To mark the release of the remixed, remastered and extended Queen 1 boxset, Brian May and Roger Taylor recall the rocky road that led to the recording of their eponymous debut album. Episode 2 is now available below.
A message states: "Continuing our celebration of the release of the Queen 1 Box set, Brian May and Roger Taylor share their memories of recording those first tracks. Now signed to Trident, Queen can follow in the footsteps of some of their idols into the famous studios, and finally start work on their first album. However, it's not quite the experience they imagined it to be."
In the opening episode, we hear how an opportunity to be a test band for a brand new studio provides the all important breakthrough they had been desperately searching for.
Watch two segments below:
Episode 1:
Episode 2:
To celebrate the release of the Queen 1 boxset, the promo video made for Queen’s first ever single release, "Keep Yourself Alive", has been re-edited and restored. Now complete with the stunning new 2024 mix of the song, this video has been created by returning to the original rushes and producing an entirely new edit. The footage has then been painstakingly restored so it can be shared with fans in all its glory.
The 6CD + 1 LP Queen I box set (out now) contains 63 tracks with 43 brand new mixes, comprising the original album with its intended running order restored, intimate fly-on-the-wall audio of Queen in the studio, demos, rare live tracks, and previously unheard recordings from Queen’s first ever live performance in London, August 1970. Absent from the 1973 release, the song “Mad the Swine” has been reinstated to its original place in the running order. A 108-page book containing handwritten lyrics and memorabilia accompanies the release.
“This is not just a remaster,” writes Brian May in the CD sleeve insert notes, “this is a brand new 2024 rebuild of the entire Queen debut album, which, with the benefit of hindsight, we have re-titled QUEEN I.”
May continues, “All the performances are exactly as they originally appeared in 1973, but every instrument has been revisited to produce the ‘live’ ambient sounds we would have liked to use originally. The result is “Queen“ as it would have sounded with today’s knowledge and technology – a first.”
“Queen I is the debut album we always dreamed of bringing to you.”
Go to Queen's official website for further details on the release. Watch a video trailer, as well as a 3D unboxing video for the collector's edition, below:
