January 3: all albums get digital release by Island Records

Queen go to Island
16:13 | Friday October 22, 2010

Island Records will be home to the Queen back catalogue from January 2011, after EMI’s deal with band expires at the end of the year.

Island parent company Universal was widely known to be the new home for the band’s iconic back catalogue for the world outside the US. However, the band have now for the first time appeared on the Island schedule, with the entire back catalogue scheduled for digital release on January 3, while Greatest Hits 1 and 2 are set for a full release on the same day. Queen’s Greatest Hits is the biggest-selling album of all time in the UK with more than 5m sales.

Island is expected to reveal its plans for the catalogue shortly but it will have the perfect platform, with 2011 the 20th anniversary of singer Freddie Mercury’s death and the 40th anniversary of the band’s formation. In addition, 2011 will see a biopic of the life of Mercury go into production starring Sacha Baron Cohen.

HMV music manager John Hirst says Queen recordings are “among the crown jewels of our industry's back catalogue”.

“The band's albums continue to sell consistently well in reasonable quantities - both to domestic fans and overseas visitors, and it's also the type of catalogue that will pick up very quickly and go back into the charts every time people are reminded of the timeless appeal of the music,” he adds.

“With some notable anniversaries coming up, not to mention a high-profile Freddie Mercury film biopic, there's every reason to believe that, with a new home, the catalogue can enjoy a renewed lease of life, and connect with a whole new generation of fans."
(source: MusicWeek)

I suspect if these offered any more than just a reissue of what's gone before this press release might've mentioned it. After all, the inclusion of b-sides, rarities or even live tracks are a major selling point when recycling old products. Therefore i think we can assume this is 'same old, same old' from Queen and once again, very disappointing from them. The lowest common denominator rule applies: least possible effort for maximum possible profit. Still maybe there'll be a spurious 'remastering' done (i.e. making the cd a little louder than previous ones). Can't wait :(

Let me guess - they will be without any bonus material, terribly loud, with no booklets and no promotion ?
Or will they be perfectly remastered, with a 100 page booklet full of never-seen-before photos, bonus CD full of remixes, and bonus DVD with all existing videos from that albums, with 5.1 DTS mix and 1 live concert ?

More than likely, they'll be somewhere in the middle and people will still complain, "Why couldn't they include [X]? What were they thinking? Queen Productions HATES us! Let us compose strongly-worded emails to Brian to demonstrate our lack of pleasure, whereby he will understand the soul-crushing plight of the modern Queen fan! "

This is an ad from the We Will Rock You Berlin programme.

http://www.bilder-hochladen.net/files/big/8mfp-b.jpg

Can anyone understand German :P

From January 2011 MANY (viele = many, and NOT ALL) Queen albums will appear in "neuauflage" (new edition ??? sorry I don't know this word) with material which was not released till now

That actually sounds interesting

Yes "neuauflage" means new reissue/edition.

Interesting that they put many, though this may just mean that they aren't reissuing the live albums and some of the compilations yet/at all. Notice the absence of Live Killers, Live Magic etc.

Here we go guys...

I´m from Germany!

Translation:

From January 2011 onwards many Queen - albums will be released
as new editions with previously
unpublished material

Sorry if the translation is not that perfect... but I think all of you can now understand what´s meant!

LuckyRocks :-)

By the way - I´m a little curious what will be released! Hope they won´t pass the possibility to release something great this time!

New liner notes with unpublished photos. 2001 remasters.

Island have a decent track record where re-issues are concerned, however, and this is a massive caveat for them, Queen are new to Island Records and, essentially, the albums are only re-issues in OUR minds because we have the catalogue unmpteen times already.

Island haven't ever had Queen material before and this is almost certain to be a straight issue of the catalogue probably in three phases as per the initial UK Digital Remasters.  I would think that they WILL invest in a re-mix / re-master in order for the new products to sonically knock the socks off of what is already available though as it's in Universal's interest to *get it right*.

We're then pretty certain to get back to waiting on QPL for Universal to be allowed to issue a rarities set when they feel it's right to do so.

But, equally, we might just get the sorprise of our lives and Univeral have demanded from QPL access to everyting and we get an immediate tranche of expanded / Deluxe editions of the Queen catalogue.

.......and I've seen an elephant fly!

Wilki Amieva wrote: New liner notes with unpublished photos. 2001 remasters.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I suspect that's right. If the German press release mentions "previously unpublished material", that suggests written material rather than sonic.

I wonder what this will mean for Americans...Hollywood still is the Record company (I'm assuming).

Hope Hollywood releases the new versions.  Semms like we Americans always get the short end of the stick when it comes to Queen : (

They will likely be remastered LOUD. Don't let it fool you and sell the old ones. Google the "Loudness War" if you aren't aware

Unpublished material means unreleased sound, not just liner notes. It does not mean rare demos and outtakes. It only means we do not get the anthology and are coaxed into buying the albums all over again by adding some unreleased sound on the albums.

I totally agree that new "remasters" are much too often just "up-noised" remixes, see "Absolute Greatest Hits". It is good that groups like The Beatles still have respect for their own work and do not follow the trend. My money will be on such quality products in the future.

Comedian and producer Rhys Thomas has written the liner notes and works on the 40 year documentary as written on his homepage:

"He is currently writing the sleeve notes for all 15 "Queen Albums" which are being re-released next year plus working on a Queen documentary to mark the 40th Anniversary".

http://www.rhysthomaswebsite.co.uk/

I am really curious what happens to GVH3 - will it be just dumped or will the new record company start all over and re-release a new Video series?

First up, that Beatles comment makes me laugh :P Obviously a joke because, as anyone familiar with the Beatles back catalogue knows, they've been sitting in a pretty sorry state for 20-something years on CD. It took them far too long to release it properly. Of course, Queen have been quite the opposite, releasing quite a few mastering's to the extreme.

Secondly, unpublished material can mean anything. It doesn't mean one or the other, so, we'll just have to wait and see.

And finally, my only hope is that the entire catalogue is done by the guy who remastered the ANATO album back in 2005. That was a nice one. Oh btw, I always find a greatest hits type disc (Absolute Greatest) mastering a bit tricky to decide over. Usually because all the songs come from different sources and have to be mastered to sound somehow similar. It's a tough job and one which can divide opinion too easily, I think.

So, my hope is for a really excellent remaster. And someday, maybe, a shiny "HD" offering in the form of a super-duper audio disc format, rather than CD or MP3.