The Best Remasters, track by track

I guess that's what you get when you have an encyclopedic website anyone and their dog can edit. You've failed me again, Wikipedia!

alright - time to break silence and give some wav analyses of the prominent Queen remasters of the 80's album tracks.

Since Crown Jewels  (ably done by the great Peter Mew) stops at The Game, my sampling trifecta going forward consists of:  Hollywood Records 1991 remaster, Japan only 2001 remaster, and Singles Collection (reportedly new remasters and/or JP versions).

I talked about the "Flash" track previously (even though it was single vs. album versions)... so the only other FLASH track to cover is the 7" b-side:

FOOTBALL FIGHT:  The HR version is the most subdued.  other than the big hit at 1:25, the song is FAR from maxing out volume.  It appears to have only minimal limiting applied, if anything.  And the left channel is slightly louder overall.

The JP remaster is SIGNIFICANTLY compressed, probably doubled in strength.  The peak volume is roughly in the 92% range, the but track's waveform has been normalized overall.

And the SC.... looks very similar to the JP remaster, but it's actually boosted another few percent in overall level to maximize the saturation on the disc.

now, this is not a hit song, or a song of much consequence really, but it's telling (to me) of some pretty drastic things being done to the band's music.  you've got to always use your ears.  Hot Space tracks to come...(edit:  computer crash at home yesterday, so it may some time before I get the old files sorted out and placed on the new system.  as such, i'll have to pick up the wav analyses on the 80's tracks sometime down the road...)

Sorry, I haven't been around for a few days.

Excellent analysis as always, Joe.

I've been re-evaluating the various lists, making a few changes here and there, based the contributions of the different posters. Expect a detailed recap post next week (my sister's wedding is this weekend, so I'll be out of town Fri to Sun).

Sorry for the delayed summary.

Just so all the lists are in the same place, here is the track by track look at what might be the best remasters. The lists are still open for discussion because we haven't really covered all the remasters that are out there, simply the one most widely available, for the most part.

I'd love to hear the MSFL versions of Opera, Game and News. Also, Adam Unger pointed out that we never took a look at the Japan or EMI 3 inch CD single sets' remasters. There may be a few gems in those. And I'm willing to bet the MSFL releases rival any other remasters.

Then there's the likelihood that the 2011 Single Collection 4 box will have some great Innuendo and Made In Heaven tracks remastered.

And let's not forget the possibility (probability?) that Universal might put out a new series of remasters of their own.

Anyway, here's what's been covered so far...

Queen
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)

Queen II
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)

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)

A Night At The Opera
01) Death On Two Legs (2008 SC)
02) Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon (2005 30th Anniversary Remaster)
03) I'm In Love With My Car (2005 AR)
04) You're My Best Friend (2008 SC)
05) '39 (2008 SC)
06) Sweet Lady (2005 AR)
07) Seaside Rendezvous (2005 AR)
08) The Prophet's Song (2005 AR)
09) Love Of My Life (2005 AR)
10) Good Company (2005 AR)
11) Bohemian Rhapsody (2008 SC)
12) God Save The Queen (2005 AR)

A Day At The Races
00) A Day At The Races Fanfare (1996 MSFL)
01) Tie Your Mother Down (Single Version) (2008 SC)
02) You Take My Breath Away (1996 MSFL)
03) Long Away (1996 MSFL)
04) The Millionaire Waltz (1996 MSFL)
05) You And I (2008 SC)
06) Somebody To Love (2008 SC)
07) White Man (2008 SC)
08) Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (2008 SC)
09) Drowse (1996 MSFL)
10) Teo Torriate (2006 High Definition Mix) 

News Of The World
01) We Will Rock You (2008 SC)
02) We Are The Champions (2008 SC)
03) Sheer Heart Attack (2008 SC)
04) All Dead, All Dead (1991 HR)
05) Spread Your Wings (2008 SC)
06) Fight From The Inside (1991 HR)
07) Get Down, Make Love (1991 HR)
08) Sleeping On The Sidewalk (1991 HR)
09) Who Needs You (1991 HR)
10) It's Late (1991 HR)
11) My Melancholy Blues (1991 HR)

Jazz
01) Mustapha (1991 HR)
02) Fat Bottomed Girls (1991 HR)
03) Jealousy (1991 HR)
04) Bicycle Race (2008 SC)
05) If You Can't Beat Them (1991 HR)
06) Let Me Entertain You (1991 HR)
07) Dead On Time (1991 HR)
08) In Only Seven Days (2008 SC)
09) Dreamer's Ball (1991 HR)
10) Fun It (1991 HR)
11) Leaving Home Ain't Easy (1991 HR)
12) Don't Stop Me Now (2008 SC)
13) More Of That Jazz (1991 HR)
Live Killers
The 2001 Japan Digital Remasters Series

The Game
01) Play The Game (2009 SC)
02) Dragon Attack (2009 SC)
03) Another One Bites The Dust (2009 SC)
04) Need Your Loving Tonight (1991 HR)
05) Crazy Little Thing Called Love (2009 SC)
06) Rock It (Prime Jive) (1991 HR)
07) Don't Try Suicide (1991 HR)
08) Sail Away Sweet Sister (1991 HR)
09) Coming Soon (1991 HR)
10) Save Me (2009 SC)
bonus track
11) A Human Body (2009 SC)

Hot Space
01) Staying Power (2009 SC)
02) Dancer (1991 HR)
03) Back Chat (1991 HR)
04) Body Language (2009 SC)
05) Action This Day (1991 HR)
06) Put Out The Fire (2009 SC)
07) Life Is Real (2009 SC)
08) Calling All Girls (2009 SC)
09) Las Palabras De Amar (2009 SC)
10) Cool Cat (2009 SC)
11) Under Pressure (2009 SC)
bonus track
12) Soul Brother (2009 SC)

The Works
01) Radio Ga Ga (2009 SC)
02) Tear It Up (2009 SC)
03) It's Hard Life (2009 SC)
04) Man On The Prowl (2010 SC)
05) Machines (2009 SC)
06) I Want To Break Free (1991 HR)
07) Keep Passing The Open Windows (2010 SC)
08) Hammer To Fall (1994 DMS)
09) Is This The World We Created...? (2009 SC)
bonus tracks
10) I Go Crazy (2009 SC)
11) Thank God It's Christmas (2010 SC)
12) Radio Ga Ga (Instrumental) (1984 OM)
13) Machines (Instrumental) (1992 BOT)

A Kind Of Magic
01) One Vision (1991 HR)
02) A Kind Of Magic (2010 SC)
03) One Year Of Love (2010 SC)
04) Pain Is So Close To Pleasure (1991 HR)
05) Friends Will Be Friends (2010 SC)
06) Who Wants To Live Forever (1991 HR)
07) Gimme The Prize (2010 SC)
08) Don't Lose Your Head (2010 SC)
09) Princes Of The Universe (2010 SC)
Extra Magical Ingredients:
10) A Kind Of 'A Kind Of Magic' (2001 JLP)
11) Friends Will Be Friends Will Be Friends (2001 JLP)
12) Forever (2010 SC)
13) A Dozen Red Roses For My Darling (2010 SC)
14) Blurred Vision (2010 SC)

Live Magic
2001 Japan Digital Remasters Series

The Miracle
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)  

Queen At The Beeb/BBC
1995 Hollywood Records Remaster

Innuendo
1991 Original Master

Live At Wembley ‘86/Live At Wembley Stadium
2007 Re-issue Remaster

Made In Heaven
2001 Japan Digital Remasters Series

Queen Rocks
01) We Will Rock You (2008 SC)
02) Tie Your Mother Down (2008 SC)
03) I Want It All (Rocks Version) (1997 QR)
04) The Seven Seas Of Rhye (2008 SC)
05) I Can't Live With You (1997 Rocks Retake)
06) Hammer To Fall (1994 DMS)
07) Stone Cold Crazy (1998 CJ)
08) Now I'm Here (2008 SC)
09) Fat Bottomed Girls (1991 HR)
10) Keep Yourself Alive (2008 SC)
11) Tear It Up (2009 SC)
12) One Vision (1991 HR)
13) Sheer Heart Attack (2008 SC)
14) I'm In Love With My Car (Rocks Version) (1997 QR)
15) Put Out The Fire (2009 SC)
16) Headlong (1991 OM)
17) It's Late (1991 HR)
18) No-One But You (1999 GH3)

Here is a thread on an audiophile forum that I found interesting.  Enjoy.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=141208

Interesting.

I disagree with Roland on the quality of the Hollywood Records remasters, though I respect that he did a thorough comparison between editions, some of which were not covered by our thread. He also skipped a few albums, which I know is beside the point (Flash, Miracle, Innuendo, Heaven), and hadn't explored many of the later remasters after the MFSL releases, not like I expect him to. That would be a heck of an investment in time.

In a way, it's a lot like movies which get remastered. Sometimes, the visual clarity is more than an audience member wants to see, that it loses that texture which older movies have and that fans are used to. It can be a no-win situation, where the original limitations are removed and a certain percentage of the audience says, "yeah, but it's not the same..."

I'm somewhere in the middle, where I like a certain about of clean up, but too far and it loses something

Agree, Rhye... despite any expert analyses, recommendations, and differentiation - the reality is that sonics are very subjective.  I've heard albums (like the Queen MFSL versions, particularly ADATR) that are not modern masters, that sound PHENOMENAL to my ears when played on a great stereo system, and without any competing noise.  The same master played from my iPod as i drive on the highway sounds very unimpressive and small.

I've also heard heavily compressed remasters (and some heavily compressed original masters from the last 5-10 years) that sound HUGE wherever they're played.  As i've said before, it's an art.  and more often than not, an art whose estimation of beauty is in the ear of the listener...

I've mentioned Mike Oldfield a number of times on this forum, of whom I'm a big fan. His older albums, from his days at Virgin Records, have gone through a couple of remasters each. The results were very uneven from album to album. In a few cases he was involved, but mostly not.

Until recently, when he personally sat down with the engineers to remaster (in stereo) and remix (into 5.1) his early albums. Three are out so far with more on the way. But before these, I subjectively favoured the original masters for many of his releases, based on the subtle nature of his work getting lost.

Apologies for digging up this old thread, but it seems odd that, aside from a brief mention by rhyeking, the remixed Greatest Video Hits tracks have not been considered. These certainly have much better spatial and general separation, and sound way better than the latest remasters to me. OK they are in 5.1 DTS, but they also have a PCM stereo audio track for those of us who are numerically speaker-challenged, and there are various ways of playing 5.1 content in stereo through a computer.

Catbert wrote: Apologies for digging up this old thread, but it seems odd that, aside from a brief mention by rhyeking, the remixed Greatest Video Hits tracks have not been considered. These certainly have much better spatial and general separation, and sound way better than the latest remasters to me. OK they are in 5.1 DTS, but they also have a PCM stereo audio track for those of us who are numerically speaker-challenged, and there are various ways of playing 5.1 content in stereo through a computer. ...............................................................................................................

no apology necessary, my friend...  with the new remasters' impending arrival, this discussion has been rendered incomplete!  doubt i'll do an in-depth analysis, but I absolutely plan to buy the new re-issues, and i'll certainly weigh in my sonic opinion if anyone asks.

interesting point you make... i honestly believe(d) the stereo audio tracks from the Greatest Video Hits are simply the single/video versions with no remixing done.  The 5.1 track is a different story of course as they had to spread out the soundfield over front, rear, and center. 

Rhye (or anyone else still reading this)... any knowledge to put forth on the matter?

I'm approaching the remasters with extreme caution.

1991 Hollywood, the 1994 EMI's, the 2001/04 Japanese, Crown Jewels, 2005 Ludwig ANATO etc etc.
All rubbish.

All of these remasters are easily bettered by the EMI CD Originals (and the Japanese 1987 CD originals).

The MFSL's are nice, Jury's out for me whether I like these better than the originals.
Hoffman absolutely nailed the ANATO DCC. The cd is absolutely magnificent, and the benchmark for all remastering in my opinion.

The Queen catalogue has been handled appallingly.
Can Ludwig save the day with the 2011's? I doubt it, I'm not sure he's been given full reign to do them properly.

Hold onto those originals if you still have them. And dig them out if you've neglected them.
They're better than any official Queen remastering that followed.

joesilvey wrote: ... i honestly believe(d) the stereo audio tracks from the Greatest
Video Hits are simply the single/video versions with no remixing done. 
The 5.1 track is a different story of course as they had to spread out
the soundfield over front, rear, and center.
-----------------------------------

Conversly I assumed that because they went back to pre CD-master
tapes/whatever to create the surround mix, they made a new stereo mix at
the same time, albeit one that fairly closely matched the original and
was probably just a downmix of the surround mix. Maybe I'm imagining
things. It's so hard to be entirely objective about comparative
listenings. That's why I hoped someone had done all the hard work,
triple blind experiments etc, for me!

Having done a comparison of Don't Stop me Now from Geatest Video Hits,
2008 remaster and 2011 remaster the main difference was the 2008 sounds
very thin and trebly, the DVD sounds loud, but lots of bass and the 2011
sounds better balanced between bass and treble, but maybe with less
spatial separation than the DVD.

Perhaps the original CDs really are the best, but I'm guessing that's more to do with more dynamic range, less clipping and less EQing as opposed to the benefits of remixing from earlier generation sources.

Sorry, folks, I was offline for 10 days at a cottage.

Catbert, glad to have you aboard. If I remember correctly, we glazed over the Video Hits DVDs' versions for a few reasons: a) Some are disqualified by being the single versions of the songs (or are otherwise remixed or edited differently) and b) I was focusing on CD editions of the albums. I guess in my mind the medium (CD, DVD, LP, etc) was part of the criteria, as it's easy to rip a lossless WAV, for example, off a CD. Most common computer media programs allow you to do that. Less easy (but not impossible) is ripping audio from a DVD. Call me lazy, but I didn't want to get into that.

smilebrian, I disagree, at least about the 1991 HR remasters. They may not be perfect, but overall I think they're well above par. A comparative analysis was done throughout this thread, but we all must concede that our own ears subjectively gauge the end result. If the EMI discs are your preferred editions, I can't argue with you.

And yes, I was anticipating the Deluxe remasters joining the discussion. I'm curious to see what we come up with when those hit the shelves. I'm predicting opinions being vehemently divided.