Freddie Mercury - Messenger of the Gods: a brief audio review

Some of you (Patrick, Bob, Gregsynth, JSS, etc - forgive me if I don't know some of the musical / audio ones of you more than others) may be interested in the audio info of the latest FM singles collection. I can't speak for the vinyl collection, but I did get a copy of the 2-cd version, and wanted to compare it to the previous latest "mastering / remastering" which was the 10-year-old (really?!) Singer of Songs collection.

So far, I have only opted to do a quick sampling of a few tracks that I know were from the same masters:

Up first - Goin Back

Between Singer of Songs and Messenger, they are virtually identical masters. There's a slightly longer pause at the beginning of the Messenger version, and it may be a hair overall louder - but looking at the waveforms and listening critically - they haven't doctored the pitches or messed with the audio at all from previous versions.

Next - Love Kills (84 single version)

Again, judging the waveform, NO changes have been made from the version on Singer of Songs... but it is almost exactly 20% louder on the Messenger CD.

and last - Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow

same as Love Kills... no detectable waveform differences, other than that the entire track is almost exactly 20% louder on the Messenger of the Gods collection as it is on the Singer of Songs collection.

I have to say, however, there's no "brick-walling" here... it's not compressed. All peaks and valleys are intact in both iterations, and they are simply louder versions of the same dynamic mixes / masters. How they compare to waveforms of the *original* vinyl or even cd album mixes, i don't know. This was just to see if QPL did any further "doctoring" to the masters that they released in 2006's Singer of Songs vs. this new set.

If you have any other specific questions, let me know

I'm glad that there's no brickwalling here. In other words all "exclusive" tracks presented with original dynamics.

Overall, the CD has increased the amplitude and no changes to the pitch was made hence why the frequency remains the same

that one was to all the physics people out there

To play the devil...their mainly effort was about a couple of clicks on a Sequencer Software...

I posted this on a few other forums... this may be of interest to some:

So, I just got the 2 CD Hollywood Records version today. This set is the UK Mercury Records version with a Hollywood Records UPC/sticker over the Mercury barcode. The packaging is exactly like the Rainbow 2 CD digipack set. The booklet and liner notes are fine and the song descriptions are a bit longer than those in Greatest Hits. There are a few pictures I haven't seen before, so that was nice too. The booklet is housed like the Rainbow booklet was, which makes it hard to access.

There are a few song versions that are not necessarily correct. Namely, the Time tracks use the 2000 Dave Clark Remixes. Dave Clark is very possessive of his catalogue, and I assume these are the only versions he would allow. So, this makes an incorrect version for In My Defence, which should be the Ron Nevison Mix. The Time version should be the original 1986 Single Version, but again is the Dave Clark 2000 remix. Masterings are from a mix of sources. The liner notes state that the discs are remastered by Kevin Metcalfe with help from Peter Mew and Eddy Schreyer. Each song has a specific copyright date, which would tell you which remaster it is. Here we go....

Disc 1
1. Living On My Own (Single Mix) – 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
2. The Great Pretender – 1999 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe – from GH3?)
3. In My Defence – 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew). Liner notes list it as a Dave Clark Remix. When comparing it to the Ron Nevison Mix, this is the Dave Clark Remix.
4. Love Kills - 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew)
5. Barcelona (Single Version) - 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew)
6. Made In Heaven (Single Remix) - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
7. Time – 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew). This is the Dave Clark 2000 Remix.
8. Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow – 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
9. I Was Born To Love You - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
10. The Golden Boy (Single Edit) - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
11. I Can Hear Music - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
12. How Can I Go On (Single Version) - 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew).
13. Living On My Own (No More Brothers Radio Mix) - 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew).

Disc 2
1. Goin' Back - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
2. Let's Turn It On – 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew)
3. My Love Is Dangerous - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
4. She Blows Hot And Cold - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
5. Living On My Own (Julian Raymond Mix) - 1992 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe – from Freddie Mercury Album?)
6. Stop All The Fighting – 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew)
7. Time (Instrumental) – 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew)
8. Exercises In Free Love – 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew)
9. Exercises In Free Love (Montserrat Vocal) - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
10. The Fallen Priest (Single Edit) - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
11. Overture Piccante - 1992 Remaster (Eddy Schreyer, from Hollywood Records Barcelona CD)
12. Love Kills (Wolf Euro Mix) - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)

A few things to note:
- She Blows Hot And Cold is the complete, correct version that appeared on the original vinyl single. Later releases did not include the studio banter and count in at the beginning. This is the first time this has appeared digitally.
- I Can Hear Music and Goin' Back have new remasters.
- The Exercises In Free Love (Montserrat Vocal) is the correct version and does not have studio banter at the beginning (unlike the 2012 Special Edition box set).
- Most of the Mr. Bad Guy tracks were remastered except for Let's Turn It On, which still uses the Peter Mew remaster. I was hoping the whole album was remastered for a future release, but Let's Turn It On not being remastered leads me to believe that is not the case.
- For whatever reason, The Great Pretender uses the old GH3 remaster. I suppose to keep the Kevin Metcalfe mastering credit where they could?
- Overture Piccante, which is the only Barcelona album version to appear, is sourced from the 1992 Eddy Schreyer remaster. This remaster was used on the Solo Collection as well. To my knowledge, Barcelona has only had one remaster, and that would be the 1992 Schreyer one.

Thanks to all for the nice info.

Cheers,

Ogre-

A good thing Kevin Metcalfe used to do was to use analog equipment and record the result on tape as well as digital format. Perhaps his involvement has to do with the vinyl release.

This is great info.

Thank you for posting it!

Thanks - with regard to 'She Blows Hot & Cold', is it the version featuring Brian? (I can't remember if that was the version on the single or not) - I've read some previews recently that give different accounts as to whether it's the Brian version or not, and therefore the booklet info might be correct or not. Thanks.

If the Dave Clark material is not the original single versions then this should be clearly labelled in the booklet info - if they don't mention it and are trying to pass it off as the original mixes then that's poor.

The two time mixes are clearly labeled on the vinyl as "remixed by Dave Clark".

thx a lot! This version of "Time" is the one on the promo video right?

[QUOTE] [b]cmsdrums wrote:[/b]

Thanks - with regard to 'She Blows Hot & Cold', is it the version featuring Brian? (I can't remember if that was the version on the single or not) - I've read some previews recently that give different accounts as to whether it's the Brian version or not, and therefore the booklet info might be correct or not. Thanks.
[/QUOTE]

My thoughts exactly!

According to Freddie's "The Solo Collection" this version features Paul Vincent on guitar, who mimics Brian's guitar playing. This confirms my thoughts.

Which is good, as that's the correct single version...however I've read elsewhere that the write up by Greg Brooks says (or at the very least intimates as a result of poor wording) that this is the version featuring Brian!