"Quadrophenia: The Director's Cut"--Reviews

So the 2-CD "Deluxe Edition" is just the remix with some demos added? If so, a lost opportunity(though, since it's cheaper, one I would be more likely to get)....

Evan

 

Upthread there are some posts about being able to purchase it complete as a download. I haven't looked into it in more detail but it seemed like another method of obtaining all the music (sans 5.1) for a small price.

 

Despite the drums being mostly confined to one channel in the original mix of Tommy compared with the remix, I now prefer the original mix heard on the SACD hybrid disc. The remix is too bright IMHO, but with a better stereo drum placement. The booklet and general presentation of the remix is much better however. Something about that particular shade of blue in the cover reminds me of the best of art deco, compared with the very blue of the hybrid disc cover (please excuse the highly technical descriptions there).

 

Drum placement varies on the original mix. Sometimes in one channel, other times centered.

I actually don't think the remix is too bright; if anything, some things sound a bit dull to me. I always felt that way about We're Not Gonna Take It.

 

Peter Townsend, please meet Steven Wilson.

 

OT re: Townshend's official releases of his demos for Tommy, I much prefer the centered mixes of PW and Christmas as heard in the Scoop series to the left/right mixes found on the deluxe SACD bonus disc.

 

I feel just the opposite.

The demos were 2-track recordings to begin with. The SACD presents them as-is (albeit with some added reverb). On Scoop one track is centered while the other is split left and right with delay. That means no real separation, and there's a doubling of the second track not present on the original demos.

 

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd hear anyone mention Quadrophenia in the same breath as MST3K. Two things I love but didn't think they'd ever have anything to link them together!

Just had to post that useless observation. Very cool to be on a forum where people are so passionate as music like Quad (my favorite album ever) yet also know about MST3k too.

 

You weren't asking me, but in my opinion the best living bass player for The Who, a guy that reminds me of JAE in his approach to playing "lead bass", very accomplished, lightning fast, unique tone, is Billy Sheehan (currently in Mr. Big). I was hoping he would get a call for the Who but I guess he didn't.

Not dissing Pino at all, but I think that Billy would have been a perfect fit for the recent live tours especially, perhaps creating a type of dynamic rhythm groove with Zak Starkey not too unlike the craziness of JAE & Moon back in the day.

Billy already knows probably every Who song anyways - Mr. Big have covered Who songs both live and on singles, and Billy & Mr. Big guitarist Paul Gilbert did several Who tribute concerts with Mike Portnoy on drums that were pretty awesome, IMO.

 

I read this before too and was wondering how this would be dealt with on the 5.1 mix. As it turns out, all Roger's vocals were in fact recorded dry. This is evidenced in the 5.1 mix; if you turn off all but the center speakers, you will hear Daltrey and Townsend's voices in their dry glories. So I don't know what was up with that story about Ron Nevison printing the reverb onto the vocal track. The center speaker proves that to be a myth.

I noticed too that if you turn up the center track a bit, you get a lot less of the "Roger in a cave" syndrome. I suspect that whoever mastered the 5.1 mix mistakenly set the center speaker at a lower level than what was originally intended.

 

I like the new version of the CD. I agree that it's like the '96, but slightly improved all around.

I really am not liking the DVD-Audio 5.1. There seems to be no benefit from the increased resolution that I can tell. In general, it is way too surround forward for me, and also very little center channel. (it's so far off that I'm actually going to re-check my calibration tonight to make sure that something hasn't gone wrong) The mix is great for sound effects, percussion, & acoustic guitar/piano, but the lead vocals & drums in the surround channel just don't sound right to me. Also, the bass tends to sound worse than the CD to me...not as smooth or lacking in bottom-end, for the most part.

I thought the Tommy 5.1 was interesting, so this one is definitely a disappointment for me. I will re-check my 5.1 setup & try out the 2-channel on the DVD later...

 

Wouldn't be the first time Roger was wrong. I think he said that the first few tracks from "Live At Hull" weren't repaired by flying in the bass from "Live At Leeds". WRONG!

 

The more I read about how disappointing the 5.1 mix is, the more it screams "rush job to get it out for the Christmas market."

 

I saw that Who tribute band (Amazing Journey) in New York. And Billy overplayed Entwistle's bass parts at the show I attended, playing a million notes a minute. You have to remember, Pete picked Pino and has said on more then one occasion that he's his favorite bass player. He even mentioned that he preferred John in the sixties when he wasn't quite as busy.

 

I haven't heard it yet, but it sounds like what I'd expect from who mixed it. That is to say, I doubt "rush" had anything to do with it.

 

It's not your set-up. It's got to be a mistake in the 5.1 mastering. You need to turn up the center channel in order to enjoy the 5.1 surround mix. Doing this also increases the bass on four tracks (Had Enough,Dr. Jimmy, the Rock, and Love Reign O'er Me) as the bass is isolated in the center channel along with the dry vocals. When doing this, the mix is much better.

 

On the old who Usenet group someone used to post as Crow T. Robot.

Despite this being the most important album of my late teen years as a couple of others have stated I'm glad there's Spotify to preview the demos. A few of the ones left off of the album really annoy the hell out of me. I'm glad I passed on this.

 

I recieved this yesterday from importcds, $113 shipped. Was not going to purchase it at first based on not having the full album in 5.1 but so glad I did.
The set is worth the price just for the Demos and the book!
If Pete wanted to flesh out some of the cuts witth added drums, so be it.
The Demo discs are fascinating.
If you want the untampered with tracks they can be easily accessed with trade groups or downloads.
The 5.1 EP is just a bonus.

If you're on the fence about getting this do it!
It will be soon be oop like Live at Leeds commanding big bucks.

* Hopefully Pete will release the whole album on 5.1 soon. Would be great if it was on SACD or Blu-Ray.

 

delete.

 

IMO the best argument for buying it now.

 

I don't know how true, to what extent, yadayadaya that is, but for the 1996 stereo remix of The Real Me, it is clearly evident and apparent - the vocal trail and echo makes hearing what is otherwise a pretty good mix of that song to be a distracting listen, for me, especially on headphones. You can hear it in the third verse in the original mix, but whether it be the mixing level the vocal is at, in combination with the mastering eq, and perhaps even source fidelity, it is much less of a 'problem' in the original mix. That same effect on the remixed vocal and 1996 mastered cd, on the other hand, is a negative, to my ears.

 

We've been posting some mix differences throughout this thread and in other threads too. I wanted to add that in I'm One, the first note(s) on the acoustic guitar - which sounds almost like something you might use as an introductory 'tuning' guide before you were to sing or use simply as a pitch cue - sounds like it has been omitted from the remix. It can be heard in the first 0.0-1.0 second in the original mix.

 

This seems to be the consensus so far about this set, which sounds good to me on the one hand and not so good on the other. The book and the demos (especially the ones without the newly overdubbed drums) are very appealing. In general, the demos with the overdubbed drums sound ok. The newly mastered cd's have been spoken well of - the 5.1 disc not so much. Thanks for posting your review.

 

I believe it is remastered as well, if that means anything to you.

 

For those interested, Quadrophenia is still available on 200g vinyl from www.themusic.com, at its original price of $50. I thought that Classic did a great job with all of the Who albums (other than the hits compilation), and this one is no exception. You have to put up with typical Classic Records quality issues (my copy has little scuffs all over the disc, which are generally inaudible, but irritating to look at).