What are the actual quality changes in the remasters? (good or bad...)

I just listened to the new Sgt Pepper release yesterday back-to-back with the previous release (ok I know it's technically a new remix more than a new remaster) and I was really surprised on the real improvements (for the lack of a better word) this time. There are no new sounds or bits (like Giles Martin said, except obviously for the bonus tracks), but everything sounds much better, much clearer and interesting, even to the hardcore fan. It's like an old car that was left in a garage for 20 years, they just removed the dust but not to the point of making it look like it just got out of the factory. In the final chord of "A day in the life" you can even hear a loud squeak in the very end, like if someone was leaving the piano seat or something, I had never noticed that before.

In the Queen remasters (all that I've heard, I don't own them all), I didn't notice any of these "improvements" (or anything that made the originals sound worse, to be fair), except that in the Crown Jewels I noticed that some of the drums sound less distorted sometimes (mostly in the 3 first albums) but other than that, they, to me, are the same. Thoughts?

You've answered your own question in your first sentence - Sgt Pepper is a REMIX. The Queen remaster were exactly that...REMASTERS only.

If you are unaware of the difference (which from your comment I assume you are), a 'remix' will revisit the the recording and take each individually recorded instrument or part, any effects etc.. and can completely change the levels of these, the sound of each instrument etc etc. (For a Queen comparison check 'Pain Is So Close To Pleasure' remix where a completely different drum sound and parts replaces the album version).

A 'remaster' only takes an already mixed final recording and can make some certain changes; a standard one would be something such as enhancing or accentuating certain frequencies (e.g. boosting anything around 100hz to 120hz would give a perceived increase in bass frequencies in that range), but each separate channel in the mix cannot be individually changed relative to the others, so a remaster will never have anything vastly different but when done carefully can enhance the recording and make certain parts stand out more clearly in the overall mix.

I think the one improvement you can noticeably hear in the new Queen remaster was the inclusion of the bass drum in Jealousy.
I did a quick comparison between the 1991 remaster and 2011 remasters of Queen II. One of the things I noticed is that the 2011 remaster sounded louder. Can't say it's much of an improvement to my ears.

The Sgt Pepper remix is fantastic. The out take discs a great. Oh to have an equivalent Queen reissue.

[QUOTE] [b]dysan wrote:[/b]

The Sgt Pepper remix is fantastic. The out take discs a great. Oh to have an equivalent Queen reissue.[/QUOTE]

Oh god, I must have listened to the SDE non-stop since it came out. From the stereo mix, outtakes to even the mono mix like crazy, it was that fantastic. If ever Queen could do something like that (and that's a big IF) ANATO is a good candidate.

Yeah I can understand why they wouldn't do the entire catalogue like that, but one key album would be amazing. Obviously the Beatles stereo mixes needed updating because they were problematic so no such need for Queen remixes (although they have dabbled of course - TT HD mix, some of the bonus material stem mixes in 2011). I guess ANATO is the obviously one, but if they looked at the vaults and realised that, say, Queen II had the more interesting / numerous early takes they should do it with that. We've heard lots of the early takes at conventions so the material is there. Strange we never got any of the key ones in 2011 rather than the new remixes.

I'm wonder what's holding them back from going all-out with studio outtakes, and being content with just sticking it to conventions only.

That aside, they probably don't see a need for it, but if only they could mix ANATO and/or ADATR the way they did the HD mix of TT. They're pretty how a remix should be done unlike those bonus tracks from the '91 reissues.

Some of them were cool, the ones that used the actual stems. Obviously not the terrible dance ones. Either way, I kind of wish they'd added them to the 2011 reissues anyway to tidy up the catalogue.

We also already have ANATO and The Game as remixes on 5.1 DTS....ADATR was alsobbeing worked on but shelved when Brian lost interest.

SHA and Queen II are crying out for that treatment too.

cmsrums:

Queen II WAS planned to be done and then Mike Stone Died.
Brian posted on his website that they were just about to revisit the tapes when Mike died and that was the last I heard of anymore surround sound mixes apart from the crappy (and I swear they're fudged) DVD Hits mixes.

Personally, I hope that Sgt Pepper sells extraodinarily well (and also the White Album which they are giving the same treatment to as we speak...), and it prompts the guys at Universal to nag QPL to give the same treatment to as many Queen albums as possible.
I can't see us ever getting an Anthology set, but if QPL see some money potential by releasing deluxe editions at £100 each, with a couple of sessions CDs thrown in, I'd be surprised if they didn't take the chance.

I wouldn't at this point, but I guess I'm generous enough to give QPL the benefit of the doubt. But yeah, here's hoping for QPL to get the memo from Universal one day.

I think the White Album would be quiet an undertaking for Giles Martin, mostly due to compiling of outtakes, seeing as this is a double album. Wouldn't be surprised if they have at least 3 CDs dedicated to outtakes, but hey, the more the merrier! I especially want to hear the full 12-27 odd minute version of Helter Skelter.

[QUOTE] [b]brians wig wrote:[/b]

Queen II WAS planned to be done and then Mike Stone Died.
Brian posted on his website that they were just about to revisit the tapes when Mike died
[/QUOTE]

Not quite. Brian said a couple of times he would've liked to do II and Races, but that's not the same as 'it was planned to be done.' More like wishful thinking ... but even he knew it wouldn't make much sense commercially. Had they gone for a third Queen album in DTS, it would've surely been 'News of the World' or perhaps 'Races', but not 'II'.

Regarding Mike, here's what he said:

[QUOTE] [b]Brian Harold May wrote (in 2002):[/b]

We drifted apart in the years that followed, as we did more and more recording overseas. But we remained friends - I just wish we had kept in touch better - Right Now was the exact time when we were hoping to enlist Mike's help in re-creating new mixes for all those tracks in the DTS Surround format. Sadly we will have do it without his physical presence. But his personality and influence are still with us, loud and clear.
[/QUOTE]

By the time Mike died they'd already revisited, re-mixed (for surround), re-mastered and released 'Opera' in 5.1 (the release preceded Mike's death by six weeks or so). So, they'd already had the chance to contact him for an album he'd helped recording, but passed; they'd been considering maybe bringing him out of retirement for potential future projects (presumably 'News' or 'Races', on which he'd been promoted from 'senior engineer' to 'co-producer') but then he died. Less romantic, but true.

QPL have lost the book, never mind the plot. Brian was harping a number of years ago about people not discovering the albums and only the singles. So in order to counteract that, QPL releases infinite Greatest Hits albums and tour behind the Greatest Hits, and leave their amazing 70s album catalogue to get forgotten with each passing year. If you want people to get to know the albums, do something with albums that aren't the same 20 songs over and over and over.

Having heard an interview with the bloke at Universal recently I severely doubt they'll do a surround sound release. Because, you know, vinyl has always been their favourite format and it's really cool. Sips flat white.

Total bell.