I'm not saying it's in the right order, does anyone really know the right order?[/QUOTE]
I asked Gary T the other day and he confirms that the tracks are all in the correct original broadcast order.
Maybe subsequent broadcasts mxed the tracks up a bit and this is why we've always had alternate orders for some of the sessions?
brians wig · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]calculon559 wrote:[/b]
Did a quick comparison of Session 5 between On Air and the russian boot In The Mirror. Looks like only SOME of the DJ talk is on the official release
Basically, chatter after a song is intact, but chatter preceding a song has been excised.
Example: "Well, that's the best thing I've heard in a long time, Queen, and 'Stone Cold Crazy' [and with a Flick of the Wrist, here's Queen]"[/QUOTE]
I've done that too and discovered the same.
Easy to fix and make your own copies, but at least we have chatter on the other sessions that we've never heard before.
It would have been nice to have had it all though.
Incidentally.
As far as I'm aware, all the DJ chatter has come from Brian's own off-air recordings of the broadcasts.
Apparantly he used to get his Mum to record all the radio things they did.
THIS is the sort of information should have been in the accompanying book as it's fascinating to hear.
The Real Wizard · Member since
Here's a biggie:
At the end of MTRnR on session 4, Bob Harris says "that's the first of three on the programme" tonight.
So what's all this about March Of The Black Queen being broadcast?
Have we been peddling a myth all this time?
And why has the band's archivist played along? As a giant inside joke for the last 15 years?
. · Member since
I'm sure he would be happy to go along with that, but no.
cmsdrums · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
Here's a biggie:
At the end of MTRnR on session 4, Bob Harris says "that's the first of three on the programme" tonight.
So what's all this about March Of The Black Queen being broadcast?
Have we been peddling a myth all this time?
And why has the band's archivist played along? As a giant inside joke for the last 15 years?
[/QUOTE]
I did wonder that - perhaps it was as simple as that Harris' comment makes it clear there are three new 'in session tracks', and then he also simply plays the album version of MOTBQ, correctly introducing it as basically a plug for Queen II, and it would also fill some time as most bands would have recorded four 'live' tracks as opposed to the three Queen managed this time.
The Real Wizard · Member since
So here's my overall two cents:
I'm happy with this release, but not ecstatic. There's a lot that they got right, and a lot that they could've done so much better.
Let's start with the good:
The BBC sessions are now out in their entirety, full stop. Every note, exactly as it was played. No overdubbing, no fixes (except for two very small adjustments in sessions 1 and 2 as mentioned earlier in this thread), and no loudness war. The BBC tracks on the 2011 remasters were partly brickwalled, but in 2016 they breathe as they should. There is little new here for those of us who have keenly collected every morsel of unreleased Queen music they can find (the intro to Ogre Battle is now happily reunited with the rest of the track in excellent quality, and sessions 2 and 4 particularly sound much better than what we'd heard), but for the wider audience this is a significant chapter in the Queen story out there for the taking now. Well done, QP.
The 6 disc version has DJ commentary (sometimes abridged) after most of the tracks, which is a delightful addition if we're looking for a period piece here. And for those who don't dig the idea, the 2 disc and LP versions have just the music. Everybody wins.
Many of the interviews are unheard, and are well worth a gander. But a couple of the ones that have circulated for years present some issues. They used the standard copy for the Kenny Everett one and did some god-awful hiss reduction on it. What kind of professional was actually satisfied with these results? All I hear in the musical segments is digital artifacts, and an overall digital swirl in the tape hiss. It was better as it was.
And they significantly cut the 1977 interview by over 20 minutes, despite having released the whole thing with their 40th anniversary book (well, they released only half of it at first, but that's a whole other story). The 1989 interview is missing over ten minutes as well. It only makes one wonder how much of the unheard material is abridged.
The Golders Green Hippodrome 73 radio broadcast has been available in complete form for over a decade (and bootlegged in part since the 70s), and the official release does not provide an increase in sound quality (although the spoken introduction by Alan Black is slightly longer). See What A Fool I've Been is cut due to sound quality (fair enough), but Jailhouse Rock is under a minute long before it fades out, making one wonder why it was even included at all. And then we have incomplete versions of Sao Paulo 81 and Mannheim 86. The latter is forgettable, as a recording of equal quality has been out on bootleg since 1986. The live disc is under 74 minutes long, so even with their butchering philosophy there was room for one or two more Sao Paulo tracks. But for the entire Sao Paulo show not to be included is a travesty, as it is better sound quality than any previous FM or bootleg copy we've heard.
However, this does highlight a spot of encouragement - they are now willing to release uncut mono recordings when they were previously all about multi-tracks. It remains bizarre that QP has not jumped onto the digital medium of selling unheard concerts for download. If money is what they're after, then they should dip into Brian's catalogue of mono and stereo soundboard tapes and release them for £10 apiece. Thousands of people would buy every single one that upgraded what was on the bootleg market. The "top 100 bootlegs" project was rancid, where they sold audience recordings that ran at the wrong speed and inferior copies of shows they officially released. A version 2.0, where they actually listened to experts who know what the fanbase wants, could usher in an era of not only dialogue but utmost satisfaction for all parties. And in the digital realm this is remarkably easy to achieve. The failures of the On Air release would be instantly forgiven. The effort would be minimal - bake the tapes, transfer them to digital, and put them up for download. They will sell.
Until then - On Air is a reminder that QP have the capacity to get it right, but often fall short of the mark.
Had they left it as a 2 disc release, it would be a 10/10.
But choosing to do an expanded version with so many flaws and omissions drops it to a 7/10.
Now bring on the 76-79 live stuff !
Oscar J · Member since
^ Golders Green sounds a lot better to me on the official release. But nice review otherwise!
Viper · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]cmsdrums wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
Here's a biggie:
At the end of MTRnR on session 4, Bob Harris says "that's the first of three on the programme" tonight.
So what's all this about March Of The Black Queen being broadcast?
Have we been peddling a myth all this time?
And why has the band's archivist played along? As a giant inside joke for the last 15 years?
[/QUOTE]
I did wonder that - perhaps it was as simple as that Harris' comment makes it clear there are three new 'in session tracks', and then he also simply plays the album version of MOTBQ, correctly introducing it as basically a plug for Queen II, and it would also fill some time as most bands would have recorded four 'live' tracks as opposed to the three Queen managed this time.[/QUOTE]
The booklet states that Black Queen was played with the other 3 tracks.
The Real Wizard · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Oscar J wrote:[/b]
^ Golders Green sounds a lot better to me on the official release. But nice review otherwise![/QUOTE]
Depends which version you have ;)
There are a couple excellent copies out there, and I'm pretty sure they're available here.
It's the exact same source material - they've just EQ'd it.
The Real Wizard · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Viper wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]cmsdrums wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
Here's a biggie:
At the end of MTRnR on session 4, Bob Harris says "that's the first of three on the programme" tonight.
So what's all this about March Of The Black Queen being broadcast?
Have we been peddling a myth all this time?
And why has the band's archivist played along? As a giant inside joke for the last 15 years?
[/QUOTE]
I did wonder that - perhaps it was as simple as that Harris' comment makes it clear there are three new 'in session tracks', and then he also simply plays the album version of MOTBQ, correctly introducing it as basically a plug for Queen II, and it would also fill some time as most bands would have recorded four 'live' tracks as opposed to the three Queen managed this time.[/QUOTE]
The booklet states that Black Queen was played with the other 3 tracks.
[/QUOTE]
And it directly contradicts the DJ's words on the day of broadcast.
It wouldn't be the first time the liner notes in a recent Queen release got something wrong.
Viper · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
The Golders Green Hippodrome 73 radio broadcast has been available in complete form for over a decade (and bootlegged in part since the 70s), and the official release does not provide an increase in sound quality (although the spoken introduction by Alan Black is slightly longer). See What A Fool I've Been is cut due to sound quality (fair enough), but Jailhouse Rock is under a minute long before it fades out, making one wonder why it was even included at all.
[/QUOTE]
In fact, Jailhouse Rock medley and Big Spender are also missing. It's a pity...
brians wig · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Viper wrote:[/b]
The booklet states that Black Queen was played with the other 3 tracks.
[/QUOTE]
Well, hang on.
Let's get this correct instead of posting half the story and pissing the fans off who haven't seen the booklet yet.
CMS quite correctly makes the supposition:
The book reads "TMOTBQ was widely thought to be part of the material recorded for this session, but it seems that the band may have run out of time to record a fourth song. This is probably the reason why the standard album cut of of Black Queen, a song not easily recreated live in its entirety, was played out during the same broadcast as the 3 session tracks."
I think that pretty much covers the issue. They provided 3 new sessions (as confirmed by the DJ), and to make up time because 4 tracks was maybe the normal requirement for BBC Sessions, an album track was played last.
Oscar J · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Oscar J wrote:[/b]
^ Golders Green sounds a lot better to me on the official release. But nice review otherwise![/QUOTE]
Depends which version you have ;)
There are a couple excellent copies out there, and I'm pretty sure they're available here.
It's the exact same source material - they've just EQ'd it.
[/QUOTE]
Interesting. I guess I'll have a closer comparison tomorrow. :)
Krypto_98 · Member since
I made a short comparison video of the original bootleg of Mannheim vs the Queen on Air version. The bass in Queen on Air sounds more prominent as well as the treble being put up a bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BDP72-cn54
The Real Wizard · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Krypto_98 wrote:[/b]
I made a short comparison video of the original bootleg of Mannheim vs the Queen on Air version. The bass in Queen on Air sounds more prominent as well as the treble being put up a bit.
