I'm still in the process of upgrading my Queen collection. I've gone from LPs to Cassettes and now to CDs. Used to be, you just chose the title and bought it. Simple. Now there are standard CDs, CDs with 'bonus material', and 'remastered special edition' CDs. And they're priced accordingly.
Take a look at this one album for example, and compare the prices - link link
Of course, my first thought is to save up and buy the remastered special editions, but there are so many and the pricing seems way out of line.
Opinion... Are the remastered albums worth it?
If so, why? Is the difference one I - as a non-musician - would hear and appreciate given the cost?
magicalfreddiemercury wrote:
Opinion... Are the remastered albums worth it?
If so, why? Is the difference one I - as a non-musician - would hear and appreciate given the cost?
Not at three times the cost, at least to my aurally-challenged ears.
The CDs with bonus tracks are just the 1991 Hollywood editions. Queen through The Miracle each featured a few bonus tracks per CD, and while most are unnessary remixes, there are a few nice b-sides or non-album tracks included. Sound wise, they still irritate the neighbors when I play 'em loud, so it's all good.
Really, if you want to upgrade, I'd suggest cruising ebay or used CD shops for the Hollywood Records versions, which can be found cheap. Otherwise, there are a few more intelligent members who can explain the differences among the various remasters, though I'm not sure they'd say that $40 a CD is worth it.
They still irritate the neighbors. lol
Thanks for the info Zeni. I do have a couple of albums with bonus tracks - like The Game with the rap remix of Dragon Attack. Talk about unnecessary.
I am curious why the remasters cost so much more, but I'm thinking I won't be splurging on them any time soon.
magicalfreddiemercury wrote: .
I am curious why the remasters cost so much more, but I'm thinking I won't be splurging on them any time soon.
Those are imports from Japan, which is notorious for costing so much. If you look around, you can probably find them a hair cheaper, but not that much.
There have always been alternate import versions of albums.. the difference is now they're easier to get and they're listed at sites such as those..
There's no easy answer as to whether they're worth the extra cost. The problem is that they vary in quality.
I personally think the Hollywood 1991 remasters are fine. A nice warm, vinyl-like sound.. except for 'The Game' which is somehow lacking.. I'd recommend a Japanese remaster for that one.. and the 2001 version is superb quality, as is 'News of the World'. Those are my two favorites of the Japanese 2001 editions.. which, to further confuse things, are also contained in the 2004 'card sleeve' or 'mini vinyl' versions.
Basically, the Japanese remasters are great for the analog recordings.. everything up thru 'Hot Space', except for 'Queen' which has a harsh tinny sound... the Hollywood version beats it by miles IMO.
Then the (2001 editions of)digitally mastered albums 'The Works' forward seem to suffer a bit from being re-equalized.. we did comparisons here a couple years ago and found that midrange was sorely lacking. 'Innuendo' is particularly bad and has the same harsh sound in places as 'Queen'.
I guess my recommendations would be:
- The Hollywood versions except for 'The Game'
- The Japanese versions except for 'Queen' and anything beyond 'Hot Space'
... if that helps.
of course, not forgetting the EMI digital remaster series of 1993/1994 - up to and including "The Miracle"....
I myself own a mix of these and the Hollywood ones (with 2 Japanese versions of Magic/Miracle).