The 2-CD Deluxe Editions will all be released domestically by Hollywood/EMI. Note that the USA pressings of the Queen 40 box sets are Amazon exclusives. -- Linda

     

     

     

   

Ouch...


"LONDON (Reuters) – British band Queen have signed to Universal Music Group record company after nearly 40 years with EMI, and preparations are under way for the release of remastered versions of Queen's studio albums in 2011.

The switch, first reported in May and confirmed on Monday, is a blow to EMI, which has lost artists of the stature of The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Radiohead since the group was taken over by private equity firm Terra Firma in 2007.

Terra Firma boss Guy Hands also lost a court case in New York last week in which he accused Citigroup Inc of tricking him into overpaying for EMI. He may yet be forced to hand the record company over to the bank.

Queen's Universal deal covers the world outside North America, and the band will appear on the Island Records label from January 1, 2011.

"We are very excited, after all this time, to be embarking on a new phase of our career -- with a new record company, with new ideas, and new dreams," said Queen guitarist Brian May.

The group's flamboyant original lead singer Freddie Mercury died in 1991 and Queen was never again the popular force it once was.
But re-releases can be big business, and Queen's decision to move labels comes on the eve of what could be a lucrative time for the band, which celebrates its 40th anniversary next year.

Island Records, part of Universal, is already preparing 40th anniversary remasters of the group's catalog that includes global hits like "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "We Are The Champions" and "Another One Bites The Dust."
During 2011, Island will remaster and repackage each of Queen's 15 studio albums and also offer additional content.

The first five albums will be made available in March -- "Queen," "Queen II," "Sheer Heart Attack," "A Night At The Opera" and "A Day At The Races."

"We aim to apply fresh thinking and innovation to the marketing and promotion of this great body of work," said Universal Music Group International COO Max Hole.

Other events celebrating the band next year include a BBC television documentary and the production of a Hollywood film about them, starring comedian Sacha Baron Cohen as Mercury.

According to Vivendi's Universal Music, Queen has sold more than 170 million albums worldwide."

Universal called Paul Rodgers and left a two word voicemail. "Nothing doing."

But the question is whether Queen has anything(other than 21st century remix/abomination/mutilations) that they could add as bonus tracks. The posthumous "Made in Heaven" album suggests that the group has little vault material, particularly because some of those tracks involved drastic reconstruction(recording new "rock" backing tracks for two songs from Freddie Mercury's disco-flavored solo album "Mr.Bad Guy") and adding guitar, bass & drums to two piano-/vocal recordings that Freddie recorded when he knew that he didn't have much time left. If this was a group with a lot of unreleased material, then certainly the drastic reconstruction methods used in making "Made in Heaven" wouldn't have been the first choice of method to access useable vault material.
In the year that the group released "Live Killers", the labels that the group recorded for wouldn't accept a studio album too, so the group sat on ten studio tracks, then recorded ten more the next year. After using the ten best songs on "The Game" and releasing a non-L.P. B-side, the remaining 9 tracks were scattered across "Hot Space" & "Made in Heaven". The group has little or anything that we haven't heard already.

I'm just hoping for what you might call classy re-issues, expanded booklets,well chosen bonus tracks and maybe the odd DVD but above all else a really good mastering of the core catalogue on a par with say Abbey Road's work with the Beatles, solo Lennon and Apple back catalogues.
For the Digital versions I want a PDF format booklet and the availability of high bit rated lossy or better still a Flac option from a dedicated site.
Let's do this right shall we?

I have all of the Hollywood remasters, so unless they can offer some really good bonus material, I will pass on these. I also have the ANATO Anniversary Edition where Brian May even said this is the best you're going to hear that album, along with a DVD of video for each song.

I have the Crown Jewels box for the original UK mixes I remember from the original vinyl releases. The Hollywood CDs were/are horrible mixes in my opinion. I hope this new rerelease uses the original mix.

I guess when you're not an audiophile, any new remaster sounds good.

I hope they take the time to get it right like they did with the 30th Anniversary collector's edition of "A Night At The Opera." There was noticeable sonic improvement with that version compared to the 1991 remaster. Much more attention to detail.

I don't think the Queen catalog has ever been remixed other than a few bonus tracks tacked onto the end of the '91 remasters and a couple 5.1 mixes.

The Crown Jewels set couldn't been really good if it weren't for all the damned noise reduction. If you don't hear it pumping away consider yourself lucky. Just don't try to listen for it. Once you notice it you can never ignore it.

This is exciting and I hated the Hollywood remasters-I thought they were terrible. They soudned weak to me, the packaging sucked and the bonus tracks were for the most part, lame. Aside from those has this catalogue really been reissued to death?
I say no-it's been criminally ignored, so it's about damn time this happened and I can't wait for these. I know of no other remaster issues aside from A Night At The Opera and the 4,000 versions out there.
Like kaja, I hope for 1st class packaging, presentation, sonics, liner notes and bonus tracks. A ctalogue like this deserves first class treatment.
As for Made In Heaven, I wouldn't use that as any example for what to expect regarding bonus tracks. That album was specifically what they were working on at the time of Freddie's death and some other recent tracks that were never finished, as well as reworkings of some Freddie solo material.
It was just a hodge-podge finale.
All I want for bonus tracks, are the appropriate b-sides and maybe a few of the era live tracks. I really don't need any demos unless they are of a mostly finished, unreleased song.

The Hollywood's were absolutely not remixed (except for the bonus tracks), just badly remastered.

I prefer the Crown Jewels masters over the Hollywood ones...but I do hear the NR.

Here's hoping they finally get the mastering they all deserve. I'm not searching out CP32's and stuff...

The Hollywood's were absolutely not remixed (except for the bonus tracks), just badly remastered.


This is correct. The Hollywoods were remastered, not remixed aside from some hideous "bonus tracks". The remastering sucked horribly as did the whole cash-grab feel of that campaign. But it was the early 90's after all.
I don't think we need the "yet again" part of this post, because the Queen catalogue has hardly been remastered at all. Now, if this were another greatest hits release...

Yeah, they've milked that one to death.

I bought some of them for a couple bucks each. They're not the sonic nirvana they were touted to be but they replaced the Hollywood CDs for me so it was a step up.

I like Bob Ludwig's mastering on the last year's Queen compilation Absolute Greatest — loud, but I've never heard Queen sound better.

I liked what he did with Night at the Opera too. Wish he could do the whole catalog so I can finally be done buying these albums.

Another vote for Ludwig to helm the forthcoming remasters based upon his Absolute Greatest work...

Me too. I had mentioned that last year in the thread about Absolute Greatest that I had hoped this would kickstart a remasters campaign with mastering by Ludwig. Hope I was right.

So you're saying that part of Hot space was recorded prior to 1981-82? I wonder which part, the sucky disco part or the fair-to-middling rock part.

One personal observation about Queen in the '80s -- it seemed that every other studio album was really good and the ones in between (Hot Space & A Kind Of Magic) blew.

A Kind Of Magic is one of my favs. The rock stuff - the few poppy tunes that are on there give me a pain in my backside. Queen was always best as a rock band. The keyboard-y pop stuff never worked for me.

I was also a big fan of Made In Heaven. I thought the guys really had a masterpiece on that one. IMO their most underrated record.

As for the "yet again" statement in the thread title, we had the original imports, the Hollywood remasters and the Crown Jewels remasters. While I agree neither were done very well, with these new ones that's four different versions on cd (not even including the Night At The Opera dvd and not including the non-bonus track vs bonus track versions). I think the "yet again" is justified.

I'm a big fan of Queen. If these are any good, I will have purchased the catalog three times. IMO, it's time to do them all in 5.1 like the Opera set. Let's get definitive versions out there once and for all and be done.

I just ordered Absolute Greatest Queen, I don't have that one.