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

	£		61
	$		81

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

UK EMI (EMTC 104) FIRST PRESSING (December 1976) OF QUEEN'S CLASSIC "A Day At The Races" LP - IN BEAUTIFUL, BARELY PLAYED CONDITION AND DELIVERING JUST ABOUT THE FINEST AUDIO I HAVE HEARD FOR THIS ORIGINAL PRESSING

THE LP HAS THE FIRST EMI PICTURE 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, ROUNDED CORNER, THICK CARD INNER SLEEVE

THIS REALLY IS A BEAUTIFUL UK *COMPLETE* FIRST ISSUE AND I THINK A FINER SOUNDING 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 handful of (mega) light spindle traces - BEAUTIFUL BARELY PLAYED COPY
VINYL Visual: The vinyl still retains its DEEP, GLOSSY SHEEN and apart from ONE very light and very superficial mark on Side Two (which has NO audio consequence) the LP shines LIKE NEW
VINYL Audio: The audio is OUTSTANDING THROUGHOUT - CRYSTAL CLEAR, SHARP, STRONG and VIBRANT. On playback at a LOUD volume (which is how I always listen to my records prior to listing) there are NO scratches, NO sticks/jumps, just ONE click which rises above background level throughout the whole LP and barely any surface noise (really, hardly ANY which is rare for this album) and it SOUNDS STUNNING playing to an extremely high standard with NO groove-wear or distortion. Critically graded a strong EXCELLENT++ for audio but I think a finer sounding first pressing would be very hard to locate indeed - ONE OF THE CLEANEST PRESSING I HAVE HEARD (and from my experience this LP can commonly play with excessive surface noise and crackle especially during its many delicate and quiet moments such as on "You Take My Breath Away")
SLEEVE: The 1st issue THICK CARD gatefold sleeve is EXCELLENT. Being predominantly black this is a very difficult sleeve to find in anything even approaching MINT but this one has held up remarkably well. There is very little wear to its edges or spine - where all text is CLEAR and BOLD and there is very little rubbing to the surfaces. One of the finer examples of this easily worn sleeve I have seen in a while
INNER SLEEVE: The original first issue THICK CARD die-cut (on one side) inner (with EMTC 104 (1) text) is in practically MINT condition as I don't think it has ever housed the record. It is CLEAN, SHARP and FRESH with NO splits. The LP is now housed - and will be posted in - a new inner to prevent any 'knifing' damage to the original during transit

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 DIE-CUT, ROUNDED CORNER 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: FREE or £1.00 (recorded delivery)
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***Any record (or combination of records) which sells for more than £40 MUST be sent by a trackable method ie INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR or RECORDED (UK)

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REDUCED POSTAGE FOR MULTIPLE ITEMS (EACH ADDITIONAL LP: EUROPE & 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
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IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to a recent spate of bidders with no feedback not paying for records I must insist that all bidders with 0 feedback contact me first before bidding to confirm their genuine intention to buy the record otherwise their bid will be cancelled and they will be blocked. Sorry to sound so authoritarian but non payers are a real waste of not only my time but genuine eBayers

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 CUSTOM WRAPRO MAILER AND STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY 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  308 (GS 5.3.7 (308))