The best and worst Queen / Queen+ releases / reissues since 1991

I didn't include the Live at Wembley DVD as we already had that on VHS (I wasn't too bothered about the bonus material on the DVD). Plus, I think Budapest is a better concert.

I forgot about the Days Of Our Lives Doc (and the Freddie Mercury one).

Overall, I don't rate the 2011 / 2015 reissues that much, apart from Queen II. They're too loud / compressed.The bonus CD's were a joke, and the original vinyl releases sound better. For example, sheer Heart Attack was muddy sounding in the bass department and The Works sounds closed in and flat compared to the original uk vinyl. Nice covers though.

[QUOTE] [b]Holly2003 wrote:[/b]

Let Me In Your Heart Again was good -- the song, the Orbit remix, and the video(s). To hear that fantastic, rich, warm and dynamic voice again was a real treat. The song's potential was, though, wasted as just an add-on to a compilation album. [/QUOTE]

Agree. I still can't understand how on Earth this song wasn't released as a proper single and played on the radio frequently.

[QUOTE] [b]Sheldon wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]Holly2003 wrote:[/b]

Let Me In Your Heart Again was good -- the song, the Orbit remix, and the video(s). To hear that fantastic, rich, warm and dynamic voice again was a real treat. The song's potential was, though, wasted as just an add-on to a compilation album. [/QUOTE]

Agree. I still can't understand how on Earth this song wasn't released as a proper single and played on the radio frequently.[/QUOTE]

I heard it played on the radio quite a bit. Absolute Radio played it a lot.

I like the Wycliffe version of AOBTD, it fits.
Some of the TCR is OK for what it is, but it's not Queen.

I watched Rock in Rio recently. If I'm being complimentary I'd say it's raw, if i was being honest I'd say they were pretty poor, Fred's voice sounds spent. Still, if that was the only setting in a time machine...

Great idea for a thread! Here's my take:


Post MIH releases I was happy with:
- Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl: the DVD versions is a fantastic release. For once, the title is well-deserved -the band sounds greate, the mix I find very good despite the oft-maligned drum sound, and there were only minor fixes compared to the rawer broadcast version. The bonus content is great to have and yes...we got a full-band cover! AS far as I'm concerned, it's their best live release.


- Queen Live at the Rainbow '74: 70s Queen on BLu Ray, what more can you ask for? It should have set a standard for later live releases, but sadly, that wasn't to be...


- Queen Rock Montreal - from a technical standpoint, this is their best live release, with both pristine visuals and sound. The performance is great, of course, but I wonder how much the AV quality affects our perception...The cover is awful. Getting live aid as a bonus was a nice touch, as was the cool audio commentary!


- Hungarian Rhapsody - the filmed portion of the concert and the candid interludes look and sound as good as they're going to, and getting the full concert on CD was really nice. The cover with Godzilla Freddue attacking Budapest was horrible.


- No One But You - the final "Queen" track. A touchin, if a bit soppy tribute.


- The Eye - never played the game, which must be awful anyways, but the set was a real treasure trove filled with alternate versions of many tracks. They should have put an instrumental Innuendo, though!

- The Game and ANATO on DVD-Audio: multichannel studio Queen, in a resolution higher than CD. Bliss.

- The ANATO Classic Albums documentary - as with all episodes from this series, a great insight into the creation and recording of this masterpiece.



Partial disappointments / could have been better:

- Queen Forever (what a stupid title): don't get me wrong, Let Me...is a true gem. How lucky we were to discover this! But the rest of the compilation is mostly garbage: There Must Be...is awful, and the reworked mix is insulting. The LK retake is good but quite the reviosionism. The compilation work in itself is bad. Chopped off intros and earlier fades aren't what I call "new takes on well-known classics".

- Queen on Air. The 2CD version is the one to get: it sounds great, you get the complete sessions and you can replace the weird cover with the booklet. The "deluxe" version is a joke, and an overpriced one at that.

- The 2011 reissues: starting with the positive, the artwork is better than all the previous releases. Some bonus tracks were great (the De Lane Lea sessions, remixed See What a Fool..., the early take of Dreamer's Ball and Sail Away...), some sound like frankensteined stuff with remixed backing tracks fused with guide vocals (Ride the Wild Wind, Headlong) but some were nsulting (Wembley/MK/Montreal tracks and a special mention for the A capella operatic bullshit). The remastering work in itself was mostly a brickalling affair, if not for Queen II. THe Game is so loud it will blow you eyes out.



Disappointments:

- Queen Live at the Odeon: the show had been so heavily bootlegged in the past, we needed something special to warrant the acquisition of the official release. Special is indeed, the word I would use for the cover. And don't get me started on the NIH rehearsal thing.

- Greatest Hits III: many things have already been written so I'll just say that it indeed stretches the notion of a greatest hits album? I don't hate the Small Soldiers retake of AOBTD but it has nothing to do on a Queen compilation (I know the cover mentions Queen + but that's not how it continues to be marketed). The Rah Mix of UP is an abomination. They totally slaughtered a stone cold classic.

- The SIngles collections: overpriced sets of 2 tracks discs and cardboard covers. Get the original singles, and you get a better mastering as a bonus.


I haven't heard any of the Queen + collabs outside of GHIII so I won't comment on it.

Sorry for the long post!

Your post isn't long, but very very spot on! Especially with your views on Forever and the 2011 releases!


Tom

[QUOTE] [b]Day dop wrote:[/b]


My best list...


7) The Singles Collection 1 - 4 (I know there were complaints about this set, but it's still a nice set to own).

My worst list...


2) We Will Rock You - 5ive + Queen (Queen+ a shitty boy band)
2) The Cosmos Rocks (I've tried it about three, maybe four times, but I just don't care for it)

I didn't add the 2012 version of Barcelona as it's not a Queen release. But I did like it a lot, I prefer it with the orchestra backing as I thought it always deserved that. Not sure where I'd place it though. Perhaps in between 6 and 7 on my best list.[/QUOTE]


Well I guess this is where people's tastes differ...

The singles collection was THE biggest disappointment and waste of time for me. Sure, some of the non UK covers were nice on Boxset one, but that idea dropped off rather sharpishly from two onwards until they gave up entirely.
Had they released the extended mixes on those CDs as well, then the latter two boxsets would have sold in much greater numbers and made the set more worthwhile overall.
Nearly a decade latter and we are STILL waiting for most of the extended mixes to appear, remastered, on CD. Typical QPL.

WWRY with Five was an absolute joy. It was THE most exciting thing since NOBY - Queen back at the top of the UK charts, performing live on TOTP and at Party In The Park.

The Cosmos Rocks: Okay. Many closed minded people who can't get over the idea of any Queen song without Freddie don't like this album.
Well I LOVE IT. I got an advance copy a few weeks before release and for three solid months it was the ONLY album I played in my car, and believe me, back then I did a lot of driving.
Get over the fact that it's not a "Queen" album and enjoy it for what it is: 3 old men making music together. It's got some great tracks on it and some great guitar work.
I'd have loved nothing more that "We Believe" to been released worldwide, unedited, as a physical single. I'm sure it would have done well in the charts. It's an incredible, uplifting song.

Barcelona with Orchestra. Bloody dreadful. Maybe if I'd not had 25 years living with the original (which is one of my favorite albums ever), it would have been okay. But there are points on some of the songs where they differ from the original (missing vocal, vocal in the wrong place etc) and that just jars.
It's a complete loss for me and I'm still waiting for a remastered edition of the original.

For me, the BEST releases in the last 2 decades are the DVD-A of ANATO and The Game. Over a decade later and bands are still releasing surround sound versions of albums, yet QPL don't seem interested.
Beggers belief.

[QUOTE] [b]brians wig wrote:[/b]

The Cosmos Rocks: Okay. Many closed minded people who can't get over the idea of any Queen song without Freddie don't like this album.
[/QUOTE]

It has nothing to do with being closed minded. Well, certainly not on my part.
If you don't give it a try, then yes, that'd be closed minded. But if you do give it a try (or numerous tries), but find it's not for you, that's not being closed minded about it at all.

[QUOTE] [b]Day dop wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]brians wig wrote:[/b]

The Cosmos Rocks: Okay. Many closed minded people who can't get over the idea of any Queen song without Freddie don't like this album.
[/QUOTE]

It has nothing to do with being closed minded. Well, certainly not on my part.
If you don't give it a try, then yes, that'd be closed minded. But if you do give it a try (or numerous tries), but find it's not for you, that's not being closed minded about it at all.
[/QUOTE]

Fair enough comment. Sometimes what you write can be taken in ways unintended.
BUT, you and some others aside I guess who really don't like the music, if you lived through the release of Cosmos Rocks, you'll know there are plenty of people who simply refuse to get on with it because it's not "Queen".

[QUOTE] [b]brians wig wrote:[/b]

Barcelona with Orchestra. Bloody dreadful. [/QUOTE]

I thought this was a *fantastic* idea that was absolutely *horribly* mishandled. I honestly don't understand why they simply couldn't or wouldn't do a note-by-note replication of the synth-parts with an actual orchestra. They just had to butcher it. Stuart Morley who had to cater to his ego by changing things around to put his stamp on it? Or maybe it was simply beyond his skills? I don't know, but what should have been the definitive version of Barcelona became an insulting farce.

Defo.

[QUOTE] [b]thomasquinn 32989 wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]brians wig wrote:[/b]

Barcelona with Orchestra. Bloody dreadful. [/QUOTE]

I thought this was a *fantastic* idea that was absolutely *horribly* mishandled. I honestly don't understand why they simply couldn't or wouldn't do a note-by-note replication of the synth-parts with an actual orchestra. They just had to butcher it. Stuart Morley who had to cater to his ego by changing things around to put his stamp on it? Or maybe it was simply beyond his skills? I don't know, but what should have been the definitive version of Barcelona became an insulting farce.

[/QUOTE]

THAT !!!!!!

Other than Disc 2, add the NOTW box set to the worst (surprise, surprise)

[QUOTE] [b]*goodco* wrote:[/b]

Other than Disc 2, add the NOTW box set to the worst (surprise, surprise)[/QUOTE]

Taking the price tag into account, Disc 2 isn't a saving grace. It's simply a bad release for three reasons:
1) Content is tragically poor
2) Price tag is out of all proportion to content
3) Appeal to a general audience is practically zero because there are no smaller releases (2cd, dvd, vinyl) like there were with Rainbow 74 and the BBC Sessions.

I would personally be inclined to add 4) a complete reworking of the album will be released JUST on vinyl in a BOX and NOT separately - that is not just bad, it's STUPID.

[QUOTE] [b]thomasquinn 32989 wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]brians wig wrote:[/b]

Barcelona with Orchestra. Bloody dreadful. [/QUOTE]

I thought this was a *fantastic* idea that was absolutely *horribly* mishandled. I honestly don't understand why they simply couldn't or wouldn't do a note-by-note replication of the synth-parts with an actual orchestra. They just had to butcher it. Stuart Morley who had to cater to his ego by changing things around to put his stamp on it? Or maybe it was simply beyond his skills? I don't know, but what should have been the definitive version of Barcelona became an insulting farce.

[/QUOTE]

Oh, yes. I absolutely agree with this. Plus to me the worst thing about it is the fact they went fully George Lucas. The didn't even include the original mix. And the book is just .... Did nobody at least once read the list of the musicians? Somebody down the line saved a list of their names with the wrong character encoding and they simply printed it like that...