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The Who - Quadrophenia (1973) [Classic Records 200g 2xLP-Set, Quiex SV-P] 24-bit/96kHz & CD-format

Posted By : aksman | Date : 29 Aug 2011 05:52:00 | Comments : 31 |
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The Who - Quadrophenia
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192kHz (presented in 24/96 & 16/44.1) | FLAC | m3u, cue & Tech Log
Artwork (by Doc Robert) | DR Analysis | 1.7 gb/560 mb incl. recovery | FSonic, FF & WU | Rock | 1973
Mastered from the the original analog master tapes by Chris Bellman @ Grundman Mastering, Hollwood
Classic Records 200g 2xLP-Set (Quiex SV-P) / Cat.#: Track/Classic Records 2657 013-200

If anyone tells you this isn’t the best Quadrophenia ever, and tries to sell you some “hot stamper” bullshit, tell him to fuck-off! Long live rock!
- Michael Fremer/musicangle.com



Pete Townshend’s sprawling second rock opera, issued in the fall of 1973, uses the troubled teenaged character Jimmy to elucidate adolescent coming of age issues generally and those of post WWII English kids (like the four members of The Who) specifically.
Set in London and the working class seaside resort town of Brighton, the story covers five days in young Mod Jimmy’s confused life as he confronts life’s disappointments, including his relationship with his parents, his girlfriend, his failed attempts to “fit in,” his supposed mental illness, his pill-dependence and ultimately, his disillusionment with his Mod hero Ace Face (played by Sting in the movie), who turns out to be a sellout, working as a bellboy at a Brighton hotel.
That Jimmy’s personality disorder involved four distinct characters, and there are four band members in The Who is not coincidental! At the end of the diary-like story summation found on the inner album jacket, Jimmy finds himself at the end of his rope standing on a bluff overlooking the ocean. He describes himself (and his “quadrophonic” four personalities) as “a tough guy, a helpless dancer,” “a romantic, is it me for a moment?” “A bloody lunatic, I’ll even carry your bags,” and “A beggar, a hypocrite, love reign o’er me.”
Townshend created a musical personality for each of them in the rock opera’s structure and each is interwoven and repeats, sometimes subtly, within the music’s ebb and flow. Daltrey’s theme is “Helpless,” Moon’s is “Bellboy,” Entwistle’s is “Is it Me?” and Townshend’s is “Love, Reign O’er Me.”
Unlike Tommy, which was written to be performed live, Quadrophenia is a complex studio production featuring more involved arrangements (including Chris Stainton on piano, repeating his Joe Cocker “Hitchock Railway” riffs) sound effects, deft mixing and song bridging that didn’t travel well when the band attempted to perform it live.
Because of the complexity of the production and in part because it was recorded in a new studio using “the latest” recording gear, Quadrophenia was a far more polished effort compared to Tommy but at the same time it lacked the earlier effort’s physical power and dynamic drive, with Keith Moon’s drumming pushed further back in the mix and lacking the visceral, skin pounding power found on Tommy.
For some reason, the original The Mastering Lab (TML) mastering on both the UK Track and American MCA originals by George Jones was not up to the usual high standards that came out of Doug Sax’s facility (Townshend used the California mastering studio extensively). It was good, (with the UK plating and pressing, of course yielding better results), but lacked focus, clarity of line and worst of all, solidity. Instead it was diffuse and somewhat bloated, perhaps in a misguided attempt to put the “meat” back in that was missing from the somewhat harmonically sterile, but well-organized (probably all solid-state) recording.
Like Bob Ludwig’s excellent 1996 double CD mastering, Chris Bellman’s new all-analogue edition strives for and achieves stupendous clarity and focus, while not trying to “re-write history” by putting in what’s not there in the first place (not that the CD comes close to the new double LP’s transparency, three dimensionality and visceral power).
When “I Am The Sea” ends, you’ll feel like stopping the record and wiping the salt water off your speakers! This Classic Records reissue is easily the best Quadrophenia ever released: better than either the UK or American original, and better than the Sony/CBS’ Japanese “Rock Best 100” edition (40AP 1259-60), which now sounds somewhat distant and lacking in the transparency and spaciousness this latest mastering delivers with great authority (however, it’s still damn good and better than the 1996 CD). Interestingly, the Japanese ¾ sized booklet attributes the original mastering to Arnie Acosta at TML. Hmm.

For your money, Classic gives you an utterly faithful, beautifully produced gatefold jacket and full-sized booklet heroically manufactured by Stoughton Printing, a modern-day Garrod and Lofthouse (the original UK edition was printed by Euro-Albums in Holland) that does gorgeous printing on stock that’s as close to the original as is humanely possible.
Classic’s new Quiex SV-P 200g “flat profile, but lipped” vinyl is dead quiet and flat (at least my sealed copy was and so far I’ve gotten no email complaints) so hopefully moving forward we’ll get perfection from Classic.
If anyone tells you this isn’t the best Quadrophenia ever, and tries to sell you some “hot stamper” bullshit, tell him to fuck-off! Long live rock!





Track listing

All songs written by Pete Townshend.
    Side one

    "I Am the Sea" – 2:08
    "The Real Me" – 3:20
    "Quadrophenia" – 6:13
    "Cut My Hair" – 3:44
    "The Punk and the Godfather" – 5:10

    Side two

    "I'm One" – 2:37
    "The Dirty Jobs" – 4:28
    "Helpless Dancer" (Roger's theme) – 2:33
    "Is It in My Head" – 3:43
    "I've Had Enough" – 6:14

    Side three

    "5:15" – 5:00
    "Sea and Sand" – 5:01
    "Drowned" – 5:26
    "Bell Boy" (Keith's theme) – 4:55

    Side four


    "Doctor Jimmy" (John's theme) – 8:36
    "The Rock" – 6:37
    "Love, Reign O'er Me" (Pete's theme) – 5:48

Personnel
    The Who

    Roger Daltrey – lead vocals
    Pete Townshend – guitars, backing vocals, synthesisers, piano, banjo, sound effects, co-lead vocals on "Cut My Hair", "The Punk and the Godfather", "I've Had Enough", "5:15", and "Sea and Sand", lead vocals on "I'm One", pre-production, special effects
    John Entwistle – bass guitar, horns, backing vocals, vocal solo on "Is It in My Head?"
    Keith Moon – drums, percussion, lead vocals on "Bell Boy"

    Additional musicians

    John Curle – newsreader voice
    Chris Stainton – piano on "The Dirty Jobs", "Helpless Dancer", "5:15", and "Drowned"

    Production

    Ron Fawcus – mixing continuity, engineering assistance
    Rod Houison – special effects
    Graham Hughes – front cover design and photography
    Pete Kameron – executive producer
    Bob Ludwig – remastering
    Ron Nevison – engineer, special effects
    Ethan Russell – art direction, insert photography
    Chris Stamp – executive producer

Dynamic Range Analysis

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: The Who / Quadrophenia [Classic Records 200g DoLP]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR15 -3.91 dB -26.50 dB 2:07 01-I Am the Sea
DR12 -2.55 dB -16.96 dB 3:21 02-The Real Me
DR13 -0.51 dB -18.65 dB 6:13 03-Quadrophenia
DR13 -3.04 dB -19.08 dB 3:45 04-Cut My Hair
DR13 -2.50 dB -19.00 dB 5:12 05-The Punk and the Godfather
DR13 -2.52 dB -19.58 dB 2:38 06-I'm One
DR12 -1.24 dB -16.75 dB 4:28 07-The Dirty Jobs
DR12 -4.40 dB -20.08 dB 2:34 08-Helpless Dancer
DR13 -1.62 dB -17.90 dB 3:44 09-Is It in My Head
DR12 -1.75 dB -18.00 dB 6:16 10-I've Had Enough
DR13 -1.55 dB -17.17 dB 5:01 11-5:15
DR14 -0.73 dB -17.81 dB 5:04 12-Sea and Sand
DR15 -1.82 dB -19.13 dB 5:26 13-Drowned
DR13 -3.44 dB -19.26 dB 4:57 14-Bell Boy
DR13 -1.00 dB -17.52 dB 8:36 15-Doctor Jimmy
DR15 -2.16 dB -19.74 dB 6:38 16-The Rock
DR12 -3.94 dB -18.63 dB 5:49 17-Love, Reign O'er Me
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 17
Maximum peak difference (-0.51 dB - -4.40 dB): 3.89 dB

Official DR value (Song Mode): DR13
================================================================================


Technical Log

RCM Hannl 'limited' with "Rotating Brush"
Music Hall MMF 9.1 Turntable
Tonearm: Pro-Ject 9cc evo with Pure Silver Wires
Cartridge: Nagaoka MP-500
Brocksieper Phonomax (Tube Phono PreAmp)
E-MU 0404 external USB 2.0 Audiointerface
Interconnections : Silent Wire NF5
WaveLab 6 recording software
iZotope RX Advanced 2.00 for resampling and dithering

Vacuum cleaning > TT > Brocksieper Phonomax > E-MU 0404 > WaveLab 6 (24/192) > manual click removal >
analyze (no clipping, no DC Bias offset) > converted to 24/96 (16/44.1) with iZotope RX Advanced 2.00
> split into individual Tracks > FLAC encoded (Vers. 1.21)

No silence been removed, please burn gapless to match original tracklayout.


Personal Note

With my vinyl transfers, I try to catch the whole beauty of vinyl records; therefore I don't use any post-processing or any sound improvement. What you get is a clear and flat transfer. For getting a clear sound, I'll do an extended washing of each record with my RCM, which can take up to 30 minutes brushing on each side. Resistant ticks and clicks I try to remove as good as possible, but the priority is not to lose any musical information in the process. Surface noises, as long they are not too high, are left in place. Only on bad pressings or on records recorded at extremely low levels do I use a fade in-/-out. As John Peel said, "Life is full of surface noises." In some cases this means that I have to make a compromise.... The result has to pass my personal quality criteria, which is IMO quite high.



All files are inside the folders.
High resoulution files are marked as "hr", CD-compatible files as "rb".
Artwork, provided by Doc Robert, included. Thx, my friend!


The files are interchangeable!!!

Hope you enjoy!!!

Check my blog for more audiophile stuff.


Links: (Filesonic) Folder

Links: (Filefactory) Folder

Links: (WUpload) Folder

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Posted By: 86ed Date: 29 Aug 2011 06:14:01
I have no idea what to expect here, it's my favorite Who album bar none, and Doc made such a killer rip of it already, I don't find his lacking in any way, but will check it out all the same... madness! Thanks!
Posted By: aksman Date: 29 Aug 2011 06:21:00
@ 86ed
Doc's wonderful was made with his old rig (old tonearm & Ortofon black). Therefore a new rip was often requested which should fulfilled now.
Posted By: LX66 Date: 29 Aug 2011 06:40:15
Very strange even mysterious coincidence! Right now I'm listening to Doc's rip of Quadrophenia and enjoing it highly. What a rip!! I thought and then I saw this new one from Aksman!! Will check the difference for sure! Thanks Aksman and Doc!
Posted By: rokosh Date: 29 Aug 2011 06:50:28
Wow, what a great start to a very wet and gloomy Monday- thanks a bunch!
Posted By: zoan06 Date: 29 Aug 2011 07:22:04
I wasn't sure about downloading this. After all, I already had PBTHAL's excellent rip from the original UK first pressing. But wanting to be open minded, and since this is one of my "birthday" albums (was born in November 1973), I downloaded and took a listen.

WOW... just... WOW. This rip is just amazing on all levels. Clear, crisp, and very balanced... you actually feel like you're in the album, especially listening through headphones.

Thanks for this. If all albums could be mastered and pressed this well... it would be a game changer.
Posted By: stallion88 Date: 29 Aug 2011 08:19:00
Thank you very much, aksman & Doc!
Posted By: Miltiades Date: 29 Aug 2011 08:28:58
Great - it's my favorite Who-album bar none too!
Many, many thanks for You both :-)
Posted By: yerbas07 Date: 29 Aug 2011 09:28:00
Muy agradecido, nuevamente.
Posted By: jpics Date: 29 Aug 2011 09:35:18
Thanks aksman
Posted By: LX66 Date: 29 Aug 2011 10:12:56
Damn, I thought I was ill considering the Who's Quadrophenia is the best Who's LP!! Seems I was OK, Quadrophenia is the the best!
Posted By: Nick Cave Date: 29 Aug 2011 10:58:27
Muchisimas Gracias aksman, Saludos Afectuosos !!
Posted By: ANSAPA2009 Date: 29 Aug 2011 11:14:43
The demand for better quality justifies everything

Thanks aksman
Posted By: jconde5 Date: 29 Aug 2011 13:11:54
thank you so much. do you think you will put out a full 192khz version?
Posted By: fredists Date: 29 Aug 2011 14:34:55
Thanks! Liked the difference between Tommy Uk track and classic, may check this one as everyone seems to praise it!
Posted By: neotwinkie Date: 29 Aug 2011 14:55:00
THANK YOU!! At LONG last a rip of this where the sibilance isn't all dry and static-y! (Is there a more technical term for this?) Beautiful work.
Posted By: Planxty Date: 29 Aug 2011 15:40:05
Thanks a million
Posted By: Narayan23 Date: 29 Aug 2011 15:57:39
Thanks a million!!
Posted By: yerbas07 Date: 29 Aug 2011 16:18:28
Have you applied the tool 'spectral repair' in this job? Why? Have you worked on a new vinyl?, I think you should warn the state of the vinyl used to make the publication.
Posted By: aksman Date: 29 Aug 2011 16:43:01
@ yerbas07
If you read the technical log careful you would have noticed that I only made manual click removal with Wavelab... I use Spectral Repair only to remove minor distortions (not present on this records). This record is a nearly perfect pressing, flat, centered and virtually without clicks (maybe I removed 3 or 4). An easy job on this one, which happens rarely (even on brand new records).
Posted By: MusicLoverMan Date: 29 Aug 2011 18:49:06
Great!
Thank You!
Posted By: Lizard_King Date: 29 Aug 2011 19:14:02
Thank you so much!
Posted By: jorgeluiz Date: 29 Aug 2011 22:02:51
aksman, you're full of grace and good will, dear friend.
Thank you so much for another gem. :-)
Posted By: perlerorneq69 Date: 30 Aug 2011 00:29:02
Thank you for posting this...you're very generous!! :)
Posted By: TreeFrog Date: 30 Aug 2011 17:45:49
Phenomenal definition and rich sound! Thought I knew Quadrophenia well, but now even better.

Many thanks!!
Posted By: appreciative Date: 03 Sep 2011 04:03:07
Wow, very nice! Thanks!
Posted By: ViperX10 Date: 06 Sep 2011 06:39:19
Excellent, thank you!!!
Posted By: dazedcat Date: 07 Sep 2011 22:59:01
Thanks aksman. This is the best sounding Quad that I've ever had the pleasure to listen to and I've listened to more versions than I care to admit to. This blows any CD digital version away totally. Thanks again, very much.

Posted By: EDTOPIA Date: 05 Oct 2011 22:49:35
Bravo!
Gracias
Posted By: martwwa Date: 18 Nov 2011 20:41:57
Who Kids - do yourselves a favour: dump the overrated 'Who's Next' into the closest rubbish bin, pop your headcans on & listen to this, The Who's real masterpiece. A band utterly at the peak of their musicianship & creativity. A masterpiece! (There, I've said it again!) Many, MANY thanks for this, Aksman!
ps. Actually my opening comment was slightly tongue-in-cheek - 'Who's Next' is ok, but is not even close to Quadrophenia when it really comes down to it - IMHO, of course! :o)
Posted By: Killroy Date: 10 Feb 2012 07:42:16
I have Doc's already...Just wondering if this is just as good or better? Thanks!
Posted By: lobo85 Date: 15 May 2012 19:23:23
Your description says that the vinyl rip is 24-bit/192kHz though I know your distributing them as 24/96 I was wondering if you had the 24-bit/192kHz files and if possible could upload them as well.
I am able to play them by putting the sound through my computers HDMI out port to my receiver and itunes does support the playback of such files.... You just can't synch them to your ipod :P
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