I recently listened to MFSL's remaster of Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run, and was less than impressed. To be honest, I wasn't expecting able to hear any difference at all, but it sounded horrible compared to the original version. All the horns felt like they had been reduced to background music, the rest sounded pretty good, but the horns being treated like this really ruined the whole thing for me.
Can someone who has listened to their Queen re-masters share their opinions? (preferably on each individual album.)
The Game, News Of the World,A Day At The Races, and
A Night At The Opera are those that have had MFSL releases, just to make that clear for those who don't know.
I had two.
A Night at the Opera had the track markers slightly off so if you programmed it you'd hear a bit of the next track starting at the end.. really annoyed me at the time to the point of either selling or returning mine as defective so I don't recall the quality aspect.
The Game was 10x better quality than the Hollywood 1991 version which I had to compare it with at the time, and the one thing which sticks in my mind was the ability to hear studio chatter at the beginning of Don't Try Suicide, when listening in headphones.
I have A Day At The Races, and it sounds good but I can't honestly tell any difference between it and the Hollywood version (and I had the vinyl/cassette as well).
As for other bands, I recall the MFSL of Pink Floyd's The Wall sounded great compared to the generic '80s Columbia CD (so much more bass), but the MFSL Dark Side Of The Moon didn't sound as good as my 20th anniversary disc. So it's sort of hit or miss.
And I doubt the gold the CD is made out of makes much difference in sound quality, it's just the way they mastered the discs.
I have all four.
The Game is definitely the best one of the bunch. A much sharper and more defined sound. The other three didn't overwhelm me anymore than any of the other versions I have on CD... (Hollywood, original UK releases)
Queen isn't really suited for these MSLF releases, I think. Now some of these Jethro Tull ones sound fantastic. My favorite one, though, has got to be the B.B. King Lucille one. But in so far as value, these discs hold their own quite well. Be glad you never returned it, because you can always get more than what you paid for it on ebay. MSFL The Wall CDs fetch well in excess of $100.
My only regret is I should have bought TWO copies of the The Wall, it was even more limited edition than other MFSL releases I think. Everything says "limited edition" though so I didn't believe it.
Would love to get the Jethro Tull ones...I recall one of my '90s JT remasters of either Aqualung or Thick As A Brick cuts off Ian's chuckle or sigh or both at the end...ruins the whole album!