted in this poll!

To me, this is the absolute GEM of the Warner Brothers Quadraphonic releases. Not only is this a great album 'all-the-way-through', it's has IMHO probably the finest quadraphonic mix ever put out by WEA in the '70s.

From the terrific Crosby-Nash vocals in the rears on "Mexico" and "Lighthouse", to Lowell George hiding in the rear speakers for "Angry Blues", Carly's harmonies on the hit "How Sweet it Is to be Loved By You", there are so many surprises and audio wonders to hear in pure quadraphonic glory in this one that is qualifies as a masterpiece.

Of all of the quad titles from the fantastic library of Warner/Reprise/Elektra/Asylum and other labels from that family, to me, this is the pinnacle of all them all.

My only hope is that one day the legal, monetary, lawyer-management jumble, or whatever is preventing this from being an official Quadio release (or even 4.0/Atmos) gets cleared up before I depart the Earth.

Of course, this album, be it on CD-4, Q8, or especially Q4, is an undoubted '10'.

A TEN