![Freddie Mercury - She Blows Hot & Cold [2025 Restoration] @queenliverarities](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GdrH6v46XXA/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 5 hours ago
Months and months removed from the last one, we're finally back with another Queen-related installment of the 2025 Restoration project 😃
Truth be told, I began work on this album well over two years ago, and it's been in a near-complete state ever since then. Fast forward to now, I've finally acquired the final piece of the puzzle needed in order to finish it! Of all things, the missing piece was a more reliable source of 'Stop All The Fighting', via a variation of the 1993 Great Pretender CD single 💪
Like the majority of Queen albums we've covered on the project, Mr. Bad Guy in digital form has always suffered. The original 1985 CD was solid, but came with similar hinderances to the likes of The Works, AKOM and Innuendo CDs. In turn, the early vinyl releases have always been considered the superior way of listening to this album. In this particular instance, I've based the Restoration on the original USA pressing 🙌 Using the original 1985 CD as the base source, it was a breeze to work with! Basically, only the EQ needed adjusting.
I'd go as far as saying it's a night and day difference, and in my opinion, it suggests the 2019 Remix wasn't as warranted as it was made out to be. But I'll leave that up to you to decide 👀
Additionally, the 'Extra Tracks' folder comes loaded with the extended versions which accompanied the original 12" singles. The '2000 Solo Collection' box is our only current digital source for these tracks.
Being 100% honest, I knew the box set had Peter Mew's finger prints all over it before I even looked at the credits 🤷 At least around that time period, he had at least three signature mastering techniques, and unfortunately, I could only fully reverse one of them 😢 The two I couldn't do anything about were compression and noise reduction (not all tracks were affected by the latter thankfully). Lucky for us, the obnoxious EQ patterns COULD be undone. For those who aren't aware, he'd always boost the upper bass and upper mids/lower treble areas, leaving the lower mids sucked away of any life.
Before the 2025 Restoration, I was never able to listen to the extended versions all the way through. To my ears at least, they sounded SOOOO bad 😖 But now they're restored, I can listen to them no problem and finally appreciate just how fun some of them are 🤘
The way I reversed those EQ patterns accurately was simple. By measuring the original Mr. Bad Guy CD up against the one Peter Mew remastered for the box set, cancelling out the differences and applying those same changes to the extended versions. From there, I implemented the same adjustments I used on the main album to match the vinyl pressing. Easy as that. No offense to Mr. Mew, but this is how cut and paste his mastering techniques were at the time. In terms of this project, HE was the only real "Bad Guy" 😉 (I'm being tongue-in-cheek obviously, no hard feelings towards the man)...
No comparisons video sadly! It's a struggle to find the time to make one to an acceptable standard at this time. But anyways, hope you enjoy 😁
DOWNLOAD FOLDER:
linktr.ee/qlrvault (clickable link can be found in the comments)
Full album YouTube playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLts8S9EmF3maGYLFYqC7jHQ
The Queen 2024/25 Restoration Collection:
Sheer Heart Attack - youtu.be/YWuGgZHHvII
Innuendo - youtu.be/iF537EjjzcM
The Works - youtu.be/iiq9A1XseL4
Queen II - youtu.be/K1mFRRLRy_c
Hot Space - youtu.be/7AuAEfxuuV8
A Kind Of Magic - youtu.be/0wnsVmHaWnE
The Game - youtu.be/5hCZ4xylu_4
Queen - youtu.be/JHy1XXVdkWM
Jazz - youtu.be/KZca62jaJBU
News Of The World - youtu.be/psxYh1Ne5J4
A Night At The Opera - youtu.be/zfgkTPPIayQ
A Day At The Races - youtu.be/OyNTCm0VPPM
The Miracle - youtu.be/SVPwF7H2eyg
Flash Gordon - youtu.be/fonQaYLQbNc
Made In Heaven - youtu.be/XnpWAvblUc4
Months and months removed from the last one, we're finally back with another Queen-related installment of the 2025 Restoration project 😃
Truth be told, I began work on this album well over two years ago, and it's been in a near-complete state ever since then. Fast forward to now, I've finally acquired the final piece of the puzzle needed in order to finish it! Of all things, the missing piece was a more reliable source of 'Stop All The Fighting', via a variation of the 1993 Great Pretender CD single 💪
Like the majority of Queen albums we've covered on the project, Mr. Bad Guy in digital form has always suffered. The original 1985 CD was solid, but came with similar hinderances to the likes of The Works, AKOM and Innuendo CDs. In turn, the early vinyl releases have always been considered the superior way of listening to this album. In this particular instance, I've based the Restoration on the original USA pressing 🙌 Using the original 1985 CD as the base source, it was a breeze to work with! Basically, only the EQ needed adjusting.
I'd go as far as saying it's a night and day difference, and in my opinion, it suggests the 2019 Remix wasn't as warranted as it was made out to be. But I'll leave that up to you to decide 👀
Additionally, the 'Extra Tracks' folder comes loaded with the extended versions which accompanied the original 12" singles. The '2000 Solo Collection' box is our only current digital source for these tracks.
Being 100% honest, I knew the box set had Peter Mew's finger prints all over it before I even looked at the credits 🤷 At least around that time period, he had at least three signature mastering techniques, and unfortunately, I could only fully reverse one of them 😢 The two I couldn't do anything about were compression and noise reduction (not all tracks were affected by the latter thankfully). Lucky for us, the obnoxious EQ patterns COULD be undone. For those who aren't aware, he'd always boost the upper bass and upper mids/lower treble areas, leaving the lower mids sucked away of any life.
Before the 2025 Restoration, I was never able to listen to the extended versions all the way through. To my ears at least, they sounded SOOOO bad 😖 But now they're restored, I can listen to them no problem and finally appreciate just how fun some of them are 🤘
The way I reversed those EQ patterns accurately was simple. By measuring the original Mr. Bad Guy CD up against the one Peter Mew remastered for the box set, cancelling out the differences and applying those same changes to the extended versions. From there, I implemented the same adjustments I used on the main album to match the vinyl pressing. Easy as that. No offense to Mr. Mew, but this is how cut and paste his mastering techniques were at the time. In terms of this project, HE was the only real "Bad Guy" 😉 (I'm being tongue-in-cheek obviously, no hard feelings towards the man)...
No comparisons video sadly! It's a struggle to find the time to make one to an acceptable standard at this time. But anyways, hope you enjoy 😁
DOWNLOAD FOLDER:
linktr.ee/qlrvault (clickable link can be found in the comments)
Full album YouTube playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLts8S9EmF3maGYLFYqC7jHQ
The Queen 2024/25 Restoration Collection:
Sheer Heart Attack - youtu.be/YWuGgZHHvII
Innuendo - youtu.be/iF537EjjzcM
The Works - youtu.be/iiq9A1XseL4
Queen II - youtu.be/K1mFRRLRy_c
Hot Space - youtu.be/7AuAEfxuuV8
A Kind Of Magic - youtu.be/0wnsVmHaWnE
The Game - youtu.be/5hCZ4xylu_4
Queen - youtu.be/JHy1XXVdkWM
Jazz - youtu.be/KZca62jaJBU
News Of The World - youtu.be/psxYh1Ne5J4
A Night At The Opera - youtu.be/zfgkTPPIayQ
A Day At The Races - youtu.be/OyNTCm0VPPM
The Miracle - youtu.be/SVPwF7H2eyg
Flash Gordon - youtu.be/fonQaYLQbNc
Made In Heaven - youtu.be/XnpWAvblUc4
![Freddie Mercury - She Blows Hot & Cold [2025 Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GdrH6v46XXA/mqdefault.jpg "Freddie Mercury - She Blows Hot & Cold [2025 Restoration]
Months and months removed from the last one, were finally back with another Queen-related installment of the 2025 Restoration project 😃
Truth be told, I began work on this album well over two years ago, and its been in a near-complete state ever since then. Fast forward to now, Ive finally acquired the final piece of the puzzle needed in order to finish it! Of all things, the missing piece was a more reliable source of Stop All The Fighting, via a variation of the 1993 Great Pretender CD single 💪
Like the majority of Queen albums weve covered on the project, Mr. Bad Guy in digital form has always suffered. The original 1985 CD was solid, but came with similar hinderances to the likes of The Works, AKOM and Innuendo CDs. In turn, the early vinyl releases have always been considered the superior way of listening to this album. In this particular instance, Ive based the Restoration on the original USA pressing 🙌 Using the original 1985 CD as the base source, it was a breeze to work with! Basically, only the EQ needed adjusting.
Id go as far as saying its a night and day difference, and in my opinion, it suggests the 2019 Remix wasnt as warranted as it was made out to be. But Ill leave that up to you to decide 👀
Additionally, the Extra Tracks folder comes loaded with the extended versions which accompanied the original 12 singles. The 2000 Solo Collection box is our only current digital source for these tracks.
Being 100% honest, I knew the box set had Peter Mews finger prints all over it before I even looked at the credits 🤷 At least around that time period, he had at least three signature mastering techniques, and unfortunately, I could only fully reverse one of them 😢 The two I couldnt do anything about were compression and noise reduction (not all tracks were affected by the latter thankfully). Lucky for us, the obnoxious EQ patterns COULD be undone. For those who arent aware, hed always boost the upper bass and upper mids/lower treble areas, leaving the lower mids sucked away of any life.
Before the 2025 Restoration, I was never able to listen to the extended versions all the way through. To my ears at least, they sounded SOOOO bad 😖 But now theyre restored, I can listen to them no problem and finally appreciate just how fun some of them are 🤘
The way I reversed those EQ patterns accurately was simple. By measuring the original Mr. Bad Guy CD up against the one Peter Mew remastered for the box set, cancelling out the differences and applying those same changes to the extended versions. From there, I implemented the same adjustments I used on the main album to match the vinyl pressing. Easy as that. No offense to Mr. Mew, but this is how cut and paste his mastering techniques were at the time. In terms of this project, HE was the only real Bad Guy 😉 (Im being tongue-in-cheek obviously, no hard feelings towards the man)...
No comparisons video sadly! Its a struggle to find the time to make one to an acceptable standard at this time. But anyways, hope you enjoy 😁
DOWNLOAD FOLDER:
linktr.ee/qlrvault (clickable link can be found in the comments)
Full album YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLts8S9EmF3maGYLFYqC7jHQ
The Queen 2024/25 Restoration Collection:
Sheer Heart Attack - https://youtu.be/YWuGgZHHvII
Innuendo - https://youtu.be/iF537EjjzcM
The Works - https://youtu.be/iiq9A1XseL4
Queen II - https://youtu.be/K1mFRRLRy_c
Hot Space - https://youtu.be/7AuAEfxuuV8
A Kind Of Magic - https://youtu.be/0wnsVmHaWnE
The Game - https://youtu.be/5hCZ4xylu_4
Queen - https://youtu.be/JHy1XXVdkWM
Jazz - https://youtu.be/KZca62jaJBU
News Of The World - https://youtu.be/psxYh1Ne5J4
A Night At The Opera - https://youtu.be/zfgkTPPIayQ
A Day At The Races - https://youtu.be/OyNTCm0VPPM
The Miracle - https://youtu.be/SVPwF7H2eyg
Flash Gordon - https://youtu.be/fonQaYLQbNc
Made In Heaven - https://youtu.be/XnpWAvblUc4")
![Queen - Sleeping On The Sidewalk [2024 Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ham83adm0yQ/mqdefault.jpg "Queen - Sleeping On The Sidewalk [2024 Restoration]
Happy 47th Anniversary to Queens sixth studio album, News Of The World 📰🤖
As far as clarity goes, of all Queens albums, this one most definitely has the most potential, and I think thats on full display here! Like most other installments of the project so far, thats thanks to the influence from the 1985 Complete Works box-set (which youll find out more about on the comparisons video).
Now, wed previously encountered an issue with harsh high frequencies on Queen I, to where I felt I had no choice but to step in and turn them down a little. I think the argument can be made that (depending on your sound system), Freddies esses may be a little taxing the ears at certain points here too. Unlike the Queen I issue however, this is a very accurate reflection on how the Complete Works LP actually sounded, so I felt less inclined to take liberties here.
Instead, Im offering up two slightly different versions of the Restoration to hopefully suit your preferences. Theres this one, which remains very true to the enhancements offered on the 1985 LP. And an alternative, where (just like Queen I) the high end has only been recovered half-way 🙂 Id be curious to hear which version you end up leaning towards...
DOWNLOAD FOLDER:
linktr.ee/qlrvault
Full album YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLufqKQL1cSh1NWuoUr0Itm4
The 2024/25 Restoration Collection:
Sheer Heart Attack - https://youtu.be/YWuGgZHHvII
Innuendo - https://youtu.be/iF537EjjzcM
The Works - https://youtu.be/iiq9A1XseL4
Queen II - https://youtu.be/K1mFRRLRy_c
Hot Space - https://youtu.be/7AuAEfxuuV8
A Kind Of Magic - https://youtu.be/0wnsVmHaWnE
The Game - https://youtu.be/5hCZ4xylu_4
Queen - https://youtu.be/JHy1XXVdkWM
Jazz - https://youtu.be/KZca62jaJBU
▶ News Of The World
A Night At The Opera - https://youtu.be/zfgkTPPIayQ
A Day At The Races - https://youtu.be/OyNTCm0VPPM
The Miracle - https://youtu.be/SVPwF7H2eyg
Flash Gordon - https://youtu.be/fonQaYLQbNc
Made In Heaven - https://youtu.be/XnpWAvblUc4")
![Freddie Mercury - Stop All The Fighting [2025 Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HdSTeNuvh7I/mqdefault.jpg "Freddie Mercury - Stop All The Fighting [2025 Restoration]
Months and months removed from the last one, were finally back with another Queen-related installment of the 2025 Restoration project 😃
Truth be told, I began work on this album well over two years ago, and its been in a near-complete state ever since then. Fast forward to now, Ive finally acquired the final piece of the puzzle needed in order to finish it! Of all things, the missing piece was a more reliable source of Stop All The Fighting, via a variation of the 1993 Great Pretender CD single 💪
Like the majority of Queen albums weve covered on the project, Mr. Bad Guy in digital form has always suffered. The original 1985 CD was solid, but came with similar hinderances to the likes of The Works, AKOM and Innuendo CDs. In turn, the early vinyl releases have always been considered the superior way of listening to this album. In this particular instance, Ive based the Restoration on the original USA pressing 🙌 Using the original 1985 CD as the base source, it was a breeze to work with! Basically, only the EQ needed adjusting.
Id go as far as saying its a night and day difference, and in my opinion, it suggests the 2019 Remix wasnt as warranted as it was made out to be. But Ill leave that up to you to decide 👀
Additionally, the Extra Tracks folder comes loaded with the extended versions which accompanied the original 12 singles. The 2000 Solo Collection box is our only current digital source for these tracks.
Being 100% honest, I knew the box set had Peter Mews finger prints all over it before I even looked at the credits 🤷 At least around that time period, he had at least three signature mastering techniques, and unfortunately, I could only fully reverse one of them 😢 The two I couldnt do anything about were compression and noise reduction (not all tracks were affected by the latter thankfully). Lucky for us, the obnoxious EQ patterns COULD be undone. For those who arent aware, hed always boost the upper bass and upper mids/lower treble areas, leaving the lower mids sucked away of any life.
Before the 2025 Restoration, I was never able to listen to the extended versions all the way through. To my ears at least, they sounded SOOOO bad 😖 But now theyre restored, I can listen to them no problem and finally appreciate just how fun some of them are 🤘
The way I reversed those EQ patterns accurately was simple. By measuring the original Mr. Bad Guy CD up against the one Peter Mew remastered for the box set, cancelling out the differences and applying those same changes to the extended versions. From there, I implemented the same adjustments I used on the main album to match the vinyl pressing. Easy as that. No offense to Mr. Mew, but this is how cut and paste his mastering techniques were at the time. In terms of this project, HE was the only real Bad Guy 😉 (Im being tongue-in-cheek obviously, no hard feelings towards the man)...
No comparisons video sadly! Its a struggle to find the time to make one to an acceptable standard at this time. But anyways, hope you enjoy 😁
DOWNLOAD FOLDER:
linktr.ee/qlrvault (clickable link can be found in the comments)
Full album YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLts8S9EmF3maGYLFYqC7jHQ
The Queen 2024/25 Restoration Collection:
Sheer Heart Attack - https://youtu.be/YWuGgZHHvII
Innuendo - https://youtu.be/iF537EjjzcM
The Works - https://youtu.be/iiq9A1XseL4
Queen II - https://youtu.be/K1mFRRLRy_c
Hot Space - https://youtu.be/7AuAEfxuuV8
A Kind Of Magic - https://youtu.be/0wnsVmHaWnE
The Game - https://youtu.be/5hCZ4xylu_4
Queen - https://youtu.be/JHy1XXVdkWM
Jazz - https://youtu.be/KZca62jaJBU
News Of The World - https://youtu.be/psxYh1Ne5J4
A Night At The Opera - https://youtu.be/zfgkTPPIayQ
A Day At The Races - https://youtu.be/OyNTCm0VPPM
The Miracle - https://youtu.be/SVPwF7H2eyg
Flash Gordon - https://youtu.be/fonQaYLQbNc
Made In Heaven - https://youtu.be/XnpWAvblUc4")
![Queen - Spread Your Wings [2024 Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/I-coo1UXOKY/mqdefault.jpg "Queen - Spread Your Wings [2024 Restoration]
Happy 47th Anniversary to Queens sixth studio album, News Of The World 📰🤖
As far as clarity goes, of all Queens albums, this one most definitely has the most potential, and I think thats on full display here! Like most other installments of the project so far, thats thanks to the influence from the 1985 Complete Works box-set (which youll find out more about on the comparisons video).
Now, wed previously encountered an issue with harsh high frequencies on Queen I, to where I felt I had no choice but to step in and turn them down a little. I think the argument can be made that (depending on your sound system), Freddies esses may be a little taxing the ears at certain points here too. Unlike the Queen I issue however, this is a very accurate reflection on how the Complete Works LP actually sounded, so I felt less inclined to take liberties here.
Instead, Im offering up two slightly different versions of the Restoration to hopefully suit your preferences. Theres this one, which remains very true to the enhancements offered on the 1985 LP. And an alternative, where (just like Queen I) the high end has only been recovered half-way 🙂 Id be curious to hear which version you end up leaning towards...
DOWNLOAD FOLDER:
linktr.ee/qlrvault
Full album YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLufqKQL1cSh1NWuoUr0Itm4
The 2024/25 Restoration Collection:
Sheer Heart Attack - https://youtu.be/YWuGgZHHvII
Innuendo - https://youtu.be/iF537EjjzcM
The Works - https://youtu.be/iiq9A1XseL4
Queen II - https://youtu.be/K1mFRRLRy_c
Hot Space - https://youtu.be/7AuAEfxuuV8
A Kind Of Magic - https://youtu.be/0wnsVmHaWnE
The Game - https://youtu.be/5hCZ4xylu_4
Queen - https://youtu.be/JHy1XXVdkWM
Jazz - https://youtu.be/KZca62jaJBU
▶ News Of The World
A Night At The Opera - https://youtu.be/zfgkTPPIayQ
A Day At The Races - https://youtu.be/OyNTCm0VPPM
The Miracle - https://youtu.be/SVPwF7H2eyg
Flash Gordon - https://youtu.be/fonQaYLQbNc
Made In Heaven - https://youtu.be/XnpWAvblUc4")
![Michael Jackson - Rock With You [2026 Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/I5sf1geacNc/mqdefault.jpg "Michael Jackson - Rock With You [2026 Restoration]
Following Brad Sundbergs new Vinyl Battle series on YouTube, Ive been inspired to fast-track a restoration for this 1st portion of Michael Jacksons HIStory album, as a sort of companion piece 😃
At the time of writing, Brad (one of Michaels former engineers) has compared vinyl releases for two tracks - The Way You Make Me Feel and Man In The Mirror. On both occasions, the original HIStory vinyl has been his winner, with the original Bad vinyl coming in 2nd place. Thats mammoth praise 🤯
I must admit, until a week or two ago, Id never given HIStory Begins a fair shot in terms of sound quality. This is because compression and limiting handcuffs the digital releases, making it harder for me to appreciate it in that aspect. But as the story usually goes, the original vinyl release wasnt a victim of the same hinderances. If you own that LP, huge congrats 🎉 Thats a very rare piece! But for most of us who dont, this is where the restoration project comes into play 👀
Fortunately, thanks to the MoFi releases of Off The Wall, Thriller and Dangerous, we now have perfect, dynamic digital sources for ALL versions of the tracks featured on HIStory Begins! For Bad, the initial CD releases from the late 80s/early 90s were already unhindered to start with, so no need for a MoFi release 🙌
With the correct versions chosen, the work was more straight-forward than any other MJ album Ive tackled to this point! A teeny bit of volume fluctuations needed to be addressed during a few tracks, but other than that, all I needed to do was EQ the left and right channels of each track to mirror Bruce Swedien & Bernie Grundmans remastering for HIStory.
For this initial stage, I matched the EQ with the tracks from the CD, and waited til the very end to implement the EQ curve from the vinyl release across the whole album. I tend to trust this method more (depending on where I can source my vinyl rips). Inner groove distortion can occasionally affect the EQ curve for tracks near the end of a side. Referencing the CD first will ensure a 100% authentic result across every track 🙂
Track-spacing is also an important step I often forget to mention on these restorations. I made sure the gap between each track was as close to the actual release as possible 👍 On this occasion, my source for the vinyl rip is the same as our Invincible, Dangerous and Blood On The Dance Floor restorations, so Id already undergone all the steps to ensuring weve landed on an accurate (flat) EQ curve 👌
Can happily report this 2026 Restoration has a healthy DR value of 13, vs the original CD which sits at a 9 🔥
I must say, with the installment completed, I couldnt agree any more with Brads assessments 😱 This is one of VERY few remastered releases Ive ever encountered where the tracks actually benefit (IMO). As Brad recalls in his episodes regarding those two Bad tracks, he and the team were 7-8 years older and more experienced by the time they reached HIStory, and mastering preferences can change in that time. Every track has a super deliberate balance between the lows, mids and highs 👏👏
According to Brad, the initial remastering was done in-house by Bruce, before sending it off to Bernie. Lets not forget, these two guys had been on every MJ project from Off The Wall onwards! It could not have been in better hands 🙏 This is without a doubt the most carefully-curated MJ hit collection therell ever be. Michael and his team were apart of every single step, from the track-selection to the very end...
If these restorations are your cup of tea, youll likely be into Brads series too! He breaks everything down thoroughly, from both the listeners point of view, and the actual process he and Bruce underwent during the making of said releases, such as the original mastering stages and critically approving/rejecting test pressings. Intriguing stuff! Heres his page: @inthestudiowithmj
Check out the full album playlist here ⬇
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLtNCg8ybZJL2gkIkjkzHKTa")
![Michael Jackson - The Girl Is Mine [2026 Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IF11NoXJqEo/mqdefault.jpg "Michael Jackson - The Girl Is Mine [2026 Restoration]
Following Brad Sundbergs new Vinyl Battle series on YouTube, Ive been inspired to fast-track a restoration for this 1st portion of Michael Jacksons HIStory album, as a sort of companion piece 😃
At the time of writing, Brad (one of Michaels former engineers) has compared vinyl releases for two tracks - The Way You Make Me Feel and Man In The Mirror. On both occasions, the original HIStory vinyl has been his winner, with the original Bad vinyl coming in 2nd place. Thats mammoth praise 🤯
I must admit, until a week or two ago, Id never given HIStory Begins a fair shot in terms of sound quality. This is because compression and limiting handcuffs the digital releases, making it harder for me to appreciate it in that aspect. But as the story usually goes, the original vinyl release wasnt a victim of the same hinderances. If you own that LP, huge congrats 🎉 Thats a very rare piece! But for most of us who dont, this is where the restoration project comes into play 👀
Fortunately, thanks to the MoFi releases of Off The Wall, Thriller and Dangerous, we now have perfect, dynamic digital sources for ALL versions of the tracks featured on HIStory Begins! For Bad, the initial CD releases from the late 80s/early 90s were already unhindered to start with, so no need for a MoFi release 🙌
With the correct versions chosen, the work was more straight-forward than any other MJ album Ive tackled to this point! A teeny bit of volume fluctuations needed to be addressed during a few tracks, but other than that, all I needed to do was EQ the left and right channels of each track to mirror Bruce Swedien & Bernie Grundmans remastering for HIStory.
For this initial stage, I matched the EQ with the tracks from the CD, and waited til the very end to implement the EQ curve from the vinyl release across the whole album. I tend to trust this method more (depending on where I can source my vinyl rips). Inner groove distortion can occasionally affect the EQ curve for tracks near the end of a side. Referencing the CD first will ensure a 100% authentic result across every track 🙂
Track-spacing is also an important step I often forget to mention on these restorations. I made sure the gap between each track was as close to the actual release as possible 👍 On this occasion, my source for the vinyl rip is the same as our Invincible, Dangerous and Blood On The Dance Floor restorations, so Id already undergone all the steps to ensuring weve landed on an accurate (flat) EQ curve 👌
Can happily report this 2026 Restoration has a healthy DR value of 13, vs the original CD which sits at a 9 🔥
I must say, with the installment completed, I couldnt agree any more with Brads assessments 😱 This is one of VERY few remastered releases Ive ever encountered where the tracks actually benefit (IMO). As Brad recalls in his episodes regarding those two Bad tracks, he and the team were 7-8 years older and more experienced by the time they reached HIStory, and mastering preferences can change in that time. Every track has a super deliberate balance between the lows, mids and highs 👏👏
According to Brad, the initial remastering was done in-house by Bruce, before sending it off to Bernie. Lets not forget, these two guys had been on every MJ project from Off The Wall onwards! It could not have been in better hands 🙏 This is without a doubt the most carefully-curated MJ hit collection therell ever be. Michael and his team were apart of every single step, from the track-selection to the very end...
If these restorations are your cup of tea, youll likely be into Brads series too! He breaks everything down thoroughly, from both the listeners point of view, and the actual process he and Bruce underwent during the making of said releases, such as the original mastering stages and critically approving/rejecting test pressings. Intriguing stuff! Heres his page: @inthestudiowithmj
Check out the full album playlist here ⬇
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLtNCg8ybZJL2gkIkjkzHKTa")
![Michael Jackson - Cant Let Her Get Away [2025 Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IhGOWuqjskw/mqdefault.jpg "Michael Jackson - Cant Let Her Get Away [2025 Restoration]
Were back with the full installment of the 2025 Restoration project for Michael Jacksons Dangerous album 😃 Its unlike me to fast-track something like this, but in response to the dissatisfying reviews for the brand-new Mo-fi/MFSL release from just over a week ago, I felt an extreme sense of urgency to right those wrongs for folks who invested their hard-earned money into the SACD and LP.
To anyone who may be here for the first time, welcome! The intention of this project is to find the albums best digital source(s), undo any & all previous remastering work and restore the music to exactly how the artist originally intended it to sound!
Using the very same sources as the new SACD for the base, its been gratifying to discover just how great they really are to work with 🙌 In terms of dynamics, certain tracks are a big step up to what we had previously. And upon reverting the mastering to how the original CD and LPs were presented, the result is pure bliss 👌
Working closely on each track individually was a necessity here, as the EQ balance and normalization on each channel varied in a multitude of ways. Additionally, the overall speed for each track was adjusted slightly, edging them closer to the original CD. Some (mostly) minor volume fluctuations during some tracks were present, so these instances were also addressed. Safe to assume most of these differences were simply due to the fresh analogue sources...
One of the major drawbacks I discovered with these new sources, the spacing between the tracks (which is usually 100% faithful with Mofi/MFSL releases) was way off on this one. They were all positioned much closer together, and wee bits of tape at the beginning and end of each track were trimmed shorter as a result. With some careful and seamless merging via the original CD, this has been corrected. Each track now flows along exactly as theyre supposed to 🙂 Additionally, I still deemed the original CD as the superior source for the full intro of Will You Be There 👍
Im extremely grateful towards Mofi for releases like these. While their mastering choices can be divisive at times, theyre non-destructive and the sources themselves are usually top notch 🙏 For those who feel as though they didnt get their moneys worth with the new release, I sincerely hope this 2025 Restoration is more along the lines of what you were clamoring for 👊
Check out the other MJ albums apart of the Restoration project 👀⬇
Thriller - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLu-EQLp8hCCAtvka1rODGuu
Invincible - https://youtu.be/CeFle3bHlAQ
Off The Wall - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLtUdnaFqs_rTyaZU25RlM_M")
![Queen - Jesus [2024 Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/InVDPKNCj0s/mqdefault.jpg "Queen - Jesus [2024 Restoration]
We made it to the anniversary!!! 🥳 Welcome back to the 2024 Restoration project, and Happy 51st to Queens first album 🎉
Theres a lot to cover regarding this installment, so head over to the comparisons vid if youd like to know everything that went into this one:
https://youtu.be/JHy1XXVdkWM
But for right now, if you caught our Restorations for Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack, your expectations for this one are likely sky high! I better let you know ahead of time that, given the limitations of the mixes and such, the improvements for this album are no where near as drastic Im afraid 🤷♂️ This in addition to the fact that the existing releases were already not too shabby. The original UK vinyl release wasnt plagued with compression like the entirety of Queen II and parts of SHA, so this will be a much more honest reflection of how that original release sounded (which is the point of the project anyway)! BUT, regardless, thanks to the fresher transfers, certain parts of tracks without a doubt sound slightly cleaner on the 2024 Restoration 🙂
DOWNLOAD FOLDER:
linktr.ee/qlrvault
Full album YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLsUz05BgBFiW2s9Np3nsAF7
The 2024/25 Restoration Collection:
Sheer Heart Attack - https://youtu.be/YWuGgZHHvII
Innuendo - https://youtu.be/iF537EjjzcM
The Works - https://youtu.be/iiq9A1XseL4
Queen II - https://youtu.be/K1mFRRLRy_c
Hot Space - https://youtu.be/7AuAEfxuuV8
A Kind Of Magic - https://youtu.be/0wnsVmHaWnE
The Game - https://youtu.be/5hCZ4xylu_4
▶ Queen
Jazz - https://youtu.be/KZca62jaJBU
News Of The World - https://youtu.be/psxYh1Ne5J4
A Night At The Opera - https://youtu.be/zfgkTPPIayQ
A Day At The Races - https://youtu.be/OyNTCm0VPPM
The Miracle - https://youtu.be/SVPwF7H2eyg
Flash Gordon - https://youtu.be/fonQaYLQbNc
Made In Heaven - https://youtu.be/XnpWAvblUc4")
![Michael Jackson - Get On The Floor [2025 Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IpRkkwV1iJg/mqdefault.jpg "Michael Jackson - Get On The Floor [2025 Restoration]
Teased this one all the way back in June during the unveiling of the Invincible restoration! It did take a brief backseat as the urgency to restore Dangerous came about (following the MOFI release), but the wait should HOPEFULLY be worth it here 🤞
To anyone who may be here for the first time, welcome! The intention of this project is to find the albums best digital source(s), undo any & all previous remastering work and restore the music to exactly how the artist originally intended it to sound!
As far as sound-quality is concerned, this is probably my favourite MJ album of the bunch! Just a sonic masterclass 🙌 Still leaves me in awe just how pristine everything sounds. It outshines all modern music in that regard if you ask me.
Off The Wall has had some really solid digital releases overall. The standouts being the initial 1983 CD, and the more recent MOFI SACD. The former was relatively faithful to the original vinyl releases, just with inferior EQ. If the latter included the original mixes for Rock With You and Get On The Floor, I mightve considered it my go-to version, but the remixes disrupt the flow too much for my taste.
Id previously completed a (unreleased) restoration for this album using solely the 1983 CD as the base. That CD was sourced from 1st gen production tapes (used for cutting the vinyls), but the important thing was the dynamics which were completely intact. However, the recent MOFI release changes everything! For the first time ever, these tracks came straight from the master-tapes, and STILL retain their dynamics 🔥
I didnt quite anticipate the level of improvement from the MOFI-sourced tracks 🤯 Ever so slightly cleaner as expected, but the difference in stereo separation was especially impressive 👌 Unsurprisingly, Ive kept the 1983 CD as the source for Rock With You and Get On The Floor (which still works completely fine with the rest of the tracks)!
The end result of this 2025 Restoration? Its a digital clone of original USA vinyl in terms of mastering, but the pristine nature of the master-tape sources gives it a newly found edge 👍 I couldnt recommend giving this a listen enough! Im confident you wont be disappointed 👏👏👏
Check out the other MJ albums apart of the Restoration project 👀⬇
Thriller - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLu-EQLp8hCCAtvka1rODGuu
Invincible - https://youtu.be/CeFle3bHlAQ
Dangerous - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLsXHde0dY2Qp6nh4xQ5WOGX")
![Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls [2024 Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/J7uA7qy9gdI/mqdefault.jpg "Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls [2024 Restoration]
Another sneaky little peek at the next installment of the 2024 Restoration project, Jazz 🚲🚲🚲 Coming on October 2nd 👀
I dont expect you to understand from this video alone just how much work went into this album, but its been the most time-consuming one by a long shot! Many more details to come, including the comparisons video, which will surely be our most loaded one yet 😅
Lets just say, only one (master) source for this album exists without some level of compression or extensive limiting, and bringing it to an acceptable level for the project has taken a monumental effort...
Comparisons video:
https://youtu.be/KZca62jaJBU
DOWNLOAD FOLDER:
linktr.ee/qlrvault
Full album YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLvjT585SW8sPUIIq6nlhAgw
The 2024/25 Restoration Collection:
Sheer Heart Attack - https://youtu.be/YWuGgZHHvII
Innuendo - https://youtu.be/iF537EjjzcM
The Works - https://youtu.be/iiq9A1XseL4
Queen II - https://youtu.be/K1mFRRLRy_c
Hot Space - https://youtu.be/7AuAEfxuuV8
A Kind Of Magic - https://youtu.be/0wnsVmHaWnE
The Game - https://youtu.be/5hCZ4xylu_4
Queen - https://youtu.be/JHy1XXVdkWM
▶ Jazz
News Of The World - https://youtu.be/psxYh1Ne5J4
A Night At The Opera - https://youtu.be/zfgkTPPIayQ
A Day At The Races - https://youtu.be/OyNTCm0VPPM
The Miracle - https://youtu.be/SVPwF7H2eyg
Flash Gordon - https://youtu.be/fonQaYLQbNc
Made In Heaven - https://youtu.be/XnpWAvblUc4")
![Michael Jackson - Billie Jean [2026 Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KEE3NO_eK_g/mqdefault.jpg "Michael Jackson - Billie Jean [2026 Restoration]
Following Brad Sundbergs new Vinyl Battle series on YouTube, Ive been inspired to fast-track a restoration for this 1st portion of Michael Jacksons HIStory album, as a sort of companion piece 😃
At the time of writing, Brad (one of Michaels former engineers) has compared vinyl releases for two tracks - The Way You Make Me Feel and Man In The Mirror. On both occasions, the original HIStory vinyl has been his winner, with the original Bad vinyl coming in 2nd place. Thats mammoth praise 🤯
I must admit, until a week or two ago, Id never given HIStory Begins a fair shot in terms of sound quality. This is because compression and limiting handcuffs the digital releases, making it harder for me to appreciate it in that aspect. But as the story usually goes, the original vinyl release wasnt a victim of the same hinderances. If you own that LP, huge congrats 🎉 Thats a very rare piece! But for most of us who dont, this is where the restoration project comes into play 👀
Fortunately, thanks to the MoFi releases of Off The Wall, Thriller and Dangerous, we now have perfect, dynamic digital sources for ALL versions of the tracks featured on HIStory Begins! For Bad, the initial CD releases from the late 80s/early 90s were already unhindered to start with, so no need for a MoFi release 🙌
With the correct versions chosen, the work was more straight-forward than any other MJ album Ive tackled to this point! A teeny bit of volume fluctuations needed to be addressed during a few tracks, but other than that, all I needed to do was EQ the left and right channels of each track to mirror Bruce Swedien & Bernie Grundmans remastering for HIStory.
For this initial stage, I matched the EQ with the tracks from the CD, and waited til the very end to implement the EQ curve from the vinyl release across the whole album. I tend to trust this method more (depending on where I can source my vinyl rips). Inner groove distortion can occasionally affect the EQ curve for tracks near the end of a side. Referencing the CD first will ensure a 100% authentic result across every track 🙂
Track-spacing is also an important step I often forget to mention on these restorations. I made sure the gap between each track was as close to the actual release as possible 👍 On this occasion, my source for the vinyl rip is the same as our Invincible, Dangerous and Blood On The Dance Floor restorations, so Id already undergone all the steps to ensuring weve landed on an accurate (flat) EQ curve 👌
Can happily report this 2026 Restoration has a healthy DR value of 13, vs the original CD which sits at a 9 🔥
I must say, with the installment completed, I couldnt agree any more with Brads assessments 😱 This is one of VERY few remastered releases Ive ever encountered where the tracks actually benefit (IMO). As Brad recalls in his episodes regarding those two Bad tracks, he and the team were 7-8 years older and more experienced by the time they reached HIStory, and mastering preferences can change in that time. Every track has a super deliberate balance between the lows, mids and highs 👏👏
According to Brad, the initial remastering was done in-house by Bruce, before sending it off to Bernie. Lets not forget, these two guys had been on every MJ project from Off The Wall onwards! It could not have been in better hands 🙏 This is without a doubt the most carefully-curated MJ hit collection therell ever be. Michael and his team were apart of every single step, from the track-selection to the very end...
If these restorations are your cup of tea, youll likely be into Brads series too! He breaks everything down thoroughly, from both the listeners point of view, and the actual process he and Bruce underwent during the making of said releases, such as the original mastering stages and critically approving/rejecting test pressings. Intriguing stuff! Heres his page: @inthestudiowithmj
Check out the full album playlist here ⬇
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvYtqeUuiLtNCg8ybZJL2gkIkjkzHKTa")
