The powers that be

Why do QPL (GT and GB being the public face thereof) care so little for the view of the fans, who are the ones actually buying (not for much longer though, I'd say) the product?

If I was them, I'd be CONCERNED that so many fans are opposed to what has been done with Volume 4 of the Singles Collections.

But, alarmingly, they don't care?  Why is that? 

They say power corrupts.........

In Greg's defense, I haven't exactly seen him comment publicly about vol. 4 just yet. Also, he DID explain multiple times his proposed vision of the overall singles collection project as presented to the higher-ups in the development stages, and what basically ended up getting discarded to a heavily watered-down project. I don't think it's quite fair in my view to jump on his back all over this one just yet.

Gary on the other hand needs to develop a backbone of his own. I respect the guy and all personally, but I still find it disrespectful to attempt to brush criticisms from multiple people under the carpet and instead issue a series of illogical, sometimes contradictory sugar coated responses.

QOL Mab wrote: Why do QPL (GT and GB being the public face thereof) care so little for the view of the fans, who are the ones actually buying (not for much longer though, I'd say) the product?

If I was them, I'd be CONCERNED that so many fans are opposed to what has been done with Volume 4 of the Singles Collections.

But, alarmingly, they don't care?  Why is that? 

They say power corrupts.........
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Greatest Hits is currently number 22 and in it's 726th consecutive week on the Canadian Nielsen Soundscan Hard Rock chart.  726 weeks is how long that chart has been in existence, otherwise it would be longer.  Concurrently, Absolute Greatest is in the 12th position on the same chart and has made an appearance there for 41 weeks.  The 'so many fans' you speak of are a sliver and a pittance relative to what an evergreen product like the highlights of the Queen back catalogue can generate.  They're not concerned because there's no real reason to be from a business perspective.

I agree with GF on this one.

Though the Singles Collections are only recent releases which appear to somewhat miss their intended market (seasoned fans), the other releases have had one of two goals in mind:

1) Broaden the fan base with commercial-friendly releases (Absolute Greatest), some of which ride the coattails of the current Queen project (GH:WWRY Ed., Stone Cold Classics, etc).

2) Release new material, either in the form of older concerts (Live At The Bowl, Queen Rock Montreal) or new recordings (Return Of The Champions, The Cosmos Rocks, Live In Ukraine).

I didn't realise, as a kid years ago, when I first got into Queen, that they were such cunts who only care about the ''business perspective''.  Thought they respected their fans and were genuinely grateful to have them.

How wrong I was.

Music is a business.

A very big business.

Queen, like most artists, record new material throughout their career for artistic expression and to make money (and to get laid probably). Their record company and management have a responsibilty to them to keep their music in the public conciousness. That means, in addition to the new material they record, things like Hits collections and re-issues are released. The band probably has some veto power over certain releases, but it is in their best interest to be as seen and heard as possible.

The more recognizable their music is, the better. 

Saying they don't care, just because you haven't gotten what you want yet, is like the six year old I saw the other day crying that his dad didn't love him because dad didn't buy him an ice cream cone at the CNE.

Appreciate what you've been given, which is 16 studio albums, numerous solo records, live albums and a bunch of other cool stuff. You may not like it all, but it was all released because you and others are fans created the market for it. Don't fault Queen for wanting that market to grow and continue into the future.

There is absolutely no reason why they cannot 'grow that market' and please the hardcore fans at the same time.  Just look at the track listing of the new Springsteen 'Darkness' boxed set and name one Queen product that comes 1/10th as close.

Because one series of releases (the Singles boxes) missed its mark and they haven't issued an anthology set of demos and outtakes, Queen and Queen Productions are no longer pleasing hardcore fans?

Keeping in mind that hardcore fans aren't exclusively those out there who start and end their Queen fandom with John joining and Freddie dying respectively, only *some* "hardcore" fans aren't be catered to, which amounts to a very vocal minority of the record-buying public.

Queen will do what interests them, as they always have done. After everything they've given us, I think our respect for them should not be solely dependant on how many releases WE get now.

My appreciation for this band does not require a constant influx of new and old material to sustain it. I'm not so selfish as to believe that anything they do which doesn't meet with my approval is somehow tarnishing their legacy or my opinion of them.

I understand that others feel differently.

It is true that the band has so many good concerts that they could just release as it is without any over-dubbing.  There is a term called "unplugged" (hope I have used it in the right context).

Maybe we can give them some ideas for a basis of selection such as:

a.  one or two best per tour

b.  specialty concerts e.g. Kampuchea concert, Budapest concert (first in eastern bloc)

c.  concerts in which the lesser known hits were sung e.g. Need Your Loving Tonight, Body Language, Life is Real

d.  poll from fans (dream on ?)

I think the problem in the band now is that there is no first among equals.

In addition to concerts, they could also release a CD of the best live performances of the non-hit songs such as Put Out the Fire, Rock It , Need Your Loving Tonight, Body Language, Life is Real etc. They should specify which concert the song was taken from, instead of the puzzle created in Live Killers.

The Springsteen Darkness release, as discussed in another thread, is a unique situation which doesn't apply to Queen, as Queen do not have a lost album of any sort.

Queen actually has 16 original studio albums, the same as Bruce, but that's not accounting for the years of hiatus Queen were on periodically since Freddie's passing. Bruce only recently caught up them, while they were doing solo albums. By 1991, the year of Innuendo (album #14), The Boss had only issued  8 studio albums. If Queen had recorded and released the way Springsteen did, sure, they'd have a vault full of unreleased albums too!

But hey, let's look at what Queen have done equivalent to what is on this release, shall we?

The Boss                                                                        Queen
Disc 1:
The Darkness On The Edge Of Town                      A Night At The Opera 30th Anniversary Edition
(Remastered 4th album)                                            (Remastered 4th album)

Disc 2:
The Promise (LP 1)                                                      A Day At The Races
(Unreleased album of material)                                (RELEASED album of material the band didn't wait 32 years to issue)

Disc 3:
The Promise (LP 2)                                                       News Of The World
(Unreleased album of material)                                (same as above)

                                                                                           Jazz
                                                                                           (Another whole album recorded in the time it took BS to futz around
                                                                                            with Darkness/The Promise)

Disc 4 (DVD):
Making Of...doc                                                               The Making Of A Night At The Opera DVD

Disc 5 (DVD)
New and old Darkness live footage                          Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid DVD
                                                                                         (arguably not as interesting as the band recording an entire old album
                                                                                         live in 2009, but I chalk that up to Freddie being difficult to work with
                                                                                         these days. Substitute Live In Ukraine if you want NEW instead)

                                                                                          ANATO in full 5.1 DTS Surround, with accompanying video footage
                                                                                          (30th Anniversary release DVD)

Disc 6 (DVD):
Unreleased Darkness Tour Concert                         Live At The Rainbow - 1974
                                                                                          (previously unreleased live concert in a boxed set)

Also interesting to note, The Promise will feature the Rock Version of Racing In The Street. I wonder how close it will sound to Roger's "fast" version from Strange Frontier.

rhyeking wrote:

Also interesting to note, The Promise will feature the Rock Version of Racing In The Street. I wonder how close it will sound to Roger's "fast" version from Strange Frontier.

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Hi rhyeking ! I´m wondering the same too ! can´t wait listening to Bruce´s version !

rhyeking wrote:

But hey, let's look at what Queen have done equivalent to what is on this release, shall we?
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Hope you didn't fall off your cloud wildly overreaching like that.  'Promise' is a superfan pleasing release that extensively covers a brief, discrete and intensely creative period in multiple formats. It's new and it's exciting and reflects a respect and appreciation for the art and for the most invested fans. You're all over the map from 1975 to 1985, and virtually every release noted except Box of Trix was a standard/casual fan product, or at least not much more than that.  Bruce has remastered albums, including a 3 disc 30th anniversary edition of 'Born to Run' that included a 'making of', and released multiple concerts as well. Those are the reasonable comparisons to Queen releases, not 'Promise', for which there is no comparable product in any way.

Live At The Rainbow  - really?  A 50-minute compilation full of vocal overdubs that was only available 20 years ago on VHS in very limited quantity is what you're comparing Bruce's latest boxed set to?  And you're trying to justify the lack of unreleased Queen songs put out because Springsteen took three years to finish the follow-up to Born To Run?  Indeed, you're really reaching here.

Sorry rhyeking - you're talking crap.