Queen 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Collector’s Box Set Vol. 3 Review

Queen returns with the third installment of their Limited Edition Collector’s box set to celebrate their 40th Anniversary which is this year. This impressive box set is the closing piece to a year long event that has spawned reissues of the entire studio catalog of Queen. All albums were remastered by Bob Ludwig from the original material. But will Queen rock us with this edition like they used to?

The Contents

This Volume 3 of the Queen 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Box Set contains the albums The Works, A Kind of Magic, The Miracle, Innuendo and Made in Heaven. All albums have been given a double CD release where CD1 contains the remastered album and CD2 contains a ton of extras and rareties which is nice because that way the bonus material won’t distract from the actual albums. CD2 contains rare stuff like alternative takes, b-sides etc. I liked these a lot and couldn’t help but wonder if this all there is, or if there might be more stuff floating out there. Aside from the five remastered albums and bonus materials which make 10 CD’s in total you also get a cool storage box and a great 24 panel poster. That’s not bad for around $75 bucks but only if the sound is significantly better than the original albums. So what do they sound like?

Sound Quality

I was naturally worried that the remastered editions would suffer from what people nowadays call the Loudness War that has plagued so many other re-issues of legendary eighties and nineties music. This is what we call the insane compression that record companies apply to modern albums to make them sound as loud as possible. Bad examples of this include Metallica where the original sound waves seem to have been squashed into one giant stream of noise without any dynamics whatsoever. But.. we are glad to report that this is not the case at all. Yes the result is more “hot” than the original releases as is logical with the application of more modern mastering techniques but fortunately all of the punch and dynamics are still present. Moreover the albums sound cleaner and more alive than ever before. The veil that was present on some of the originals and resulted in a rather dull sound seems to have been lifted and Freddy Mercury’s voice really and I mean really shines in these recordings. In fact it would not surprise me if fans will regard this final installment in the trilogy as the best reissue to date.

Value for Money

So is it worth buying? Well most Queen fans seem to favor the earlier works of Queen more than those that are present in these album series but I have to disagree. There are many awesome songs in this box and in my opinion this simply is a must have for any true fan of Queen. In fact I just persuaded my wife to ask santa to get me the entire trilogy as an xmas present.

The Verdict

- Awesome sound
- A ton of cool extras
- nice poster to complete the collection
- A must have for any true Queen fan
- Might appeal a little less to fans that only appreciate the earlier works

Absolutely Fabulous: Absolutely Everything Limited Edition DVD Box

Everyone’s favorite fashionistas–Edina (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy (Joanne Lumley)–make a glamorous splash in this definitive collection of their hilarious escapades! Through the years they have had their share of highs and lows while never being dangerously sober. Now experience the entirety of this award-winning, side-splitting series with this gorgeous, limited-edition collector’s set that you’ll fall head first for!

Nine discs includes seasons 1-5, plus The Last Shout, The New York Special, White Box, and over four hours of DVD extras!

This Limited Edition DVD Box retails for $129.98

Features:

- How to Be Absolutely Fabulous: A behind-the-scenes look at Ab Fab
- Absolutely Fabulous: A Life: Edina looks back on her life
- Modern Mother and Daughter: The sketch that started it all
- Before AbFab: Two French & Saunders sketches
- Pilot episode (Mirror Ball)
- Joanna Lumley on Modeling
- Rare outtakes
- Photo galleries
- Audio commentary by Jennifer Saunders and Jon Plowman

Actors: Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen
Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 9
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video (INGR)
DVD Release Date: May 27, 2008
Run Time: 1186 minutes

Beatles USB Limited Edition Apple Collection

The Beatles have released a beautiful USB Drive in a limited edition of 30,000 copies containing 14 of their albums in high quality remastered digital audio.

The Green Aluminum Apple (50mm wide x 48.5mm high) comes with 16GB of storage and holds music in both FLAC 44.1 Khz 24 bit and DRM Free MP3 320 Kbps formats. Not only does the USB drive contain the 14 Albums of the Beatles’ stereo box set but it also holds 13 mini-documentary films, replicated UK album art, expanded liner notes and rare photos. The drive is supported by PC and Mac.

This edition is limited to only 30000 pieces. Amazon US appears to be receiving extremely limited quantities of this item from time to time. For availability please check the links on your right or at the bottom of the page.

FEB 2010 UPDATE: THIS ITEM IS NOW OFFICIALLY DISCONTINUED. THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO GET IT.

ORDER FROM AMAZON UK
ORDER FROM AMAZON USA

Tracklistings

Please Please Me

1. Taste Of Honey
2. I Saw Her Standing There
3. Misery
4. Anna (Go To Him)
5. Chains
6. Boys
7. Ask Me Why
8. Please Please Me
9. Love Me Do
10. I Love You
11. Baby It’s You
12. Do You Want To Know A Secret
13. There’s A Place
14. Twist And Shout[/learn_more]

With The Beatles

1. It Won’t Be Long
2. All I’ve Got To Do
3. All My Loving
4. Don’t Bother Me
5. Little Child
6. Till There Was You
7. Please Mr Postman
8. Roll Over Beethoven
9. Hold Me Tight
10. You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me
11. I Wanna Be Your Man
12. Devil In Her Heart
13. Not A Second Time
14. Money

A Hard Day’s Night

1. I Should Have Known Better
2. If I Fell
3. I’m Happy Just To Dance With You
4. And I Love Her
5. Tell Me Why
6. Can’t Buy Me Love
7. Hard Day’s Night
8. Anytime At All
9. I’ll Cry Instead
10. Things We Said Today
11. When I Get Home
12. You Can’t Do That
13. I’ll Be Back

Beatles For Sale

1. No Reply
2. I’m A Loser
3. Baby’s In Black
4. Rock ‘n’ Roll Music
5. I’ll Follow The Sun
6. Mr Moonlight
7. Kansas City
8. Eight Days A Week
9. Words Of Love
10. Honey Don’t
11. Every Little Thing
12. Don’t Want To Spoil The Party
13. What You’re Doing
14. Everybody’s Tryin’ To Be My Baby

Help!

1. Help
2. Night Before
3. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
4. I Need You
5. Another Girl
6. You’re Going To Lose That Girl
7. Ticket To Ride
8. Act Naturally
9. It’s Only Love
10. You Like Me Too Much
11. Tell Me What You See
12. I’ve Just Seen A Face
13. Yesterday
14. Dizzy Miss Lizzy

Rubber Soul

1. Drive My Car
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
3. You Won’t See Me
4. Nowhere Man
5. Think For Yourself
6. Word
7. Michelle
8. What Goes On
9. Girl
10. I’m Looking Through You
11. In My Life
12. Wait
13. If I Needed Someone
14. Run For Your Life

Revolver

1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. I’m Only Sleeping
4. Love You To
5. Here There And Everywhere
6. Yellow Submarine
7. She Said She Said
8. Good Day Sunshine
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
10. For No One
11. Dr Robert
12. I Want To Tell You
13. Got To Get You Into My Life
14. Tomorrow Never Knows

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

1. Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. With A Little Help From My Friends
3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing A Hole
6. She’s Leaving Home
7. Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite
8. Within You Without You
9. When I’m Sixty Four
10. Lovely Rita
11. Good Morning Good Morning
12. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
13. Day In The Life

Magical Mystery Tour

1. Magical Mystery Tour
2. Fool On The Hill
3. Flying
4. Blue Jay Way
5. Your Mother Should Know
6. I Am The Walrus
7. Hello Goodbye
8. Strawberry Fields Forever
9. Penny Lane
10. Baby You’re A Rich Man
11. All You Need Is Love

Yellow Submarine

1. Yellow Submarine
2. Only A Northern Song
3. All You Need Is Love
4. Hey Bulldog
5. It’s All Too Much
6. All Together Now
7. Pepperland
8. Sea Of Time
9. Sea Of Holes
10. Sea Of Monsters
11. March Of The Meanies
12. Pepperland Laid To Waste
13. Yellow Submarine In Pepperland

The White Album

Disc One

1. Back In The U.S.S.R.
2. Dear Prudence
3. Glass Onion
4. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
5. Wild Honey Pie
6. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
8. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
9. Martha My Dear
10. Im So Tired
11. Blackbird
12. Piggies
13. Rocky Raccoon
14. Don’t Pass Me By
15. Why Don’t We Do It In The Road
16. I Will
17. Julia

Disc Two

1. Birthday
2. Yer Blues
3. Mother Nature’s Son
4. Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me & My Monkey
5. Sexy Sadie
6. Helter Skelter
7. Long Long Long
8. Revolution 1
9. Honey Pie
10. Savoy Truffle
11. Cry Baby Cry
12. Revolution 9
13. Good Night

Abbey Road

1. Come Together
2. Something
3. Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
4. Oh Darling
5. Octopus’s Garden
6. I Want You (She’s So Heavy)
7. Here Comes The Sun
8. Because
9. You Never Give Me Your Money
10. Sun King
11. Mean Mr Mustard
12. Polythene Pam
13. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
14. Golden Slumbers
15. Carry That Weight
16. End
17. Her Majesty

Let It Be

1. Two Of Us
2. Dig A Pony
3. Across The Universe
4. I Me Mine
5. Dig It
6. Let It Be
7. Maggie Mae
8. I’ve Got A Feeling
9. One After 909
10. Long And Winding Road
11. For You Blue
12. Get Back

Past Masters

1. Love Me Do
2. From Me To You
3. Thank You Girl
4. She Loves You
5. I’ll Get You
6. I Want To Hold Your Hand
7. This Boy
8. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand
9. Sie Liebt Dich
10. Day Tripper
11. We Can Work It Out
12. Paperback Writer
13. Rain
14. Lady Madonna
15. Inner Light
16. Hey Jude
17. Revolution
18. Get Back
19. Don’t Let Me Down
20. Ballad Of John And Yoko
21. Old Brown Shoe
22. Across The Universe
23. Let It Be
24. You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)