Queen‘s 1973 debut album is being expanded into a six-CD/1-LP Collector’s Edition that will feature remixed and remastered versions of the original record’s songs.
Renamed Queen I for this reissue, the band’s debut included fan favorites “Keep Yourself Alive” and “Liar.” The upcoming box set features those songs and others as it charts the album from the demo stage to the concert hall.
The set includes a revised track listing of the 1973 album with the song “Mad the Swine,” omitted from the original release, now part of the lineup. The reworked album, out on Oct. 25, will also be available in abridged CD, vinyl, cassette and digital editions.
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Sixty-three tracks include demos, sessions, live cuts and a previously unreleased recording from Queen’s first-ever live performance in London in August 1970. There’s also a 108-page book featuring handwritten lyrics and memorabilia.
“This is not just a remaster,” guitarist Brian May writes in the notes. “This is a brand new 2024 rebuild of the entire Queen debut album, which, with the benefit of hindsight, we have retitled 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.”
What’s on the Expanded Reissue of Queen’s Debut Album?
Queen started work on their first album in May 1972, working for four months on the songs that would be released on July 13, 1973. The upcoming box charts the process, starting with demos the band recorded in London before sessions began.
From there, the set includes a disc of recording sessions featuring unused masters, guide vocals and different takes from those on the released album. A disc of backing tracks is also included.
The final two discs of Queen I feature performances of the album’s songs from the BBC throughout 1973 and 1974, and live tracks from the band’s shows at the Rainbow in 1974, from San Diego in 1976 and two songs from their August 1970 concert at Imperial College.
You can see the track listing for the set below.
‘Queen I’ Collector’s Edition
CD1: Queen I – 2024 Mix
1 Keep Yourself Alive
2 Doing All Right
3 Great King Rat
4 Mad The Swine
5 My Fairy King
6 Liar
7 The Night Comes Down
8 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll
9 Son And Daughter
10 Jesus
11 Seven Seas Of Rhye…
CD2: De Lane Lea Demos – 2024 Mix
1 Keep Yourself Alive
2 The Night Comes Down
3 Great King Rat
4 Jesus
5 Liar
CD3: Queen I Sessions
1 Keep Yourself Alive (Trident Take 13 – Unused Master)
2 Doing All Right (Trident Take 1 – with Guide Vocal)
3 Great King Rat (De Lane Lea Take 1 – with Guide Vocal)
4 Mad The Swine (Trident Take 3 – with Guide Vocal)
5 My Fairy King (Trident Backing Track In Development)
6 Liar (Trident Take 1 – Unused Master)
7 The Night Comes Down (De Lane Lea Takes 1 & 2 – with Guide Vocal)
8 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll (Trident Takes 8 & 9)
9 Son And Daughter (Trident Takes 1 & 2 – with Guide Vocal)
10 Jesus (De Lane Lea Take 2 – with Guide Vocal)
11 Seven Seas Of Rhye… (Trident Take 3)
12 See What A Fool I’ve Been (De Lane Lea Test Session)
CD4: Queen I Backing Tracks
1 Keep Yourself Alive
2 Doing All Right
3 Great King Rat
4 Mad The Swine
5 My Fairy King
6 Liar
7 The Night Comes Down
8 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll
9 Son And Daughter
10 Jesus
11 Seven Seas Of Rhye…
CD5: Queen I At The BBC
1 My Fairy King (BBC Session 1, February 1973)
2 Keep Yourself Alive (BBC Session 1, February 1973)
3 Doing All Right (BBC Session 1, February 1973)
4 Liar (BBC Session 1, February 1973)
5 Keep Yourself Alive (BBC Session 2, July 1973)
6 Liar (BBC Session 2, July 1973)
7 Son And Daughter (BBC Session 2, July 1973)
8 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll (BBC Session 3, December 1973)
9 Great King Rat (BBC Session 3, December 1973
10 Son And Daughter (BBC Session 3, December 1973
11 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll (BBC Session 4, April 1974)
CD6: Queen I Live
1 Son And Daughter (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)
2 Guitar Solo (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)
3 Son And Daughter (Reprise) (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)
4 Great King Rat (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)
5 Keep Yourself Alive (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)
6 Drum Solo (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)
7 Keep Yourself Alive (Reprise) (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)
8 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)
9 Liar (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)
10 Hangman (Live in San Diego – March 1976)
11 Doing All Right (Live in San Diego – March 1976)
12 Jesus (Live at Imperial College – August 1970)
13 I’m A Man (Live at Imperial College – August 1970)
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Sure, you could listen to that classic LP again. Or you could give some of these records a spin.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci