Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago

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After almost a year worth of requests and peer-pressure (jk 😜), you finally cracked me and I decided to see what I could do with this 👀 I was never really a fan of the restored kick drum on the 2011 Remaster if I'm honest, but at the same time, I hadn't quite grasped just how high the percentage was for those who actually prefer it over the original mix.

I can gladly say this 2025 Restoration is finally helping me realize the appeal of the kick drum 🙌 Am still undecided as to what my preferred version is, but in hindsight, I think what made me not like the 2011 Remaster version was simply, because it was the 2011 Remaster and all the limitations that came with it.

Now, the 2011 Remaster version on its own was beyond repair, so I had to go about this differently. Thanks to the latest 'DrumSep' separation model, I was able to cleanly extract the kick and go about incorporating it back into the original mix (which I'd already restored in last year's Jazz installment).

Plonking the kick drum directly over the original mix wasn't quite hitting right. I inspected, and I'm assuming George Marino (who mastered the original Jazz LPs) wanted to make up for the lost kick by raising the low frequencies from roughly 300Hz downwards. The raised low end with the kick drum added back in just made it all overpowering. So I carefully went in and brought the affected frequencies back down to the position they would've originally been in. I then introduced the kick drum back in, and we were cooking at last 🔥

🚨 IN OTHER NEWS: Updates/upgrades on the entire 2024/25 Restoration Project have been in the works since February, and are live in the folder right now at the bottom of linktr.ee/qlrvault (clickable link can be found in the comments)!!

What's been updated? Well, the "Complete Works" inspired high-end enhancements on all the 70s and early 80s albums are great and all, but my claim from the beginning was to bring the albums back as faithfully as possible to their original state - the way the band intended them to sound. In a way, I've been contradicting myself by only offering the enhanced versions for those albums. New editions have now been rolled out, which finally live up to the moniker 🙂

There's multiple benefits to having both the "enhanced" and "original" editions on offer. If you really like to crank your music, the restored high-end may not be the favorable option. Or simply, your particular system may suit a particular sound 🤷‍♂️

How to tell which edition is which? Basically, if you see any albums labelled 2025 as opposed to 2024, they're brand-new updates. I've also re-structured the folders slightly to reflect the changes. The pre-existing "enhanced" installments are now labelled on the folders to reflect that, which further helps differentiate them from the new "non-enhanced" (aka 100% based on the original vinyl) editions 👍

High-end aside, my skills have advanced considerably since the beginning of the project. I've been able to go back and implement many, many further refinements to almost all of the albums, driving the point across that these restorations are now TRULY 1:1 with the vinyls they've been modelled after. Some albums were almost completely redone from the ground up! A lot of the differences are subtle to the point where you likely won't find them all, but I was determined to eliminate any and all doubt that I've gotten the absolute most I could out of my evolved skill-set 💪😉

Revisiting all 15 albums has been a hell of a lot of work, not gonna lie! But I knew if I were to undertake this project once again, it had to be all or nothing. That way, I'm not compelled to come back in for further tweaks down the line 😅 That's not to rule out the possibility of new things from being added in the future though. It's about time I sit back and start enjoying the music as a fan again. It's been roughly 3 years since that's been the case!

An even more detailed breakdown of each album's changes/upgrades can be found on our latest YouTube post 👌 Enjoy...