"I think we might have underestimated this release"

How great it is to see a number of positive and very encouraging comments already emerging from those of you here on QZ who have now heard the BBC sessions as well as some other elements of QOA - and slightly ahead of release too, for some of you who received your orders early. Exciting stuff!! Like the old days.

Some of the pre-release guess work here and negativity about the content was at times rather disheartening, and wide of the mark, partly because of details that could not be disclosed, and so I'm hoping to see more good-vibe fan feedback like that below...

I agree, I think the sessions sound amazing, and so too the live recordings. Hope you all enjoy it. And the interviews too, of course, especially the 1989 'Queen For An Hour' encounter that turned out to be the very last interview the band would do together, though no-one knew it at the time. Lovely to hear it now, knowing what was to follow!!! ... and it's 27 years old already. Quite shocking!


Oscar J wrote...
MTRNR from session 4 sounds FANTASTIC. I think we might have underestimated this release.


MercurialFreddie wrote...
Guys, the mastering of It's Late on this release is marvellous, high frequencies seem to have been treated with delicacy.


cmsdrums wrote...
Mannheim sounds like a full remix - sounds really nice and full; a lovely 'live' feel but with everything really audible.

Why on WWRY has errors?

OB intro incomplete!

I'd still rather have had full concerts.
Sometimes it would help to explain to us fans WHY somethings are omitted instead of just expecting us to lump it and shut up.
I mean, WHY isn't the full Golders Green there?
As for the other two gigs, well it seems to me they are an after-thought to fill up the disc.
Really these are concerts that could be released in a live audio boxset (it seems such an easy job for Queen to put out something like a radio broadcast as it's potentially minimal effort).
What are the chances they even will be now that "highlights" have been released?

As I've said elsewhere - this is an excellent release but not without its flaws.

The Ogre Battle intro is incomplete as he said above. The vinyl set, at £50 is lacking any kind of documentation or booklet which is really very poor indeed.

That said, the CD set (the six disc one) is brilliant despite the flaws. The design of the CDs themselves is excellent, and the booklet is also very very good indeed - very informative and almost worth the price alone. The sound quality is not as great as some say above - but then I think I'd rather have it like this than remixed or remastered to a false standard.

To me, it's easily the best release of the last decade easily. Just frustrating little details that prevent it being perfect. But I'm very pleased it's been done and don't forget (for the 6 CD box set) at a great price as well.

Congratulations where it's due and it's deserved here. Doesn't mean I don't stand by my previous comments but credit where it's due.

[QUOTE] [b]rocknrolllover wrote:[/b]

OB intro incomplete![/QUOTE]

Can you explain that please?

[QUOTE] [b]Viper wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]rocknrolllover wrote:[/b]

OB intro incomplete![/QUOTE]

Can you explain that please?[/QUOTE]

The intro is 41 seconds. The original broadcast version is 1 min 23 seconds. There is a whole chunk missing.

Ah! thx!

Unfortunately i have to wait til Xmas for my copy of the 6 CD set. What are the live tracks like? Good sound quality?The bootlegs of Golders Green was pretty dreadful. Improvement?

rocknrollover - that looks copy and pasted from someone's (cough) post on the official forums :)

[QUOTE] [b]GB: Queen Archivist wrote:[/b]

cmsdrums wrote...
Mannheim sounds like a full remix - sounds really nice and full; a lovely 'live' feel but with everything really audible.

[/QUOTE]

And yet incredibly, it has been mastered from a lossy source. Nothing above 16khz with blocky compression artifacts confirming a low res mp3/minidisc type data compression source.

[QUOTE] [b]Cockeye wrote:[/b]

As I've said elsewhere - this is an excellent release but not without its flaws.

The Ogre Battle intro is incomplete as he said above. [/QUOTE]

The intro is sourced from a lower quality source, and doesn't match up with the existing mix. You get Roger counting in on the high hat, and that clearly is meant to continue under the riff, but was mixed out on broadcast/released version. It's inclusion would only have made sense if they'd been able to go back to the multi's or found a master with it still intact.

Greg, the problem is that this is a good release, when with really minimal effort it could be a GREAT release. That's why so many people are disappointed.

Anyway just as a member of the "I'll be getting my 6CD copy on Christmas" club, I'd also like to know about some "technical" details - sound quality, problems, overdubs, edits etc.

[QUOTE] [b]Cockeye wrote:[/b]

rocknrollover - that looks copy and pasted from someone's (cough) post on the official forums :)[/QUOTE]

But it's true !

I like the information booklet with the rare 1989 band picture with Mike Read which i've never seen before. Freddie (already diagnosed) with beard still looked good.

"I mean, WHY isn't the full Golders Green there? "

Because it isn't called 'Queen: Live at Golders Green'. It isn't about Golders Green.

If it DID have the full Golders Green on it you would probably find a million things to complain about such is your obsession with the bloody thing.