arnold_layne
300 Club - QQ All-Star
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I gave it an 8. I've not heard the album before. The songs just didn't hold my attention. Perhaps I need to give it another listen this weekend with no distractions.
HiRez Poll Cooper, Alice - MUSCLE OF LOVE [SACD]
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wheeler98
300 Club - QQ All-Star
Teenage Lament was the only track to get any sort of air play....otherwise the music is somewhat mediocre on Muscle of Love.
Cyber 1
701 Club - QQ All-Star
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This is definitely indicative of certain Quad releases that I have heard before in comparison to 5.1 surround mixes of albums from that same era. Too much attention on panning and not enough attention on the processing and effects (EQ, compression, reverb, etc.)
This particular Quad SACD is not the worst in terms of fidelity, but it's certainly not the best either.
Could more have been done to improve its sonics? Maybe a little bit, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is as good as it gets for this particular album.
Nor the best in terms of content, though the packaging for the original Lp editions was very novel.
Barring future digital or whatever tweaking, this I think is as good as it gets, too. It just is not, IMO, a lot to brag about unlike, say, a quad SCHOOL'S OUT.
ED
Listening to this again tonight. I'm going to the gym late, like 10PM, and giving this a complete play before I go to juice up my energy.
I think that the sonics are very strong. The horn arrangements, and the piano, synth and acoustic guitars just sparkle in the mix beautifully. Very full of action so far as multi-track recording goes, but yet it's always a clear mix and never a congested or cramped space. Lots of subtle musical bits and pieces to seek out and enjoy. Sometimes a synth sounding element turns into a guitar part. Lots of spacey things going on in every song. Stoned 14 and 15 year olds, or mature listeners alike who enjoy picking apart the sound and finding really weird and odd instrumental parts to savor were catered to here.
For those that think this is a dull recording/mix I suggest a tip up of treble is all one need to do here. This being a less radio played album works to it's advantage at this later point in time. It sounds fresher to me.
I think that the sonics are very strong. The horn arrangements, and the piano, synth and acoustic guitars just sparkle in the mix beautifully. Very full of action so far as multi-track recording goes, but yet it's always a clear mix and never a congested or cramped space. Lots of subtle musical bits and pieces to seek out and enjoy. Sometimes a synth sounding element turns into a guitar part. Lots of spacey things going on in every song. Stoned 14 and 15 year olds, or mature listeners alike who enjoy picking apart the sound and finding really weird and odd instrumental parts to savor were catered to here.
For those that think this is a dull recording/mix I suggest a tip up of treble is all one need to do here. This being a less radio played album works to it's advantage at this later point in time. It sounds fresher to me.
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Tunes4theGoons
Member
Never been a huge fan of the original MOL album, but I am thinking that this remastering job was just flat out weak and thoroughly lack luster. Why??? imo, this is absolutely nothing like what SH typically does with respect to that warm simulated analog punch your lights out effect that so many of his discs shine with. I had to really turn this up just to hear it and the bass is practically non existent in the mix. The dynamics and separation are excellent as long as you CRANK your system way past where you typically have it set to, but isn't that the whole point of r-e-mastering audio? Why is MOL so limp in the audibility category?
SH is at his best with jazz, or vocal, and acoustic music. Hard rock is not his forte imo. But since he did the CD mastering on all those other A. Cooper albums for AF, there was no way he was not going to be doing this one.
Things often do seem to be slightly subtle here when they should really jump outta the speakers grab you by the neck and threaten to slam you against the wall.
Steve explained something not long ago, and that is for the people who want more sizzle (or a brighter presentation, there is nothing wrong with up'ing your treble to suit your taste and equipment. But this sizzle should not be built into the mastering.
I sense the same with the bass, it is not exactly pounding down the walls here. I owned the original vinyl and it had more of a dynamic sounding eq presentation.
But getting back to the MoL SACD, I think that it does need just a tip up of the treble and maybe the bass too depending on the listening system. Steve's mastering should provide a perfect middle ground where the tipped up tone controls would work out for everyone ideally. But it does appear here and on other rock albums that he has mastered that he is playing it safe, perhaps too safe. He likely went for perfecting those backing vocals rather than making the guitars and horns scream louder.
I still like this SACD alot, still a 10. But I understand and appreciate others' comments.
Daniel John
Senior Member
Huge AC fan here, especially when Alice Cooper was a band not just a guy with droopy eye shadow. In my view the first 6 albums are classic especially Easy Action, Love It To Death, Killer and School's Out. Billion Dollar Babies and Welcome to My Nightmare have their theatrical merits I think AC sort-of-jumped the shark at this point. By this time Alice was playing golf with Dean Martin. Muscle of Love brings the band back to the basics but the album is somewhat dis-jointed. Still some great tunes. Hard Hearted Alice is where things pickup on the SACD. Teenage Lament (with Liza Minnelli on backing vocals) is a fun tune and actually charted back in the day. Decent sonics overall, albeit I do hear slight distortion on Big Apple and Never Been Sold. Channel separation is good with piano and guitar (lead and rhythm) coming from rear surrounds. The quad mix is more on the bright side and you need turn up the volume to really appreciate what is going on here. Some cool gong/cymbal panning at the end of Man with the Golden Gun. Overall not a bad SACD. I gave it an "8".
I gave this a 10 - the quad mix sounds fantastic with great separation and its very much an under-rated Alice album, after the Alice Cooper Group hit their stride with Love It To Death they released 4 more great albums, this one maybe lacks the hit singles of Billion Dollar Babies and perhaps misses Bob Ezrin's production contributions but its a fine way for the band to end before Alice went solo .
gene
Active Member
Great quad mix. Material is really good to medoicre. Man WIth the Golden Gun really should have been used in the movie. Giving this an 8 overall
I'm a bit shocked, that a title of this stature doesn't have more votes. Does that mean, not many purchased this back then? Wow!!!
its way under rated for a Cooper release with the most successful lineup.
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Great material, good fidelity, good mix.....I voted a 9. A slam dunk if you dig Alice.
Is there a QQ member who is ready to sell their copy of Alice Cooper - Muscle of Love? Please PM me if you do.
There are copies for sale on Discogs but none are going cheap.
https://www.discogs.com/release/7843094-Alice-Cooper-Muscle-Of-Love
And, realistically, they shouldn't go cheap. Out of print, big title.
Got my copy today and rocking out. It was $80, but what can you do about a limited edition that’s out of print!
I can hope your sacrifice leads to a reprint.
I love that they did a James Bond theme song but delivered it too late. So they dropped it on the album.
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