HiRez Poll America - HOLIDAY [Blu-Ray Audio]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this new reissue of the classic America album "Holiday."
Reissued on Blu-Ray Audio disc as part of Rhino Records' Quadio series, this release features the first release of the original Quadraphonic mix since the 1970s!

 

[dr. simple]

The voting scale says, “10: Terrific Content, Surround Mix, and Fidelity,” so I have to give this a 10. This was pure joy to listen to from beginning to end. Brilliant production. A tasteful quad mix that never leaves me wondering why the rears weren’t used more. The content is a matter of taste, but everything here holds up to the two hits. And the fidelity is brilliant!

 

[mandrix]

10 from me. I'm not a fan of all the songs, but they are familiar for many years. No complaints on the sound from me.

 

[Matt Wilson]

9
This is the third America album I have in surround, and they're all pretty good while not being brilliant. Keep 'em coming though, I say...

 

[ar surround]

Good soft rock overall with a few killer tracks. You can hear George Martin's influence all over this record. There is a horn section on one of the songs that really reminds me of For No One from Revolver. I prefer Homecoming and the self-titled album to this one; but this is still a solid album.

There are at least a couple of tracks where the quad mixes are "lazy." One in particular is Tin Man where there isn't much at all in the rears for good portions of the song. Here is the rip of the original:



So I messed with it a bit to get some guitar and lead vocal ambience in the rears. (I tacked on Miniature on the front to eliminate any playback gap.) It's more room filling and satisfying with this modification.



I give this quad a very solid 8.

 

[nikomen]

I prefer Homecoming and the self-titled album to this one; but this is still a solid album.

My favorites as well AR! Although George Martin's influence made America move forward with expanding instrumentation, I find the simplicity of triple acoustic guitars and three part harmonies of the first 2 albums the signature, and best sound that America ever had IMHO!

 

[jaybird100]

I gave it a 10. I have the CD-4 LP of this one, and I could never get it to sound right through the whole album. With this disc, I heard every note with shockingly good clarity. QUADIO RULES!!!

 

[key_wiz]

A "7" from me.

Unfortunately, America has never been more than a singles band for me. I LOVE all their hits, but most of their album cuts are weak, IMO, and this album is no exception. It was recorded very nicely -- nice George Martin/Geoff Emerick production -- and the tapes sound wonderful after all these years, but the quad mix is just so-so. Neither particularly discreet nor enveloping. It just seems to fall in the middle of those two with some tracks having more going on in the rears than others.

Not a disc I'm going to be going back to very often.

 

[ogrequad]

I think I'll go with an "8" for this one. This mix is definitely the most adventurous one out of this recent batch of Quadio discs, and I love some of the songs (especially "Tin Man"), but a little America goes a long way for me, and I usually get tired of their sound about halfway through every album I've heard. Still, this sounds wonderful!

 

[reidc]

I gave it a 6. Other than the 2 hits there was not much that I cared for music wise. The bigger thing though was the rear "drop outs" in the mix. It was fairly frustrating to be listening, when the rears would just go away. When they came back in- it was not a smooth transition.

 

[ar surround]

The bigger thing though was the rear "drop outs" in the mix. It was fairly frustrating to be listening, when the rears would just go away. When they came back in- it was not a smooth transition.

If you have the time, can you point out one or two instances of these "drop outs" without a smooth transition back in? As I noted above, Tin Man has large sections where there is simply nothing in the rears. But I didn't notice that the transitions back in were not smooth. Just curious.

 

[Quadmon]

If you have the time, can you point out one or two instances of these "drop outs" without a smooth transition back in? As I noted above, Tin Man has large sections where there is simply nothing in the rears. But I didn't notice that the transitions back in were not smooth. Just curious.

Seems like the disc is faithful to the original Q8. I’ve been listening to this tape for close to 50 years. I have always thought of it as a very fine quad mix. My discs are on the way. I’m happy with knowing these mixes are similar to the tapes I have listened to all these years. But I tend to be appreciative rather than critical of what I listen to.

 

[ar surround]

I’m happy with knowing these mixes are similar to the tapes I have listened to all these years. But I tend to be appreciative rather than critical of what I listen to.

So true. Old Chinese proverb: Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one.

 

[izgoblin]

I gave it an 8. Though I'm not a big America fan, I do like much of their early music. This album took a while to really suck me in, but it did eventually get there. I think this is a really well done disc. Great sound, great tone. If there is any problem at all, it's with the original mix which seems to supplement the sound with elements in the rears at most times rather than really surround you with music. However, this seems to lead up to make the last song, "In the Country", more of a climax. The rears are very active on this one, and it happens to be one of my favorite songs on the album, so to end it on such a high note was a nice touch. Previously I only had a cheap stereo LP copy of this album, but I'm happy to have this disc as my go-to copy of the album now instead. No complaints here. My deduction in points above are due to the generally front-heavy mix and the somewhat inconsistent quality of the songs on the album itself.

 

[gvl_guy]

Wow. I thought this disc was going to be amazing after hearing the first track, Miniature. But Tin Man, right after that, fell flat. The rears just disappeared. (Listen in the left rear at 2:06 into the song. I swear someone says "I think I'm going to pass out.")

I would call the surround mix "cute." Silly little sound effects in the rear. I expected more. Obviously, I don't blame Rhino on this...not their fault about the mix. Although not my favorite America album, it was still nice to listen to on Blu-ray, blowing away my CD-4 for fidelity. Am I happy they released this? Hell yeah!

I'll say a 7 because of how uncreative I found the mix. But I'd buy it again knowing all of it.

 

[Jim.olga]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this new reissue of the classic America album "Holiday."
Reissued on Blu-Ray Audio disc as part of Rhino Records' Quadio series, this release features the first release of the original Quadraphonic mix since the 1970s!

Please post your thoughts and comments on this new reissue of the classic America album "Holiday."
Reissued on Blu-Ray Audio disc as part of Rhino Records' Quadio series, this release features the first release of the original Quadraphonic mix since the 1970s!

Completly enjoying this America Quadio! It is sonically pleasant and engaging. Way better than the 8-track I wore out in high school. This was my go to album for relaxing when I was a teenager. I know many people only like a few of the songs. I like them all! My dream come true to gear this in quad!

 

[Freedesignfan]

Just listened to Holiday this afternoon. It gets a 8 from me. Not a weak song and very tasteful
surround mix.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

A 9 from me. A real improvement over my Q4 transfer. Have always liked the material. You can hear Sir George's imprint all over this stuff.

 

[Bill_in_Cle]

Is anyone having problems with this disc?

As is Standard Operating Procedure with Quadio discs when inserted, the quad program starts (and plays through OK on my disc).

When I use the remote of my Oppo 103 to move the 'cursor', the song title/selection color does not change (as it does for the other Quadio discs).

No matter what I try, I can't access the stereo tracks.

 

[dr. simple]

Is anyone having problems with this disc?

As is Standard Operating Procedure with Quadio discs when inserted, the quad program starts (and plays through OK on my disc).

When I use the remote of my Oppo 103 to move the 'cursor', the song title/selection color does not change (as it does for the other Quadio discs).

No matter what I try, I can't access the stereo tracks.

Hey Bill in Cleveland,

I hadn’t tried to access the stereo tracks until reading your post. I agree that moving the cursor doesn’t appear to change the color of the selection, but it does change from white to a light shade of grey... not very helpful, BUT when you select the audio stream the check mark disappears. If you select the quadio stream and move the cursor down one, you can select stereo.

Welcome to the forum.

Paul in Mansfield