A Good Title is Neccesary to Get Your Review Noticed

to buy or not to buy.



that is the question.



If you're like me, you probably still have some questions that need adressing before deciding whether or not to buy this 8 disc set. In this review I will try to provide the most detail that i can about this set.



This is everything that you will get with this set:





1. A Blue Box - It's rather velvety and nice, but nothing particularly special. It just houses your cds. Personally I've put my cds in a binder so I don't even use the box, but hey you can do what you like. It's got slots inside so that you can pull out each of the cds individually.



2. A 80-some-odd page booklet. The essay by Matt Padfield really isn't much. He gives you his experience of Queen, when he first saw them in his youth. Then he goes on to explain his favorite songs from each of the albums, which is not even as helpful as what you might get from reading the reviews on this site. But then he does do something cool by noting a number of musical artists who have acknowledged being influenced by Queen through the years. That's pretty interesting. After Pinfield's essay, you come to the albums. Each album has an introductory page, with the album cover on one side, and the tracks on the other side, along with the origonal linear notes that you would find on the cds - thank you's and such. Next you encounter all the lyrics from all the songs on all the cds. And yes, there is even an occasional mistake in the lyrics. For example, take a look and a listen to "Seaside Rendevous." Pretty funny, but you'll find the same mistakes if you purchase the individual cds and look at the inserts. Each song notes who wrote it, and if any special instruments were played that is also noted. All good fun.



3. 8 cds. The cds are put in thin paper cases, which are then put inside cardboardish exact copies of the origonal LP record cases. Very interesting and fun. Some of them fold, some of them don't, some have the lyrics, and some have very interesting pictures on them. My personal favorites in terms of LP casings are Queen I, Day at the Races, and News of the World. Then you finally get to the cds. Ah. This is the finest moment of the set. The music on these discs are pure gold. Each disc shines on its own. The individual songs on every single album are extremely good, with very little filler except for the occasional (very occasional) song. In addition to that the songs all work together extremely well with each other to produce cohesive and wonderful albums. My personal favorites are Queen II, Night at the Opera, Day at the Races, and Jazz. Let me tell you, there will be no dissapointment with the quality of the music as all these cds are winners. Plus the remastering job is lovely and the instruments and vocals all come through quite well.



and that's everything you get. i'll finish with a few points:





--> The cds themselves are absolutely wonderful. Sure they don't come with the extra songs but those are mostly pointless as they sounds exactly the same. Occasionally the individual cds come with unreleased songs but that's nothing you can't live without.



--> The booklet leaves much to be desired. Nothing you can't find on the indivdual cds booklets and the essay and pictures are nothing at all to boast about.



--> The box is also nothing special. It gets the job done of housing your cds. But that's it.





So all in all other than the music this set has nothing particullary special about it. And the indivudal cds come with the booklets which are very nice, and would be much better if they were provided here. You might therefore wonder why I give the product 5 stars.





I'll let you in on a little secret: this set can be acquired brand new for just 40 dollars. That's why it was such a great investment for me. How you ask? Two words. Electronic Bay. That's right, ebay. If you have a user name on it and a papal account, this item can be graciously be obtained for much cheaper than the list price. I've seen many offers for 50 or 60 dollars, but the one which I got was 35 plus shipping. A truly terrific investment!





I hope this review helps

Don't Listen to anders_pj

First of all anders_pj is a fool; To any one who has ever owned a queen album, there is no such thing as a "secondary track"! Part of what made Queen an incredible band was that they made solid albums. Unlike bands today that record albums with one or two "good" songs and rest of the album is filled with half finished, half thoughts of a song, Queen wrote an entire album of songs. Every song is worth listening to. As far as bonus tracks go, a remix of Wyclef Jean is not a bonus track...It's a cover song with Freddie in the background. Listening to the original version is the way a real Queen fan wants it. Listening to a queen song done up with techno pop beats, so the yuggins can dance to it ain't what Freddie was about. Enough ranting; if you're a true Queen fan you'll love having this collection; and if you own any of the original vinyl versions (which of course I do), it's like having minis of the originals. Buy it!

Wonderful Remastered Sound

At first, I was very hesitant to buy this box set because of the price. I already had A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races on CD, so I wasn't sure if it was worth it. I took a chance, and it really did pay off. The sound is wonderful to say the least, I have never heard any of these songs sound more brilliant.



The only downside is, there are no suprises. Its the albums and a booklet full of the lyrics to all the songs. Don't get me wrong, the booklet comes in handy!



The only real difference between buying this box set and buying the single CDs is the remastered sound, which makes songs brand new.