Queen catalogue — comparison results

Sooo, not wanting to litter this place with yet another annoying question or bold statement about sound, but here is my first post and my result of comparing literally every CD release of Queen albums (sans 90's no-noise remasters – heard those, too, of course – and 1998 remasters). This all can be of course very personal. But I long for natural sound and trust my ears and my leaning towards objectivity. Others do too. So maybe you enjoy this little list and its introduction and maybe you want to discuss - again. I hope it's concise and not too long.


General Introduction:
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The 2001 Peter Mew remasters are generally too bright and too compressed, the flat bass almost clouds everything. I gave every one of them a try, of course, but they couldn't make the list.

The 2011 Bob Ludwig remasters are generally a tad too bright, the vocals buried in a more orchestral mix (at least it seems that way, even if it's not a remix), the dynamics are leveled, the peaks limited. Some releases were handled very bad (A Kind of Magic for example), others just fine.


Now to the winners:
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Queen
For me it's the original 1986 CD master, for others it seems to be the 2011 remaster and yeah, it's very close but suffers from the general problems of this series (dynamics, tone).

Queen II
Yup, the 2011 remaster sounds best.

Sheer Heart Attack
original CD master (1986)

A Night At The Opera
Steve Hoffman's remaster for DCC has better mids and is more dynamic than Bob Ludwig's 2005/2011 remaster. But Ludwig did quite a good job too on this.
(I also compared it too the old DVD-A.)

A Day At The Races
MFSL!

News Of The World
MFSL — it's a revelation! D:

Jazz
original CD master (1986)

Live Killers
original CD master (1986) — Peter Mew's 2001 remaster just worsened things.

Flash Gordon
original CD master (1986) — I'm only in it for the single version of the title track. As the 2011 remaster is almost no different from the 1986 version apart from being louder, I can live with the 2011 version, too.

The Game
MFSL!

Hot Space
original CD master (1986)

The Works
original CD master (1984)
The 2011 remaster has some nice sound revelations but on the whole it's too shrill and too loud in every regard from limiting to reduced dynamics ..

A Kind of Magic
original CD master!!!

The Miracle
original CD master!!

Innuendo
original CD master

Made In Heaven
2011! D:
Even with the little glitch in Let Me Live, the track itself profits from this new remaster. That choir!
Other tracks are better as well. More clarity, fixed yeah etc.


I've been reading a lot on this forums especially for other matters. But I couldn't find a comprehensive and trustworthy list for the Queen catalogue - so I wanted to give something back and report my findings.

 

Admittedly I am not much into Queen, however that's a great idea. If I may suggest you should update the initial post at some point according to the reactions.
I wish there was definitely more post like this!
+1

 

Thanks!
Yeah, that also kinda was the idea. Hate reading multiple pages to get the essence.

 

I am trying to find the best sounding Made In Heaven, does anyone know what the vinyl sounds like compared to the original Cd, the 2011 is too loud !!

 

The Bob Ludwig remasters too bright? They are a bit loud and compressed, but I would say they are more bass-heavy rather than bright.

 

Sounds horrible!

 

I pretty well agree with your assessment on originals vs remasters vs Ludwig remasters. I eventually fell for the DCC NATO and it is superior. Likewise the four MFSL discs have a more rounded sounded sound with just a light touch of eq.

I also bought a couple of the Japanese SHM sacds on discs which had not had the audiophile treatment. I like the Sheer Heart Attack a lot even if it is based on the 2011 remastering. However I was less impressed with Queen 2. It still has that slightly muddy sound and does not replicate the sheer power that the original vinyl had when I first heard it. The DR database does not show the sacds up well at all and a reason that I never sprung for more of them.

 

The vinyl edition uses the same re-master.

I didn't have a LP of Q2 for comparison as I'm all digital.
But is your description a sonic impression of your first listen to the original vinyl or did you do a recent comparison?

 

I love the original Jazz CD. Aside from that I'm content with the 2011 remasters and original UK vinyl. I can't justify buying the Queen albums again!

 

The original UK white vinyl edition? I have this and the scarce 2010 black vinyl reissue. I haven't played either in years though.

 

I had the benefit of listening to a pristine copy of Queen 2 on vinyl on a friend's high end turntable based system just after the 2011 remasters came out. It was no contest in comparison to any of the three digital versions I possessed at that time. And I cannot imagine from memory that it would be any different to the rather disappointing SACD. The vinyl jumped out just the way an album such as Who's Next does.

As other threads discuss, there continues to be much to ponder in the land of Queen collecting. The 2011 bonus tracks were all highly welcome but you are left feeling short changed particularly when considering the cost of the NOTW box which includes vinyl which I personally do not want ( nor does my vinyl loving friend).

 

Thanks for the list

 

I really like the 2001/2004 Japan mini vinyl remasters of News Of The World and Jazz. I took @vinylman's advice on these remasters and it's a great sounding set overall, aside from The Game. That's the let down (though, it doesn't matter, as I have the CP32-5318 CD and UK first press vinyl).
Another one that springs to mind from that set is Innuendo. It doesn't sound as thin as the original, and doesn't sound as bass heavy as the 2011. It's somewhere in between and sounds just right. It's my preferred version of that album. That set also has the best looking covers, which is a nice bonus.

 

I just recently compared for Queen II, keeping in mind that the 2011 is probably the consensus by the forum. But try as I might, I still like the original CDP disc more, warts and all. I think the original is warmer, and sounds better when cranked.

 

I used to have one of those and loved the sound of it. I wish I still had it to compare to the remaster. I sold it when I was skint as I had the vinyl.

 

The 2001/2004 mini-vinyls issues were mastered by Justin Shirley-Smith, and not Peter Mew, I believe. The earlier mini-vinyls issued in 1998 as part of the "Crown Jewels/25th Anniversary Boxed Set" were done by Mew, however.

 

According to Vinylman on this thread, "the 2001/2004 discs were completely new masterings, done by Peter 'NR' Mew, but under the supervision of QPL's Justin Shirley-Smith. These discs have noticeably less NR than Mew's usual work."

Best CD versions of these Queen albums?

 

Mr Mew is also Mr Smiley Face EQ. How are the 2001/2004's in that regard? Any worth trying to get to compare to the original CDP's?

 

These are all spot on with one big exception. "News of the World" MFSL is definitely not the best. The Elektra disc is, and the original 1986 EMI comes in 2nd. The MFSL misfire bigtime when you crank the volume.

 

i like sheer heart attack 2011 remastered more than original cd. Original CD is hissy(especially Killer Queen) and lack of clarity. Dynamic Range Meter is not everything.

 

The 2011 Shear Heart Attack remaster is the worst version of that album I've ever heard. In fact, it was one of the worst, if not thee worst of the 2011 Queen remasters.

 

i don't think so... Original CD or 93 Remastered CD were not impressive to me. is it original CD really better than 2011?

 

For Queen II, the original Elektra (U.S.) or EMI (UK) vinyl LP's while different sounding, blow away anything on CD I've heard, and I have a very extensive Queen collection on CD. I can get by with all CD listening when it comes to Queen if I had to, with the exception of Queen II. As long as I have access to my original vinyl pressings, it's almost impossible for me to have to listen to Queen II on CD (all CD pressings included).

 

I have an immaculate UK first pressing LP of Sheer Heart Attack and am totally familiar with the album having owned just about all UK issues of it on CD and LP over the years and can't hear anything wrong with the 2011 remaster.

 

Another fan of the 2001/2004 Japan mini-lps here ........