Quad LP/Tape Poll Oldfield, Mike: Tubular Bells [CD-4/SQ/Q8]

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Rate Tubular Bells

  • 6

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5: So-So

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1: Suckdom Central

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    8

EMB

2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Since 2002/2003
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4,101
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The Top 40 Radio of My Mind
Virgin QD 13-105 (CD-4, USA) or QV-2001 (UK) from 1973. Also issued in Japan.

Side/Program 1:

Tubular Bells

Side/Program 2:

Tubular Bells


ED :)
 
Although my US CD-4 quad copy is a touch on the noisy side, the separation is pretty good and with a little tweaking, the dynamic range and overall feel acceptable if not up to the SACD (I remember the Q8 as just being a tad too hissy for my liking). That said, I've always been a little ambivalent about the music: there are some really strong passages on both sides, but some pretension, too, like Viv Stanshall's 'master of ceremonies' bit, although it IS a guilty and silly pleasure. I mean, the album is pretty much just a collection of mostly untitled pieces edited together, not compositions in a symphonic or thematic fashion (unlike, say, OMMADAWN, which remains a much better example of how to turn pastiches into a more wholly realized work).

ED :)
 
Wasn't there an edition that was fake quad?

Also some copies of the UK SQ (not in Boxed as far as I'm aware) ended with the sound of a model plane in a hangar.
 
Wasn't there an edition that was fake quad?

That's what Mike Oldfield has said about the original 'quad mix,' although I don't remember the CD-4 or Q8 of the '74 Virgin mix issued in America being fake in any way (though it certainly isn't in the quality ballpark of the SACD).

Also some copies of the UK SQ (not in Boxed as far as I'm aware) ended with the sound of a model plane in a hangar.

Presumably the original SQ mix. This title, obviously, has an odd and checkered history.

ED :)
 
That's what Mike Oldfield has said about the original 'quad mix,' although I don't remember the CD-4 or Q8 of the '74 Virgin mix issued in America being fake in any way (though it certainly isn't in the quality ballpark of the SACD).



Presumably the original SQ mix. This title, obviously, has an odd and checkered history.

ED :)

I've got the CD-4 vinyl and it is most definitely fake quad. Levels on the first side are much lower than the second, or any other vinyl in my collection. Very Weird! Air Plane recording at the end is the only reason I haven't thrown it in the trash! I've got the Boxed set, I'll have to give it a spin sometime soon, though I don't think it should include the airplane recordings.
 
Yeah, no airplanes on boxed. I had a standalone UK SQ of Tubular Bells which also had the plane noises at the end. I wonder if that edition was also fake quad. I don't have it anymore to check.
 
Aaaaah... I thought it was a chainsaw at the end! I only heard it once, while smoked up and seated in a quad chair at a party at my sister's boyfriend's place. It was an unexpected shock ending to an album I'd heard many times!
 
I like it but the production isn't that great. What is meant by fake quad just because the audio levels aren't as high as expected?

I love the Sailor's Hornpipe and the model airplane (yes, that's what it is) at the end.

Doug
 
OK anything Mike Oldfield gets very different reviews. I love his work and this is one of his best. But I certainly get people who disagree. I played it for my son about a year ago and he thought I was joking telling him how great it was. Now for the mix. I've heard the Q8 with the model airplane, which is totally in keeping with the whole Oldfield, Stanshall mentality of drunken comedy mixed in with the serious music. On the other hadn't, the mix blows. Call it fake quad? Whatever.
I have both the stand alone British SQ and Boxed. To my ears they are identical mix, although the ending is a bit different as I recall in terms of the material, but not the mix. I read at the time that the mix was created with an automated board that allowed for faster movement of location of tracks than if done by hand. Oldfield certainly had high end gear after the sales of Tubular Bells allowing him to do deluxe jobs with the subsequent mixes. Not sure if that is correct or not. And no airplane.
 
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