Finally, after years of waiting, the first four CDs by Queensryche have finally been remastered. And they sound awesome.
I was worried given the talk of many remasters simply having the levels boosted into digital clipping; I haven't run any of these thru the wave editor to look, but they certainly sound very clean.
The Warning particularly benefits from remastering- I've always loved this album, but to say that the original disc sounded awful is being charitable. Well, you wouldn't mistake it for a new album, but the improvement is amazing. The low end was MIA on the original, but on the remaster its extended and reasonably clean and tight (considering the low budget of the band at the time). Also vocals sound much cleaner, and there's much more presence than before. The soundstage has been cleaned up, too.
Rage For Order will always have a special place in my heart: it's the first CD I ever bought (along w/Judas Priest's Turbo and Defenders of the Faith, all purchased at the same time the day I bought my first player) and they were the first rock bank I ever saw. The original CD sounded okay, but the remaster is much tighter, with better bass and better dynamics. The level of resolution is better and the noise floor sounds lower. But the most amazing thing about this one is how much better the soundstage is. For those not familiar with the album, it's full of dense, swirling (often Pink Floyd-esce) effects and noises. This used to be sorta crushed into an amorphous two dimensional mess at times, pretty much just painted across the front wall. But the remaster really opens it up spacially, sometimes pinpointing certain sounds and sometimes throwing an eirrily diffuse whirlwind of discordant noises that surrounds you.
If you are a hardcore QR fanatic, like me, or even a lapsed casual fan, these are worth checking out. Apparently Empire and a couple of the new ones are on the way soon.
