Queen I (5/5)

This early pressing has been incredibly well preserved and hardly played judging by the visual quality.  Having fully play tested it the audio is of a superb standard as detailed below and it comes complete with a very clean cover.

EMC 3006 // YAX 4623 - 5 / YAX 4624 - 5 // RL 2 BLAIR RULES / ML 1 BLAIR

The audio on S1 is Mint-

The audio on S2 is Near Mint (Mint- for the vast majority / Ex- first 5 seconds on track 5)

The cover is Ex+

The original inner sleeve is Near Mint-

The labels are Mint-

Visual grading

This is a stunning looking vinyl and has been hardly played.  There is no spindle wear on S1 and only the one spindle trace on S2.  It has a beautiful glossy sheen and under a strong bright light I can only detect one small hairline on S2, it really is an immaculate looking early press, almost 'as new'!  The run in grooves on S2, prior to the audio, have a small number of light marks so obviously have no affect on the superb sound quality.  It is a fantastic example of an early pressing.  The labels and run out grooves are also supremely clean and the matrix numbers and the etched BLAIR RULES and BLAIR can easily be read.

Play grading  

'Keep Yourself Alive' plays with near perfection from start to finish.  The clarity on the intro is stunning and there is no 'background' whatsoever.  For the first few grooves to play so cleanly is a rarity and especially on such an early pressing.  Audio does not get much better than this!  There is no muddiness to the sound and the sonic quality is immaculate.  This is without doubt a vinyl that has been hardly played and the audio easily qualifies as Mint it is that good!  There is no interference on the fade out either!  There is then complete silence in the dead wax and then 'Doing All Right' again plays with fantastic audio.  There is one faint dust tick on the intro and the sound quality thereafter is superb!  The many quiet sections play with sublime clarity and the louder sections perform with immense power and no distortion at all.  This is as near to perfect audio as you will find, there are no clicks, pops, static or crackle and it plays practically 'as new'.  There are just a handful of mega light dust ticks on the fade out.  What a version of this timeless classic!  'Great King Rat' plays with incredible power and strength from the very first note.  The sound quality is again 'high end' and as I often say the production values on this album are of such a high standard despite it being their debut.  On such a 'clean' pressing such as this the separation is stunning i.e. you can hear each note so clearly and the depth of the bass is superb.  This is an absolutely breathtaking version of this early classic and there is just no interference at all.  Mint once again - wow!  This quality continues on the final track, 'My Fairy King', and again there is no interference, just pure audio heaven from beginning to end!  The quiet section towards the end plays with impeccable clarity and there is not even a single dust tick!  The final crescendo build up is totally amazing and has no distortion, the power and clarity is again so impressive.  I can confidently grade this side as Mint- and the minus is only utilised due to it not being sealed!

There is a little static on the 'Liar' intro for the first few seconds but it is very much in the background and non-intrusive.  It then plays loud and true with no distortion.  There is a minimal amount of light static in a couple of the 'quiet' sections but again it does not interfere on the quality of the audio.  There are no clicks or pops and no crackle and this remains a superb listen throughout.  The 'Mama I'm gonna be your slave...' section is so strong and plays 'as new' and the heavy guitar section that follows is quite simply astounding.  The 'choral' section then plays to the same incredible standard and this quality continues to the end.  A fantastic version without doubt and I only mention the static to be complete in my grading, 99% would not!  It really is hardly noticeable .  'The Night Comes Down' again has just a mild hint of static at the start and then plays in sublime fashion.  From then on the audio is of the highest standard possible and impresses with no 'background' of any kind.  Not forgetting this vinyl is now 40+ years old!  The clarity is as 'clean' as could be and as any collector knows this is rare for this relatively quiet track.  I repeat not one single click or pop!  'Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll' is stunning from the first note and 'rocks out' with incredible power and precision and grades as Mint the quality could not be any better.  It is absolutely fantastic!  'Son And Daughter' again displays audio of an impeccable standard.  There is barely any distortion here and that is another indication of a vinyl rarely played as this track regularly plays with some distortion on the 'top end'...not here though!  The long fade out is 100% perfect with no 'background'.  'Jesus' has a couple of faint clicks on the intro but they are 'buried' in the music and certainly not loud.  The remainder plays with superb depth and clarity and the instrumental section near the end is 'high end' indeed.  There is no distortion and it plays with dynamic power and again sounds 'as new'.  Overall this is a wonderful version of this often underrated classic.  The album closes with a superb rendition of 'Seven Seas of Rhye'.  There is no interference or distortion and what is also very impressive is that the long fade out has no 'background' at all and this is a genuine rarity on the final grooves of any side let alone one of this age!  A truly stunning finish!

In summary this early pressing plays with immaculate quality with only a couple of light clicks on S2.  The clarity and sonic quality throughout would be hard to beat and as stated it is plainly obvious that this record has only been lightly played, perhaps only once or twice.  With complete silence in the dead wax between every track audio does not get much better than this!  The vinyl is so clean and has been beautifully well preserved down the decades and the cover is also very impressive with only minor wear.

The Cover

The G&L cover is in excellent condition with very minor shelf wear only.  The top edge is very clean with hardly any rubbing and the bottom edge does have a little but is certainly not excessive.  The thin pinched spine is in great shape with very little wear, just a handful of minor rubs.  The corners do not have much wear at all, although there is a little more bottom right and the opening edge has hardly any handling wear either.  So often these covers are in poor condition but this front cover is really clean with no marking and the back cover is the same.  There are only a small number of faint creases either side of the spine which is common and a hint of ringwear on the front.  It retains a very impressive 'look' for its age.

The Inner sleeve

The 'Important Notice' inner sleeve is in great shape with no splits or tears and very little creasing.

The labels

They look 'as new'!  They are in wonderful condition with only one spindle line on S2.  Very possibly a hardly played vinyl!

Play tested on my Pro-Ject Essential III Turntable / B&W 684 Speakers

This record has been professionally cleaned on a Pro-Ject VC-S machine

EMC 3006 // YAX 4623 - 5 / YAX 4624 - 5 // RL 2 BLAIR RULES / ML 1 BLAIR

I grade according to "Record Collector" guidelines.

Any questions please feel free to ask

Please pay within 4 days of auction end

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