QueenZone discussion #1563903

vonkeil wrote: I couldn't make out any significant difference though between the 1985 and the new version, except that the bass seems to be a lot more prominent in the new mix.

runner_70 wrote: Check you ears mate seriously. It sounds completely different and the voice is much clearer than on the original version

dudeofqueen wrote: Chief Mouse, re: >Pre-ordered it from the Queen official website a couple days ago. To be honest, I'm quite excited for the new mix :) Wishing you all the very best with it, but, remember, you're free to return the disc(s) as faulty if they are as I believe they will turn out to be - highly polished turds. Have to ask what actually is the point of this release? Fred gave up on it once the mix was completed and returned to Queen after getting over his hissy fit. Is this just an attempt to give a bit of legitimacy to a release that was botched from the very start or, will the new "mix" just be making it sound more "Queen". Would love for it to be **BETTER** but, unless it's taken over by John and Roger with guitar parts added by Brian "off piste", there's very little chance it will have any value.

Day dop wrote: Taking the last couple of decades or so into consideration, I really don't have much faith left in Roger and Brian's creative abilities anymore.

dudeofqueen wrote: Chief Mouse, re: >Pre-ordered it from the Queen official website a couple days ago. To be honest, I'm quite excited for the new mix :) Wishing you all the very best with it, but, remember, you're free to return the disc(s) as faulty if they are as I believe they will turn out to be - highly polished turds. Have to ask what actually is the point of this release? Fred gave up on it once the mix was completed and returned to Queen after getting over his hissy fit. Is this just an attempt to give a bit of legitimacy to a release that was botched from the very start or, will the new "mix" just be making it sound more "Queen". Would love for it to be **BETTER** but, unless it's taken over by John and Roger with guitar parts added by Brian "off piste", there's very little chance it will have any value.

thomasquinn 32989 wrote: I personally consider Mr. Bad Guy the worst of all the guys' solo efforts, so I won't be buying this. However, since I'm occasionally, and inexplicably, able to view things with some detachment, it does seem to me that Mr. Bad Guy suffered from almost inconceivably sloppy production, so a return to the multitracks and a completely new mix and, if the vague hints are true, some re-recorded parts, might well improve the record considerably. I still don't think it'll be a great record, because most of the songs just aren't that great IMHO, and because it's aged poorly (riding a this-year's-model trend for a club audience was never likely to age well). But if you disagree with me on this and do like Mr. Bad Guy, then I think you have a good chance of getting a marked improvement here.

cmsdrums wrote: I asked Mack on Facebook if he had been involved/consulted/what he thought of the remix and replacement of bass parts...his reply is: “No idea what they are up to” ! Two schools of thought: 1) he was a hired hand as engineer/producer/mixer and would have been paid accordingly at the time so it’s nothing to do with him, or 2) knowing his closeness to Freddie (and the band for a long period) and that he was so involved with Me Bad Guy, courtesy would suggest they at least let him know this was happening and what their reasons are. Still, Mike Moran has been excluded from Barcelona and that’s pretty much as much his product as Freddie’s, so on those grounds Jim Beach is clearly not bothered who he upsets. Incidentally, I still think Brian doesn’t have much regard for Mack - he put him out of his comfort zone with different recording methods and clearly formed a close bond with Freddie, and didn’t pander to some of Brian’s ways in the studio. Brian also publicly disparaged him when ‘Rock Montreal’ came out, suggesting the original audio mix left a lot to be desired and had now been sorted ....totally unjust when it was probably their best sounding live audio at the time...Rio and Japan 85 were/are FAR worse!

Holly2003 wrote:

cmsdrums wrote: I asked Mack on Facebook if he had been involved/consulted/what he thought of the remix and replacement of bass parts...his reply is: “No idea what they are up to” ! Two schools of thought: 1) he was a hired hand as engineer/producer/mixer and would have been paid accordingly at the time so it’s nothing to do with him, or 2) knowing his closeness to Freddie (and the band for a long period) and that he was so involved with Me Bad Guy, courtesy would suggest they at least let him know this was happening and what their reasons are. Still, Mike Moran has been excluded from Barcelona and that’s pretty much as much his product as Freddie’s, so on those grounds Jim Beach is clearly not bothered who he upsets. Incidentally, I still think Brian doesn’t have much regard for Mack - he put him out of his comfort zone with different recording methods and clearly formed a close bond with Freddie, and didn’t pander to some of Brian’s ways in the studio. Brian also publicly disparaged him when ‘Rock Montreal’ came out, suggesting the original audio mix left a lot to be desired and had now been sorted ....totally unjust when it was probably their best sounding live audio at the time...Rio and Japan 85 were/are FAR worse!

If Brian didn't have much regard for Mack, why did he ask him to mix the Star Fleet Project?

Holly2003 wrote: It began with The Game. Read Mack's comments about Brian May's discomfort with Mack's style, and his collaboration with Fred in excluding Brian from the initial recording session of CLTCL. If Brian was that uncomfortable though, it seems unlikely he would choose to use Mack for his solo album 3 years later, and not raise any issues he had for the next 3 years while he worked alongside with Mack and the rest of the band.

runner_70 wrote:

Day dop wrote: Taking the last couple of decades or so into consideration, I really don't have much faith left in Roger and Brian's creative abilities anymore.

True Roger's solo albums were so-so but Brian did absolutely NOTHING apart from a few collaborations and The ELlis ALbums which were mainly covers. Sad as he was a prolific songwriter-where has the passion for creating gone?

dudeofqueen wrote: >Sad as he was a prolific songwriter-where has the passion for creating gone? The same dark place it went when he burdened us with "We Believe" and "Cosmos Rockin'" There's absolutely no coming back from there.

runner_70 wrote:

thomasquinn 32989 wrote: I personally consider Mr. Bad Guy the worst of all the guys' solo efforts, so I won't be buying this. However, since I'm occasionally, and inexplicably, able to view things with some detachment, it does seem to me that Mr. Bad Guy suffered from almost inconceivably sloppy production, so a return to the multitracks and a completely new mix and, if the vague hints are true, some re-recorded parts, might well improve the record considerably. I still don't think it'll be a great record, because most of the songs just aren't that great IMHO, and because it's aged poorly (riding a this-year's-model trend for a club audience was never likely to age well). But if you disagree with me on this and do like Mr. Bad Guy, then I think you have a good chance of getting a marked improvement here.

Cmon you really think Fun In Space or Fun On Earth are better albums? MBG was a disposable pop album that had some great tunes. And the voice alone makes it worth purchasing

cmi wrote: If it's indeed re-recorded by Neil, he must be learnt it from the original isolated bass track to catch all the nuances as it's not so high in the original mix. And what's the reason to re-record bass parts for 1983-4 recordings? BTW, the instrumental version of this song was mixed in 2000 for Solo Collection and there was no problem with the bass part.

dysan wrote: I hope we get answers. Such a weird thing to do.

The Fairy King wrote:

dysan wrote: I hope we get answers. Such a weird thing to do.

Remember the Barcelona symphony re-recording? They invited Neil to redo the bassparts for the Mr. Bad Guy album, cuz Freddie didn't have the balls to do it the first time around...

cmsdrums wrote: ..accepting run-through takes or not patching up parts at the time because their attention and commitment to Mr Bad Guy was already waning?

Apocalipsis_Darko wrote: I know Steven Brown, a good guy. Producer of Wham!, Love by The Cult, or the debut of Manic Street Preachers. Freddie never would like to remix these original songs, He liked what he published. In Mr. Bad Guy and in Barcelona. If Freddie was alive, never would permit this...NEVER.

Toozeup wrote:

Apocalipsis_Darko wrote: I know Steven Brown, a good guy. Producer of Wham!, Love by The Cult, or the debut of Manic Street Preachers. Freddie never would like to remix these original songs, He liked what he published. In Mr. Bad Guy and in Barcelona. If Freddie was alive, never would permit this...NEVER.

Jim Beach and Freddie discussed remixes of his solo material, which turned into the Freddie Mercury album released in 1992. It was also Freddie's idea that Queen should use the best songs from Mr bad Guy for Made in Heaven.

Sheer Brass Neck wrote: Interesting discussion. Brian was quoted as saying that Queen gave "the song writer his head", meaning they had final say in how they wanted the song or mix to be. Not a Freddie fan boy in the sense MBG was pure shit and he needed the band as much as they needed him, but that was the album and sound he wanted at the time. It's like repainting any piece of art to make it reflect the time. Maybe Mona Lisa should have smiled more in the early 1700s, but be frowner today? It's manipulative and much like the embarrassing revisionism on MIH it's doing nothing but create a need for product.

Apocalipsis_Darko wrote: What do you think about the poor distribution and artwork on cd or vinyl about Times waits for nobody? What do you think about not mention Mike Moran in the credits? .

brians wig wrote: Since THIS edition of MBG has been remixed, not remastered, and the bass lines have been completely re-recorded, that's why they'll be classing it as a "special Edition" and including that awful 'special edition' Barcelona album: This boxset release is a "Special Edition" release. If nothing else, it leaves the original versions of the albums (both of which were remastered in 2015 and passed over in favour at the last minute for the "Messenger" releases instead), waiting in the wings for another "cash-in" opportunity sometime in the future....

IanR wrote: The Steve Brown mix of 'Foolin' Around' will always be superior to the original IMHO.

21st Century Music Fan wrote: Living On My Own has been removed from Spotify!