Only got to listen to this one last night, and all I can say is: wow! Superb fidelity and wide, discreet mixes. This Lp has been called one of the Holy Grails of Quad, and once you hear it, you'll understand why!
First of all, some background. Motown did very little quad, but what they did do was, to say the least, fascinating and often mind-blowing. But to understand why, one must go back to Berry Gordy's original concept of the 'Motown Sound,' which was, at first, singles-oriented and monaural sound. Then, as Motown grew and his acts became immensely popular, he not only accelerated the company's Lp catalog, but over the years, issued many albums in stereo that had originally been mono only. One of these, the Marvelettes' PLAYBOY Lp, was a revelation in stereo: all of it very obviously mixed from session multitracks, since the clarity and fidelity was remarkable! Not only that, but the compression and 'grunge' that made Motown singles special was gone, revealing in truth very professional sound and more than adequate equipment. This was proof that the 'Motown Sound' was adjustable and not necessarily what the final (singles or Lp) sound would be.
As anyone familiar with Marvin Gaye's quad mixes is well aware, the Motown Sound can be very nice when well mixed and balanced. In the '70s, Motown also issued a Supremes quad hits collection, but it had a major drawback: a lot of alternate takes. Hell, just about everything on it includes at least a portion of a take not used for the single or Lp versions, whether that be instrumentation, vocals, or both. It was obvious whoever compiled the comp had no interest in using the master takes and just wanted to mix *something* for quad, and it didn't really matter what as long as there were a lot of hit titles.
Listening to this J5 collection, though, indicates that much more care was put into these mixes, possibly because an actual, previously released compilation was being referenced. Even so, due to the complexities of remixing multitrack tapes, it's understandable that it was difficult to replicate the previously issued stereo mixes for quad, let alone the punchy mono mixes that sold millions of copies in the early '70s. For that reason, what one hears are certain things mixed down (if not entirely out); and of course isolated vocals and instrumentals previously buried in the mono and/or stereo mixes that are up close and personal in quad. The definition and clarity are phenomenal, the experience delightful, but even so, if you know this stuff in and out in mono and stereo, the quad mixes still stand out for all the stuff going on that was often obscured before.
A few major differences: "Sugar Daddy" is faded way too early, much earlier than the previously issued mono 45 and stereo Lp mixes. Not the first time that's happened, of course, but rather depressing, since one is so used to it going on longer. The other is "The Love You Save": although the mix is faithful to the single in composition, and the fade is fairly close to being right, there are little instrumental fills heard between the vocals on the previously issued versions that aren't heard here. It's a little strange to hear Michael keep going from lyric to lyric without those string and guitar breaks.
Beyond that, though--and to my surprise--for the major hits, the master takes seem to have been used. There are some vocal differences to be heard, but I found this less in Michael's lead vocals and more in the group's background singing, which was so often buried or blended together even in the more detailed stereo mixes. Here, you really notice the bk vocals isolated, which can be disconcerting. Fortunately, MJ's leads are up front and prominent, so it's only occasionally distracting.
But the Supremes collection this ain't, because here, as noted, the master takes were at least referenced, and so far, I haven't heard anything so radically different as the average Supremes quad cut could be. What the listener will find, though, is that much more went on in the recording of these classic gems as one would assume from hearing the original mono and stereo mixes, and the quad mixes bring out a lot of that business.
ED
