QUEEN A Day At The Races 1976 UK EMI 1st PRESS Nr MINT

£ 44

$ 59

£ 44 Sold For

Aug 17, 2012 Sold Date

Aug 7, 2012 Start Date

£ 23 Start price

3 Number Of Bids

Great Britain Country Of Seller

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Description

QUEEN A Day At The Races 1976 UK EMI 1st PRESS Nr MINT

FIRST -1U/-1U MATRIX, DIE CUT INNER, BARELY PLAYED

QUEEN
A Day At The Races

UK EMI (EMTC 104) FIRST PRESSING (December 1976) OF "A Day At The Races"
LOVELY COPY - SEEN LITTLE PLAY - SOUNDS SENSATIONAL THROUGHOUT
AND HOUSED IN A SUPERB, UNWORN EXAMPLE OF THE ORIGINAL BLACK GATEFOLD SLEEVE

MATRICES: YAX 5245 - 1U / YAX 5246 - 1U (with "STERLING" stamper)
MOTHERS/STAMPERS: 4/AM and 1/GP
THE RECORD IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL GATEFOLD SLEEVE WITH INTERNAL LYRICS "Made and printed in Great Britain" WITH THE CHARACTERISTIC FIRST ISSUE WIDE SPINE AND FACTORY SEALED, FOLDED UNDER LEFT SIDE EDGE
COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL FIRST ISSUE DIE CUT, ROUNDED CORNER, THICK CARD INNER SLEEVE

In every sense, A Day at the Races is an unapologetic sequel to A Night at the Opera, the 1975 breakthrough that established Queen as rock & roll royalty.
The band never attempts to hide that the record is a sequel — the two albums boast the same variation on the same cover art, the titles are both taken from old Marx Brothers films and serve as counterpoints to each other.
But even though the two albums look the same, they don't quite sound the same, A Day at the Races is a bit tighter than its predecessor, yet tighter doesn't necessarily mean better for a band as extravagant as Queen.
One of the great things about A Night at the Opera is that the lingering elements of early Queen — the pastoral folk of "39," the metallic menace of "Death on Two Legs" — dovetailed with an indulgence of camp and a truly, well, operatic scale.
Here, the eccentricities are trimmed back somewhat — they still bubble up on "The Millionaire Waltz," an example of the music hall pop that dominated Night, the pro-Native American saga "White Man" is undercut somewhat by the cowboys 'n' indians rhythms — in favour of a driving, purposeful hard rock that still could have some slyly hidden perversities (or in the case of the opening "Tie Your Mother Down," some not-so-hidden perversity) but this is exquisitely detailed hard rock, dense with minutiae but never lush or fussy.
In a sense, it could even function as the bridge between Sheer Heart Attack and Night at the Opera — it's every bit as hard as the former and nearly as florid as the latter — but its sleek, streamlined finish is the biggest indication that Queen has entered a new phase, where they're globe-conquering titans instead of underdogs on the make.

Side 1: Tie Your Mother Down / You Take My Breath Away / Long Away / The Millionaire Waltz / You And I
Side 2: Somebody To Love / White Man / Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy / Drowse / Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)

LABELS: NEAR MINT
Clean, unmarked labels with barely a spindle trace to be seen
VINYL Visual: NEAR MINT
Both surfaces shine like new - unmarked under normal light with just wispy light hairlines visible under bright light (of no audio consequence)
VINYL Audio: EXCELLENT+/NEAR MINT
Superb audio reproduction - crystal clear sound performance throughout and my play-check at very loud volume detected no major audio issues of note - just a touch of surface/a few light clicks on "The Millionaire Waltz" (nothing I found particularly intrusive) - otherwise, this is an exceptionally clean playing copy
SLEEVE: EXCELLENT+
Lovely example of this easily worn sleeve - crisp, clean, sharp and fresh (with just one 'bump' to the bottom spine corner)
INNER SLEEVE: NEAR MINT
Again, crisp, clean and fresh with no seam splits

POST & PACKING:
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, NEW INNER SLEEVE WITH ANTI-STATIC LINER, QUALITY BOX (NOT ENVELOPE) MAILER AND AMPLE STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY
UK: 1st Class: £4.50 (recorded delivery)
EUROPE: Airmail: £12.00 (International Signed For delivery)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £17.00 (International Signed For delivery)
PAYMENT IS BY PAYPAL ONLY SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PAY BY SOME OTHER METHOD PLEASE CONTACT ME FIRST

I will combine postage (normally £1 or £2 per extra record) for items purchased within any 10 day period.
However, at the end of each 10 day period, all outstanding items will need to be paid for in full and will be posted to you.
Any items purchased after payment will be included in the next 10 period.
I am continually adding new items which may be of interest to you and it is impractical for me to allow payment to be postponed indefinitely in the expectation that you might wish to bid on future items.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation
Guarantee: The record is unconditionally guaranteed and I will offer a complete, no quibble refund (through Paypal) upon return of the item should you not be pleased with it in any way I will email you when payment has been received to let you know when the item will be posted. Please leave feedback upon receipt of the item so that I know you have received it safely. Any problems please email me. Thanks 476 (GS 6.4.4 (476))

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