Review of Queen The DVD Collection: Greatest Video Hits 1 (2 Discs)

Introduction

Rock supergroup Queen need little introduction, at their height the biggest group in the world, and despite the untimely death of their flamboyant singer Freddie Mercury of AIDS in November 1991 still hugely popular today. It`s hard to believe that it is eleven years since he died, I remember the day vividly.

Queen`s music style changed a bit over the years, from the early operatic rock, to a harder rock and some pop/rock, and the group were renowned as a great live act, helped by Mercury`s great energy and stage presence.

Numerous studio/live albums and two proper Greatest Hits albums (I don`t consider Greatest Hits 3 to be a proper Queen album) were joined by Greatest Flix 1 and 2, containing Queen videos - these were available on limited edition DVD with a stereo soundtrack and now change hands on eBay for quite a lot of money.

This new release features the first half of Queen`s repertoire, remastered with a DTS Soundtrack.

Video

The video is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, and has caused some controversy, with the original full-frame videos cropped to fit a widescreen image, personally, I would have preferred the original format.

The video woes don`t stop there, with the picture quality quite poor at times, with the older videos very grainy and low resolution with a lack of detail and focus.

The videos themselves are a combination of music video and live performance, ranging from Bohemian Rhapsody through to We Are The Champions.

There may well be another reason for the dodgy picture quality however...

Audio

And that reason is the soundtrack...

If you`ve only got a Dolby Digital system, you might want to give this disc a miss, because the disc contains a PCM Stereo soundtrack, which sounds flat and boring.

However, sitting alongside it on the disc is a spectacular full bitrate 96khz/24bit DTS soundtrack that puts all other music discs to shame and is simply phenomenal.

The opening few bars of Bohemian Rhapsody give a taster of what is to come, with a wonderfully warm sound mix, filling the room, remixed to make full use of the channels, with the chorus coming at you from all directions. Marvellous.

To put it another way, I`ve already told you that the picture quality is poor, so when I tell you that the bitrate rarely dips below 9.0-9.5, often hitting 10, you`ll realise just how much sound data is on this disc. Can I just reiterate just how amazing Bohemian Rhapsody sounds!

Every song sounds great, from the wonderful clarity of Another One Bites The Dust to the room filling Flash chorus and effects to the drums and claps of We Will Rock You and the classic We Are The Champions this disc is aurally superb.

Features

Disc 1 contains 16 tracks, each with an audio commentary from the remaining members of Queen, which, unsurprisingly, is well worth listening to.

Disc 2 contains 6 extra tracks, unfortunately just in PCM Stereo, which really doesn`t cut the mustard after you`ve listened to the DTS soundtrack on disc 1, although the material itself is of course excellent.

There`s also "Rhapsody", a series of featurettes about the Bohemian Rhapsody song and video featuring Roger Taylor and Brian May.

The menus are well animated and easy to navigate.

The disc is packaged in a Amaray style case, with a disc stored in each half, and the paperwork clipping into middle, much more annoying than a proper Amaray case with a hinged disc tray and a proper section for leaflets etc.

Conclusion

Forget the grumbles about the video format and quality, if you`ve got a decent DTS system and like Queen, the sound on this disc makes it an obligatory purchase regardless of any other considerations.

The DTS soundtrack is stunning, wonderfully remixed to make use of the format`s range and power, with excellent sound positioning and crisp/clear delivery. The PCM soundtrack in comparison is rather flat and lifeless.

The music is of course excellent, and disc 2 adds some nice extra tracks, albeit with PCM sound.

In summary, this is an aural delight which shows the way ahead for the competition. Recommended, and I can`t wait for Volume 2.