The Who – A Quick One

This reissue of A QUICK ONE sounds better than I've heard many of these songs sound before, particularly the epic final track. Solid stereo mix (with the exception of one song) and a clean, vivid, lively soundstage. Zero issues with my copy, the vinyl is flat, clean and quiet with no noticeable surface noise.

On a previous review of this release, a person complains about the "horrible digitally distorted mix" of SO SAD , but my copy doesn't have this problem... this song has a terrific sound, with huge bass... So I suppose there must be some defective copies here & there ?

I've been listening to this album for more than 40 years, I've listened to different UK, Japan & pressings, especially the nice 1980 Japanese Polydor reissue (side 2 of which has only one song in true stereo), and I finally thought that there would never be a perfect stereo release of this LP... but IMHO this one comes very close ! ... except for SEE MY WAY, which would have been better in true mono, instead of the fake stereo we got here. There is an odd distortion on one channel of the "engine driver" section of A QUICK ONE WHILE HE'S AWAY, but other stereo releases have the same defect... and hey, that's the Who in 1966, not DARK SIDE OF THE MOON !

I thoroughly enjoyed A Quick One. It's pop, it's quirky, it's early The Who. The 1/2 speed master sounded clear with a lot of separation throughout the instruments and vocals, except for Heat Wave, which sounded dull to me, absent of any kind of dynamics. Too bad Happy Jack, released as a single at the time, was not included on the initial release of A Quick One. What were they thinking? I'll have to pick up a later Happy Jack release.

According to the Who's website, this 2022 half-speed master has "‘See My Way’ . . . in fake stereo. It was never [mixed to] stereo, and the [original] 4-track is missing. Everything else [in the 2022, half-speed stereo] is true stereo." Someone asked if any issue of this Lp sounds good. The 1967 Decca vinyls (a mono & a stereo, both clean, nice looking) I have are both pretty crummy sounding records--the final EQ is simultaneously a bit thin and overmodulated sounding, but the mono is (relatively) better than the stereo. The mono tolerates the treble-heavy, "crishing" mix better, but it sounds overmodulated. The Decca stereo is mostly fake stereo. The "So Sad" on the 1967 stereo I have is real stereo, but most fans wouldn't call it a great example of the recording--but it may be the star of the Decca stereo Lp. Which tracks are real stereo on select pressings is apparently a lottery. The oddness of the Decca "A Quick One" is evident when compared to 1967's Decca (original) "Sell Out," which has a nice master, and a good, solid full-spectrum mix. Whoever mastered "Sell Out" was, I think, aware of how poorly "Happy Jack" was mastered. I rate the 2022 vinyl vers. as significantly better than the original vinyl versions, but still affected by some deficiencies of the original recording. The 1995 CD mix of "A Quick One" (the Lp + bonus tracks) beats the Decca Lp mixes, but that isn't tough to do--the CD remedied the hot, over-saturated qualities of the Decca vinyl, proving that the original recording was not terrible, but that something odd happened in the final mix/ master stages of the Decca Lps. "So Sad," e.g., on the 1995 CD sounds quite good; the 2022 Lp is better than the original Lps, which were harsh and over-modulated sounding.

Just a word of warning. This LP apparently uses the horrible digitally distorted mix of "So Sad " that showed up on the HDTracks 24 bit back in 2015. It sounds like software glitching out and is extremely distorted and horrible sounding. If you've heard what the song is really supposed to sound like (many people haven't) then you know it's wrong. Unfortunately several people fell asleep at the wheel here or are stone deaf because this never should've happened.

How can this be STEREO ? Oridinal was MONO !!! Something is not correct here ????

Not impressed with the basic die cut inner sleeve that will act like a razor blade and cut the vinyl to pieces , I'd replace it immediately if you want the vinyl to last . Brings this so called audiophile release down a notch . When will the record companies ever learn ?

I'm impressed with the stereo mastering for this release , considering I wasn't expecting it to be that good .
Slight non-fill on the pressing , but definitely worth buying .

i just got these from thewho.com today, from how i read this the disc was printed in & the sleeve in the netherlands, anyway great sounding half speed remaster here, i would say this sounds about as good as the 200 g lp copy of this i have had for a while now, the record itself sounds fantastic to just sum all of that up, i only feel for the price they could have done a better job replicating the laminated original 1966 sleeve............ outside of that!!! THIS IS AN ALL AROUND BEAUTIFUL RECORD!!! comes with the abbey road strip & certificate..........

Made In Is More Accurate Seven Eight Nine Ten.