QUEEN "A Day At The Races" 1976 UK EMI *FACTORY SAMPLE*

	£		26
	$		34

  QUEEN "A Day At The Races" 1976 UK EMI *FACTORY SAMPLE* -4U/-4U MATRIX, DIE CUT INNER SLEEVE - GREAT COPY
QUEEN
A Day At The Races

UK EMI (EMTC 104) *FACTORY SAMPLE* PRESSING (December 1976) OF QUEEN'S CLASSIC "A Day At The Races" IN BEAUTIFUL, LIGHTLY PLAYED CONDITION AND DELIVERING SUPERB AUDIO ON MY SYSTEM (AT A LOUD VOLUME!) WITH A CRYSTAL CLEAR, DEEP, RICH AND POWERFUL SOUND - GREAT COPY

THE LP HAS THE FIRST EMI PICTURE LABELS WITH A *FACTORY SAMPLE* STICKER ON SIDE TWO
MATRIX NUMBERS: YAX 5245 - 4U / YAX 5246 - 4U (with "STERLING" stamper on both run-offs)
MOTHERS/STAMPERS: 2/GLD and 1/RDR
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 AND FOLDED UNDER LEFT SIDE EDGE
COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL 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.

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: Clean, bright and unmarked with less than a handful of light spindle traces and the *FACTORY SAMPLE* sticker on the Side Two label is untouched with no attempt at removal
VINYL Visual: The vinyl surfaces retain their original deep, glossy sheen with just some superficial light sleeve removal hairlines which have no real audio consequence and a tiny white mark on side two which causes just one little 'pop' between the tracks 'Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy' and 'Drowse' - very minor
VINYL Audio: The audio is outstanding throughout with a crystal clear, rich, strong and vibrant sound and 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 the one very minor 'pop' (mentioned above) and barely any surface noise (really, very little, which is rare for this album). Right at the very end of the LP into the run-off area there are about half a dozen light clicks but they are basically after the music has finished. The whole LP plays to a very high standard with no groove-wear and no distortion, sounds great and is critically graded a strong EXCELLENT+ for audio - very nice clean pressing (and in my experience this LP can commonly play with excessive surface noise and crackle especially during its quieter moments - such as on "You Take My Breath Away" (which here plays just about as quietly as I have ever heard) - great copy
SLEEVE: The 1st issue thick card gatefold sleeve is graded a very strong 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 outer surfaces - the inner surfaces are beautifully clean and fresh. One of the finer examples of this easily worn sleeve I have seen in a while and they really don't come much better than this
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 AS I CAN BUT I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SUPPLY ANY ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ON REQUEST
EXCELLENT UK *FACTORY SAMPLE* PRESSING WHICH DELIVERS SENSATIONAL AUDIO THROUGHOUT, AND COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL DIE-CUT, ROUNDED CORNER FIRST PRESS (UNSPLIT) INNER - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AND SURPRISINGLY DIFFICULT TO FIND A COPY WHICH PLAYS THIS WELL
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)
EUROPE: Airmail: £5.00 or £8.50 (International Signed For delivery with tracking)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £9.00 or £12.50 (International Signed For delivery with tracking)
***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)

UK bidders: PayPal or Cheque
INTERNATIONAL bidders: PayPal ONLY

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
Guarantee: I endeavour 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.
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))