Carly Simon: Carly Simon Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Carly Simon: Carly Simon Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 9, 2026

Note: The latest bunch of Quadio releases from Rhino feature three artists who have already had at least one previous Quadio release, namely Carly Simon, Randy Newman and Seals & Crofts, along with newcomer Mongo Santamaria.

It may have been You're So Vain, included on the previous Quadio releases of Carly Simon: No Secrets and Carly Simon: The Best of Carly Simon, that really catapulted this scion of a famous publishing family into the spotlight, but for anyone listening to radio the year before that iconic tune came out, the song that actually starts out that above linked greatest hits collection as well as this premiere album from Simon was an unforgettable introduction to a very distinctive voice (in every sense of that word). That song was of course the incredible That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be, a kind of bracingly "retro" anthem (at least vis a vis potential marriage in the post-hippie era of cohabitating). There's a palpable melancholy mixed with what might be called a definite upper (like way upper) class patrician sensibility running through that song that might comically be thought of as someone like a young and still unmarried Martha Stewart having become a singer songwriter and sharing her thoughts via music rather than recipes or home improvement suggestions. If the rest of Simon's debut album may arguably not be quite as visceral as its opening, it's still a remarkable set of songs with an unusually observant set of lyrics that instantly established Simon as a potent creative force.

The album's track list can be seen in the screenshots of the disc menu accompanying this review. See the video section below for information about navigating through the menu.

Carly Simon: Carly Simon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This is another Quadio release with a static menu. As usual, the track listing changes color depending on whether you scroll, chapter skip (which amounts to next track) or actually individually select tracks, and I've offered some examples of the different changes on tap. Unfortunately this is another audio Blu-ray from Rhino where you have to navigate through the tracks to get to the audio codecs to change those, and also unfortunately this is another case where the song starts over once a different codec is chosen. I'll just mention in passing this is one of the very few discs from Rhino or Warner Music Group I've reviewed where I actually had a bit of a struggle determining what the different colors meant and which choice had been opted for, especially with regard to the audio codec choices (I somewhat hilariously kept reselecting Quadio on repeated attempts to listen to the stereo version).

Carly Simon: Carly Simon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Carly Simon offers DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options. The quad mix is beautifully enveloping a lot of the time, with little touches like the high octave piano notes and gorgeous spare string accompaniment in That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be clearly engaging the rear channels (the string introduction is almost like getting a nice sonic embrace that slowly surrounds the listener). Some acoustic guitar accompaniment is also noticeably rear focused, as in Alone. Some of the more quasi-solo moments of songs like The Best Thing tend to be anchored in the front channels. The few more exuberant (if brief) uses of percussion, as in Dan, My Fling and The Love's Still Growing are frequently placed in the rear. There's very little of what might be called some of Simon's more raucous tendencies here, and so dynamic range may be just slightly limited by design.

Carly Simon: Carly Simon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As usual with the Quadio releases, there are no on disc supplements. An insert leaflet reproduces the album's lyrics and credits and also includes Quadio's standard photos of master tape boxes.

Carly Simon: Carly Simon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

You know when a record label really thinks you're a star? When they give you your own font for your name. Joking aside, this debut album from Carly Simon has one undisputed classic (the opening song), and some highly enjoyable other material, even if there's nothing approaching some of the kinetic energy of her later recordings. The four channel mix is very appealing and should be appreciated by Simon's fans. Recommended.