Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

ahhhh, that explains a lot. I used to enjoy that DTS disc and could never understand why I was underwhelmed by the bluray.... That's disappointing.
I'm not one to stockpile versions of an album.

 

I listened to the Ray Charles last night. What an incredible sounding disc. Talk about feeling like you are at the recording. I am going o have to listen to it again this week.

 

yea, it's fantastic. Possibly my most played surround disc over the years

 

Blood, Sweat, & Tears' S/T second album in 4.0, as you read this. Fantastic all around.

 

Agreed, it's an essential SACD.

 

The horn break in Sometimes In Winter is an all time surround highlight for me.

 

The original Fragile DVD-A disc had a different, inferior, multichannel mix.

 

Which is also included on the bluray.

 

America, too.

 

Thanks. I guess I should sell the original...

 

Finally got to listen to Sly Stone's Greatest Hits in Quad tonight. First off, this disc is packed with amazing music. Sly and the Family Stone were killer. Some highlights for me are....

The Quad mix made me fall on love with Everybody is a Star. The vocal parts sound fantastic spread across the front. The song title is a perfect description of the band....everyone brings something unique and I love the songs where band members trade off vocal parts.

The rotating drums that open up Stand are sweet. Interesting vocal placement on this song. I prefer the lead vocal in the front of the soundstage but this song is so good I don't mind. The groovy breakdown towards the end is a great in Quad. It really highlights the different parts.

Dance to the Music is an all time favorite tune of mine. It is impossible to not have a good time when this is on! The Quad does a fine job opening up this dense track. It is a lot of fun to focus on what each member is doing.

The horn section in the rears on Everyday People is perfect. Simple and full of emotion. I could listen the the isolated horn part for hours probably. Great melody.

The Quad offers a fine variant to the excellent mono single mixes of these songs. Those 45's have a bit more bass but the Quad highlights the vocals and horns a bit more. The mixes are not uniform on this SACD but that makes it even more fun in my book. Great songs heard in a whole new way.

 

Nice breakdown mate

 

Don't forget to vote
Seven pairs of nominees are listed under this post Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries . Please vote for your favourite(s) for this weeks albums.

Cheers,
Mark

 

So I Finally got a listen to the Allman Brothers Fillmore Blu-Ray set last night. I went with Disc 3 just like the OP did. It has a great setlist and even an intro from Bill Graham. I dig Southern Rock and Blues but neither is among my favorite genres. Neither are extended live jam versions of those musical styles. None of those feelings matter regarding this album. It is that good. These versions bury the studio recordings and can make an Allman fan out of anybody.

The surround mix here is my preferred method for a live recording with the musicians in the front L/R, lead vocal in the center channel, and ambiance and crowd noise in the rears. The fidelity is first rate. Duane's slide guitar is Crystal clear and can raise the dead. Man he was a powerful force. He sounds like he is right there with you. Dickey Betts is no slouch either. What a great team.

I'm so happy they chose to isolate Greg in the center channel. It gives you an opportunity to fully appreciate his vocals.

Kudos too on the bottom end. Oakley is a great combo of root/wandering player. Not overly fancy but not dull either. Perfectly suited to the Music. The bass has a lot of punch is is never buried in the mix.

This version of these concerts is aces. Several shows with great mixes and stunning clarity for recordings this old. The band is on fire and the fidelity reinforces that. The photo gallery slideshow that plays along with the Music is nice with a few great pics. Love the picture of the Marquee.

 

Gregg's vocal and keys seem often overlooked. Extremely important part of the bands sound

 

Without a doubt and the Blu-Ray mix does him proud!

 

I hope nobody minds, but it is a rare day off and we were up drinking til about 2am.... The wife's asleep and not likely to stir too soon, so I am going to go with an album I am in the mood for this morning.

NB: please don't forget to vote for Sundays albums. Seven pairs of nominees are listed under this post Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries .

So this morning I'm in the mood to listen to this

Welcome To My Nightmare


Cover art by Drew Struzan
Studio album by
Alice Cooper
Released March 11, 1975
Studio Soundstage, Toronto; Plant East, Electric Lady and A&R Studios, New York City
Genre Glam rock, hard rock, art rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock
Length 43:19
Label Atlantic
Producer Bob Ezrin

Welcome to My Nightmare is the first solo album by Alice Cooper, released in March 1975. It is Alice Cooper's first solo album (all previous Alice Cooper releases were band efforts), and his only album for the Atlantic Records label. Welcome to My Nightmare is a concept album. Played in sequence, the songs form a journey through the nightmares of a child named Steven. The album inspired the Alice Cooper: The Nightmare TV special, a worldwide concert tour in 1975, and the Welcome to My Nightmare concert film in 1976. The ensuing tour was one of the most over-the-top excursions of that era. Most of Lou Reed’s band joined Cooper for this record.

The cover artwork was created by Drew Struzan for Pacific Eye & Ear. Rolling Stone would later rank it ninetieth on the list of the "Top 100 Album Covers Of All Time".[1] Famed film actor of the horror genre Vincent Price provided a monologue in the song "Black Widow". The original version of "Escape" was recorded by The Hollywood Stars for their shelved 1974 album "Shine Like a Radio", which was finally released in 2013.[2][3] The ballad "Only Women Bleed", released as a single, is a song originally composed by guitarist Dick Wagner for his late-60s band The Frost, with a new title provided by Cooper and revised lyrics written by Wagner and Cooper.

• Alice Cooper – Vocals
• Dick Wagner – Electric and Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
• Steve Hunter – Electric and Acoustic Guitar
• Prakash John – Bass
• Pentti "Whitey" Glan – Drums

Additional personnel

• Bob Ezrin – Synthesizer, Arranger, Keyboards, Vocals, Producer
• Jozef Chirowski – Keyboards, Clavinet, Vocals, Fender Rhodes
• Tony Levin – Bass on "Welcome to My Nightmare" and "Escape"
• Johnny "Bee" Badanjek – Drums on "Welcome to My Nightmare" and "Escape"
• Drew Struzan – Artwork
• Gerry Lyons – Vocals
• Vincent Price – The Curator
• Jeffrey Morgan – liner notes (reissue)

1. "Welcome to My Nightmare" Cooper, Wagner 5:19
2. "Devil's Food" Cooper, Ezrin, Kelley Jay 3:38
3. "The Black Widow" Cooper, Wagner, Ezrin 3:37
4. "Some Folks" Cooper, Gordon, Ezrin 4:19
5. "Only Women Bleed" Cooper, Wagner 5:49
6. "Department of Youth" Cooper, Wagner, Ezrin 3:18
7. "Cold Ethyl" Cooper, Ezrin 2:51
8. "Years Ago" Cooper, Wagner 2:51
9. "Steven" Cooper, Ezrin 5:52
10. "The Awakening" Cooper, Wagner, Ezrin 2:25
11. "Escape" Cooper, Fowley, Anthony 3:20
-----------------------------------------------------
I like all sorts of stuff and I don't have guilty pleasures, I have stuff I like irregardless of popular public opinion at any given time.

5.1 produced, engineered and mixed by Bob Ezrin
Mastered by Charlie Watts

I have loved this album since I was a teen, and continue to love it. I was extremely pleased in the early dvd-a days when this and Billion Dollar Babies were released. Later I was pleased to see Muscle Of Love released in the Quad format. There are a few more I would like to see done/released, whatever the situation may be, but this was my favourite.
A lot of folks don't like Bob Ezrin as a producer, but I have no problem with the work he does, it's just that going into an album he produces, you need to accept that it is going to be an Ezrin product to some degree.
There were a few changes to the 5.1 version of the album, and it took me a couple of listens to get passed that, but these days I enjoy it a lot ... perhaps more than the original ....

Welcome To My Nightmare
We immediately get some nice immersion, with the acoustic swell spreading wide for us.
Rhythm gtr left, keyboards right.
A nice wrap around feel in the musical bridge.
Some nice swirling effects, that aren't aurally out of context, and merely enhance the original idea.
This a well balanced immersive sound and feel, and Ezrin's production is perfect for the format.

Devil's Food
The effect guitar in the right rear works really well. Again Ezrin's mix is really enhancing the overall effect initially intended. Backing vocals either side.
This is an extended version of the song, which was initially trimmed for vinyl purposes, but this version is now my go to.
There are some great flanging effects that work great in surround.
This song finishes with the famous Vincent Price voice over, and Vincent is directly in front of us, with the now quietened music giving us some nice sounding layers that swell up towards the end.

Black Widow
The start of this track is ever so slightly delayed from the original album, but once you get used to that, it doesn't sound bad or unnatural.
The Hunter, Wagner guitars work really well in this left side, right side set up.

Some Folks
The piano kicks off just to the left, with finger snaps stereoed in the rears. I hear much more musical detail in this surround mix than the original album, and it doesn't damage the cohesive nature of the production, it just allows the dense production room to breathe. I think this track is extended also... this all dounds magnificent.

Only Women Bleed
Another thing with this album mix, we have a nice balanced sub mix.
Listening to this, it seems somewhat of a shame Ezrin hasn't done more of his productions in this format. He's done an excellent job of this album.

Department Of Youth
Again the guitars give us a nice either side immersion with all the other instruments and backing vocal spread around nicely.
Just a really nice mix here.

Cold Ethyl
I have an attachment to this silly song, my band used to play it in the pubs in Perth.
The guitar slide just before the coda slides across us nicely also.

Years Ago
We have lots of sound effects in this track, and the music and sound effects fill the space beautifully. The eeriness of the track is certainly enhanced by this 5.1 mix. Fantastic stuff.

Steven
This track has always been a favourite, i find the musical arrangement to be brilliant.
The pizzicato strings, the guitars, it's just a beautiful piece of work.
I think the lead guitar track starts slightly differently i think, unless it's just the mix.

The Awakening
Probably the creepiest song on the album, we have this song has a lot to work with as well. A slightly different vocal mix, or a piece was edited back in.

Escape
A great pop/glam rock song that sounds brilliant in this format.

This album works so brilliantly in the 5.1 format, i really highly recommend this for any Cooper fans that like the format.
If the album ever vaguely interested you, i reckon it's well worth checking out.

Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare (DVD Audio, 2001) for sale online | eBay a real bargain at $40 here on ebay

Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare (DVD, US, 2001) For Sale | Discogs about seventy bucks here

 

funny how we never got Alice' 2 masterworks, Love It To Death and Killer in surround, but we did get Billion Dollar Babies, Muscle of Love and this one.
I saw him on this tour, he beat a woman on a bed during Only Women Bleed I think it was, it was a lot for a 14 year old to take in.
Generally this is where my interest in Alice ends, but this has some good moments too.

 

I have tended to prefer the albums to the concert videos for that very reason.

 

Nice review! I totally forgot this existed and it is the only Alice surround release I don't have. Time to remedy that!

 

Yes Close To The Edge


Studio album by
Yes
Released 13 September 1972
Recorded February–July 1972
Studio Advision Studios, London
Genre Progressive rock[1]
Length 37:45
Label Atlantic
Producer, Eddy Offord, Yes

Close to the Edge is the fifth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released on 13 September 1972 by Atlantic Records. It is their last album of the 1970s to feature original drummer Bill Bruford before he left to join King Crimson. After touring their previous album, Fragile, the group assembled at Advision Studios in London to record a follow-up, ideas for which had been put down since February 1972. The album marked a development in the band's songwriting, with Jon Anderson and Steve Howe writing the 18-minute title track, the band's longest song at the time. Side two contains "And You and I" and "Siberian Khatru". Bruford found the album particularly laborious to make, which influenced his decision to leave the band after it was recorded.

Close to the Edge became the band's greatest commercial success, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in the United States and No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart. A two-part edit of "And You and I" was released in the US which reached No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100. Yes supported the album with their 1972–1973 world tour which comprised over 90 dates and marked the debut of drummer Alan White. Close to the Edge was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1998 for selling one million copies. It was reissued in 1994, 2003, and 2013; the latter included previously unreleased tracks and new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes by Steven Wilson. Critical reception was mixed at the time of the original release, though the album is retrospectively regarded as one of the band's best works and a landmark recording in progressive rock.

Yes

• 
  
  • Jon Anderson – lead vocals
  • Steve Howe – guitar, electric sitar,[65] backing vocals
  • Chris Squire – bass, backing vocals
  • Rick Wakeman – keyboards
  • Bill Bruford – drums, percussion

Production

• 
  
  • Yes – production
  • Eddy Offord – engineer, production
  • Mike Dunne – tapes
  • Roger Dean – cover, photography
  • Martin Adelman – photography
  • Brian Lane – co-ordinator

1. "Close to the Edge"

• 
  
  • I. "The Solid Time of Change"
  • II. "Total Mass Retain"
  • III. "I Get Up, I Get Down"
  • IV. "Seasons of Man"

Jon Anderson, Steve Howe Anderson, Howe 18:42[nb 7]

2. "And You and I"

• 
  
  • I. "Cord of Life"
  • II. "Eclipse"
  • III. "The Preacher, the Teacher"
  • IV. "The Apocalypse"

Anderson Anderson; themes by Bill Bruford, Howe (except "Eclipse"), Chris Squire 10:08

3. "Siberian Khatru" Anderson Anderson, Howe, Rick Wakeman 8:55

4. America Paul Simon 10:31
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To some degree surprisingly, this is my favourite seventies Yes album. I came to the band via Jon and Vangelis of all things to be honest, in the eighties. This of Course is quite a different animal, although Vangelis was striving for his own detailed and somewhat progressive sounds and styles on Private Collection.

This is very famously a Steven Wilson 5.1 mix.

This album was the band reaching, and by 1972, Progressive/Symphonic, whatever particular name you would like to give it, music, had stretched a long way from the roots it had come from. Bands and artists showed no fear in trying anything that would reach past the mediocre, and for the most part a lot of their rock roots were getting thinner on the ground.
Over the next few years a record buying public, appeared in some ways to grow a little weary of twenty minute opuses and returned by and large to 2-4 minute rock songs, but for a while there, Progressive rock music was everywhere and the general public and the cognoscenti, for the most part, were on board with the idea and lapping it up.
I have always liked progressive music, and thankfully the fashions over the years have not really altered my musical focus. I can just as soon listen to the Clash's first album, as one of these more expanded, exploratory albums, but the style fell out of favour and went into hiding for a few years, with much fewer releases, success, and certainly the high profile slipped away.
There was to some degree a backlash and many of the bands involved in the movement ended up changing direction, and several were very successful, including Yes.

Here though the band was right on the money, some of the excesses that crept in later were in check and the focus seemed to be the best song we can write. The playing is brilliant, the writing, although for the most part based in long form, is actually quite concise in its own way, and the journey is pleasurable for all involved.

Close To The Edge
We start with an atmospheric scene, with water and wildlife sounds, and the surround mix pulls us into the environment beautifully.
Musically we have a virtually fusion opening that is broken up with stabs of vocal harmony. The guitar and bass almost duel over the top of the drums in front of us, and the keyboards play a percussive motif beautifully stereoed in the rears for us.
The ahhhh's have a nice full sound, using all the space.
In the first vocal section we have a beautifully balanced sound field, with keys left and rhythm guitar right. So balanced that at times it is hard to pinpoint the separate sections.
We get a breakdown, that sounds very much like a mellotron spanning the east-west sound field, and slowly a keyboard arise in the centre field.
This is a gentle section with really nice use of the main, and backing vocals in the front, and rear fields respectively. Then the organ surrounds us, like being in a massive church. This subsides momentarily while Anderson sings the " i get up, i get down section" then takes over again. Then Wakeman's synth gets a really nice treatment across the rears as the band pummels out the bed. Then we get a keyboard lead break that controls the sound field.
All the multilayered vocals come across wonderfully in the surround field. While surrounding us, they certainly don't lose their coherence.
We fade out with the soundscape we opened with.
Marvellous piece of work

And You And I
The opening guitar sounds great, and almost as if we're within it.
Then we get the acoustics covering the rears, again beautifully balanced.
This is such a wonderfully written piece, and the 5.1 sets it off beautifully. Due to the wonderful layering of the music, some of the progressive albums are hard to beat in surround.
Again wonderful use of all the fields for the vocals .... and all the instruments really.
Wilson really does have a great feel for the 5.1 sound field.

Siberian Khatru
Again the blending of the vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards and sitar/choral sitar, feeds the sections of the surround field, keeping a constant interest up in the arrangement, and having such a variety of musical ideas, so well put together, it becomes like an aurally perfect storm. All the instruments taking a position in the field at musically applicable moments.
The "da do da, dadadode..." section is particularly effective, and directly following that we are reminded what a sad loss Chris Squire was with some great bass work.
This is such a marvellous album.

America
Although not included in the main album running order, this song is certainly a real bonus in the extra features.
Something I haven't mentioned yet is how nicely the drums are mixed, filling the front 2/3's of the sound field, with cymbals getting some rear applications, like the ride in the left rear in this track.
This track is so different from Paul Simon's original, it almost deserves a separate writing credit. I wonder what he thinks of it.
Howe sure plays some nice stuff on this album. The second half of this track is almost a Howe spotlight with a myriad of lead guitar styles getting a good workout.

I really think these kinds of albums are so perfectly suited to this format, due to the multiple layers used to create the songs/pieces of music, and for me, these types of albums pretty much need to be listened to in surround to fully digest them. I know some folks will always prefer a stereo soundstage, and that is fine, and I would never want to take that away from them, but this album for example comes alive in this soundstage. The music gets to breathe and have space, and without any, what are seen to be, tricks, manages to really draw one into the album, in the way that headphones always did for me.
I still see surround as my headphones without have something strapped to your head.

https://www.amazon.com/Close-Edge-Blu-ray-Yes/dp/B00EG0MVMA
Yes - Close To The Edge

Again sadly this 5.1 album is out of print, but is also still somewhat affordable, mostly being around the fifty dollar mark.

 

Great write-up^ there on CTTE. It is certainly one of the shining jewels in my 5.1 collection.

If someone doubts how good surround can be, I play 'And You And I' for them, which never fails to impress them.......or shut them up, either.

 

Queen A Night At The Opera


Studio album by
Queen
Released 21 November 1975
Recorded August – November 1975
Studio
Various[show]
Genre ,Progressive rock, pop, heavy metal, hard rock,avant-pop
Length 43:08
Label EMI, Elektra
Producer Roy Thomas Baker, Queen

A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 21 November 1975 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen, it was reportedly the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release. The album's title is taken from the Marx Brothers film of the same name.

The album was recorded at various studios across a four-month period in 1975. Due to management issues, Queen received almost none of the money they earned for their previous albums. Subsequently, they ended their contract with Trident Studios and did not use their studios for their album (with the sole exception being "God Save the Queen", which was recorded the previous year). They employed a complex production that extensively used multitrack recording, and the songs incorporated a wide range of styles, such as ballads, music hall, dixieland, hard rock and progressive rock influences. Aside from their usual equipment, Queen also utilised a diverse range of instruments such as a double bass, harp, ukulele and more.

Upon release, the album topped the UK Albums Chart for four non-consecutive weeks. It peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart and became the band's first Platinum-selling album in the US. The worldwide sales for the album are over six million copies. It also produced the band's most successful single in the UK, "Bohemian Rhapsody", which became their first UK number one and one of the best-selling singles in both the UK and the world.

Queen

• 
  
  • Freddie Mercury – lead vocals (1, 2, 4, 6–9, 11), backing vocals (1–9, 11), piano (1–3, 7, 9, 11)
  • Brian May – electric guitar (all but 7), backing vocals (1, 3–6, 8, 10, 11), acoustic guitar (5, 8, 9), lead vocals (5, 10), koto (8), harp (9), ukulele (10)
  • Roger Taylor – drums (1–4, 6–8, 10–12), backing vocals (1, 3–8, 11), percussion (2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12), lead vocals (3), electric guitar (3)
  • John Deacon – bass guitar (1–4, 6–11), electric piano (4), double bass (1, 5)[19]

Production

• 
  
  • Roy Thomas Baker – production
  • Mike Stone – engineering
  • Gary Lyons – engineering
  • John Harris – equipment supervision
  • David Costa – art direction
  • Rick Curtin and Brian Palmer – special thanks
  • John Reid – management

Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To ...) 3:37
Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon 1:06
I'm In Love With My Car 3:00
You're My Best Friend 2:47
'39 3:13
Sweet Lady 4:09
Seaside Rendezvous 2:12
The Prophet's Song 7:31
Love Of My Life 4:06
Good Company 3:22
Bohemian Rhapsody 5:48
God Save The Queen 1:07
---------------------------------
This is yet another extremely popular album that is progressive, but would not be referred to a prog, as such. There is no doubt really that Queen were somewhat inspired by some of 10cc's production work, and they really jumped at the challenge, and created one of the most popular albums going, with such musical diversity and intensity that it tends to create a strong negative reaction in some people. Often criticised as bombastic and all sorts of other phrases, I think it ends up being a little unfair. The guys just went in and made the best album they could, in the best way they were able. very similarly to 10cc, the band in was in a bad situation in a lot of ways when this album was being put together, and both bands leapt at the challenge by stepping into somewhat unknown territory, at great risk, to produce something that fortunately catapulted them into the limelight rather than destroying them on the rocks.

5.1 surround sound produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Brian May
5.1 surround sound mixed by Elliot Scheiner

This was my first Queen album. When i first heard it, it was quite surprising, and being a young teen, the musical hall elements were somewhat bizarre to me. It isn't that I didn't particularly dislike them, but at the time they were something completely different that I wasn't used to hearing from a rock band. The breadth of musical styles on here is quite remarkable, yet it actually sits together as a cohesive album that manages to reflect the title of the album, without actually being a concept album. Once the initial surprise of the stylistic diversity had been absorbed and processed, this became among my favourite albums of all time, and still to this day I hold it in high esteem as a piece of musical work, that really does have some art about it.
I believe, and please correct me if I am wrong, that this mix won awards for the best 5.1 mix just after it was released, and trying to go through this is quite a daunting task, but sitting here prior to putting it on, I am filled with expectation, as I always look forward to this album in surround, because I am always immersed and taken on a journey by it.

Death On Two Legs
The piano intro i have always loved so much, and then the ominous and aggressive instrumentation that takes the reigns works beautifully to draw us into the tune. In rises into a cacophonous roar and then with a well placed "ahh" slides across the sound field with a wonderful effect.
May's little guitar punctuations work well alternating left an right rear.
The backing vocals are super effective coming through the rears.
We're getting pick scrapes sliding across the field and it all sounds magnificent.

Lazing On Sunday Afternoon
Here is the first of the music hall style songs, and it is great fun, and lighthearted.
The piano slides across the rears nicely. Again the backing vocals are great.
Then we get one of May's wonderful guitar arrangements sitting around us beautifully. We slide straight into

I'm In Love With My Car
Beautiful stereo effects in the fronts and rears, with the guitars and car sfx working wonderfully.
And again those well spread and balanced vocals.

You're My Best Friend
This is a very balanced and even mix, making good use of all channels.

39
Here we have a collage of acoustic guitars, filling the spaces nicely, and a nice upright bass getting its definition helped by the sub.
Again those harmony vocals .... fantastic.

Sweet Lady
A dirty grinding rocker hits us now.
Again with layered guitars and vocals, there is a great well spread mix coming at us and immersing us at the same time.
With the wind up guitar collage ending, we get almost a psychedelic effect.

Seaside Rendezvous
The other wonderful music hall style song. Literally with all the bells and whistles, coming from various points in the surround.
And yet again those vocals, that at one point are mimicking a jazz horn section beautifully.
So many wonderfully placed elements in this mix to keep the interest at 100%

Prophets Song
The acoustic up front, and toy koto in the rear.... i already know this is a magnum opus of writing and mixing.
The guitars and vocals, are again magnificent in this sound field.
Freddie's delay effect vocal works wonderfully, and it "around around around". The "la la" section is amazing. This is really a tour de force in every way.
When the guitar section comes in, in punches either side beautifully and is super effective. Some slide across the field effects also add to this wonderful gumbo.
An essential surround listen for any enthusiast.

Love Of My Life
The acoustic at the end of the last song moves into the piano of this track wonderfully.
The mix is a little more sedate in keeping with the song, but again capped off with some very nice vocal, and guitar effect embellishments in the surround field.
Then we again get a fantastic May guitar orchestra.

Good Company
This May tune is a little music hall and a little skiffle and works really well also.
The intro is another lovely piece of mixing.
May's guitar arrangement in the mix is very attention grabbing.
The effect in the ritard also works wonderfully.
May's guitar replication of a jazz horn section is again magnificent.

Bohemian Rhapsody
The song needs no introduction of course.
The vocal layers are worth the price of admission alone.
I haven't mentioned the drums yet, but they get a nice mix and sound all through the album, also with good and sensible use of the surround field.
The operatic section is another example of how well surround enhances layered music ... so well.
And the gong slides across the field really nicely to close.

God Save The Queen
Another of May's guitar orchestras beautifully balanced across the sound field playing the traditional tune for British events .. the national anthem. Leaving the feeling of having had a night at the opera.

To me this is an essential album for surround enthusiasts. It is immersive and engaging, and interesting and artistic, and to me wonderfully thought out and presented.

This album came in many many formats. Initially the dvd audio. Then there was also a dual disc anniversary edition with the surround mix on a regular dvd, with a specially compiled video to play along with it. The version I listened to today was the bluray version, which has the dts master audio and also the pcm 5.1 encoding on it.

Sadly again, these are all out of print, and tend to be on the higher price range spectrum.
dvd-a
https://www.amazon.com/Night-at-Opera-Queen/dp/B00005RG6M
Queen - A Night At The Opera

The dvd anniversary edition
Queen - A Night At The Opera
Queen - A Night At The Opera
Queen - A Night At The Opera
Queen - A Night At The Opera

Bluray
Queen - A Night At The Opera
Queen - A Night At The Opera

the various version ranging wildly in price from about twenty bucks to about two hundred bucks for the Japanese bluray.
I am afraid I don't know if there are any differences between them, except for the encoding, but I have had the dvd-a, and still have the bluray and dvd editions, and think they were all excellent.

 

I believe the surround mixes between the DVD-A and the later releases are different with Brian May being involved in the latter.

 

No synthesizers used !
I recently got the anniversary dvd, but haven't played the complete album. Playing ANATO has been at least 35 years, probably more.