Originally released in the US in the fall of 1982 by Pioneer Artists with CX encoded Analog sound as [PA-82-026], Pioneer cut the video for Bicycle Race in order to make the program fit on a single CLV Extended Play side. However, the Japanese release [MP063-25EM] included Bicycle Race and was a double sided CLV Extended Play issue - no reason for the difference has ever been discovered.
This US release, in its repressings/reissues for CAA and the addition of PCM Digital Sound, always contained a mastering error that Pioneer never corrected; the first video, Killer Queen, is Chapter 0 and the next is Chapter 1 Bohemian Rhapsody, followed by Chapter 3 Best Friend. Chapter 2 seems to be missing but it actually starts in the middle of ... Rhapsody, as if the person entering the chapters thought it was two different songs.
The original Analog CX pressing won Video Magazine's 1982 award for best sound and indeed, the analog sound is so good that even the Mobile Fidelity releases paled in comparison. The digital sound reissue isn't an improvement and contains a low-frequency ground loop buzz in the audio caused by improper connection of the videotape master and 1/2-inch audio, allowing the buzz into the digital and analog audio tracks.
So the best release of the American pressing is the original 1982 Analog CX issue. |