Quad LP/Tape Poll Carmen, Eric: Eric Carmen [CD-4/Q8]

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Rate the Quadraphonic release of Eric Carmen - Eric Carmen

  • 6

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5: So-so

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

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  • 2

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  • 1: Bad Mix, Bad Sound, Bad Content

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    5

EMB

2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Since 2002/2003
Joined
Feb 8, 2004
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4,101
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The Top 40 Radio of My Mind
Carmen's 1975 Arista solo debut, one of a handful of Arista Quad's....

Side 1:

1. Sunrise
2. That's Rock 'N Roll
3. Never Gonna Fall In Love Again
4. All By Myself
5. Last Night

Side 2:

1. My Girl
2. Great Expectations
3. Everything
4. No Hard Feelings
5. On Broadway
 

Attachments

  • Eric Carmen QuadA.jpg
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I absolutely loved this album.
One of the brightest pop gems of the 70's.

This was a rare case: a major album that I came to know in quad first.
I had heard the two hits on FM, but my first experience really listening on a decent system was quad. Unfortunately, I think this initially caused me to give the quad mix more credit than it deserved.

Only a decade later in the CD era did I hear the stereo mix. On two tracks in particular -- Sunrise and On Broadway -- the differences are substantial. As usual, I think the stereo mixes are better -- but not by a wide margin. This may illustrate nothing more than the tendency to be faithful to the first version one hears.

Back to the quad -- it's Arista, and that means conservative. One reason: (too) late in the CD-4 game, labels discovered that less aggressive front-to-back separation resulted in less distortion. There's enough discreteness to satisfy on most tracks, but today I find the long instrumental break on All By Myself sounds almost like double stereo.

The real test: How does it compare to the CD through DolbyIIx? I also have the CD-4 and Q8 conversions.

Mostly, I prefer the CD.
 
I'm not a huge fan of Carmen's solo work; the Raspberries were more exciting and riveting, IMO. Here, he tends to sound too wimpy and whiny, and "All By Myself" is just a jackoff rip of Brian Wilson at his most self-pitying. But Wilson made self-pity sound enticing; Carmen wasn't that talented. This said, the Quad mix is a good(if predictable)one for the material. It's the material I've a problem with, though "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" is pretty decent.

ED :)
 
Well, I was never a fan of Eric's solo hits, because Arista A&R (and Top 40 radio) gravitated toward the whiny side of his balladeering. While I loved the Raspberries, I discounted Eric's solo work, perhaps unfairly. Although this album has two big AM hits on it, they are not the gems - "That's Rock & Roll" and "No Hard Feelings" are the real shining moments on this disc. Had Arista been really trying to boost Eric's Raspberries cred, they'd have promoted the hell out of these as well as the ballads, but they didn't. Opportunities lost :( The only cut I could really have done without, in context, is the remake of "On Broadway", done to much better effect by George Benson a year later.

That said, I gave it an 8. It probably stands as Eric's best solo album, with a very Raspberries feeling to most of the cuts. The sonics are fine, and the quad mix is good (not great).
 
My wife had forgotten the long version of "All By Myself" and so, with digital help ;), I treated her to the album...which she actually liked EXCEPT for the ponderous, overlong hit, which was indeed better in its edited single form (which she does remember, if not with fondness). "That's Rock 'N Roll" was a Shaun Cassidy hit a few years later (which she also remembered) and "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" is one of those hits pretty much ignored today in favor of the syrupy, obvious one. And there is more rock here than I'd remembered, so it was good to go back and relisten. Even so, one can hear what eventually hurt Carmen's solo career most of all: ballads he was simply incapable of making convincing. He aimed too high, I guess, got a few hits despite that, but couldn't keep up the magic the Raspberries had (solo Brian Wilson also similar in that regard, eh?)

ED :)
 
Had the opportunity to revisit this one lately. Very cool. Some strange choices in the placements, but it's definitely a great surround mix. Many tunes on here that most will know and recognize. "All By Myself", "That's Rock and Roll", "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again", "On Broadway"
 
I'm with Jon on this one. It was one of my CD 4 demos in the day. No, its not a swirling display, but its very creative. All the rear channel echo and the instrument placement, such as the solo guitar in That's Rock and Roll, and the way the drums echo to the rears. It was always one of my favorites. As to the material, I seem to be in a pop mood today just reviewing Burton Cummings a few minutes ago. I always loved this album. Its less raucous than the Raspberries (nothing to rival Go All the Way here) but I think he wrote as great a hook as anyone. And he's not as whiny as, say David Gates, so that's a step up. I give it a solid 9.
 
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