You are absolutely right, Benn. I remember hearing my brother say the same thing about the early Queen stuff. And as we know from some documentary (I forget which), Brian mentions how they wanted a room-y sound, but were told it could be added afterwards with reverb. And of course, it didn't work.
So yeah, it's true. Queen didn't get the best treatment at the start. But they got more as they progressed and worked hard to move onward. And ain't we glad they got there? :)
Adam.
Benn · Member since
The interesting thing would be to set someone up in the job of engineering and producing a new set of remasters who has absolutely no connection to the band other than the love of the music and giving them access to the master tapes.
I just wonder whether the quality of the raw recording is there on tape to actually enable a DEFINITIVE remastering of the catalogue once and for all. I.E. can the harshness of the cymbals on "Liar" be brought down to render it listenable at volume?
My feeling is that, simply. it was all recorded badly because, in all honesty, why would so many re-masters and re-issues contain all the familiar bad points.
Unless, of course, the recording quality WAS good, but the ORIGINAL mastering SO bad that subsequent re-masters and re-issues have DELIBERATELY been sub-standard in order that the original production team were not overly embarassed..........?
Negative Creep · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]Benn wrote: [/b]
The interesting thing would be to set someone up in the job of engineering and producing a new set of remasters who has absolutely no connection to the band other than the love of the music and giving them access to the master tapes.[/QUOTE]
The whole back catalogue needs re-mixing from the multitracks - not just remastered! And by someone who really knows what they're doing, not Justin "jack of all trades, master of none" Shirely Smith or the drummer from the Cross who's been kept on the pay roll.
pittrek · Member since
F* JSS . Why are all drums on the live recording he remixed sounding WORSE than on bootleg versions of the same songs ? They should really hire the man who remastered ANATO for the 30th anniversary, give him all master tapes and LEAVE HIM.
Benn · Member since
I'm not sure it all needs re-mixing. In fairness, who is anyone else to *mess* with what the artists originally wanted everyone to hear in the manner they wanted them to hear it? Unless, of course, the remaining members of Queen had issues with the original mixes themselves - in which case, it's still an unbalanced view as one of the band is dead.
And, if done, it absolutely HAS to be taken away from anyone with a vested interest in it. Someone coming at it from a completely new and fresh perspective who has no preconceptions about how Queen should sound. I.E. a professional engineer / producer, NOT a Queen-related lackey.
Adam Baboolal · Member since
As a sidenote, I think Brian is more open to remixing things. Not all things, but certainly, I could see Queen and QII being remixed. Brian had the team dust off the cobwebs on Teo Torriate and gave it the "HiDef" treatment remix. Now, if he didn't mind that, it makes me wonder what else he wouldn't mind doing. It could be akin to Paul McCartney's need to "fix" Let It Be. I think there's a case to be heard here, imo.
Adam.
Benn · Member since
I'm hearin' ya - what we want is for the best *sounding* and *available* versions of Queen albums to be as close to the way they were ORIGINALLY meant to be heard as possible using the best technology at their disposal, but keeping faith with the original mixes as the band TOGETHER meant for us to hear them..
Adam Baboolal · Member since
Pretty much. And I'm sure with the technology available to the guys right now, it would be a very good idea to remix those first two albums. The 2nd less so, but definitely the first one. Especially in light of Brian's comment about the room sound and how they were not pleased that it couldn't actually be added after the initial recording, then. But now...
The amount of times I've sat down with impulse reverbs (special reverb recordings of actual rooms/halls/places) and made a limp sounding vocal, guitar or drum kit suddenly gain depth is phenomenal. I'm not talking expensive gear here. I'm talking very widely available and cheap plugins. God only knows what the big boys have!!
So, ya know what? I think this is an idea that needs to be presented to Brian. Seriously, this is the kind of stuff he'd take a liking to. Hmm...
*goes off*
Done! Sent an email to his soapbox. Whether he actually gets it or not, who knows. But it's something that needs to be checked out.
Adam.
Benn · Member since
Good on ya Adam. I've sent countless things like that to his soapbox and had the response back that "it's not on his radar at the moment". Perhaps if you mention that the covers could be stereo images, you'll have his ear.
