Queen Vinyl Reissues For 2015 (including boxed set and turntable)*

Thanks for the info. Strange that he's working for the band and yet his YT channel is full of rare video material (and bootleg stuff).

 

Agree with most of that. Broadly their sound definitely suffered after the jump to digital. But my gripe with Mack is something far more specific, and is featured on both digital and analogue recordings he did with Queen.

The crappy lifeless slaps that, in Mack's world, pass for kicks and snares are just as evident (to me at least) on The Game as they are on The Works tracks that feature live drums.

 

Well, you can certainly see why he got on so well with Jeff Lynne....................

 

Wow, impressive! Where did you get this??? Or did you make it by yourself?

 

For what it's worth (possibly not much) that little animated video seems to show The Game with the mirror cover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=55&v=ypQJFEywbyc

 

Looks like a pretty flimsy box to me.

 

My ears hear differently. Even in the analogue days the sound was not really great on some releases. To my ears only "Sheer Heart Attack" and "News of the World" sounded "real", while "II" and even "Opera" suffered from a terrible drum sound on many tracks. But then "the Miracle" has some great sounding moments.
Interestingly the best sounding Queen from all times you find on the Greatest Hits DVDs. Im usually not a fan of surround sound, but their remixes are in some cases a revelation.

Back to the vinyl box: I wouldn't expect any sound miracles there, the only thing of interest is the quality of the covers. Some years ago there was a Queen vinyl series and the covers looked like scans, very grainy. Even second hand originals looked better than that.

 

Looks about the same as the The Beatles box which is excellent in terms of build quality.

 

I've never been a fan of Taylor's way of choosing/tuning/producing drums. It's kind of a revelation to hear him on Queen at the Beeb since the drums sound much more natural and less produced. On the studio stuff the drums are very produced with the only goal of making them sound "big". My favorite album drum sound wise is probably Jazz. Maybe the least natural drum sound on any Queen album, but at least there are some "crack" to the sound that makes it breathe and engage.

Agree regarding Mack. Compare Mick Tucker's (Sweet) drum sound on Sweet FA and Desolation Boulevard with the Mack produced Give Us a Wink... Terrible and so wrong for a drummer like Tucker, although he manages to make the best of it.

 

Most of the Queen BBC tracks are the identic album recordings just mixed differently with some live vocals.

The drum sound on "Cockroach" (Give us a Wink) is one of the most powerful drum sounds since "Led Zeppelin 4". What's wrong with that???

 

So it does (I remember from the first time I saw that video now that you've pointed it out). It looks like a darker version.

 

I hadn't seen so much cheesy effects in one single video for a very long time

 

The cover for Queen II looks better than ever before.

 

I think I get your feeling regarding drums, but to me Queen (and Mack) managed to find the compromise, in order the Queen sound during the 80's to be modern, and yet to retain some decent drum sound (compared to many others, going for the terrible Jeff Lynn type trademark awful drum production, worse than a drum machine). Queen would sound as some antient has beens during the 80's, if they retained the same sound as during the 70's.

 

When I think of that sound and Mack, then I think of that sound with those Billy Squier albums. I can still hear that resemblance in my head with those comparisons. Very distinctive.

 

Didn't know they were the same drum tracks as on I and II. Still, the drum sounds are completely different and in my view much better on the Beeb album. Listen to the snare for one. You can even hear Roger playing ghost notes! Nice and clean sounding.

As regards Mack and Sweet, Cockroach was exactly the track I was thinking of. No point discussing taste, but I just don't think the Mack sound suited Tucker's intricate style particularly well. Great album though.

 

I agree. When I watch the unboxing video I wondered to myself whether the box was indeed the same box as the Beatles box with a different label and the Beatles box is quite sturdy.

I'm still very much on the fence for this one, largely due to cost though. All the negative comments here don't mean much to me until somebody actually plays the thing. Shouldn't be much longer on that.

 

A lot of them i bought originally from a local record store last year, some 12 inch, the 1989 extended mixes comes from cd singles and a few others i got from a generous american fan. All in splendid quality. I did the same with their b-sides.

 

They should release the complete BBC sessions. All 6 of them. Not just one track and one track there. Luckely in 2010 a private collector shared all the 6 BBC sessions from mastertapes. We had to be quick to grab those golden gems with a stunning sound quality. If Queen doesn't want to release the gems and open up the archives us fans go hunting for rare stuff which works out pretty fine most of the time. It made me able to compile a sort of Anthology boxset 2 years ago with 385 tracks. I've ordered the vinyl boxset. I hope it is money well spent. Didn't bother with the turntable. I stick with my Technics 1200.

 

Which album?

 

No doubt it's not a typical Tucker drum sound, but that's what they wanted to achieve for this song, they created it by using an underground car park. It was not Mack "forcing" them to use that sound, they wanted it.

 

Sweet - Give us a Wink (avoid the heavily compressed BMG remaster, try to find the Repertoire version or best - original vinyl)

 

Looks like a giant box of Benson & Hedges!

 

I am still trying to make up my mind about this box set. I ordered it when Amazon Italy had it for 239 UK pounds so I could probably resell it for more.....but I would rather not bother at all if it is the compressed sounding versions from 4 years ago. I wish there was a way of knowing before the release date! Also buying it from Amazon Italy means a complete pain if just one of those discs has non-fill issues etc... (which Optimal has been doing a great job of ensuring that about 30% of their vinyl does have, typically towards the very end of a side)

 

That is an issue with a large box like this and since the box is colored vinyl and the individual releases are black it's not like you can just by a single version to replace a bad disc. I thought about waiting for some feedback on sound quality first and then maybe seeing if a Pop Market deal pops up. Returns to Pop Market have a similar hassle factor though. They might well be in Italy, or on the moon.