Queen re-issues

[norrie]

14 march sees the re-issue of the first 5 (and best) Queen albums to mark the 40th anniversary of the band and
the switch to Island records.Queen,Queen II then on to the career defining triple whammy of Sheer Heart Attack,A Night
At The Opera and A Day At The Races.The deluxe editions come with bonus material on a 2nd disc with a mixture of
demos,re mixes and live versions although I am a bit disappointed there isn't more outtakes,hopefully they are saving them for a future anthology type release but since the band have hardly released any extras officially before it's a start.
If the sound is anything like the recently remastered Greatest hits album (the UK biggest selling album of all time BTW)
then I can finally get rid of the awful sounding CD's I have been playing for years.Also released is a compilation overview
of the first 5 albums called Deep Cuts.

Bonus Tracks on the First Five Studio Albums:

QUEEN (1973)

1. Keep Yourself Alive (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)

2. Great King Rat (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)

3. Jesus (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)

4. Liar (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)

5. The Night Comes Down (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)

6. Mad The Swine (June 1972)

QUEEN II (1974)

1. White Queen (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, December 1975)

2. See What A Fool I’ve Been (BBC Session, July 1973 - 2011 Remix)

3. Seven Seas Of Rhye (Instrumental)

4. See What A Fool I’ve Been (B-side Version, February 1974)

5. Nevermore (BBC Session, April 1974)

SHEER HEART ATTACK (1974)

1. Now I’m Here (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, December 1975)

2. Flick Of The Wrist (BBC Session, October 1974)

3. Tenement Funster (BBC Session, October 1974)

4. Bring Back That Leroy Brown (A Cappella Plus)

5. In The Lap Of The Gods… Revisited (Live at Wembley Stadium, July 1986)

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1975)

1. Keep Yourself Alive (Long-Lost Retake, June 1975)

2. Bohemian Rhapsody (Operatic Section A Cappella)

3. I’m In Love With My Car (Guitar & Vocal Version)

4. You’re My Best Friend (Backing Track)

5. ‘39 (Live at Earl’s Court, June 1977) TBC

6. Love Of My Life (Live Single Version, June 1979)

A DAY AT THE RACES (1976)

1. Tie Your Mother Down (Backing Track)

2. Somebody To Love (Live at Milton Keynes, June 1982)

3. You Take My Breath Away (Live in Hyde Park, September 1976)

4. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy (Top Of The Pops, July 1977)

5. Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together) (HD mix)


norrie

[rocknroller]

roll on the 14th of march norrie these look awesome mate cheers for the info.

[londonflash]

I was big into Queen a few years ago, but went off them I must admit.

[TJ]

For those interested, these will be released in the US on May 17, although the import versions are available from Amazon on March 22 if you don't want to wait.

[javilu]

Those bonus discs look like a rip-off.
Surely they should have more demos, alternates, rehearsals and outtakes to fill the second Cd and if not, they could include all in a single disc?

[norrie]

Those bonus discs look like a rip-off.
Surely they should have more demos, alternates, rehearsals and outtakes to fill the second Cd and if not, they could include all in a single disc?

Agreed,there must be tons of material in the vaults and they are only releasing snippets.Should have been much
better than what we are getting.

norrie

[javilu]

Those bonus discs look like a rip-off.
Surely they should have more demos, alternates, rehearsals and outtakes to fill the second Cd and if not, they could include all in a single disc?

Agreed,there must be tons of material in the vaults and they are only releasing snippets.Should have been much
better than what we are getting.

norrie

Exactly!
Unless they're saving material for a boxed set of rarities, this sucks.

[midnightx]

Those bonus tracks aren't enough to entice me to repurchase all those albums again. Universal is just trying to maximize its investment in its new venture with Queen, but as a fan, enough is enough. These labels need to stop screwing the fan-base by reissuing core albums over and over with one or two "rarities." Few Queen enthusiasts that I know have any interest in repurchasing these albums. If Universal wants the fan-base to purchase Queen material, it is going to have to open the vaults and release genuine archival releases.

[londonflash]

Wasn't there talk of a Queen rarities box-set a few years ago?

[midnightx]

Wasn't there talk of a Queen rarities box-set a few years ago?

Probably. Queen's archives were badly managed by Hollywood Records for so long, it is hard to remember all the lost opportunities. They released 3 archival concerts....all from the '80s and a BBC disc that contained a minuscule fragment of what was available. That was it.

[londonflash]

Wasn't there talk of a Queen rarities box-set a few years ago?

Probably. Queen's archives were badly managed by Hollywood Records for so long, it is hard to remember all the lost opportunities. They released 3 archival concerts....all from the '80s and a BBC disc that contained a minuscule fragment of what was available. That was it.

From looking online, it strikes me an awful lot of their concerts were filmed, so yes, missed opportunities galore if so little has been officially released.

[rocknroller]

Those bonus tracks aren't enough to entice me to repurchase all those albums again. Universal is just trying to maximize its investment in its new venture with Queen, but as a fan, enough is enough. These labels need to stop screwing the fan-base by reissuing core albums over and over with one or two "rarities." Few Queen enthusiasts that I know have any interest in repurchasing these albums. If Universal wants the fan-base to purchase Queen material, it is going to have to open the vaults and release genuine archival releases.

i get what you saying here but i think i will buy the new ones with the bonus tracks my queen cds are a few years old now so it would be nice to up grade them and hopefully with better sound.

[midnightx]

Those bonus tracks aren't enough to entice me to repurchase all those albums again. Universal is just trying to maximize its investment in its new venture with Queen, but as a fan, enough is enough. These labels need to stop screwing the fan-base by reissuing core albums over and over with one or two "rarities." Few Queen enthusiasts that I know have any interest in repurchasing these albums. If Universal wants the fan-base to purchase Queen material, it is going to have to open the vaults and release genuine archival releases.

i get what you saying here but i think i will buy the new ones with the bonus tracks my queen cds are a few years old now so it would be nice to up grade them and hopefully with better sound.

That is the key. I would hold off until it is verified whether or not there is indeed improved sound.

[midnightx]

Wasn't there talk of a Queen rarities box-set a few years ago?

Probably. Queen's archives were badly managed by Hollywood Records for so long, it is hard to remember all the lost opportunities. They released 3 archival concerts....all from the '80s and a BBC disc that contained a minuscule fragment of what was available. That was it.

From looking online, it strikes me an awful lot of their concerts were filmed, so yes, missed opportunities galore if so little has been officially released.

True. And the most annoying thing about these reissues is that it is another example of labels and artists living in the past. In 1998, this would have been really cool to get a few rare bonus tracks tacked onto a remastered CD. That era has come and gone. The consumer who purchases and supports archival product expects more in 2011.

[rocknroller]

Those bonus tracks aren't enough to entice me to repurchase all those albums again. Universal is just trying to maximize its investment in its new venture with Queen, but as a fan, enough is enough. These labels need to stop screwing the fan-base by reissuing core albums over and over with one or two "rarities." Few Queen enthusiasts that I know have any interest in repurchasing these albums. If Universal wants the fan-base to purchase Queen material, it is going to have to open the vaults and release genuine archival releases.

i get what you saying here but i think i will buy the new ones with the bonus tracks my queen cds are a few years old now so it would be nice to up grade them and hopefully with better sound.

That is the key. I would hold off until it is verified whether or not there is indeed improved sound.

i will do cheers for the advice.

[javilu]

I am pretty sure I'm not buying "A night at the opera" again.
I have the remastered cd version + DTS dvd album with each song made into a video clip, and the FDTS mix is not being top by any remastered CD.
If this was the approach for all albums I would buy them in a blink.

[norrie]

Well I won on the horses today so felt flush enough to try one of the remasters.I chose Queen II as
it is probably the worst sounding of the original AAD Cd issues that I have (1986 it was issued i think) and the track sequencing was all over the place ie if you choose a track it will most probably
start halfway through,that's how bad it was.Anyway the good news is it sounds fantastic,the most
obvious improvement being the sound of the drums and bass but the clarity of all instruments
and vocals are unbelievable compared to the original.It really took me back to when i was a teenager listening to this on vinyl,a joy.I cant compare to the Hollywood re masters or any other
upgrades but I'm more than happy and will buy some more for sure if i get another winner at Cheltenham!
Oh,and before I forget the bonus Ep is pretty good too with Nevermore (BBC session 1974) and
an instrumental seven Seas Of Rhye with the original ending (no long fade) being the most intersting.Just wish there was more but they do call it an "EP"

norrie

[rocknroller]

Well I won on the horses today so felt flush enough to try one of the remasters.I chose Queen II as
it is probably the worst sounding of the original AAD Cd issues that I have (1986 it was issued i think) and the track sequencing was all over the place ie if you choose a track it will most probably
start halfway through,that's how bad it was.Anyway the good news is it sounds fantastic,the most
obvious improvement being the sound of the drums and bass but the clarity of all instruments
and vocals are unbelievable compared to the original.It really took me back to when i was a teenager listening to this on vinyl,a joy.I cant compare to the Hollywood re masters or any other
upgrades but I'm more than happy and will buy some more for sure if i get another winner at Cheltenham!
Oh,and before I forget the bonus Ep is pretty good too with Nevermore (BBC session 1974) and
an instrumental seven Seas Of Rhye with the original ending (no long fade) being the most intersting.Just wish there was more but they do call it an "EP"

norrie

cheers for the info norrie looks like i may be picking these bad boys up after all i get paid at the end of the month so i will pick them up then.