Ah, a review from the mid-2017s I'm making. One of my favourite bands/albums from the 70s.
What were once reference are now basic tracks.
My review is from the quad reel version converted to SACD. Here's my take, song-by-song:
Sweet Maxine - song rocks out, but there is great clarity in spots and muffled background vocals in others.
Neal's Fandango - nice to have the staccato parts of the bass in the rears (what a great great bass player Tiran Porter is), overall better clarity and good discrete mix.
Texas Lullaby - good mix/clarity. Like the way the acoustic guitar fills in during the bridge.
Music Man - Great bass again and Baxter shines here. Nice counter-guitar in the rears.
Salt Key Sequel Rag - Always loved the beautifully melodic and intricate acoustic instrumental breaks the Doobs put into their LPs. The acoustic guitars dance around the sound field nicely in this one.
Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me) - A good presentation but again, the background vocals seem to be drowned out rather than being highlighted in a dedicated channel or something. Same with the plucking of the violins during the bridge.
I Cheat the Hangman - One of my all time favs. So many elements. The moodiness, the build, the crescendo, the strong percussion, the vocals, the lyrics,... The background vocals are very legible here in the quiet segments but not when mixed with other sources. A bit of volume suppression of the guitar fills though (much more pronounced in stereo mix).
Precis - Another musical palette cleanser while being a full display of guitar talent.
Rainy Day Crossroad Blues - Another strong bass from Tiran, The Doobies are masters of the bridge and/or multiple song movements within a track. Just after 2 minutes, the song completely changes to a polar opposite presentation, a beautiful acoustic segment complimenting the first part of the song but sounding totally different from it.
I Been Workin' On You - A fun bit of funkish rock. A great B-side if it wasn't one. Background vocals a bit more intelligible but again (theme?) the engineer could have been more playful with isolating them. That said, I like the guitar solos in the rear
Double Dealin' Four Flusher - My favourite of the rockers. Fast-paced to say the least. Should've been a single. Again, great musical break mid-song.
Bottom line, I love the content, but I understand how subjective that can be. Overall, for a quad release, for the reasons I mentioned above, I give it a strong 7.
Best.