You may wonder why I'm such a Quad-head. After hearing Serenade in Quad, I ran out to buy Quadraphonic stereo equipment and went on a massive record-hunt (ongoing) to locate Quad albums. I have over 30 of them now.

So, what's the big deal? I'd say that it's the alternate versions of songs that keeps me going. Of course, most of the time, you wouldn't get anything as fascinating as an alternate take very often, but when you do... it makes the hunt worthwhile. Usually, Quad albums contain alternate stereo mixes, but do not alter the actual song itself.

I have written two articles about Serenade. But the description of what I hear in words can only go so far, so this page is devoted to letting you hear a segment of "Yes I Will" for yourselves, so you'll know why I went head over heels over Quad.
 

• Locate an .MP3 player and install it on your PC. This is software, available on the Internet, that allows you to play music and sound samples on your computer. You will need a minimum of a Pentium-class computer and a decent sound card.

• Locate your copy of Serenade on CD (Columbia CK 32919)

• FWD to Track #6 ("Yes I Will") and play the segment from 2:14-2:59 a few times. You will notice that 2:36-2:59 is an instrumental.

• Play the sound sample below. Make note that the segment from 0:22-0:45 (which was still in time index 2:36-2:59 on disc) is now a vocal. This is really the way that it sounds on the record. No post-production or computer .WAV manipulation or trickery was done. I left in the first few words of Verse #3 ("So it seems or so it may be") so first-time listeners can re-orient themselves as-to where they are in the song.

• Now that I've got your attention, you can now check out "Lady Magdelene". It's not as drastically different as "Yes I Will", but it is interesting for the lyric variant. Pull out your copy of Serenade on CD (Columbia CK 32919) again and play Track #3. The third verse, from 2:58-3:46 normally starts with "The man in between waits between the two". The quad version starts with "The man in between stands within the two", which adds a subtle difference to the meaning of the song.

• Like what you hear? Call up your local collectable record dealer and ask for Neil Diamond's Serenade in Quad!

This article is Copyright 1999, K.F. Louie. May not be reproduced without the written permission of the author.
Sound samples Copyright 1974,1975, CBS Inc. This sample is being used under the presumption of  "fair use". This was intended to provide information, and to foster discussion, not to provide cheap critters a means of getting music for "free", which is one of the reasons for dropping the sampling rate.
"Yes I Will" and "Lady Magdelene" written and performed by Neil Diamond.

Questions, Comments, discussions about the album, or Quad in general can be sent to me at:
ZMOQ
 

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