Following a post from a fellow member in the Harry Nilsson Facebook Group today (Hi Kirt), I’ve added a new tag here called ‘Quad’ which stands for Quadraphonic or Quadradisc. There were (appropriately) four of Nilsson’s LPs offered as Quadraphonic releases and while you’d really need a quadraphonic system to full appreciate the mixes, playing these LPs on a standard stereo system still offers an interesting listening experience.
An in-depth explanation of Quadraphonic sound can be found online but roughly it’s about using four channels to reproduce signals independently of one another – kind of like surround sound. Kind of. When producing the Quad versions of Nilsson’s LP, it was used as an opportunity to play around a little with the mixes. In some cases alternate vocals and instrumentation being introduced. If you’ve never heard Nilsson’s Quad pressings, do yourself a favour and grab a copy if you can but beware of sellers who believe them to by hyper-rare and therefore deserving of exorbitant prices. They’re not and they’re not.