| HDvorak 12.08.2004 13:16 |
Help me out please. I wanna purchase the Queen catalog on CD, but have been hesitant, because of the talk of 'box set(s)' swirlin' 'round from the past year. But, since ol' Mr. May is wrapped up in his Andrew Loyd Weber fixation, I doubt that we'll see the box set anytime soon. I've got some of the old UK imports from the 80s, as well as some ancient cassettes, but don't have any of the Hollywood reissues. Looking at the U.K. catalog, I see Parlophone reissued the band's catalog a couple years back. There's also the 'Crown Jewels' box, which looks tempting. Whose CDs should I buy?! |
| Pim Derks 12.08.2004 13:42 |
Try to get the recent Japanese remasters at a nice price. Brilliant packaging and very good sound quality. |
| Adam Baboolal 12.08.2004 14:49 |
Just be wary that some folk, including myself, have found fault with the recent remasters past Hot Space from 1982. Start from the beginning of the albums. It's a nice education in their evolution. The first three for sure. :) Peace, Adam. |
| QueenZeppelin 12.08.2004 17:08 |
The Essentials Sheer Heart Attack is one, definitely. Even ROlling Stone has had praise for this one. It's heavy metal, injected with glam, music hall meets Zeppelin. A Night At The Opera, of course. Represents nearly every branch and genre of music. Freddie Mercury's vocals are top notch, and Brian May literally redefines the sound of a guitar. The Game- though lamented by hardcore fans, it covers a great deal of ground. All around, a quite good album. Outstanding/Excellent A Day At The Races is the follow up to ANATO, and while it doesn't surpass Queen's masterpiece, it lives up to everything fans have come to expect from Queen. With the gospel rock of "Somebody to Love" to the immortal rock riff song of "Tie Your Mother Down," ADATR is ure to deliver and won't disappoint. News Of The World is awesome, too. Stadium rock (We are the Champions/We Will Rock You) to near-punk like intensity (Sheer Heart Attack), another gem. Innuendo is incredible, probably a 90's version of ANATO. Their last album was amazing. Ones NOT to Get Flash Gordan soundtrack Hot Space A Kind of Magic (the best songs here can be found on nearly any Greatest Hits or Classic collection; the rest is filelr/crap) Jazz (even Freddie said he was disappointed with this one...the three best and most memorable tracks are on the UK Greatest Hits (and the Gold box set in the USA). |
| Penis - Vagina 12.08.2004 20:05 |
This is a difficult subject because there's not one series of releases which really has consistent quality, lack of errors and such. Here, in my opinion as a bloody American, are my favorite issues of Queen's studio albums (using my collection page as a guide.. you can see that I have 2 or 3 versions of many albums link ) For the purpose of my notes, remember the 2004 card sleeves contain the 2001 remasters, so these are available in standard cases too. Queen: 1991 Hollywood version. Good quality and includes two worthy bonus tracks (Mad The Swine and Keep Yourself Alive-long lost version). The 2001 remaster isn't very impressive and the high frequencies are too sharp. Queen II: 2004 card sleeve. Though this one is tough. Nothing wrong with the Hollywood version plus you get 'See What A Fool I've Been' as a bonus, but I do feel the 2001 remaster is superior quality. Sheer Heart Attack, A Night At The Opera, A Day At The Races, News Of The World, Jazz, The Game: 2004 card sleeves. All sound better to me, and particularly NOTW and The Game really kick ass. Flash Gordon: I only have the 2004 card sleeve, and only to complete the set, but the quality is fine. Hot Space: 2004 card sleeve The Works: 1991 Hollywood version. As Adam stated, beginning with this album, the 2001 remasters are suffering a lack of midrange. As a bonus to getting the Hollywood version, you get the b-side 'I Go Crazy' plus IWTBF in the superior extended mix form, and Radio Ga Ga extended. A Kind Of Magic: Forgetting what I just said about missing midrange, I'm gonna have to pick the 2004 card sleeve anyway for this one. I prefer it over the Hollywood version for some reason, and definitely over the original 1986 version. The Miracle: In this case you probably need two versions. LOL. The Hollywood version has a more pleasing sound quality, but they used an alternate mix of 'I Want It All' by mistake, which is nice to have, but you'll probably want the original. They include the 12" mix of Scandal which is superior to the album mix, though a bit too long. The 2001 remaster again is lacking some midrange, but still sounds good enough that to truly have the original album, I prefer it. Perhaps the 1994 U.K. remaster might be a better choice overall, but I haven't reviewed it myself :) Innuendo: The original issue from 1991. Something is wrong with the 2001 remaster in my opinion. It's inconsistent and some tracks sound really bad. Made In Heaven: Original issue. Hard to tell a difference here. The 2001 remaster is actually slightly lower in volume (which from looking at the waveform, was achieved by digital volume reduction which sucks). Having said all of that, if you do start collecting the 2004 card sleeves, you're probably gonna want them all because they're beautiful :) The gatefold albums seem particularly nice (about half of them are gatefolds). As for The Crown Jewels, it's a great bargain if you can still get a brand new set for $35 on Ebay, but I'd avoid it at a higher price. The sound quality suffers because of 'No-Noise' processing and the quality of the card sleeves is far inferior to the new ones. Edit: And though I haven't checked them out myself yet, others will probably tell you that the best choices for A Night At The Opera and The Game are the DVD-A issues :) |
| lottie88 12.08.2004 22:15 |
Well, I didn't have many CD's until this year, so I got the Queen Jewels Box Set, and I love it! Actually, I am listening to it right now. The box itself is a piece of shit, but the music is great. It has the first 6 records, so it was a wonderful start. If you want to get it, your best bet I think would be ebay. I was able to get it for like $70 with shipping and handling, and I would do it again in an instant. It is a lot easier than going out and buying 8 CDs, plus you get the songbook and the nude poster from the Jazz album (I still don't know what to do with that damn picture). Anyway, that is my advice, for what it's worth. |
| Adam Baboolal 12.08.2004 22:36 |
I'm very interested in getting QueenII in the new 2001 remastered state. Does anyone have any clips to listen to? I just want to be sure. EDIT: Doesn't have to be full tracks. It would be nice to get 45 seconds or more of each track. Why does no website offer this??! lol Peace, Adam. |
| joeyjojo 12.08.2004 23:13 |
I concur with QueenZep. As for the hollywood remasters, they're the same album but with crappy 'bonus' remixes that just ruin the whole of the album IMHO. The great thing about a lot of their early albums was that they were meant to be listened to as a whole. |
| joeyjojo 12.08.2004 23:19 |
"Why does no website offer this??!" It's called iTunes. ;o) Actually, just checked iTunes and it looks like they have the bonus tracks from the hollywood releases. I had it in my head that most of the bonus tracks on the Hollywood releases were those crappy remixed like they did of WWRY. Might have to do some iTunes shopping tonight to pick up those bonus tracks I've long been without... |
| Penis - Vagina 13.08.2004 03:17 |
Here you are, Adam. link (9.98 MB, 320 kbps) (edited to switch to side black) |
| HDvorak 13.08.2004 13:18 |
Much thanks Cherry Mash! You gave me the EXACT info I was lookin' for. Now where does a Yank find those Japanese sleeves for the lowest $? |
| Adam Baboolal 13.08.2004 19:30 |
Hmm... not bad at all. Thanks Cherry. I'll listen again tomorrow. I can definitely hear certain things better. But not that much better. Like I said, I'll get another listen tomorrow cause it wasn't full volume. If you wouldn't mind, could you post the other side? Thanks! Peace, Adam. |
| Penis - Vagina 13.08.2004 22:12 |
link (9.98 MB, 320 kbps) Don't have room for both at once, unfortunately though. I had to cut SSOR a little short to keep it under 10 MB. See if you find anything else different about SSOR. |
| Adam Baboolal 13.08.2004 22:32 |
Thanks again. Hmm... that little click that was near the end of SSOR is gone. Awww... Listen on your HR copy from 2:03 - it hits at 2:08. I thought it was a light finger-click all these years. Just cause it hit time-wise really nicely. Had a chorusy-delay quality to it as well. Shoot... I'm gonna miss that little guy! Anyway, likewise with the last one posted, I'll have a proper listen tomorrow. Peace, Adam. |
| Penis - Vagina 13.08.2004 22:51 |
Whatever it was, it's been in every version I've heard, so I figure they must want it there. But I sometimes clean it up anyway... as I did here :-P Don't worry, it's still there on the disc. No point to eliminating it really, but it's good practice for eliminating glitches. |