| Soundfreak 17.03.2011 06:59 |
Where is Light there is usually shadow. And after the real great work on Queen 2 and to a degree also on "A Day at the Races" today I listened to "Sheer Heart Attack". I was always quite happy with the sound of this album both on vinyl and cd, I have the Hollywood version with the strange edit in "In the lap of the Gods". Anyway, I wondered, how they could improve this. And obviously they couldn't. In fact it sounds even worse. Basically compared to the Hollywood remaster the Island version is 3 dB louder, has less treble, more bass and they lifted the range around 1 Khz. That leads to a somehow muddy sound losing many details. It's even noticable without a direct comparison in "In the Lap of the Gods...revisited", which sounds strangely liveless, it has lost a certain brilliance and dynamic. Also the bonus tracks are a mixed bag. The acapella mix of "Leroy Brown" is maybe interesting once but has no lasting value. Of interest are only "Flick of the Wrist" and "Tenement Funster". Sadly the booklet gives no clue what we are actually hearing. They are labelled "BBC Sessions" but what we hear are the regular identic studio versions with a slightly alternate voice and a different guitar solo on "Flick of the Wrist". This take sounds more like an alternate original studio recording rather than anything recorded at the BBC. In case of Roger Taylors "Tenement Funster" it's more likely that they took a playback to the BBC and Roger added a new vocal, as the sound of his voice recording is totally different and really doesn't connect with the rest. It's nice to have these two long lost gems in brilliant quality. But this is the only real plus of this set. Earlier cds are superior, so I stick with my Hollywood version - even if there is this weird edit in one song. |
| Rick 17.03.2011 09:26 |
I agree. SHA is the worst of the five remasters. |
| pittrek 17.03.2011 13:09 |
Of interest are only "Flick of the Wrist" and "Tenement Funster". Sadly the booklet gives no clue what we are actually hearing. They are labelled "BBC Sessions" but what we hear are the regular identic studio versions with a slightly alternate voice and a different guitar solo on "Flick of the Wrist". This take sounds more like an alternate original studio recording rather than anything recorded at the BBC. In case of Roger Taylors "Tenement Funster" it's more likely that they took a playback to the BBC and Roger added a new vocal, as the sound of his voice recording is totally different and really doesn't connect with the rest.Well but that's what the BBC session were, or ? I always thought that these sessions were basically remixes of the studio tracks. In other words, the band took the multitrack masters, created a new stereo mix , added new guitar here, and new vocals there and that's what was aired on BBC Radio. At least that's the way I understood Brian's words. The SHA session was always the most similar to the album takes. |
| The Real Wizard 17.03.2011 13:27 |
Yes and no. Sessions 1 and 4 used the same backing tracks as the recorded versions, and sessions 3, 4 and 6 are all different (minus The March Of The Black Queen and the stomp-stomp-clap of WWRY). Session 2 is half and half. |
| pittrek 17.03.2011 13:34 |
Well session 6 of course has a "LIVE" feeling. Session 3 and 4 are also notably different, and session 5 is almost identical to the album. |
| The Real Wizard 17.03.2011 14:05 |
Yeah, very true. Session 6 does sound like they're in the living room doing a live take. |
| philip storey 18.03.2011 13:43 |
Moan,moan,moan,blah,blah,blah!!! I like the remasters,if you don't sod you!! |
| Goodoldfashionedloverboy 18.03.2011 14:02 |
For someone long awaited for someone became a disappointment. But we can not accept that it's better than nothing. |
| advanced159 18.03.2011 14:54 |
link Bring Back That Leroy Brown A Capella ......this is great :) |
| masterstroke_84 18.03.2011 20:43 |
The piano from Seven seas of rhye can be heard at the end of Lap of the gods in the bonus EP. That is terrible. AWFUL. WHY?? ........... |
| 4 x Vision 19.03.2011 20:20 |
I really think BBTLB bonus acapella really shows how great Queen were with harmonies. So many fantastic layers that I hadn't ever recognised being there before. They really were perfectionists weren't they? Just makes you really upset that dvd-as weren't made of every album!!! As for deluxe set... I do think it's on par with the others. But, my preference is still with the Japanese remasters. The bonus songs here are great. Not sure if I like the crazy sounding solo yet of FOTW... but as for sound quality they've cleaned them up nicely imo. ITLOTG from Wembley though??? WTF were they thinking... Hyde Park version would have really worked better as an extra surely? (I love that version so bit biased towards it). |
| AlexRocks 20.03.2011 10:06 |
Lol! D.V.D.-Audio?!! That format died a decade ago! Boy are you out of touch! "Why don't they put it on eight track or cassette?! Wiiiine." If you want the archives opened and the big enchilada then you use Blu-Ray as a format and make each studio l.p. into equivalent of a massive box set like the Freddie Mercury "Solo Collection" from the year 2000. Just use as few discs as possible since a Blu-Ray disc can hold such a large amount of film and audio... |
| Soundfreak 20.03.2011 12:06 |
No one knows at the moment, what will be the next "big" thing. It's not certain, that Blue Ray will really become a replacement for DVD and/or CD. Last year some expert told me that "Blue Ray Audio" is the next big thing - but so far nothing has happened. It may well end like SACD or DVD Audio..... The big problem of all these systems is that unlike CDs they are too difficult and complicated to handle. When I want to hear music, I want to switch one knob and then it has to play. With all those new media you have to wait for minutes, until the player recognizes the media, in most cases you have to switch on a tv screen to choose the audio format and then you may finally start the tracks.... You can't use them in a portable player or in your car...so it's maybe fun for specialists but not for average listeners. |
| Rick 21.03.2011 04:01 |
4 x Vision wrote: ITLOTG from Wembley though??? WTF were they thinking... Hyde Park version would have really worked better as an extra surely? (I love that version so bit biased towards it). --------------------- This is called laziness. Why on earth feature a 1986 concert when they want to emphasise the years 1973-1976? The same goes for the MK concert. It's ridiculous. |
| spaceboy1972 27.03.2011 17:49 |
Soundfreak wrote: Where is Light there is usually shadow. And after the real great work on Queen 2 and to a degree also on "A Day at the Races" today I listened to "Sheer Heart Attack". I was always quite happy with the sound of this album both on vinyl and cd, I have the Hollywood version with the strange edit in "In the lap of the Gods". Anyway, I wondered, how they could improve this. And obviously they couldn't. In fact it sounds even worse. Basically compared to the Hollywood remaster the Island version is 3 dB louder, has less treble, more bass and they lifted the range around 1 Khz. That leads to a somehow muddy sound losing many details. It's even noticable without a direct comparison in "In the Lap of the Gods...revisited", which sounds strangely liveless, it has lost a certain brilliance and dynamic. Also the bonus tracks are a mixed bag. The acapella mix of "Leroy Brown" is maybe interesting once but has no lasting value. Of interest are only "Flick of the Wrist" and "Tenement Funster". Sadly the booklet gives no clue what we are actually hearing. They are labelled "BBC Sessions" but what we hear are the regular identic studio versions with a slightly alternate voice and a different guitar solo on "Flick of the Wrist". This take sounds more like an alternate original studio recording rather than anything recorded at the BBC. In case of Roger Taylors "Tenement Funster" it's more likely that they took a playback to the BBC and Roger added a new vocal, as the sound of his voice recording is totally different and really doesn't connect with the rest. It's nice to have these two long lost gems in brilliant quality. But this is the only real plus of this set. Earlier cds are superior, so I stick with my Hollywood version - even if there is this weird edit in one song. Ouch - that edit is terrible - it takes about 4 seconds out of the song! I'll stick with my Parlophone copy thanks! |
| rocknrolllover 20.04.2013 04:10 |
some notes Brian May in interview said that the master tape for SHA was stolen. They recovered the tape but it was slightly damaged! |