The Vault

I've been reading the boards for the last week or so to see where some of the more devoted Queen fans were on the whole Queen Forever package. Some of you raised a lot of great points regarding previous things Brian and Roger had said in previous interviews regarding unreleased recordings featuring Freddie Mercury and were disappointed to see that we only intact got one brand new recording that we'd never heard. It got me thinking, does anyone know what stuff or how much of it they are keeping away from the public?

What about any compiled lists of concerts that have been professionally recorded? Is there a lot still to be released?

Is it 100% correct that Queens last ever performance at Knebworth wasn't recorded? I find it odd that snippets have appeared over the years and that Under Pressure from the show appeared on the 'Live Magic' release.

They've definitely got the Knebworth audio intact, but the video is apparently fragmentary and from a distant camera. They didn't record the footage shown on the giant screen.

The version of Under Pressure on Live Magic is actually from Budapest. But the Knebworth version was released on the Under Pressure Rah mix CD single.

Most (all?) of us are disappointed with the Forever album because we were told we would get some old recordings, some re-recordings and some news songs and that the album would have a classic Queen feeling.

Its clear that the language was way too vague and the description can be used for a Made in Heaven-like album but also for a compilation. But, of course nobody could ever imagine that it would be another "best of" album.
There would be no problem if we were told since day one that we would get a compilation with a new song and a re recording.

As for music in the vaults, well, we have the stuff Freddie did for Time (which AFAIK is not planned to be released anytime soon), Dog with a Bone, Polar Bear, the complete BBC sessions, etc (on a happy note, most of it can be heard in bootlegs) and perhaps QP have some hidden stuff somewhere...

And sail away sweet sister sung by Fred apparently, that would have fitted so well on QF ! I don't feel the will is there to make another MIH or they would have done it by now, with the Freddie demos, the Queen demos, the solo demos with Queen members on them etc, and of course Bri & Rog could have recorded a couple of new songs. But I don't believe it will happen.

Compilation albums yet again is frustrating, seen as they've released several over the last few years on top of the 3 Greatest Hits albums. It does get a bit tedious. I don't know how I'd feel about an album of new material with Adam Lambert on vocals. It's the same about new Queen material with Freddie but without John Deacon, it wouldn't have the same impact for me.

I remember reading an article prior to Queen Forever being the title, that Brian states that there is new material from The Game sessions, so it came as a bit of a surprise that I found out it was just one track from The Works sessions. What a song though, I feel it holds up really well in comparison to other Queen tracks.

Did they do something with Andy Gibb? Again, this is all relatively new information to me that I only found out by scouting the boards.

Regarding Knebworth, aren't the big screens always recorded? I could be wrong on that one, but it's weird that they wouldn't just record the concert anyway. I've not listened to Live Magic in years, but I've heard that the Knebworth gig was much better than Wembley, is that the case? They should release the audio in its entirety, it makes sense, but from what I remember the mixes weren't too great on the Live Magic album?

The second night of Wembley is pretty much a low point in the Magic Tour, yeah. Knebworth is certainly a more impressive gig, and more significant for obvious reasons. I don't think it's a given that they would record the video feed, though - I trust Wizard's word that they didn't.

A low point? How so? I know some of it was touched up, but still sounds really good I thought. It's probably my most played live album by Queen.

As for the Knebworth gig, it's been stated that DORO crew has recorded the second half of the concert but because of the amount of cameras DORO used it could be only releasable as a "bonus DVD/BR". Personally I would buy such a package - full concert audio on SACD mixed like Under Pressure (from the Rah mix single) and Blu ray companion of the second half of the Knebworth gig.

As for the vaults: There is vast amount of material and few years back GB has even told us that approx. amount of the "unheard" tracks (2 full Cds and a bonus if I'm not mistaken). Of course there are demos that we know of and which are good enough to rework and release (like Face it alone, Affairs, Back to storm, Man Made Paradise (Queen ver.), I dream of Christmas etc.).

There's always a possibility that there are tracks/demos which were discarded during recording sessions (e. g. tracks which didn't fit the album concept-wise) and are just laying to be re-discovered.
Even recent year has proven that there are tracks of existence which we really didn't have a slightest idea (Affairs, Grand Dame, Back to Storm).

As for the proper recorded gigs (audio-video) [owned by the band and stored in their archives] GB has presented as a list a few years back but it is very brief and incomplete (when you compare it to The Real Wizard's website : queenlive.ca). GB's list is still being completed as the band is searching and finding material (or buying it from e. g. TV stations). Weren't Rainbow tapes found in the recent years ?

It isn't a given that the live feed at Knebworth wasn't recorded whatsoever. The only fact is that QPL/Greg Brooks state that it isn't in their archive and there's no trace of it anywhere else.... much like the full Rainbow March footage. The official word is that there is no studio version of Hangman, yet a known collector claims to have an acetate of it. It could have been stolen, mislaid, thrown away - anything. It could be rotting away in someone's loft, it could be in some fan's collection. The band recorded the gig to multitrack, which I'm fairly sure they didn't do on every show, and DoRo were present getting their own footage.... it is so incredibly unlikely that NONE of the parties involved thought it might be a good idea to record the fucking video feed. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if recording the feed for archive purposes even just for the production company was a given.

With pro tools it would be possible to isolate the live vocal from hangman, clean it up and make a recorded version in the studio.
I too was under the impression that there were a few unused tracks from the game ?

[QUOTE] [b]Dean_ wrote:[/b]

A low point? How so? I know some of it was touched up, but still sounds really good I thought. It's probably my most played live album by Queen.[/QUOTE]

Freddie is just far from his best, vocally, even within the context of that tour.

[QUOTE] [b]Negative Creep wrote:[/b]

It isn't a given that the live feed at Knebworth wasn't recorded whatsoever
....
it is so incredibly unlikely that NONE of the parties involved thought it might be a good idea to record the fucking video feed. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if recording the feed for archive purposes even just for the production company was a given.[/QUOTE]

I said it isn't a given that it WAS recorded - there's plenty of possible reasons that it could've seemed redundant. The fact that three shows from the tour had already been professionally recorded in full, for instance.

I'm guessing there is hoarders out there then that have such material?
I really don't understand the whole Brian May 'not knowing what's there' shenanigans. Surely all of the unreleased stuff would be kept all together? Although there was that story regarding the Made In Heaven sessions where they just stumbled across recordings in a drawer. Mental.
But then you really need to see why the band decided on another compilation album instead of releasing an album full of unreleased material. Do the band have the control over that, or are there other people involved in the say of what happens with anything regarding Freddie material?

Off topic here, but my old man had a ticket for Knebworth. He hadn't seen Queen live and this was going to be his first time going to see them; but his football team was playing that day also and figured he'd go to that and just catch them next time. How gutting!

[QUOTE] [b]andyb1968 wrote:[/b]

With pro tools it would be possible to isolate the live vocal from hangman, clean it up and make a recorded version in the studio.[/QUOTE]

Nah, I don't think so.

The DoRo footage of Knebworth includes
- preparing the venue, trimming the grass, building the stage
- letting the people into the venue, them having lunch
- Queen getting into helicopters
- helicopters flying to the venue
- Queen getting off th ehelicopters
- Status Quo - Rockin' All Over The World
- Freddie backstage in his trailer ("How long have we got? 5 minutes? 5-10 minutes?" seen in many documentaries usually labeled as coming from Wembley)
- the band going to the stage being welcomed by the fans
- aerial footage of the crowd from various angles and various times
- Is This The World We Created?
- Tutti Frutti
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- Hammer To Fall
- Radio Ga Ga
- We Are The Champions
- God Save The Queen

- this is the confirmed minimum we KNOW they have, because they have shown various clips from the songs (and backstage footage) in various documentaries, music videos etc. Plus ITV Anglia recorded at least One Vision. And they do have the full multi-track AUDIO recording. There is no evidence that anything more was filmed.

Unreleased songs - well, they (=Brian + Roger + Jim) think the unreleased songs are simply not worth releasing. They for some weird reason don't have a slightest idea what the fans are interested in.

Unreleased footage - well the Bob Harris footage from 1977 is worth killing for. Of course I'm speaking metaphorically, but Bob Harris shot ON FILM 6 month of Queen material, including studio sessions of NOTW, interviews. the last BBC session, lots of concert backstage footage, at least one concert (Houston) - this would be a perfect release