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

For me it's good to read this. I'm a massive Queen fan & have a full set of UK original LPs in great condition as well as all the 2011 2CD remasters. I was tempted by the box and kept looking on Amazon but could not justify spending around £300 on it just because it looked good. It looks like it has now sold out. I'm sure it's a nice box for those who have got one though.

 

I have UK originals too....it's definitely the way to go as far as sound quality.
I only play the new ones when I'm having a great day and I want to add in some aggravation and frustration to it.

 

Great reply! Looks like I was right to have doubts about this one!

 

Do you recommend the Innuendo double reissue?

 

There's no complete set of multitracks, for QII. I've never heard the same about the first album, though.

 

I've never heard the multi tracks are missing for Queen's 1st. I hope not! I've only heard that some of the Bo Rhap vocals from the middle section and some of The Game (Coming Soon I think) multi tracks are missing and that some of the early album multi tracks are very fragile.

 

What people seem to want (possibly understandably) is a quick digestible synopsis around the sound quality of every set of reissues that come to market. To distil a 50+ page thread into either 'good or bad'. ...And so it is with these.

But I repeat a point that I made earlier in this thread; the strange unique fact with Queen releases is that they are never uniformly terrible or amazing. (...that is if you forget the Digital Master Series of 93-4, Crown Jewels of 98, and the 2003/4 series!).

Some UK 1st vinyl presses are amazing, while others sound dull and lifeless. There are some stellar German and Japanese presses of their 70s catalogue, but there are also a few that sound strangely wrong. The CPD 1st press CDs are largely great, although there are some notable expectations. Even the Mofi's are a mixed bag.

This trend is absolutely carried through with the 2011/15 series. While theme is undoubtedly one of missed opportunities, primarily centered around the unnecessary compression/limitng (which is more prominent in the 80s > albums), this doesn't refute the fact that there are some genuine gems in there, if you are willing to sift through them.

Q, QII, and Flash are fantastic, and have become my 'go to listens' for those albums. My ANATO 'go to' usually oscillates between the DCC and the 2005 vinyl. But barring a few tiny differences the 2015 vinyl is the same as the 2005. Mastered and cut by the same people.

The point is, my preferred Queen collection, has developed over decades into a hodge-podge, random collection of this press and that press, both CD and LP. In my experience there is no quick and easy way to get a great sounding Queen catalogue. So for me, blanket statements that 1st press UK vinyl or CDs etc.. trump everything else, just don't ring true. Sure, don't buy the box, but don't then assume that every LP inside it is garbage. Because it's simply not true.

 

Your post makes sense but which of the original UK pressings do you think are dull and lifeless? I've heard multiple copies of each one and can't say I've ever found any of them dull. I've found the EMI UK Queen vinyl to be consistently good.

 

The point is....from a financial and sound point of view, it makes much more sense to seek out original UK pressings, than to pay for a bunch of poorly mastered CDs pressed to vinyl. From the ones I've purchased, there isn't a single album that trumps a UK original. Not even close really.

 

Same here.

 

I'm not suggesting there are terrible UK 1st presses. But these things are comparative. For example:

The UK 1st press vinyl of QII sounds outrageously inconsistent when compared to the 2011/15. It certainly has its charms, but I personally find it annoying in the extreme. MOTBQ is the frustration of that press distilled into one track. One minute it sounds brilliant, then another it's aural mud.

ANATO UK 1st press vinyl sounds great, undoubtedly. But when compared to the DCC it absolutely sounds a tad dull, thin and lifeless.

ADATR UK 1st press vinyl is the most disappointing of all the 70s albums. When listening to the German 1st press or the Mofi, the difference is stark. So again, it sounds 'comparatively' lifeless.

NOTW UK 1st press vinyl sounds great. In fact there are a couple of viable options. The CDP CD is pretty decent as well. But when comparing both to the 1983 US Elektra CD, it's personally no contest.

I take the point that not everyone has the time/money/inclination to go riffling through every version out there, but it's the blanket suggestion that everything is inferior to the UK 1st vinyl presses that I take issue with.

 

This. 1,000x this.

I have that Innuendo remaster, and it's dreadful compared to the original.

 

Is it not even worth the benefit of getting Innuendo uncut?

Speaking of which, can anyone remind me what was cut from the original 1991 vinyl release of Innuendo?

 

Bijou is severely truncated. I can't remember the other song that was shortened.

I'd say the definitive version of Innuendo, for me, is the original US CD.

 

I've always thought 'A Day At The Races' is one of the best sounding UK original Queen albums. Very dynamic. The drums sound superb on it with depth as well as clarity. You can hear every part of Roger's kit. Same with Brian's guitars. The delicate parts of 'You Take My Breath Away' and 'The Millionaire Waltz' are so clean and clear. It also rocks hard on Tie Your Mother Down & White Man. No way could this LP's sound quality be described in any way as lifeless. I do hear that Queen II isn't the best on 1st press UK EMI. I prefer the pressings from around 1976 era and even the 80s Fame issue. I find these to have a better top end and less murky.

 

Fame's version of Queen II is surprisingly decent. Except that their cassette versions are flawed. Both copies I got of it have muddled sound on Side B.

 

I bought the Fame Queen II when I was about 11 years old in mid 80's and gave it to a friend years later after playing it 100s of times on a cheap midi system. I recently got that LP back from my friend to listen to out of curiosity and thought it sounded really good. Shame about the lack of lyric inner and black and white pic on the gatefold. Though that looked OK in the context of the LP I suppose.

 

Off the top of my head I'm Going Slightly Mad is edited. I think there's another one too...

 

I can't agree on this. The last time I gave Q1 a listen, was the reason why I sold my Box-Set. To my ears THAT was dull sounding and way inferior to my very 1st press. I couldn't enjoy this at all. It's maybe a matter of personal preferences, gear, probably taste... whatever. Especially the white record of Q2 was terrible sounding. No way to enjoy it for me.

Regarding the dull & lifeless 1st presses - I, unfortunately, don't own them all (yet), but what albums are you talking about?

 

I bought a german Q2 Fame copy around 1988 and it's the worst copy I own. It#S still, in very good shape, but it's the only version that sounds worse than the white vinyl '15. However, I will buy an UK version and check it out.. should be better.

 

I have the first US pressing of Queen II, and that one isn't great in my opinion. I'm most attached to the Hollywood version, though.

 

Only if you want something that looks nice. Otherwise you're getting up and flipping the album every few tracks for an album that sounds the same as the 2011 CD.

 

This.

 

Innuendo - exercise edition.

 

Quick question for those vinyl experts in here - does anyone know why first UK pressings of Queen records go for that much cheaper than most of their peers?

Since I've been rebuilding my collection, I've picked up Sheer Heart Attack, A Day At The Races, News Of The World and The Works, for anywhere between £4 and £7 in shops. All are in good, if not quite mint, condition. Seems strange when other artists of their size seem to be at least £15-20 from my experience. I know they're plentiful, but David Bowie (I'm even talking pre-death prices) and John Lennon were hardly struggling in the mid-seventies either.

Though that said, I've been to a few different record stores over the last few months and didn't see a single Queen LP. If they are cheap, they probably won't be for much longer.