I think you have to check what else are the Led Zeppelin band members doing besides their music.
In the case of the remaining Queen members, they have so many other activities to distract them. In this age of digital downloads, they may feel it not worthwhile spending so much effort on something which can be "stolen" so easily.
pittrek · Member since
The ONLY reason why I bought the 2011 remasters were the bonus tracks, and I listened to them maybe 2 or 3 times during last 4 years. A wated oportunity
Holly2003 · Member since
Perhaps Page has more musical integrity than Brian & Rog. And that's saying something, given Page's shameless stealing of other people's music! But certainly he has more of a sense of LZ's place in musical history whereas I think Brian & Rog know that Queen are a 2nd tier band compared to LZ, The Beatles, Pink Floyd etc.
GreatKingSam · Member since
It's nice to find a topic to feel compelled to reply in!
(long post, hope it makes sense, I read back and sense-checked!)
Something Wizard said that got me thinking, re: Zep never having had to navigate the 80s as Queen did (although cheesy synth had started to creep its way in to some of their stuff anyway)...
Queen "ended" during a funny musical period. The immediate period post-Freddie's passing was dedicated to a bit of expected down-time and reflection for the band, and organising the tribute and finishing up Made In Heaven. By that point, they probably wanted a bit of a break. Then, the next few years were the tail end of grunge, Brit pop, the rise of manufactured modern bands, hip-hop and nu-metal, and then just years of mainstream nonsense. It was a difficult time to try and become a refreshed version of a classic rock band, and the Hollywood Records reissues are a testament to that. Add that to the fact EMI was probably a little too into pushing re-issues (yes Bri and Rog - and John - could have vetoed, but if your management are offering money-making schemes that *seem* decent in a shit market, you can hardly say no).
It does at least seem, over the last few years, the band are starting to function like a refreshed classic rock band since universal took the helm. Excluding the musical (which despite coming in the previously described 'nonsense' time-frame was at least decent), they've got their house in order. It's a shame it took the 40th anniversary to kick it in to gear, but still.
Imagine if post-MIH, they'd gone on tour with a Paul Rodgers-esque figure, perhaps released a Queen-tinged collaborative effort in the mid-late 90s. Had a little down-time, organised a Stormtroopers In Stillettoes style exhibition, followed by a bunch of re-mastered re-issues with a handful of oddities, and then gone on a further tour with a more modern singer, with hints of a potential further collaborative album in the works, and the off new track appearing with vocals from Michael Jackson, and a film about Freddie in the works. For good measure, throw in a couple of solo albums and top documentaries, and Brian's political/animal work.
In this scenario, we perhaps don't have a million Greatest Hits re-issues, perhaps we don't quite get the musical (maybe the musical is replaced by the Freddie movie), we probably wont get collaborations with 5ive, maybe it's a pre-crash Robbie Williams instead of Adam Lambert... and we view the studio re-issues with bonus tracks as something superb, rather than feeling a little underwhelmed. All of a sudden, we have all of this going into a 40th anniversary which may have been the time frame to yield the anthology box sets etc.
On top of that, whilst I feel the band would still be pals with people like the Foos etc., perhaps being a far more organised active band brings them more opportunities with other members of the 'next generation'.
I guess my point is, its just seemed to take the band far too long to get their house in order before starting to get things right. It's just a shame its all come about 10 years later than it should have. When seen from that view though, it does give a better impression of what they've been trying to do since Universal took over, and how it could/would have looked if in the "correct light". Or, in another world, to use an average pun, lolz.
brians wig · Member since
TBH, I'm a little disappointed at the bonus tracks on the Zep releases. There's an awful lot that sounds little different from what's on the albums to my ears, but then I've not been listening to Zep for 29 years like I have Queen.
However, Page has gone on record in saying that there is so much leaked stuff out there from Zep's archives (I'm thinking Studio Magik 18 disc set I believe it is), that he wanted to present fans with something unheard and in that respect he's obviously succeeded.
Page, blatantly, CARES about his music and wants the best quality possible out there. He's done all of this work himself. He hasn't passed the buck to someone else and said "get on with it". It also sounds like he's worked from the multitracks as well. "Queen" on the otherhand, didn't. Ludwig worked, I gather, from a stereo flat master meaning he could do little but play with frequencies much like C-Matt has been doing with his revisions (what do you mean you don't know about C-Matt's revisions? Shame on you! Get over to the Fan mix forum NOW!!!!)
I'd like to think that Queen didn't adopt this approach with their bonus tracks: "Oh, that one's out there in crappy quality, Let's not bother with that one ever".
I think the galling thing with the Queen bonus tracks more than anything is they wasted the BBC sessions and the extended mixes. They should have either put them ALL on the bonus discs or released them all as separate releases, not bitting and batting here and there.
So. 2015 now and we're getting the albums yet again on vinyl. What's next? Bluray audio with any luck, but then after that SURELY to God they'll have no choice but to release either a BBC Sessions set, a Remixes set or , dare I say it, an Anthology set...
Bike It 80 · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Day dop wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Bike It 80 wrote:[/b]
- And they put not too much unreleased songs to keep an interest for an eventual Anthology.
[/QUOTE]
What makes you think there'd be an Anthology?[/QUOTE]
I sincerely doubt this one will ever see the light of day (hell, they've been talking about it for like 20 years) but who knows... should've put more emphasis on the "eventual"!
Ghostwithasmile is BACK! · Member since
Ghostwithasmile is BACK! · Member since
When a band is signed to a record deal they need to spit out products for the record company. Queen owed 1 more prodcut to EMI , this became Abs Greatest. I don't think this was the prefered choiche of the bandmembers, but they had to give EMI 1 more release. It wouldn't be wise at the time to choose for a new album or album with demo material. Now Queen is signed to Uni 2010-2013 and 2013 - 2016 again they need release products. I think the 2011 catalogue with a bonus was a good choiche. If they want to be resigned by Uni they again need to deliver sales. Due to these kind of contracts they for sure won't release all the great stuff they have in one time , but carefully 1 by 1.
brENsKi · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Holly2003 wrote:[/b]Perhaps Page has more musical integrity than Brian & Rog. And that's saying something, given Page's shameless stealing of other people's music! But certainly he has more of a sense of LZ's place in musical history whereas I think Brian & Rog know that Queen are a 2nd tier band compared to LZ, The Beatles, Pink Floyd etc.[/QUOTE]
this^^^ in a nutshell. the essence of the issue
look at the boxsets and reissues of some major artists:
zeppelin = superior
purple = outstanding
lizzy - very good
rainbow = excellent
beatles = superior
floyd = stunning
bowie = very good
ac/dc - excellent
queen = dogdirt
Brian May should be kicking himself in the arse - huge opportunity missed..almost like their hearts weren't really in it
Dim · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]Ghostwithasmile is BACK! wrote: [/b] When a band is signed to a record deal they need to spit out products for the record company. Queen owed 1 more prodcut to EMI , this became Abs Greatest. I don't think this was the prefered choiche of the bandmembers, but they had to give EMI 1 more release. It wouldn't be wise at the time to choose for a new album or album with demo material. Now Queen is signed to Uni 2010-2013 and 2013 - 2016 again they need release products. I think the 2011 catalogue with a bonus was a good choiche. If they want to be resigned by Uni they again need to deliver sales. Due to these kind of contracts they for sure won't release all the great stuff they have in one time , but carefully 1 by 1.
[/QUOTE]
Great post! I think the 2013 contract is longer term than the 2011. Universal has done great job on streaming sites, digital downloads, Queen are the biggest in terms of digital sales than Led Zep, The Beatles, U2, Pink Floyd. Also in the streaming are much bigger. Their popularity is very good without being promoted like other bands of their era, that makes them a ggod investment with lower cost and bigger profit for their record company and ofcourse to them. Even Hugarian Rhaspody is the 2nd most viewed in UK.
Forever sold much more than Muse new album in UK and its overall sales are pretty good, the same goes for Rainbow ( the dvd -blu ray sold much in US, UK and many countries without big fuzz).
I am not happy with all their products, but their remasters (2011) had good sound, also had great critics and won an award by Classic Rock magazine, same for Led Zeppelin. In US they released a USB orb with mp3 and very good quality WAV files.
I hope that one day we will see an album like Made in Heaven and a box of anthologies.
Togg · Member since
I think going back to the original question you nailed it in the original post, Zep finished in 1980, done... Queen are still active (whether you like it or not, whether you think Queen are Queen or not) so i would say once the finally hang up the guitar and sticks we will not see a full anthology with outtakes etc, They have resisted in the past because they felt there was more to do and the brand/band was still functioning.
Zep finished after Bonham died and therefore apart from a one off gig and the odd apparence together to play a handful of track the shows over.
tcc · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Ghostwithasmile is BACK! wrote:[/b]
When a band is signed to a record deal they need to spit out products for the record company. Queen owed 1 more prodcut to EMI , this became Abs Greatest.[/QUOTE]
I think the Absolute Greatest album served a purpose. In the airlines' flight entertainment menu, each artist gets one album on the list. Because AG contains the hits from the 70's and 80's, it is more representative of the band's selection of songs rather than just listing either GH I or II or III.
I realized this when I saw the AG album on the airline's flight entertainment in one of my travels.
MackMantilla · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]tcc wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Ghostwithasmile is BACK! wrote:[/b]
When a band is signed to a record deal they need to spit out products for the record company. Queen owed 1 more prodcut to EMI , this became Abs Greatest.[/QUOTE]
I think the Absolute Greatest album served a purpose. In the airlines' flight entertainment menu, each artist gets one album on the list. Because AG contains the hits from the 70's and 80's, it is more representative of the band's selection of songs rather than just listing either GH I or II or III.
I realized this when I saw the AG album on the airline's flight entertainment in one of my travels.
[/QUOTE]
hahaha, that's true :D
Dim · Member since
Led Zeppelin re-issuies are very good, however they kind sound flat to me and it is like they have been remixed by Page.
Moreover Queen remasters have better stereo mix and less compress than Led Zeppelin's
Biggus Dickus · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Dim wrote:[/b]
Led Zeppelin re-issuies are very good, however they kind sound flat to me and it is like they have been remixed by Page.
Moreover Queen remasters have better stereo mix and less compress than Led Zeppelin's[/QUOTE]
You're wrong, the Queen remasters have more compressions.
