Could someone who owns the 1991 Hollywood Records Remaster release of A Night At The Opera explain the difference between this remix of "Best Friend" and the original, as I cannot hear any difference?
EDIT: I have read the description on Queen Vault, but again, I cannot tell any difference.
"Again on the US "A Night At The Opera" CD. Very similar to the original. To be honest its very hard to notice the difference, but it does have a slightly different sound. The remix this time is by Matt Wallace. Also on one of the US "Rocks" promo CDs. Time 2:51" link
But I can't hear something new or remixed there too actually :)
It's a very subtle remix, dealing with more prominence given to certain instruments. I hear the bass a little clearer, there are some B/V's and Freddie ad lib lines that are different. Haven't listened in a while, if I have time today I'll give it a whirl and report my findings.
I think the drums are a little more pronounced, though it's been many years since I've consciously listened to a Hollywood Records remix. I'll get back to you.
What Matt Wallace actually did, was took each of the tracks and 'pronounced' them a bit more, made them a bit clearer. You can hear the difference on Tie Your Mother Down (remix)...the snare drum alone you can tell...it's just louder and alot more of a shotgun than it is in the original. In 'Best Friend', you do have to listen a little bit more to hear the difference, but he did with basically both of the mixes.
what he basically did was run every track on the multitrack individually through a digital compressor, added some tacky digital reverb & delays and rid the songs of any of their magic.
Thanks Negative Creep, I wasn't sure how they had been processed, but both TYMD and YMBF sounded sterile and dated. I think Matt Wallace was an 80s producer and he altered the sound to reflect his production values. I think it was a great idea for the remixes, but it's like trying to repaint a Picasso. Hard to improve on the original.