Just picked up a beautiful new pressing of Queen's seminal 'A Night at the Opera.'
Just by hefting the sleeve I knew it was quality vinyl...
Get it home, admire the labeling and throw it on the 1200 and...

Well, I guess I could say I'm underwhelmed.

I can't say I've owned any other Queen LP's, but I've listened to them on CD a lot of course. Freddie Mercury is one of my favorite frontmen, but on this record he sounds pretty rough. Shrill, distored, etc. Brian May's axe-wielding is awesome and sounds great, but I was pretty surprised at how the vocals came across. They just sounded like they were recorded/mixed poorly.

Thinking I had a TT problem, I put on 'Blonde on Blonde' and it sounds great. Both vocals and instrumentals.

So does anyone happen to have any impressions of how 'Night at the Opera' was mastered originally, or is it possible it was messed up with this re-pressing to do something to poor Freddie?

The MFSL vinyl sounds very good to me. U.S. pressed vinyl in the mid to late 70's was notorious for sounding crappy.

Because of this thread I gave my original bought new A Night at the Opera a spin.

Sounds pretty good to me.

From the back of the sleeve:

1975 Hollywood Records Inc.

D000262001

I know this is a new pressing (not vintage) but I'd honestly be surprised if anyone went to the bother of remastering. Maybe I just got some crummy vinyl...

Was this LP sealed? Had it been played? one or two trips around the block with most crappy TT set ups I used to see could take the edge off any LP.

I have this album from the early '80s when Mobile Fidelity put it out on vinyl.
I recently listened to (after cleaning it on my Nitty Gritty RCM! :D)

This album is a complete blow-out! The Prophet's Song made my hair stand on end and of course Bohemian Rhapsody - when all the guitars kicked in - rocked.

You must have a crummy pressing - but then again, the MFSL were half speed mastered and had the utmost care put into them at the time.

I think I paid $29.95-$35.00 new for it at the time (which was a lot of $$ at the time) I know they go for a lot on E-bay.

My copy which I bought in the 6th grade on Elektra sounds pretty good...after plunking down a hefty $4.25. I remember getting home and playing it...and now it still gives me the chills...

I think you got a bad copy.

Is it 180 gram or 200 gram vinyl? If so you may have the adjust the VTA on your turntable.