[SACD-R][OF] Queen - Hot Space - 1982/2012 (Rock)

Marking a notable shift in direction from their earlier work, the band employed many elements of disco, pop music, R&B and dance music on the album, being partially influenced by the success of their 1980 hit “Another One Bites the Dust”. This made the album less popular with fans who preferred the traditional rock style they had come to associate with the band.
Queen’s decision to record a dance-oriented album germinated with the massive success in the US of “Another One Bites the Dust” (and to a lesser extent, the UK success of the song too). The album’s second single, “Body Language”, did peak at #11 on the US charts.
“Under Pressure”, Queen’s collaboration with David Bowie, was released in 1981 and became the band’s second #1 hit in the UK. The song was a separate project and recorded ahead of the album, before the controversy over Queen’s new sound (disco-influenced rock music).
In July 2004, Q magazine listed Hot Space as one of the top fifteen albums where great rock acts lost the plot. Most of the album was recorded in Munich during the most turbulent period in the band’s history, and Roger Taylor and Brian May lamented the new sound, with both being very critical of the influence Mercury’s manager Paul Prenter had on the singer. Estimated sales of the album currently stand at five million copies.

Anybody who was a little dismayed by the pop inclinations of The Game would have been totally distressed by Queen’s 1982 follow-up, Hot Space, an unabashed pop and dance album. The band that once proudly proclaimed not to use synthesizers on their albums has suddenly, dramatically reversed course, devoting the entire first side of the album to robotic, new wave dance-pop, all driven by drum machines and colored by keyboards, with Brian May’s guitar coming in as flavor only on occasion. The second side is better, as it finds the group rocking, but there are still electronic drums. But the Beatlesque “Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)” is a sweet, if a bit too literal, tribute and with “Calling All Girls” Queen finally gets synth-driven new wave rock right, resulting in a sharp piece of pop. But the album’s undeniable saving grace is the concluding “Under Pressure,” an utterly majestic, otherworldly duet with David Bowie that recaptures the effortless grace of Queen’s mid-’70s peak, but is underscored with a truly affecting melancholy heart that gives it a genuine human warmth unheard in much of their music. Frankly, “Under Pressure” is the only reason most listeners remember this album, which is as much a testament to the song’s strength as it is to the rather desultory nature of the rest of Hot Space.

16908427[0x102008b]: SACD-Ripper Version 0.21
16908427[0x102008b]: disc inserted..
16908427[0x102008b]: config: 00 00 00 0c 00 00 00 10 ff 41 01 04 00 00 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: config: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: config: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: config: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: device_info: 75 6e 6e 61 6d 65 5c d0 80 00 00 00 00 53 a0 00
16908427[0x102008b]: device_info: 80 00 00 00 10 12 de 70 80 00 00 00 00 59 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: device_info: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0e 03 a1
16908427[0x102008b]: device_info: 00 00 08 00 00 00 00 01 00 01 01 00 00 00 00 01
16908427[0x102008b]: Album Title: Hot Space
16908427[0x102008b]: Disc Version: 01.20
16908427[0x102008b]: config: 00 00 00 0c 00 00 00 10 ff 41 01 04 00 00 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: config: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: config: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: config: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: device_info: 75 6e 6e 61 6d 65 5c d0 80 00 00 00 00 53 a0 00
16908427[0x102008b]: device_info: 80 00 00 00 10 12 de 70 80 00 00 00 00 59 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: device_info: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0e 03 a1
16908427[0x102008b]: device_info: 00 00 08 00 00 00 00 01 00 01 01 00 00 00 00 01
16908427[0x102008b]: succeeded. raw_spu number is 0
16908427[0x102008b]: succeeded. entry d0
16908427[0x102008b]: Establishing the interrupt tag on the interrupt PPU thread.
16908427[0x102008b]: ioctl_report_key1[45062c01] 0
16908427[0x102008b]: sac_exec_generate_key 0 c9 0
16908427[0x102008b]: ioctl_send_key[2] c9 0
16908427[0x102008b]: ioctl_report_key[2] c8 0
16908427[0x102008b]: sac_exec_validate_key_1[0]
16908427[0x102008b]: sac_exec_generate_key_2[ae] 0
16908427[0x102008b]: ioctl_send_key[3] ae 0
16908427[0x102008b]: ioctl_report_key[3] b0 0
16908427[0x102008b]: sac_exec_validate_key_2[0]
16908427[0x102008b]: ioctl_report_key[4] 30 0
16908427[0x102008b]: sac_exec_validate_key_3[0]
16908427[0x102008b]: ioctl_report_finish [0xff] 0
16908427[0x102008b]: Queuing raw: /dev_usb006/Hot Space.iso, start_lsn: 0, length_lsn: 918433
16908427[0x102008b]: disc ejected..
16908427[0x102008b]: config: 00 00 00 0c 00 00 00 00 ff 41 00 04 00 00 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: config: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: config: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: config: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: device_info: 75 6e 6e 61 6d 65 5c d0 80 00 00 00 00 53 a0 00
16908427[0x102008b]: device_info: 80 00 00 00 10 12 de 70 80 00 00 00 00 59 00 00
16908427[0x102008b]: device_info: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0e 03 a1
16908427[0x102008b]: device_info: 00 00 08 00 00 00 00 01 00 01 01 00 00 00 00 01

This SACD rip was created using the following process:

1) The ISO image is created using sacd-ripper for PS3 version 0.21.
2) The Single Edit Master DSDIFF .dff file and cuesheet are extracted from the ISO using SACD_Extract.
3) The DSDIFF file are temporarily converted to PCM using Weiss Saracon 1.61-27 with 0db gain.
4) The DSDIFF files are converted to PCM using Weiss Saracon with a clipping-free gain.
5) The .wav file is trimmed by 53 samples and padded with 12 silent samples to remove the static click on each end.
6) The .wav file is splitted using the cuesheet and compressed to Flac in Foobar2000