Quad LP/Tape Poll Spinners: Spinners [CD-4/Q8/QR]

[steelydave]

The Detroit quintet's 1973 debut for Atlantic (their third as a group), produced by Philly soul legend Thom Bell and instrumental backing from MFSB and Don Renaldo's strings, the self-titled Spinners album spawned no less than three hit singles, I'll Be Around, One of a Kind (Love Affair) and Could it be I'm Falling in Love. The album marked the beginning of what is almost unanimously considered to be the start of their "golden period," a four album run of records (all helmed by Bell) that produced the majority of their most well-known music.



Atlantic QD 7256 [CD-4 LP] Atlantic QT 7256 [Q8] Atlantic ATLQ 7256-QR [QR]
Discogs links: LP / Q8 /QR
Wiki page for the album: Spinners

Quad mix by Thom Bell

Side 1

1. Just Can't Get You Out of My Mind
2. Just You and Me Baby
3. Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You
4. I Could Never (Repay Your Love)
5. I'll Be Around

Side 2

1. One of a Kind (Love Affair)
2. We Belong Together
3. Ghetto Child
4. How Could I Let You Get Away
5. Could It Be I'm Falling in Love

 

[Marcsten]

Hmmm no one? I think it warrants a response. As a kid in middle school, I fell in love with this album. I bought the single (45 rpm) of Could it Be I'm Falling in Love, and when I got into quad a couple of years later, I wanted the album. Alas, I was SQ only as I had a cheap system. A few years later, after getting CD 4 capability, I scored a perfect copy of this album. Happy days! Well, not so much. Like some others of the Atlantic QuadraDiscs, it is a tough tracking record. Even now with my much higher quality modern cartridge, there are a couple of tracks that scream with carrier distortion. The odd thing is others are very clean. Sad to say this is not the only Atlantic CD 4 I have had this experience with.
But the music? If you like this sort of 70s soul, and I certainly do, then this is for you. The songs are catchy, and slickly produced as well as discrete and thoughtfully mixed into quad. If not for the noise...
Music gets an 8; mix also an 8; execution in CD 4 , a 3. Overall, a 7.

 

[humprof]

I've listened to two iterations of QR conversion of this album, and as awesome as the converter's talents are, it took him a couple of tries to minimize some speed issues and equalize the sonics which, as @Marcsten remarked, are inconsistent--and I don't think that's just a function of a problematic CD-4. (Some tracks sound pristine & brilliant, others--mostly slow ballads?--comparatively overproduced & warbly.) Can't fault the content of this album, though. And if this was Thom Bell's one and only excursion into quad mixing, then he quit that sideline while he was ahead. Content 9, mix 8, sound 7 = 8.