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   clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Dec-2023 15:27:06 JST clacke

   I was watching and listening to Freddie Mercury's "Living On My Own" and realized I didn't quite recognize it! I'm more familiar with the 1993 remix.

   I call myself a Queen fan and I own a copy of "Mr. Bad Guy", so I must have listened to the original at least a few times in the 90s, but it seems I listened to the beep boop version more, as it was the one playing on the radio in the 90s, and I know I have at least one various-artists compilation album that includes it.

   I haven't listened to either in years, maybe haven't heard the original this millennium. And I don't know if maybe I've heard the remix more recently, but for whatever reason it's the one that stuck, apparently.

   #FreddieMercury #LivingOnMyOwn
   #queen

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Dec-2023 15:27:04 JST clacke

     in reply to

     Freddie Mercury: "Living On My Own"

     1985 version from "Mr. Bad Guy"

     farside.link/invidious/watch?v…

     youtube.com/watch?v=DedaEVIbTk…

     1993 No More Brothers' Remix

     farside.link/invidious/watch?v…

     youtube.com/watch?v=HTdd8Qxifb…

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Dec-2023 15:49:18 JST clacke

     in reply to

     I don't know if I'm getting someone upset now, but I genuinely think 1993 is the better version, and I think that's not just due to more exposure.

     "Mr. Bad Guy" just isn't a very good album, and "Living On My Own" is an example of that. Freddie's voice is of course perfect as always, but the editing and composition is not what you'd expect from an experienced team of composer, producer, studio technician etc. Not even close to what the Queen albums from nearby years sound like.

     I don't have the background story, if you do, I'd love to hear it. Did Mercury try to do too much himself without having the experience? Did the studio listen to his input too much? Did he find a producer, did the label, did he produce it himself?

     The original is more interesting and experimental, I'll give it that, I love the piano parts, but the overall edit is kind of meandering and unfocused.

     The 1993 version has punch, it's a real pop hit. It's actually 25 seconds longer at 3:33, but it feels shorter because it doesn't leave you hanging around.

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Dec-2023 16:12:30 JST clacke

     in reply to

     Among the Queen songs I hold the dearest, most of them were written by May, so there's my bias. 😁

     Apart from "Mr. Bad Guy" I also have "Back to the Light" by May and "Happiness?" by Taylor and I've listened to them a lot. Of these, May's album is the one that sounds like a Queen album missing 75% of Queen.

     May is not as good as Queen, they all needed each other to be at their best, but the production level on that album is Queen level, and I think that's a fairly unbiased opinion.

     My suspicion is that both Mercury and Taylor had too much of a say on their albums and May might have been less of a strong-willed auteur and more of a musician working with a studio team when making his.

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Dec-2023 16:12:32 JST clacke

     in reply to

     Th reason I went back and watched these videos that I haven't watched for a long time, or perhaps never, was because Tom Scott made a video about music video HD remasters.

     Some are brilliant re-scans and re-edits from film reels, and some are just upscales from TV recordings, either because those are the only originals, or because the record label was lazy.

     Mercury's song is an example of the former, Smash Mouth's "All Star" is an example of the latter.

     farside.link/invidious/watch?v…

     youtube.com/watch?v=CkysCJBdGt…

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Dec-2023 16:53:17 JST clacke

     in reply to

     An example from the #StarTrek world is how TNG has been remastered from film but DS9 and VOY haven't, which is why ironically the older series looks better on your modern screen.

     From what I gather, all three were shot on film, but the newer ones were edited at TV quality and had lots of digital effects that would also have to be remade.

     Babylon 5 was remastered recently and they had the same issue as DS9 and VOY, but they went ahead and did the editing and I think the effects again. I would welcome a fact check on this.

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Dec-2023 16:53:17 JST clacke

     in reply to
     I think I've heard that the B5 DVDs used widescreen for filmed scenes and 4:3 for CGI scenes. The new remaster uses all 4:3, so that could be evidence against remade CGI.
   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Dec-2023 16:53:19 JST clacke

     in reply to
     I may be making this up, but I think the B5 restoration team were lucky enough to find backups of the original LightWave 3D models and scenes that were used to render the B5 CGI on the VideoToaster. The Star Trek people may not be that lucky if they attempt a VOY or DS9 remaster.
   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Dec-2023 22:47:37 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • michiel

     @michiel Sure, everything is just a matter of effort/money. They did it once, they can do it again. The difference is that TNG didn't use the VideoToaster until Season 7, everything before then was lots of practical effects and only a touch of VFX, maybe not even digital, for e.g. phaser fire.

     For VOY and DS9 I assume all ships and stations are digital effects and reproducing an episode could mean a significant portion of the original cost for the episode.

     Would enough people shell out for a remastered Bluray box that was more expensive than the TNG box? Would enough additional people subscribe to P+ or rewatch episodes on Netflix in non-P+ regions for an enhanced DS9? Lots of fans will stream the episode whether it's enhanced or not.

     These people erase whole series from their catalog, already produced series, for underperforming. I don't know that they can be convinced they could earn that money back. 😔

   • Embed this notice
     michiel (michiel@social.tchncs.de)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Dec-2023 22:47:38 JST michiel

     in reply to

     @clacke TOS was all shot on film, including effects TNG, DS9 and VOY were all shot on film, but the effects were only done on video. For TNG, they made the effort to recreate all the special effects digitally. There's nothing but money preventing them from doing so for DS9 and VOY.

     ENT was filmed on digital video in the later seasons.