Seems like after a big build-up leading to it's release, there wasn't much activity here in the poll thread.
The album "From Mighty Oaks" was never a hit in the US, mostly an impulse purchase by big fans of the Moody Blues. I was one who purchased it back in the day, I think in fact when it hit the cutouts.
After listening to the LP, it grew on me, especially Side One. It really does sound like a Moody Blues album.
As for the LP being a "secret QS" release, I guess we can finally put that old rumor to rest. It's clearly a stereo only release, and probably the only reason the rumor started was because the title was in fact created with a quadraphonic mix. Why the BlueJays album made it out on Q8 and Q4 and not "From Mighty Oaks" probably had to do with initial sales.
So, back to this release. If you like the album, you'll love this box set. The alleged "5.1 mix" is really just the quadraphonic mix with some reverb or clone track at a very low volume in the Center and LFE tracks. You can see by looking at the 5.1 wav file below what I mean. You could mute the center and sub and have a fine listen. In fact, that's just what I did when I made a DVD-A for the car from this disc.
As for a vote, I would give it an 8. It's a good surround mix, vintage style. The music is good, and the source, unfortunately, is Dolby Digital. That drags it down a notch or two.
If you like the Moody Blues or are a fan of Ray Thomas, grab this one while you can still get it. It's worthy.
