Queen 2011 remasters

I am not sure whether the 2011 Queen remasters have been discussed on this board but I would like to know if any of you own these and how you feel they compare to past pressings and reissues.

I am very curious to check these out but at the same time I already own all the Queen albums. The albums I own are mix of the 1993/94 re-issues and the original pressings.

As far as original pressings are concerned, I own the original European pressings of A Kind of Magic, The Miracle and Innuendo. The sound on each reflect the production value at the time of the recording. A Kind of Magic sounds the weakest, I believe it was the first digital recording for Queen. In any case when I listen to a A Kind of Magic I really need to crank up the volume to enjoy it properly. The rest sound better though not by a lot, in fact Innuendo seems to have the same volume issues as Magic.

As for the 1993 reissues, they vary in quality - the 70s albums tend to sound quite muddy and with News of the World the remastering is very inconsistent with some songs sound worse than others.

The version of Night At the Opera that I own is the 30th anniversary edition which comes with a dvd consisting of the 5.1 mix version of the album. Both the CD and DVD versions sound incredibly; hearing A Night At the Opera in 5.1 especially is like having Queen from 1975 in your living room. It is about as close as I'll ever get to having Freddie Mercury singing in front me, unfortunately.

So, given my experiences with the different versions of the Queen albums I own, do you recommend the 2011 remasters? Is it worth purchasing the entire catalog over again? (note: I already know each album comes with a bonus CD which I think is cool but I'm more concerned about the sound quality than the bonus material).

I've heard a few of them and they sound better than the previous late 90's remasters. Sheer Heart Attack is the only one I've grabbed thus far, but it's a vast improvement.

There is some good bonus material on these as well, probably worth grabbing if you're a Queen fanatic like I am.

Queen II sounded better than I have ever heard it on this latest edition.

Speaking of Queen, I heard on the radio yesterday about some guys somewhere who did a study on what makes a song catchy. They came to the conclusion that the most catchy song is We Are The Champions

I have all the first remasters. I got them not that long ago too so I won't be picking these up especially for the price.

Alex Dee Rokket wrote:

I am not sure whether the 2011 Queen remasters have been discussed on this board but I would like to know if any of you own these and how you feel they compare to past pressings and reissues.

I am very curious to check these out but at the same time I already own all the Queen albums. The albums I own are mix of the 1993/94 re-issues and the original pressings.

As far as original pressings are concerned, I own the original European pressings of A Kind of Magic, The Miracle and Innuendo. The sound on each reflect the production value at the time of the recording. A Kind of Magic sounds the weakest, I believe it was the first digital recording for Queen. In any case when I listen to a A Kind of Magic I really need to crank up the volume to enjoy it properly. The rest sound better though not by a lot, in fact Innuendo seems to have the same volume issues as Magic.

As for the 1993 reissues, they vary in quality - the 70s albums tend to sound quite muddy and with News of the World the remastering is very inconsistent with some songs sound worse than others.

The version of Night At the Opera that I own is the 30th anniversary edition which comes with a dvd consisting of the 5.1 mix version of the album. Both the CD and DVD versions sound incredibly; hearing A Night At the Opera in 5.1 especially is like having Queen from 1975 in your living room. It is about as close as I'll ever get to having Freddie Mercury singing in front me, unfortunately.

So, given my experiences with the different versions of the Queen albums I own, do you recommend the 2011 remasters? Is it worth purchasing the entire catalog over again? (note: I already know each album comes with a bonus CD which I think is cool but I'm more concerned about the sound quality than the bonus material).

I agree with you about the weakness of the sound on A Kind of Magic and Innuendo. I think the Queen albums that have the most powerfull sound are:The Works,The Miracle,Made In Heaven,Sheer Heart Attack,Jazz and maybe A Day at the Races. But if you want to hear Brian May's sound at its heaviest and most powerful, you must get his 2nd solo album:Another Life;the sound on it is awesome,and the drums are huge(Cozy Powell's last recording).