Queen II [SHM-SACD] [Limited Release] [SACD]

The audio for this album gets a four star rating,which although this is the best way to listen to this album,the recording sounds dated. Not by the music on the album,but the way it sounds due to the year it way recorded....The album loses a star as well because the packaging is very simply a let down,a regular cd case whereas the cd version gets a jewel case which looks more appealing...Side B for this album has always been the best no matter which format it has been on and this album is no exception....even though bass on this album is not as full and rich than other albums, the pristine clarity is still there,with all the instuments sounding as if recorded on seperate tracks-each one clear. A feeling of less than satisfied was felt when listening to this outstanding album,with the feeling of not the justice it deserves transfer..... The album starts off with Procession,which sounds like there should be more bass than recorded, but then if it did,it probably would not sound like the bass drum it is....and as the album moves on,other songs stand out with there own moments of short lived brilliance....Freddies vocal on White Queen,Rogers drums on The Loser in the End,Brians soft vocal and guitars on Someday One Day and Johns Bass on Father to son.....then we move on to Freddies Side B.....from the grumble of Ogre Battle,the bass becomes rich and full at the beginning, and then becomes a little lost as the tracks move on....the fast and furious pace of Fairy Fellers Masterstroke is wonderfully captured and as the album moves on to Nevermore the age of the record shows, as the piano sounds tinny and hollow, but then again it is 1974,recording techniques back then were not like they are today....the stand out song on this album is The March of the Black Queen,which has a more military feel to it with the snare drums rolling out clearer than ever before-never heard before on earlier versions..the remaining two songs really have no stand out moment..overall this is a brilliant way to listen to this masterpiece of Queens best work,but the age of the recording lets it down,by making it sound hollow and tinny compared to others.