The Best Remasters, track by track

In light of the recent discussions around the quality of the different remasters that have been issued, I've been tinkering with my collection, trying to find the The Best versions of each album track. The recent Singles Collections appear to have the best sounding, properly balanced, not too loud, not too soft range.

I invite Expert opinions and Average Joe opinions. And I know some people out there don't have every single release and remaster made available over the years,so maybe this will help some fans know where to look.

For those who are curious, here is a list of the various masters and remasters issued since 1991:

1991 Hollywood Records (US) (Queen to The Miracle)
1991 Original Album Master = Innuendo
1994 Digital Master Series (UK) (Queen to Innuendo)
1995 Original Album Master = Made In Heaven
1998 Crown Jewels LP Reproductions (US) (Queen to The Game)
2001 Japanese LP Reproductions (Japan) (Queen to Made In Heaven)
2005 30th Anniversay Remaster = A Night At The Opera
2008 Original album Master = The Cosmos Rocks
2008 Singles Collection 1 (New Remastered tracks)
2009 Absolute Greatest (New Remastered tracks)
2009 Singles Collection 2 (New Remastered tracks)
2010 Singles Collection 3 (New Remastered tracks)

Let's start at the beginning:

Queen (the debut album)
01) Keep Yourself Alive (2008 Singles Collection Remaster)
02) Doing All Right (1991 Hollywood Records Remaster)
03) Great King Rat (1991 HR)
04) My Fairy King (1991 HR)
06) Liar (1991 HR)
07) The Night Comes Down (1991 HR)
08) Modern Times Rock and Roll (1991 HR)
09) Son And Daughter (2008 SC)
10) Seven Seas Of Rhye...(1991 HR)
bonus tracks
11) Mad The Swine (1991 HR)
12) Keep Yourself Alive (Long Lost Re-Take) (1998 Crown Jewels Promo Sampler)

Because there was only the "Keep Yourself Alive" single which has seen any re-issuing (Oh, poor "Liar." you're so neglected, robbing us of a newly remastered "Doing All Right")

Compare that to The Miracle album:

01) Party (1991 HR)
02) Khashoggi's ship (1991 HR)
03) The Miracle (1991 HR)
04) Want It All (2001 JLP)
05) Breakthru (2010 SC)
06) The Invisible Man (2010 SC)
07) Rain Must Fall (1991 HR)
08) Scandal (2010 SC)
09) My Baby Does Me (1991 HR)
10) Was It All Worth It (1991 HR)
bonus tracks
11) Hang On In There (2010 SC)
12) Chinese Torture (1991 HR)
13) Stealin' (2010 SC)
14) Hijack My Heart (2010 SC)
15) My Life Has Been Saved (2010 SC)  

Shall we tackle the rest?

I'm not sure I agree with everything right there. Specifically, "My Fairy King" from the 1991 HR version. Might be just my disc, but there's a weird glitch right at the end of the song, where the sound goes weird for a few seconds and comes back to "normal" a bit after the last crash cymbal hit from Rog. Sadly, I only got a "Fame" re-release of the vinyl as an option to listen to, which I still prefer, because it sounds alright all the way. But I've heard the 1994 Parlophone/EMI remaster, and it's worse overall than the 1991 HR version, except for that glitch on my copy. Again, might be just my copy, I dunno. Does anyone else have this glitch?

My preferred version of the debut album is from the Crown Jewels set (1998 remasters, also by Peter Mew at Abbey Road, interestingly) and there's no drop-out glitch at the end of My Fairy King on it...

I'm not sure what you mean by "drop out glitch." After the last cymbal crash, at about 3:52, the guitar note is left to die out, there's a moment of near silence, then the guitar and piano have little coda to finish the song.

After Roger hits a pair of cymbals for the last time (his timing on one is a bit off), I can hear his drumstick tap together faintly.  

That's all I'm hearing at the end of the song.

What would everybody think the best Remaster from "Yeah" (12th track in MIH) be?
There are obvious differences, as I'm sure most of us have noticed.

The 2001 remaster is highly compressed to the point that the "h" is barely audible!

(I'm sure someone will do a frequence analysis of the track after reading this post) :P

I uploaded the Fairy clip to Mediafire, though I don't know if it works - never used Mediafire before. Here's the link which it gave me anyway:

http://www.mediafire.com/?mhbngyczgyy

The glitch is about 4 seconds long there, you should hear it rather clearly. My vinyl sounds much clearer.

Okay, maybe I'm thick. I like to think I'm not, but we're all human...

What am I hearing that is the glitch? There's the crescendo (the frantic building up) topped with two cymbal crashes and Brian's guitar carrying a over, over a slight pause, then the guitar and piano come back in.

If you could upload the "correct" version, a clip WITHOUT the glitch, I'd have something to compare it to. I don't have my record player available to listen to the vinyl version and I don't own the later remasters of this album.

I REALLY am dying to hear what you're hearing! Help a brother out.

JacquesDaniels wrote: I uploaded the Fairy clip to Mediafire, though I don't know if it works - never used Mediafire before. Here's the link which it gave me anyway:

http://www.mediafire.com/?mhbngyczgyy

The glitch is about 4 seconds long there, you should hear it rather clearly. My vinyl sounds much clearer.
  i don't hear any dropout, glitch, or mastering error of any kind on this clip...  seems to me that this is just the very loose way the recording ended...

I agree with Joe. It sounds fine to me. The clip posted sounds the same as the version I have on my Hollywood Records 1991 CD, both are as I described.

This reminds of a time a friend of mine said someone told him the doorslam after "Goodbye, Ma!" in "Loser In The End" was a glitch. I was like, "It sounds like a door slamming shut, as if the son is leaving home." He was like, "That's what I thought, too!"

For the record, it IS a door slamming sound, NOT a glitch.

Speaking of Queen II, here's my look at it..

I do have the 2001 Japanese remasters from the LP reproduction and it's what mostly gets used.

This brings me to a point unique to the first few albums. The segued tracks, which make up a good portion of each side. Different remasters place the tracks' seperations pints at, well, different points. This was quite noticable between the Hollywood Records and Japanese LP Reproduction remasters.

01) Procession (2001 JLP)
02) Father To Son (2001 JLP)
03) White Queen (2001 JLP)*
04) Some Day One Day (2001 JLP)
05) Loser In The End (2001 JLP)
06) Ogre Battle (2001 JLP)
07) The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke (2001 JLP)
08) Nevermore (2001 JLP)
09) The March Of The Black Queen (2001 JLP)
10) Funny How Love Is (2001 JLP)
11) The Seven Seas Of Rhye (2008 SC)
bonus track
12) See What A Fool I've Been (2008 SC)

Again, not much wiggle room.

* I'd love to use the 2008 Singles Collection remaster of "White Queen" but unless I get into serious cutting and pasting to maintain the proper seguing between tracks, it sounds choppy to include it as it's missing part of the segue, being mixed as a stand-alone track.

Doing two albums a post, just to keep things moving, here's Sheer Heart Attack:

01) Brighton Rock (1998 CJ)
02) Killer Queen (2008 SC)
03) Tenement Funster (1998 CJ)*
04) Flick Of The Wrist (1998 CJ)*
05) Lily Of The Valley (1998 CJ)*
06) Now I'm Here (2008 SC)
07) In The Lap Of The Gods (1998 CJ)
08) Stone Cold Crazy (1998 CJ)
09) Dear Friends (1998 CJ)
10) Misfire (1998 CJ)
11) Bring Back That Leroy Brown (1998 CJ)
12) She Makes Me (1998 CJ)
13) In The Lap  Of The Gods...Revisited (1998 CJ)

* Same issue as with Queen II, the segues are lost with the Single Versions, despite the superior remastering done for the Singles Collection. Oh well.

if anyone wants to secretly email me the 2010 breakthru singles collection remaster, my email address is zackbrown1@cox.net

please?

rhyking - what is CJ ???

Oh, sorry...

1998 CJ = 1998 Crown Jewels boxed set remasters.

The first post lists the different series of remasters issued since 1991. I tried to abbreviate them for easy descriptions.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]rhyeking wrote:[/QUOTENAME] Oh, sorry...

1998 CJ = 1998 Crown Jewels boxed set remasters.

The first post lists the different series of remasters issued since 1991. I tried to abbreviate them for easy descriptions.
[/QUOTE]

Thanks. I always thought that they simply used the Abbey Road remasters, good (?) to know that they remastered it again

Sorry, can't send the other version quite yet, I'll be away for the whole weekend so I'll get back on the subject on Sunday. It's just that, to me, those 4 seconds in the clip go a bit tinny or something very strange, because the crash cymbal sort of "clicks" back into it's ordinary sound midway through it's final hit, like some part of the original master tape was a bit too worn, I dunno. I'll send the other clip on Sunday.