To mark the release of the remixed, remastered and extended Queen 1 boxset, the band have released the fifth episode in their Queen The Greatest Special series.
A message states: “In this exclusive episode of Queen The Greatest, Brian May reveals how the iconic cover image for Queen’s debut album, and the extraordinary collage on the back, were created. It’s one of the earliest examples of how the band paid just as much attention to the look of Queen, as well as the sound.”
Watch the first four Queen The Greatest Special episodes below:
Episode 1:
Episode 2:
Episode 3:
Episode 4:
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.