All I can say is I was soooooo excited when I heard the Queen back catalog was getting reissued as two disc editions. I was salivating at the potential for full and/or large segments of BBC shows, demos/ works in progress. I already have a ton of this stuff in really good sound quality so I know it's out there.

Then I saw the track lists. What a collossal bummer.

Five or six tracks each on the second disc? Looks likes every single one if these would EASILY fit on to a single disc. Why would you reissue these as two disc editions and then only put 5/6 songs on the second disc?

Before I saw this I was 150 million percent buying all of these on the first day. Now - maybe I'll buy them used on the second hand market some day if the prices come way down. Total bummer.

http://queenonline.com/en...arch-14th/

picky picky

JoeTyler said:

picky picky

Come on Joe

I know you're a big Queen fan too. When you heard these were gonna be two discs, didn't you expect more than this?

Fenwick said:

JoeTyler said:

picky picky

Come on Joe

I know you're a big Queen fan too. When you heard these were gonna be two discs, didn't you expect more than this?

I'm not mad about rarities and stuff like that. Queen often struggled to get a 10 solid tracks album (too much filler on many of their albums), so I guess I'm much more interested in a huge booklet and high-quality sound...

JoeTyler said:

Fenwick said:

Come on Joe

I know you're a big Queen fan too. When you heard these were gonna be two discs, didn't you expect more than this?

I'm not mad about rarities and stuff like that. Queen often struggled to get a 10 solid tracks album (too much filler on many of their albums), so I guess I'm much more interested in a huge booklet and high-quality sound...

O.K. I guess that makes sense if you're not a rarities guy.

They actually have quite a bit of unreleased material and some of it is outrageously good. I just don't understand only using 20 minutes of an 80 minute disc when you're trying to get people to re-buy the album for the second/third/ and in some cases fourth time.

Oh well.

This is just one more attempt by a dying industry to make some cash reselling the same albums. And they’re doing it with the band that started the trend with THREE greatest hits albums, one of which was almost entirely forgettable tracks.

JoeTyler said:

Fenwick said:

Come on Joe

I know you're a big Queen fan too. When you heard these were gonna be two discs, didn't you expect more than this?

I'm not mad about rarities and stuff like that. Queen often struggled to get a 10 solid tracks album (too much filler on many of their albums), so I guess I'm much more interested in a huge booklet and high-quality sound...

I dont know if i would say that many of their albums have too much filler, here and there maybe an album or two, but by far their albums were much more interesting than people gave them credit for. As far as rarities go however, Brian May said this way back after Freddie died, "there really isnt too much stuff we have hidden or unreleased" Queen was a very very expensive studio band so alot of stuff went down on tape the way they played it, in the later years there were alot of bsides, but all of that has basically been released, so these re-issues are cool, trust me on that, i was not much of a fan of the reissues by hollywood first time around, the sound was good, but the BS remixes and shit like the one by Rick Rubin? do i need to hear that at any point in my life? NO id rather hear a scratchy ass underwater demo off key than a fucking wack ass remix.

lastdecember said:

JoeTyler said:

I'm not mad about rarities and stuff like that. Queen often struggled to get a 10 solid tracks album (too much filler on many of their albums), so I guess I'm much more interested in a huge booklet and high-quality sound...

I dont know if i would say that many of their albums have too much filler, here and there maybe an album or two, but by far their albums were much more interesting than people gave them credit for. As far as rarities go however, Brian May said this way back after Freddie died, "there really isnt too much stuff we have hidden or unreleased" Queen was a very very expensive studio band so alot of stuff went down on tape the way they played it, in the later years there were alot of bsides, but all of that has basically been released, so these re-issues are cool, trust me on that, i was not much of a fan of the reissues by hollywood first time around, the sound was good, but the BS remixes and shit like the one by Rick Rubin? do i need to hear that at any point in my life? NO id rather hear a scratchy ass underwater demo off key than a fucking wack ass remix.

Hey my friend

That is a really weird comment to read from Brian May. I actually have a couple of CDs of unreleased stuff, so I'm not sure what he's talking about. Some of it is simply songs in transition. (under pressure was a REALLY stale plain jane rock tune before the bass line). And some of it is flat out unreleased material in perfect studio quality. For him to say that stuff doesn't exist is really weird.

Maybe they lost the tapes and forgot about it. But from past interviews with both Brian and Roger, they both seem to be all over their career work archive wise so I would doubt it...... (?)

Fenwick said:

lastdecember said:

I dont know if i would say that many of their albums have too much filler, here and there maybe an album or two, but by far their albums were much more interesting than people gave them credit for. As far as rarities go however, Brian May said this way back after Freddie died, "there really isnt too much stuff we have hidden or unreleased" Queen was a very very expensive studio band so alot of stuff went down on tape the way they played it, in the later years there were alot of bsides, but all of that has basically been released, so these re-issues are cool, trust me on that, i was not much of a fan of the reissues by hollywood first time around, the sound was good, but the BS remixes and shit like the one by Rick Rubin? do i need to hear that at any point in my life? NO id rather hear a scratchy ass underwater demo off key than a fucking wack ass remix.

Hey my friend

That is a really weird comment to read from Brian May. I actually have a couple of CDs of unreleased stuff, so I'm not sure what he's talking about. Some of it is simply songs in transition. (under pressure was a REALLY stale plain jane rock tune before the bass line). And some of it is flat out unreleased material in perfect studio quality. For him to say that stuff doesn't exist is really weird.

Maybe they lost the tapes and forgot about it. But from past interviews with both Brian and Roger, they both seem to be all over their career work archive wise so I would doubt it...... (?)

I think this was more in reference to later stuff, when Freddie died alot of people thought that he was able to pack in alot of recording with them during those last years, but he wasnt, most of what they did, was released, even the track "Mother Love" on the last record, was not completed, freddie died prior to the last verse and Brian had to sing it. So i think he was responding to their being songs that they recording with Freddie never heard before that they were storing to make albums after his death. I dont think he was talking about early demos and stuff.

lastdecember said:

I dont think he was talking about early demos and stuff.

Go ya. That makes sense.

Yikes, Amazon has Sheer Heart Attack listed as $31.29. No way in hell am I rebuying these albums at that price for a 5-6 song bonus disc that easily would fit on a single disc with the original album. I don't see many people being happy with these reissues, especially since most of the bonus stuff looks fairly lacklustre.

Compare these reissues with the Radiohead reissues from a couple of years ago. For basically the same price you got a full bonus disc plus a dvd. That's how you do a reissue. This seems like incredibly poor value.

rialb said:

Yikes, Amazon has Sheer Heart Attack listed as $31.29. No way in hell am I rebuying these albums at that price for a 5-6 song bonus disc that easily would fit on a single disc with the original album. I don't see many people being happy with these reissues, especially since most of the bonus stuff looks fairly lacklustre.

Compare these reissues with the Radiohead reissues from a couple of years ago. For basically the same price you got a full bonus disc plus a dvd. That's how you do a reissue. This seems like incredibly poor value.

100% agree.

Even at $14.99 US I'm not a buyer. You're trying to get people to rebuy something (again). Shouldn't there at LEAST be a new disc worth of material? Inexcusable.

Especially when one of the tracks is a live track from a vintage concert. Well, how about filling up the remiander of that bonus disc with 60 minutes of the concert instead of just giving us one track?

rialb said:

Yikes, Amazon has Sheer Heart Attack listed as $31.29. No way in hell am I rebuying these albums at that price for a 5-6 song bonus disc that easily would fit on a single disc with the original album. I don't see many people being happy with these reissues, especially since most of the bonus stuff looks fairly lacklustre.

Compare these reissues with the Radiohead reissues from a couple of years ago. For basically the same price you got a full bonus disc plus a dvd. That's how you do a reissue. This seems like incredibly poor value.

those are all import pricings as of now, the US prices arent set yet, most likely 16-19.99 at most

Fenwick said:

rialb said:

Yikes, Amazon has Sheer Heart Attack listed as $31.29. No way in hell am I rebuying these albums at that price for a 5-6 song bonus disc that easily would fit on a single disc with the original album. I don't see many people being happy with these reissues, especially since most of the bonus stuff looks fairly lacklustre.

Compare these reissues with the Radiohead reissues from a couple of years ago. For basically the same price you got a full bonus disc plus a dvd. That's how you do a reissue. This seems like incredibly poor value.

100% agree.

Even at $14.99 US I'm not a buyer. You're trying to get people to rebuy something (again). Shouldn't there at LEAST be a new disc worth of material? Inexcusable.

Especially when one of the tracks is a live track from a vintage concert. Well, how about filling up the remiander of that bonus disc with 60 minutes of the concert instead of just giving us one track?

The only reason i would get these is becuase Hollywood did fuck them up the first time, would i like more, yes, but, considering what Hollywood did with the reissues and tacked on BS remixes by wack producers, and then the artwork was really shitty, fold out books? that needed to really be re-done, but again i really feel that alot of the stuff that QUeen has is out there already i dont think the well is as full as we might think.

lastdecember said:

Fenwick said:

100% agree.

Even at $14.99 US I'm not a buyer. You're trying to get people to rebuy something (again). Shouldn't there at LEAST be a new disc worth of material? Inexcusable.

Especially when one of the tracks is a live track from a vintage concert. Well, how about filling up the remiander of that bonus disc with 60 minutes of the concert instead of just giving us one track?

The only reason i would get these is becuase Hollywood did fuck them up the first time, would i like more, yes, but, considering what Hollywood did with the reissues and tacked on BS remixes by wack producers, and then the artwork was really shitty, fold out books? that needed to really be re-done, but again i really feel that alot of the stuff that QUeen has is out there already i dont think the well is as full as we might think.

This I completely agree with, those early '90s reissues were pretty disappointing but I think that they may have waited too long to get proper reissues out there. The cd/reissue boom is dying, if not dead. Plus, the fact that it took so long only makes these look that much more disappointing. If there's nothing there to release fine but why make them 2 disc sets? Seems like a rather obvious and poorly done cash grab.

rialb said:

lastdecember said:

The only reason i would get these is becuase Hollywood did fuck them up the first time, would i like more, yes, but, considering what Hollywood did with the reissues and tacked on BS remixes by wack producers, and then the artwork was really shitty, fold out books? that needed to really be re-done, but again i really feel that alot of the stuff that QUeen has is out there already i dont think the well is as full as we might think.

This I completely agree with, those early '90s reissues were pretty disappointing but I think that they may have waited too long to get proper reissues out there. The cd/reissue boom is dying, if not dead. Plus, the fact that it took so long only makes these look that much more disappointing. If there's nothing there to release fine but why make them 2 disc sets? Seems like a rather obvious and poorly done cash grab.

No i agree on that, i feel it could have been done better, if the pricing is there than i will most likely grab the albums that i really want the proper artwork for, i will most likely go for "night" and the debut, just to see what they did with that stuff and books and notes, but i agree, should have been one disc, or if its priced as one, then i cant really fault it. But i know there is plenty of video footage, someone should have been able to scrape together a dvd per album of promo videos and things. I mean look at what Duran did with their re-issues those were possibly the best, and rhino doing double discs of the first 2 a-ha albums digging out close to 60 demos? i mean that was tons of work put into it, looks like their 3rd and fourth albums will get that treatment too later in the year.

Fenwick said:

All I can say is I was soooooo excited when I heard the Queen back catalog was getting reissued as two disc editions. I was salivating at the potential for full and/or large segments of BBC shows, demos/ works in progress. I already have a ton of this stuff in really good sound quality so I know it's out there.

Then I saw the track lists. What a collossal bummer.

Five or six tracks each on the second disc? Looks likes every single one if these would EASILY fit on to a single disc. Why would you reissue these as two disc editions and then only put 5/6 songs on the second disc?

Before I saw this I was 150 million percent buying all of these on the first day. Now - maybe I'll buy them used on the second hand market some day if the prices come way down. Total bummer.

http://queenonline.com/en...arch-14th/

The reason why the bonus tracks are on another disc so it doesn't ruin the albums tracklisting.

802 said:

Fenwick said:

All I can say is I was soooooo excited when I heard the Queen back catalog was getting reissued as two disc editions. I was salivating at the potential for full and/or large segments of BBC shows, demos/ works in progress. I already have a ton of this stuff in really good sound quality so I know it's out there.

Then I saw the track lists. What a collossal bummer.

Five or six tracks each on the second disc? Looks likes every single one if these would EASILY fit on to a single disc. Why would you reissue these as two disc editions and then only put 5/6 songs on the second disc?

Before I saw this I was 150 million percent buying all of these on the first day. Now - maybe I'll buy them used on the second hand market some day if the prices come way down. Total bummer.

http://queenonline.com/en...arch-14th/

The reason why the bonus tracks are on another disc so it doesn't ruin the albums tracklisting.

Hmm, don't see how adding five or six tracks after the main album would ruin the tracklisting. Do people not have stop/eject buttons nowadays?

I was dissapointed that the reissued alums don't include much that we haven't heard before. It's well known that there are still tracks they laid down in the early years which haven't been released (like Silver Salmon, Hangman and Here I Am). So I guess the reason for this is either becuase no 'useable' (i.e. sufficiently clean) recorded versions exist, or maybe Island/Universal are saving these up for a future 'rarities' release.

Joetyler: You're probably right to specualte that Queen spent a lot of studio time perfecting just enough songs for an album, rahter than bashing out loads of songs. It would be nice to think that they will put out more demos or 'studio sketches' in the future (similar to some of those magical early versions of Beatles songs that are on the 'Anthology' series.

A decent list of unreleased Queen songs is at http://www.ultimatequeen....dqueen.htm. Hopefully there will be more 'unheard' songs included on the Island reissues of the rest of thier catalogue.

Oh, and Roger Taylor recently said that they were 'working on' releasing some of the songs that Freddie recorded with Michael Jackson.

ReddishBrownOne said:

802 said:

The reason why the bonus tracks are on another disc so it doesn't ruin the albums tracklisting.

Hmm, don't see how adding five or six tracks after the main album would ruin the tracklisting. Do people not have stop/eject buttons nowadays?

I was dissapointed that the reissued alums don't include much that we haven't heard before. It's well known that there are still tracks they laid down in the early years which haven't been released (like Silver Salmon, Hangman and Here I Am). So I guess the reason for this is either becuase no 'useable' (i.e. sufficiently clean) recorded versions exist, or maybe Island/Universal are saving these up for a future 'rarities' release.

Joetyler: You're probably right to specualte that Queen spent a lot of studio time perfecting just enough songs for an album, rahter than bashing out loads of songs. It would be nice to think that they will put out more demos or 'studio sketches' in the future (similar to some of those magical early versions of Beatles songs that are on the 'Anthology' series.

A decent list of unreleased Queen songs is at http://www.ultimatequeen....dqueen.htm. Hopefully there will be more 'unheard' songs included on the Island reissues of the rest of thier catalogue.

Oh, and Roger Taylor recently said that they were 'working on' releasing some of the songs that Freddie recorded with Michael Jackson.

100% agree regarding the two disc thing. Just a water of space.

Thanks for the Intertesting link. I have some of that stuff but not the super early songs. (Although I have heard Hangman a few times on live boots).