Insert whatever joke you want about the band here. Say what you want about the band members' round physiques, often cliche' ridden lyrics, or their Mountainesque screaming vocals. These guys knew how to put together some powerhouse riffs.
This album is BTO at their peak, and the quad mix rocks! One of the most impressive things that I noticed were the sound of the drums. They thunder from all around you. I know some people would say that's a bad thing, but this mix proves that the drums can be placed all around the listener and somehow still seem "natural". The closest comparison of drums with similar power and mix that I can think of are those found on Queen's "Night at the Opera" DVD-A.
This mix also really allows you to hear clearly, all of the many ingredients of chef Randy Bachman's guitar stew. From song to song, different guitar parts attack you from each of the four speakers.
The only real beef I have is the circular lead guitar panning during the end solo on "Second Hand". This was definitely a poor mix decision. It's very similar to some of the round and round guitar panning used on Santana's Abraxas quad mix (way too fast to be effective, and quite dizzying).
I think there may be a few other flaws but even still---like the band or not---this album ranks up high with some of the best quad rock mixes around.
