Brian confirms more Queen work

Holly2003 wrote:

The press would murder an album of reworked demos and b-sides masquerading as a full Queen album. These were, after all, songs which weren't good enough to make it onto the original albums. I know we wouldn't care that much what the press think, but Brian, Roger and Queen Productions do, so it's unlikely there will be another Made in Heaven type album. The more likely scenario is a complete re-release of the original albums as a 2-CD package. The second CD would feature b-sides, 'lost' tracks and demos. Sadly, I don;t think a fully developed box set of rarities will ever see the light of day because (1) I doubt Queen Productions believe there is an economic case for it and (2) Brian and Roger don't appear to be interested in old Queen material, at least not enough to put together a real archives box set.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Some songs were not used in Queen albums due to their style or that they wanted to keep them for the next album or in case that they dry out from inspiration. Also in Made in Heaven some songs did not fit with the concept (LOVE theme).
Not to add that Queen on many cases run out of time, so never finished properly. 

In 1994-95 Made in Heaven was a difficult task, however they managed to create songs from 15 seconds snippets.
Now with Pro-Tools and advanced studio technology, they can create miracles. All they need is a producer.

Dim wrote:

All they need is a producer.

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Although it would be good to have an outside input, I'd say that they are more than capable of producing themselves, having basically done that themselves from the mid seventies anyway.  Brian and Roger have also produced many other artists of different styles, written and performed soundtracks to film and theatre etc.., and so are well suited to handling any produc tion role 'in house'.

Dim wrote:

"All they need is a producer."

And the inspiration.  It seems they have no desire to revisit old Queen material.  And why should they?  In 1995 they had a good reason to release a final album of leftovers.  In 2010, they don't.

A boxed set will most likely be the final chapter.  It'll be released when they want to call it a day.

If they want they can find many good reasons to rework or polish some unreleased gems.

1)Money and Glory, the second no-one in the world ever hated or bored it. An album like Made in Heaven it will sell like hot cakes, public joe knows and remembers Queen with Freddie. With little promo, No1 is 100%

2)Queen when say no -  they do the opposite.....

3)Some songs deserve a better treatment, they have to be finished. Imagine an great demo as bonus. Then next day we will discuss, why they never finished it.

4) So many years we are waiting, many fans sadly passed away.... and if they gives us the unreleased stuff, either as extras or in a box without a prooper album....As fans we don't deserve that.

BETTER REWORK THE GOOD DEMOS - RELEASE A PROOPER ALBUM & THEN GIVE US A BOXSET OR  PUT THE REST DEMOS AS EXTRAS ON THE REISSUES.

I want Unreleased Queen stuff as much as the next fan,  but not for another album, and made in heaven part 2 would make them look desperate. How silly would they look releasing made in heaven 2 in 2010/2011?.....but releasing this stuff on a boxset would be brilliant.  A great selling tool IMO. Especially if any of these tracks sound great.   They could release the best one as a single.

I do not want piss on anyones parade here, but couldn't Brian have meant (re-)releasing existing studiowork?

Spot on.  It's going to take someone outside to produce the new Queen sound.  Only the die hards want to hear just Brian/Roger/John, a vocalist is also going to be required.  Plenty of bands can bring in another singer and continue working, but you can't leave control in the hands of just one or two founding members...  it won't work.

But it probably just means Brian is re-recording some parts for a Queen Rock Band application, which will be distributed by Universal.  The Beatles estate is making more money off their Beatles Rock Band than their new remasters, which are beautifully re-packaged.  It's a shame, but video game income will far surpass anything else "new" Queen can offer.

mike hunt wrote: I want Unreleased Queen stuff as much as the next fan,  but not for another album, and made in heaven part 2 would make them look desperate. How silly would they look releasing made in heaven 2 in 2010/2011?.....but releasing this stuff on a boxset would be brilliant.  A great selling tool IMO. Especially if any of these tracks sound great.   They could release the best one as a single.

Yep, I think you got it 100% right, no way for a 2nd Made In Heaven. Maybe a re-release of the Made In Heaven for its 20th anniversary, or as part of the new Universal contract (re-releases when disc company changes are not that uncommon, even though it would be a huge task here) or something, with new finished songs coming from demos as a bonus disc. If not, I don't get the point.

By the way, can "new work" also mean a QUEEN + TAYLOR HAWKNS complete album ? I readt that he had plans for Queen.... But I think I also readt that Foo Fighters could start working again on a new album....

Regards,

Olivier,
Belgium.

Holly2003 wrote:

The press would murder an album of reworked demos and b-sides masquerading as a full Queen album. These were, after all, songs which weren't good enough to make it onto the original albums.
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No. I disagree in part here.
Sure, there will be some unfinished songs which were abandoned, but I would NEVER say there were songs which just weren't "good enough" to make it onto an album.
For example, The band reportedly spent 18 months recording "The Game"  and Roger said in an interview that there are a few dozen songs from those sessions. That doesn't mean they weren't good enough to go on the album, it simply means that by the time they'd finished recording songs for the album, a fair number of them didn't fit the style they'd decided to go for when they started piecing it together - it doesn't mean they were rubbish!
There's probably a fantastic albums worth of songs that are midway in style between "Jazz" & "The Game".
How cool would that be??? :)

By most accounts, the period from 1979 through 1982 was a very productive one for Queen, as was 1988 and the recording of The Miracle.

I have no problem with old acts having to go to video games to make money.  I wish Zeppelin would consider it (although we know how touchy they are with their stuff, it'll take 4 dead members for that to happen).

I wish Brian would hurry up and make some music.  Roger being involved would be a bonus, but it's like this - I remember listening to Another World and thinking "fuck, the axe man is back".  It's got his best singing on it.  Above all I remember thinking "the next one should be great".

And where the hell is it?  Come on Brian!  Take a leaf out of Gimlour's book, give us something like "On an Island".  Hurry up, none of us are getting any younger.

i don't think the songs left of each album were rubbish.....i think some of the songs that were left off the miracle were actually better than the ones that made the album.  They made some bad choices for that album.  I think a few lost gems exsist, not a lot though.

imo the only non-album songs that would've merited a place on a proper Queen album are A Human Body and Soul Brother. Everything else is weak or sounds little better than an unfinished demo -- Hang on in There is a good example of that. And I'm not exactly waiting in anticipation for the songs from the 1978-80 period that couldn't beat More of that Jazz and Coming Soon lol. As for the unfinished demos I've heard, hardly a one sticks in the mind or sounds to my ears like we're missing something great. Even Hangman is a sub-standard rock track, with awful lyrics. But of course I've no idea what's in the archive, I'm only going by what I've heard. Maybe there are gems in there -- let's hope so.

I would rather hear Queen without a replacement vocalist.  Roger and Brian sing quite well on their own, but if they have to bring others on board, I would love to see them do an album wiith multiple guest vocalists.  I can think of several good candidates who would bring something new to the table and could work into the band's formula in interesting ways.  I am sure many would love an opportunity to sing with a legend!

Holly, I respectfully disagree with with your opinion that the most of the non-album tracks are little more than demos. The songs either didn't fit the style of the album, couldn't be made to fit on a 40 minute LP or were disputed between band members for some reason.

Keep Yourself Alive (Long Lost Re-take) - re-recorded to the bands satisfaction after THIS one was made. This one is a finished proper track. The recording on the album was made after this one in order to get the feel closer to to the De Lane Lea demo, not because the Re-Take sounded like crap.

Mad The Swine - fully intended to appear on the album (by all accounts between "My Fairy King" and "Great King Rat") until either concerns about the percussion sound or reservations about it fitting in kept it off.

See What A Fool I've Been - recorded properly after being a live-staple since Smile, it was left off because it didn't fit the themes of the album (and possibly because the band feared an eventual royalty pay out to original [unknown at the time] composers...who turned out to be Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee).

A Human Body - Could have appeared on The Game, but the band has said it had had a formula for this album: 3 Brian tracks, 3 Freddie tracks, 2 John tracks and 2 Roger tracks..."A Human Body" was one too many, and it doesn't fit the album's style as well as Coming Soon or Rock It (in my opinion

Soul Brother - when released with "Under Pressure," there was no album to put this on. A year later, the band had more songs recorded and this year-old track didn't fit with the funky overtones the way UP did.

I Go Crazy - Left off, according to Brian, because the rest of the band didn't like it. It's still a solid rocker and culd easily end either side of the original LP.

Thank God It's Christmas - Recorded between albums with the express purpose of being a Xmas single.

Blurred Vision -  A valid B-side (acknowledged by it's inclusion on the Complete Vision LP of The Complete Works box set), but as it's little more than a crazy remix of One Vision, no, this doesn't need to be on A Kind Of Magic (but might have worked anyway as an album book-end).

Hang On In There - I feel this track is on par at least with "Rain Must Fall" and "My Baby Does Me" in terms of sophistication. Musically, to my ear, it easily fits with the rest of The Miracle, picking up where "Was It All Worth It" left off. 

Chinese Torture - The band though enough of this track (like "Hang On In There") to include it as more than a simple non-album B-side. More people would buy the CD of The Miracle album than would by many of the singles.

Hijack My Heart - Not a hit song, but a fun Roger track still on par with "Rain Must Fall," "My Baby Does Me" and "Hang On In There"! Likewise, the instrumentation and feel of the song fits with the album.

Stealin' - Probably the only song releases from this period that doesn't quite match up with the rest of The Miracle and isn't as polished. It's really an edit of the 12 minute-long demo since leaked, though I think the editing tightens it up and improves it, placing it well above the demo.

My Life Has Been Saved (Original Single Version) - Not as polished as the later album version, but a respectable B-side and certainly not "not much more than a demo."

Lost Opportunity - The least "Queen" sounding B-side, as it's an unsophistical blues number sung by Brian. Certainly doesn't fit Innuendo, but is a good little number, on par with the style it emmulates

No One But You - a stand-alone track meant to be the bookend to the era of Queen's original recording line up.