War – Why Can’t We Be Friends
Jefferson Starship – Spitfire
America – Hearts
Hot Tuna – America’s Choice
Playable on most home theater surround sound systems with a BluRay player
While music listening is more convenient than ever. Too often, we find ourselves playing tunes on our phone, tablet, laptop, or smart speaker – all devices not designed for high quality audio. Rhino Records’ Quadio series begs us to return to the fun of “active listening.” Many US homes have a home theater system with 5.1 surround sound. It was designed to play movies, but music can be just as enjoyable.
Quadio is Rhino’s own term for their reissues of long-forgotten, quadrophonic mixes of classic albums of the Seventies. Quadio means music coming out of all 4 satellite speakers. This is Batch #10, and it’s one of the best yet.
The reason? They’ve chosen a quartet of classic albums that really shine in the 4-speaker environment. Honestly? If I’m going to take the time to sit and just listen, it better be good. The real key is how much music is coming out of the back speakers. The answer here is? A LOT.
Why Can’t We Be Friends, the seventh studio album from War, is absolutely fabulous in Quadio. With seven proper musicians, plus guests, there’s so much going on here instrument-wise. You’re in total immersion from the very first song, “Don’t Let No One Get You Down,” as guitar starts back right, with percussion back left. As the song builds, you get totally washed in instruments all around you. “Lotus Blossom” has Rhodes piano and echoed guitar that just shimmer and bounce around the soundstage.
“Leroy’s Latin Lament” is a wonder. The suite starts with a heavily echoed piano that fills the speakers (front left to back right), while brush strokes on the drums bounce all around. Things really explode with the “La Fiesta” section, with percussion everywhere – there’s a party going on, and you are in the middle of it. Things calm down for “Lament,” with a lonely harmonica in the rear speakers.
While we tend to think of War for their upbeat, percussive music, Why Can’t We Be Friends has some gorgeous ballads too. “Smile Happy” is breathtaking, with harmonica, and then a trumpet solo. Their signature song, “Low Rider,” also shines here – with an isolated cowbell opening front left, with timbales back right. I’m hearing instrumentation that I’ve never noticed before.
Spitfire, the third album from Jefferson Starship, is a wild ride in Quadio. Track one, “Crusin,’” opens with a cowbell back left, and loud electric guitar back right, and never lets up, while “Dance with the Dragon” features piano and guitars in the back channels. “St. Charles” is absolutely gorgeous in 4 speakers – keyboards and guitars dance all around the soundscape while Marty Balin croons. Ditto for Balin’s ballad, “With Your Love,” – when the strings come in, they just envelope you.
“Song to the Sun / Ozymandias / Don’t Let it Rain,” one of the most ambitious songs in the band’s catalog, is dazzling here, with piano and synths in the back channels. They even give the drummer a chance to sing on “Big City.” The album closes with the surprisingly funky, “Love, Lovely Love.”
America’s Holiday album was one of the least exciting Quadio releases, with most of the music occupying the front speakers, but things are more than redeemed with Hearts. “Daisy Jane” does start with mostly music upfront, until the second verse when the strings come in, back right – wow. Then, acoustic guitars and background voices appear.
The instrumental passage in “Bell Tree” starts back right, then more strings show up back left. Beautiful. The vocal break in “People in the Valley” is stunning – worth the price of the disc by itself. “Woman Tonight,” definitely a step out of the band’s comfort zone, has guitars jumping around the soundscape. And of course, “Sister Golden Hair” sounds great in this format too, with the guitar lead in the rear speakers.
Hot Tuna – America’s Choice might seem like an odd addition here, since the offshoot of former members of Jefferson Airplane, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassady, didn’t really sell a ton of albums. But, let me tell you – this album is INSANE in Quadio.
I’m not kidding here – the drums and guitars constantly bounce left to right, and front to back, on every track (someone certainly had a lot of fun mixing this one). “Sleep Song” is surprisingly jangly, while “Funky #7” has all these crazy drum fills that are everywhere. When the psychedelic section happens, it’s dizzying. Robert Johnson’s “Walking Blues” features a slide solo that is crazy. “Invitation”’s guitar lead is everywhere – this is madness! “Hit Single #1” has an interesting instrumental section (despite the cheeky song title). “I Don’t Wanna Go” has guitars going right through your head.
Hot Tuna lacked a strong vocalist, and a lot of the songs are just okay. However, the wild way these tracks were mixed in quad, turns the so-so music into a rollercoaster ride. An incredible showcase of the Quadio format.
Now, more than ever, we are in need of an escape from the madness of the world. Let your home theater system add some of the magic of music back into your life. I can’t wait for the next Quadio batch from Rhino. Keep it up guys. —Tony Peters