S Poddar
There’s an all-new reason for Queen fans to rejoice as their favorite band announces a fully rebuilt version of the iconic 1973 debut album. Now titled Queen I, this will be launched on October 25, 2024. This updated version is not a remaster but a wholly remade version of the classic album with Queen’s timeless sound meticulously remixed and remastered and expanded for today.
Brian May, the band’s iconic guitarist, described the band’s approach on the project this way: “This is not just a remaster. 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.”. 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.”
This extended album gives old Queen fans and new ones alike the opportunity to hear them the way they intended, rather than some mere re-master of the original recordings. It’s more than just a simple re-master of the original recordings; it’s a complete reworking with modern technology to bring out all the richness and depth in their early work.
Drummer Roger Taylor said the following, which might give an insight into the technical problems the band found themselves in while trying to make the record sound how they wanted:. “They had this very dead drum sound, and it was never the sound we wanted. They had a drum booth, and it was a well-known sound. It was kind of American. Very dry, quite fat, dead sound, which is not what I wanted. I wanted to hear the drums resonate, to hear the sound of the drum. I didn’t even have my proper kit in there. It was a bit rough, really. So the album never sounded as we wanted it to.”
Brian May also agreed with Taylor on how they battled to get the sound they wanted. “We wanted everything to sound like it was in your face. We had this incredible fight to get the drums out of the booth and into the middle of the studio and put the mics all around the room.”. I remember saying to Roy Thomas Baker, the producer, ‘This isn’t really the sound we want.’ And he said, ‘Don’t worry, we can fix it all in the mix.’ And I think we all knew it ain’t going to happen.”
The new issue, described as the Collector’s Edition, heralds a wealth of new material. This set comprises six CDs and a vinyl LP, the total number of tracks amounting to 63, with 43 new mixes. The original album’s running order has also been restored, and the track Mad The Swine now appears between Great King Rat and My Fairy King. It was the flipside to Queen’s 1991 single Headlong. It had appeared as part of the tracklisting of this album on earlier reissues in 1991 and 2011.
This collector’s edition offers way more than the remastered album: a 108-page book full of handwritten lyrics, rare memorabilia, and even a taste of how Queen records through fly-on-the-wall audio. They will equally hear previously unheard recordings from an early Queen show, recorded in August 1970 at London’s Imperial College and before John Deacon joined the band.
Queen has already issued the set’s first single, a newly remixed version of The Night Comes Down, as part of the release campaign. A special 7″ vinyl single of the track will be available from October 4. Brian May reflects on the importance of the track: “The Night Comes Down is based on acoustic guitar, my beautiful old acoustic. But the guitar harmonies are all electric. People in those days used to say, ‘You can’t mix electric guitar with acoustic guitar.’ They would say the electric guitar is too loud for the acoustic. And I went, ‘Come on, it’s just a question of balancing in the mix.’ The Night Comes Down was like a demonstration. ‘Yes, we can do this. We can make our own rules!
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Alongside the deluxe Collector’s Edition, Queen I will be released in single vinyl LP, picture disc, cassette and single and double CD editions. Each format offers its own unique experience of this landmark album, to ensure there’s something for every type of Queen enthusiast. To fans who have long harbored Queen’s early work, this reimagining of their first album is surely bound to enrich the listening experience by bringing the raw energy and innovative sound of the band into sharp focus with modern technology. For newer fans, it’s an exciting opportunity to hear where Queen’s incredible journey began, presented in the way the band always wanted it to be heard.
