QUEEN "A Day At The Races" 1976 UK EMI 1st PRESS NM

	£		51
	$		68

QUEEN "A Day At The Races" 1976 UK EMI 1st PRESS NM
FIRST -1U/-1U MATRIX, DIE CUT INNER, BARELY PLAYED


QUEEN
A Day At The Races


HERE WE HAVE A SUPERB, UK EMI (EMTC 104) FIRST PRESSING (December 1976) OF QUEEN'S CLASSIC "A Day At The Races" LP - IN BEAUTIFUL, BARELY PLAYED CONDITION

PRESSED ON QUALITY MID-WEIGHT VINYL WHICH DELIVERS TREMENDOUS AUDIO
THE LP HAS THE FIRST EMI PICUTRE LABELS
FIRST ISSUE MATRICES: YAX 5245 - 1U / YAX 5246 - 1U (with "STERLING" stamper)
AND 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 LEFT SIDE EDGE
COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL FIRST ISSUE DIE CUT, THICK CARD INNER SLEEVE

THIS REALLY IS A BEAUTIFUL UK *COMPLETE* FIRST ISSUE AND A FINER COPY WOULD BE VERY HARD TO LOCATE INDEED - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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 favor 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.


Track Listing:
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: The labels are CLEAN and BRIGHT with NO unwanted marks/writing and only a couple of (mega) light spindles. THIS COPY HAS POSSIBLY BEEN PLAYED JUST A COUPLE OF TIMES
VINYL Visual: The vinyl still retains its DEEP, LIKE-NEW, GLOSSY SHEEN and is practically UNMARKED. BEAUTIFUL, PRACTICALLY AS-NEW RECORD
VINYL Audio: The audio is OUTSTANDING THROUGHOUT - CRYSTAL CLEAR, VERY STRONG and VIBRANT PLAYBACK. There are NO scratches, NO sticks/jumps, just two (only) clicks throughout the whole LP and NO surface noise (which is pretty rare for a first or indeed any pressing of this album). The LP plays to an extremely high standard with NO groove-wear or distortion (its practically unplayed) and must be graded NEAR MINT for audio. BEAUTIFUL COPY AND A FINER FIRST PRESS EXAMPLE I DO NOT THINK YOU WILL FIND. NOT over-graded in ANY way as I use strict RECORD COLLECTOR grading standards (please refer to my feedback and 'About Me' page)
SLEEVE: The 1st issue THICK CARD gatefold sleeve is in EXCELLENT condition. Being predominantly black this is a very difficult sleeve to find in anything even approaching MINT condition but this one has held up remarkably well. There is very, very little wear to its edges or spine - where all text is CLEAR and BOLD and there is very little rubbing to the surfaces. The whole sleeve has a CRISP, SHARP feel and is one of the finer examples of tis easily worn sleeve I have seen in a while
INNER SLEEVE: The original first issue THICK CARD die-cut inner (with EMTC 104 (1) text) is practically MINT - CLEAN, SHARP and FRESH with NO splits. There is a faint name stamp on the inner from the previous owner (see close-up photo) but in my opinion this in no way detracts from this beautiful condition inner

PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I USUALLY TAKE QUITE A FEW SO YOU CAN GET A CLEAR INDICATION OF EVERY DETAIL OF THE ITEM
I HAVE UPLOADED AS MANY PICTURES AS I CAN BUT I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SUPPLY ANY ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ON REQUEST
THIS REALLY IS AN OUTSTANDING UK FIRST PRESSING WHICH DELIVERS SENSATIONAL AUDIO THROUGHOUT, AND COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL FIRST PRESS INNER - VERY SCARCE IN THIS CONDITION
AS WITH ALL MY RECORDS THIS HAS A LOW START PRICE AND NO RESERVE
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER AUCTIONS FOR MORE RARE AND COLLECTABLE VINYL
AND PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUERIES YOU MAY HAVE
THANKS FOR LOOKING, CHEERS

PLEASE REFER TO MY 'ABOUT ME' PAGE FOR MORE DETAILED INFO ON MY PLAY-GRADING, EQUIPMENT USED, P&P etc

POST & PACKING
UK: 1st Class: £4.00 (Recorded Delivery)
EU: Airmail: £5.00 (Insured & Signed For: £8.50)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £8.00 (Insured & Signed For: £11.50)

UK bidders: PayPal or Cheque
INTERNATIONAL bidders: PayPal ONLY

REDUCED POSTAGE FOR MULTIPLE ITEMS (EACH ADDITIONAL LP: UK: £1.00, EU & INTERNATIONAL £2.00)
I will combine postage 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
Insurance: In the unlikely event anything should go wrong I can only try to claim up to the standard compensation rate of £30. Therefore if your item is worth more than £30 I strongly recommend you take out the insured/recorded option.
Guarantee: I try to be as accurate and honest as possible when describing the condition of any LP but of course if you feel that I am mistaken and the description is inaccurate I will offer a complete, no quibble refund (through Paypal) upon return of the item.
ALL RECORDS ARE PROFESSIONALLY CLEANED BEFORE DISPATCH AND PACKAGED WITH THE VINYL OUTSIDE OF THE SLEEVE TO PREVENT ANY 'KNIFING' DURING TRANSIT.
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, QUALITY MAILER AND STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY



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 277 (GS 5.2 (277))