Queen’s Greatest Video Hits 1
Picture: C-
Sound: A- Extras: C Overall: A
When
it comes to DVD the music group Queen seems to be doing some of the best for
the format. They are heavy promoters of
DTS, which is the better audio format over Dolby Digital, and they also use PCM
stereo, for excellent stereo results for their non-surround sound
listeners. They have also managed to go
back and get amazing results from remastering their material for new 5.1 mixes
in the case of the award winning DVD-Audio of A Night at the Opera. The band also seems adamant about delivering
their material in the best way that they can to the consumer, and that means a
lot to us fans.
The
release of their first video collection yields some amazing results. This is volume one, as we shall later see
volume two, which will cover more of their catalog from the 80’s. Queen decided to include 16 videos in this
collection all of them are displayed in the 16 X 9 frame, which is a nice
touch. For a band that was doing videos
before there was MTV or really anything such a music video this collection
still has some great material. Most of
the videos are really just live concert shots that have been pieced together of
the band. Other videos try to hold a
concept, but that was hardly the standard back then.
Queen
had originally released their videos in 1981 under the name Greatest Flix,
which featured their hits songs, but this DVD obviously is able to offer much
more in the way of picture and sound.
This set includes all their videos on disc one and some bonus tracks on
disc two. Disc One is in DTS 96/24 5.1
as well as PCM stereo. The band does a
commentary for the third audio track.
Notice the elimination of a Dolby audio track? Disc Two is only available in the PCM stereo option and there is
no commentary for that material.
However, there is a section called ‘Behind the Rhapsody’, which
is basically the band talking about how the song formed and how it bloomed into
the classic tune it is today. There are
also a section of rare photographs on Disc Two.
Song
Selection Disc One
1. Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Another One Bites the Dust
3. Killer Queen
4. Fat Bottomed Girls
5. Bicycle Race
6. You’re My Best Friend
7. Don’t Stop Me Now
8. Save Me
9. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
10. Somebody To Love
11. Spread Your Wings
12. Play the Game
13. Flash
14. Tie Your Mother Down
15. We Will Rock You
16. We Are the Champions
Song
Selection Disc Two
1. Now I’m Here
2. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy
3. Keep Yourself Alive
4. Liar
5. Love Of My Life
6. We Will Rock You (Fast Live Version)
The
first video from this collection is the classic Bohemian Rhapsody, which
is a bizarre video featuring some very primitive special effects and
silhouetting. The video is not great,
but is serves a purpose. It is exactly
identical to the mix on the A Night at the Opera DVD-Audio and that
video is also included on that DVD.
This song just begs for multi-channel with all the layered vocals and
panning sounds that were even apparent in two channels. Queen always seemed to have a mindset that
one day their material might be able to be in a more surround sound
setting. This is discussed to some
degree on the commentary track by the band as they mention how they tried to
re-think some of their material and basically recreate the songs with a 5.1
feel, but at the same time have the songs still hold their original
flavor.
Another One Bites the Dust is a very performance-driven video and the
highlight within this song is finally having that grooving bass line available
in a discrete sub-woofer channel (.1 LFE).
There is not a lot of play going on in terms of panning within this
song, but that’s because it is a basic vocal construction without a lot of surround
design needed.
Killer Queen was recorded from the Top of the Pops and this is probably the
best video in terms of video quality since it was broadcast, whereas the rest
of the videos were shot in 16mm. Once
again this being a performance video where the band is pretending to play and
doing an admirable job. The mix is very
front heavy when needed, but does kick in with some wailing guitar and vocals
in the surrounds when need be.
One
of my favorite mixes is on Bicycle Race when the tiny bells come in
during the one section followed by Brian Mays stellar guitar work following and
the mix on his solo spot begins in the right front channel then goes around in
a clockwise manner and ends up back in the front. Very cool.
One
song of Queen’s that I was never really a huge fan of until this set came out
was the song Don’t Stop Me Now.
I never really thought that this song had much going for it, but with
this new mix and better sound quality I can now fully appreciate the amazing
vocal work as well as in the case of this mix, hear certain harmonies that were
buried in the previously available formats.
There is nothing better than rediscovering hidden gems.
Perhaps
the video with the best concept and certainly a video that will remind many of
the 1982 film version of Pink Floyd’s The Wall directed by Alan
Parker. This video was shot and then
used the rotoscope animation technique, and they are quite excellent.
The
video for Somebody to Love is a very basic video, but as one can imagine
it benefits greatly from the 5 channels and spreading all the backup harmonies
that the band used for this song. On
the commentary the band says that people always thought that they brought in
Gospel singers to do the vocals, but it was always just the three of them with
Freddy’s lead.
It
would be easy to go on and on about how great this band is and what a
contribution they were to the later part of the 70’s and early 80’s by mixing
Modern Rock, Jazz, Hip-Hop, ballads, Funk, and many other styles to become a
one of a kind band. These videos are a
sheer demonstration of the amazing talent and caliber of this band. Finally, we are able to enjoy their videos
with exceptional sound quality and rather decent picture quality given the
nature of their source.
If
you’re a fan of Queen or just an avid listener of great music and love good
sound or something to show off that new surround setup, this would be the way
to go since it offers picture whereas the DVD-Audio is strictly sound. Fans will be satisfied with this great set
and will look forward to the future release of volume two.
-
Nate Goss
