We Will Rock You & We Are The Champions (Raw Takes)

tomchristie22 wrote:

Sebastian wrote:

tomchristie22 wrote:

they've made clear that they're not big on releasing imperfect stuff.

What about Hot Space? Those horrendous Rare Live edits? Greatest Hits III?

I'll rephrase to unpolished. Every release is subject to their idea of good quality - sometimes that idea of good quality will be unusual or out of touch. For what it's worth, Hot Space is a very well produced and well performed record for what it's trying to be. That style of song is just not where they're at their best.

and really I'm referring to content like outtakes and demos, which reveals their process in all its imperfection, as opposed to the finished product.

I’d add Japan ‘85 vhs/dvd releases (and Rio really) for an awful product; they won’t release some other far better sounding gigs as they don’t have multitracks to dub over, yet those 85 releases sound dreadful, and the Japan one was soon rush re-released as a direct vhs transfer to dvd a couple of years back to cash in on an advertising campaign. Shameful.

Agreed!

While we are debating whether or not the WATC track is doctored up, I find it interesting that the promo track as released on YouTube is calling it "Raw Sessions" while the track listing on Amazon calls it an "Alternative Version." If the Amazon descriptions are accurate, the collection is made up of different offerings. "Original Rough Mix" suggests something very different than an alternative version, hopefully more like the rough mixes that were included with the most recent Zeppelin remasters.

1. We Will Rock You (Alternative Version)
2. We Are The Champions (Alternative Version)
3. Sheer Heart Attack (Original Rough Mix)
4. All Dead, All Dead (Original Rough Mix)
5. Spread Your Wings (Alternative Take)
6. Fight From The Inside (Demo Vocal Version)
7. Get Down, Make Love (Early Take)
8. Sleeping On The Sidewalk (Live in the USA, 1977)
9. Who Needs You (Acoustic Take)
10. It's Late (Alternative Version)
11. My Melancholy Blues (Original Rough Mix)

tomchristie22 wrote:

Complaints are misplaced I think. This is the best QP is going to give - they've made clear that they're not big on releasing imperfect stuff.

Amen.

Good spot, Your Fairy King. Fingers crossed.

And additionally they have been released separately rather than as from the iTunes version.

Your Fairy King wrote:

While we are debating whether or not the WATC track is doctored up, I find it interesting that the promo track as released on YouTube is calling it "Raw Sessions" while the track listing on Amazon calls it an "Alternative Version." If the Amazon descriptions are accurate, the collection is made up of different offerings. "Original Rough Mix" suggests something very different than an alternative version, hopefully more like the rough mixes that were included with the most recent Zeppelin remasters.

1. We Will Rock You (Alternative Version)
2. We Are The Champions (Alternative Version)
3. Sheer Heart Attack (Original Rough Mix)
4. All Dead, All Dead (Original Rough Mix)
5. Spread Your Wings (Alternative Take)
6. Fight From The Inside (Demo Vocal Version)
7. Get Down, Make Love (Early Take)
8. Sleeping On The Sidewalk (Live in the USA, 1977)
9. Who Needs You (Acoustic Take)
10. It's Late (Alternative Version)
11. My Melancholy Blues (Original Rough Mix)

My own guess of what these should be based on their titles:

'Alternative version': a new 2017 version edited together from several different takes.
'Original Rough Mix': It SHOULD (based on name) be the same performance as the album version, but just a different mix - however could be a version closer to the final edition than it is to a demo, but with some mix differences, and probably incorporating some alternative parts. Shouldn't be a 2017 comp.
'Alternative Take': a full, but different take of the track, perhaps compiled from more than one run through, but not a 2017 comp.

What we will get however is another matter!

I'd guess this is indeed what is on the forthcoming release.

pma wrote:

Have to say, I absolutely adored the ending to WATC.
Really would have left us with an entirely different feel, if that's how the song originally ended.

Agree. It feels like something closer to SHA in terms of the ending. Of course. ..had the band LEFT IT THAT WAY the song MAY NOT have had such immense popularity.

Things to consider for an alternate universe

Your Fairy King wrote:

While we are debating whether or not the WATC track is doctored up, I find it interesting that the promo track as released on YouTube is calling it "Raw Sessions" while the track listing on Amazon calls it an "Alternative Version." If the Amazon descriptions are accurate, the collection is made up of different offerings. "Original Rough Mix" suggests something very different than an alternative version, hopefully more like the rough mixes that were included with the most recent Zeppelin remasters.

1. We Will Rock You (Alternative Version)
2. We Are The Champions (Alternative Version)
3. Sheer Heart Attack (Original Rough Mix)
4. All Dead, All Dead (Original Rough Mix)
5. Spread Your Wings (Alternative Take)
6. Fight From The Inside (Demo Vocal Version)
7. Get Down, Make Love (Early Take)
8. Sleeping On The Sidewalk (Live in the USA, 1977)
9. Who Needs You (Acoustic Take)
10. It's Late (Alternative Version)
11. My Melancholy Blues (Original Rough Mix)

On QueenOnline there's written that The Unheard 'Raw Sessions' uploaded on youtube are taken from the upcoming special box set edition of News of the World.

Furthermore the lenght of that raw sessions uploaded on youtube is the same as announced in the press release on QueenOnline last september

So I highly doubt that we are talking about 2 different versions of Rock You and Champions

Alternatively take, early take and acoustic take are the three things that are really sparking my interest at the moment. Alternative versions as in WWRY and WATC I've enjoyed listening too and I think the vocal performances particularly are brilliant, but it now seems certain that Alternitive versions seems to imply that they a composite creations and as such never existed in their current form at the time the album was recorded.

The first three I've listed (together with the demo vocal of FFTI) maybe the only truly of their time studio left overs presented here. Given the possible modern composite of WATC/WWRY using original material the cynic in me would question the Original Rough Mixes as possibly being nothing more than modern remixes taken from the masters with certain parts raised/lowered/added or deleted to create what would sound like something original and unheard.

I could be, and certainly hope to be, provided wrong but having giving us the lead two tracks which are possibly not quite what was created at the time I feel that it leaves the rest of the tracks open to question too

Two things about this raw version of WWRY: first, the original ending to the guitar solo (with the extra notes) seems to have debuted on the Rick Rubin 'ruined' remix:
https://youtu.be/fTp0I6YP7oc?t=2m17s

Second, it seems like the stem of the stomping captures Brian's count-in, although they don't match up perfectly:

Your Fairy King wrote:

While we are debating whether or not the WATC track is doctored up, I find it interesting that the promo track as released on YouTube is calling it "Raw Sessions" while the track listing on Amazon calls it an "Alternative Version."

It's called "Raw Sessions", because that's the official name given to this CD by the band.

Makes me wonder if the guitars in these outtakes are vintage recordings or recently created on "Trigger's Broom".

Once thing is for certain though, Freddie Mercury is absolutely without equal. That alternate vocal in "Champions" just drips with emotion and sensitivity as well as extreme power.

To clarify - the CD is called the 'Raw Sessions', and these tracks are the alternate versions from that CD and labelled as such. Rather clumsily.