Queen Album Review – Queen I Collector’s Edition

As long-term readers of my blog will know, Queen are my favourite band of all time. And they’ve just brought out a new box set of their 1973 debut album with remixed versions of the tracks and lots of extra material, some of it never before released. So naturally I’ve had to check it out.

I already did an extensive review of the album back in lockdown 4 years ago, as I reviewed all of their 70s albums as one of my projects to keep myself occupied while stuck at home. So I’m not going to repeat all of that here.

The purpose of this new post is to give my reactions to the tracks in the new set, and compare them with the original versions I already have where applicable. I’ve also updated my Queen I playlist on Youtube with the new tracks, while still retaining the previous 2011 remasters for comparison.

The Super Deluxe edition of this new release has 6 CDs and 1 LP, plus a 108-page book, a fold-out poster and 4 photo prints. There’s also a smaller 2-disc edition with just the remixed album and sessions material, along with other variations and merchandise, even including editions that have a cassette tape.

However, while I did buy the physical version of their Miracle box set a couple of years ago, I’ve bought the digital download of this new Queen I set instead, not least because it’s a hell of a lot cheaper at £17.99 compared to £149.99 for the box! It still has the contents of all 6 discs anyway, so I’m not missing anything. Furthermore, I consider this to be an alternate remix of the album rather than a replacement, a lot of the bonus material duplicates tracks from previous releases I already own, and I have no use for the vinyl (it is frustrating when artists don’t produce alternate vinyl-free versions of their box sets, as we don’t all want it). So I can’t justify the rip-off price tag on the physical set. I’m sure the book, poster and prints are lovely, but I can live without them.

I bought this new edition myself, so it’s not sponsored by Queen or Sony or anyone else, and all opinions are my own. So let’s get on with it, and I hope you enjoy!

Contents

• Introduction
  • Expectations
  • The New Mixes
• Disc 1 – Queen I
  • Tracks
  • Videos
• Disc 2 – De Lane Lea Demos
• Disc 3 – Sessions
• Disc 4 – Backing Tracks
• Disc 5 – BBC Sessions
• Disc 6 – Live Performances
• Conclusion

Altogether there are 63 tracks, with a total runtime of 4 hours and 36 minutes.

Introduction

Expectations

Queen’s 1973 debut album is a vitally important part of their story, as it shows the band demonstrating their talents and experimenting in various ways. If you only know the group from their biggest hits, then hearing their debut can be quite the revelation, and it puts their later work into clearer context. And its raw, rough sound, including its little imperfections resulting from the limitations they had at the time, has always felt an intrinsic part of it, giving it that special charm and warmth. It’s what I’ve been used to hearing for decades, and I’ve never had a problem with it.

However, Brian May and Roger Taylor claim that the album now sounds more like the way they wanted it to originally. Queen were very limited in terms of the kit, technology and time at their disposal when they recorded the album in the early 70s, and while they pushed everything to the absolute limit, it was never possible to record or mix everything the way they would have most liked. Sacrifices in the sound would have had to be made, and they had to make do with whatever ended up on those old tapes. It’s impressive that the original album sounds as amazing as it does, all things considered. So it’s only now that they’ve had the time and the technology to go through it in intimate detail and bring it up to the standard they wanted.

I’ve been rather wary about them marketing the remixes as improvements over the originals though, even more so following the preview release of The Night Comes Down, which didn’t quite sound right, and the video was terrible. There’s also the fact that the band have recently done a £1 billion deal to sell their back catalogue to Sony, which may have given them an excuse to mess around with the album when there’s no real need to, just to make money by selling it to the fans yet again. Queen does have a habit of re-releasing the same albums or concerts in different formats, rather than digging out tracks and gigs that haven’t seen the light of day for ages. But this is the first time they’ve tried to substantially change the sound of an entire album, so one wonders if they’re going to treat the others in a similar way in the years ahead. If this sells well, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a crack at Queen II as well.

I therefore wasn’t sure what to expect coming into this, and didn’t have high expectations, just in case it had been over-hyped and because remixing it doesn’t feel necessary. But then it’s worth remembering that it doesn’t negate their previous releases either. Existing fans like myself still have the original versions of the songs, which are still wonderful and are still available to buy and listen to, so it doesn’t matter that alternate mixes now exist, and there’s no harm in listening to them to see if they’re any good.

The New Mixes

Credit where it’s due, these mixes are better than I expected. Not perfect by any means, and they won’t replace the original versions that we’re all so used to – which are still readily available for those who prefer them – and I think Brian and Roger know that. But as an alternative approach to the album, it is interesting to hear what they’ve done for their “director’s cut”, and I have been enjoying listening to it.

What immediately becomes apparent from the outset is that there’s much greater clarity and prominence across the soundscape, as if the album had been recorded today. They’ve been able to clean it up so impressively that you can hear lots of details that you might have missed or that were completely buried in the original mixes.

Roger’s drums in particular have been completely revitalised, as he was never happy with how muffled they sounded before, because he was using an unfamiliar in-house studio kit rather than his own. So now they’re a lot sharper and punchier. Such is the remarkable difference in quality that you could be forgiven for thinking that he’s re-recorded them sometimes, when what they’ve actually done is transfer the 16-track analogue tape to digital and employed some clever engineers to enhance every individual drum hit, along with everything else they’ve tweaked.

And for the most part it’s a good thing, as the songs have more power and drive to them now, and you can hear elements of Roger’s performance that were completely hidden before. But because it is such a radical update, there are moments when the drums feel a bit too loud, clean or even artificial, as if they’ve turned the dial too far in pursuit of perfection. It would be impossible to get the balance dead right though, and reactions I’ve seen online have varied wildly as to which songs are better or worse for it. Whatever they do will never please everyone.

Freddie’s voice is also clearer, and deservedly so, he sounds amazing (but then when doesn’t he?). There isn’t any autotune, but there is apparently some manual pitch correction, which has got some people up in arms. And I do agree that it’s completely unnecessary, because Freddie’s singing was great as it was.

Whether it’s actually done any harm, though, is a matter for debate. I’ve listened to the songs several times now, including with headphones, and at no point has any major anomaly in Freddie’s voice jumped out at me, so I’ve still enjoyed his performances. Hardcore fans who know every note inside out, or people with much keener ears than mine, or audiophiles who want to do forensic comparisons between the old and new tracks, will be more able to notice the differences I’m sure. But as a general, casual listener who isn’t a sound expert, it really hasn’t bothered me.

Freddie’s piano parts also stand out more in this new edition, and Brian’s guitar has been nicely remastered, including moments where previously hidden aspects are now audible. I think John’s bass has paid the price for all the other improvements though, as it doesn’t seem particularly different, and is sometimes a bit quieter relative to the other elements now that their volume has increased, which is a shame. Perhaps there wasn’t much they could do with it, or he didn’t give his blessing for it to be altered too heavily. He certainly didn’t have any creative input into the project, we know that much.

So on the whole, while there are little issues here and there, I think this is an enjoyable and interesting alternative mix of the album. The original version is still the best and will continue to have pride of place in my collection, so I will still listen to it as much as I’ve always done, and I would encourage new fans to check it out as well. But this new edition, while not perfect, is still worth listening to and I will go back to it sometimes. I think it’s just about managing expectations and accepting that it is an alternative and not a replacement. Everyone has different views on it though, so it is very much down to personal taste.

Disc 1 – Queen I

Tracks

This disc contains the new mixes, but I’ve also included links to the 2011 remasters for comparison, as they reflect the original versions:

1. Keep Yourself Alive – 2024 Mix / 2011 Remaster (3:46)
2. Doing All Right – 2024 Mix / 2011 Remaster (4:11)
3. Great King Rat – 2024 Mix / 2011 Remaster (5:45)
4. Mad The Swine – 2024 Mix / 2011 Remaster (3:21)
5. My Fairy King – 2024 Mix / 2011 Remaster (4:12)
6. Liar – 2024 Mix / 2011 Remaster (6:27)
7. The Night Comes Down – 2024 Mix / 2011 Remaster (4:22)
8. Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll – 2024 Mix / 2011 Remaster (1:48)
9. Son And Daughter – 2024 Mix / 2011 Remaster (3:23)
10. Jesus – 2024 Mix / 2011 Remaster (3:42)
11. Seven Seas Of Rhye – 2024 Mix / 2011 Remaster (1:19)

Total Runtime = 42:16

Keep Yourself Alive is a pretty solid opener that helps to settle nerves about how the remix will sound, and I notice there’s a little bit more echo on Freddie’s vocals, as well as a bit of extra guitar in the fade-out. I also like the driving rhythms on Great King Rat and Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll, and the former now has a more definitive ending instead of fading out. The percussion on Jesus also has much more detail from the start, which is interesting. I do think they overdid the drums a bit on The Night Comes Down though, it doesn’t sound quite right there.

Mad The Swine is a track that was dropped from the original album, and while it was later released separately, this is the first time it’s been inserted in the track listing where it was intended to be. It’s not an essential addition to the album, but it’s a nice enough song, so it’s good to have it here. Meanwhile Seven Seas Of Rhye is an early instrumental version of the track that became fully-fleshed on Queen II, so it’s nothing special just yet.

Doing All Right, My Fairy King & Son And Daughter are all wonderful tracks as well. But my favourite so far is Liar, as it’s got so much more power to it now, which it deserves, so it really grabs your attention.

Videos

A few videos have also been posted on Queen’s official Youtube channel using the new mixes, and if they publish any more I’ll add them here later:

• Keep Yourself Alive – This brand new edit of the promo video was posted on October 25th, the box set release date, for which they went back to the original rushes and remastered the footage. It’s quite a snappy edit and I like the little bow Freddie gives at the end, so I think it looks great and works well.

• The Night Comes Down – This uses the shorter single edit of the track, and was released on September 13th, 6 weeks ahead of the box set. It incorporates little bits of footage and photos of the band, but some of the imagery has been animated “following a collaboration with an artist specialising in AI”, according to the description. I notice that they don’t credit the person or AI system by name, and perhaps that’s because it’s awful. Where the footage is used in its natural state, it’s fine, but where it’s been manipulated it just looks odd. And I cannot wrap my head around the psychedelic ending, where the computer-generated ‘likenesses’ of the band members are just bizarre and rather insulting. What with that, and the issues that people had with the drum sound and pitch correction, and it’s clear the release of this video wasn’t the best way to promote the set, as it doesn’t fairly represent what you get in it.

• My Fairy King – This lyric video was posted on June 13, 2025. The animation isn’t too bad this time, and the images of the band haven’t been weirdly tampered with, which is good. The lyrics aren’t always easy to read though. They start to fade in as the relevant words are starting, so you don’t have much time to read them by the time they’re fully formed, and if the lines are too wide then the words go into shadow at each end. So it’s a little hard to try and keep up if you do want to read them, though if you’re a massive fan you know the words already anyway.

Disc 2 – De Lane Lea Demos

These tracks from December 1971 have also had a significant upgrade, so they don’t really sound like demos any more. I don’t think that was really necessary, as hearing them in their unedited form is the whole purpose of a demo, but as I’ve already got the original versions it’s nice to hear them touched up like this anyway. They also could have fitted on to the end of the main album to save wasting a disc.

The demo version of The Night Comes Down was famously used on the album anyway, but the other tracks are interesting alternate versions of the songs. If I had to pick favourites, I love the extended guitar section in the middle of Jesus, and there’s some great guitar and bass work in Liar, but they’re all good.

1. Keep Yourself Alive (3:49)
2. The Night Comes Down (4:24)
3. Great King Rat (6:13)
4. Jesus (5:07)
5. Liar (8:01)

Total Runtime = 27:34

Disc 3 – Sessions

Disc 2 in the 2-disc set

Now we get to the really good stuff, as this is by far the best disc in the set, providing fascinating insights into the band at work in the studio. Even at their work-in-progress stages, these songs still sound incredible, despite being quite different to their final versions.

1. Keep Yourself Alive [Trident Take 13 – Unused Master] (4:20) – I love this version of the song, there’s some brilliant drumming and guitar work going on.
2. Doing All Right [Trident Take 1 – With Guide Vocal] (4:25) – It may only be a first take guide vocal but, my goodness, Freddie sings it so beautifully. The song also has a really nice acoustic feel to it without the heavier guitar section.

3. Great King Rat [De Lane Lea Take 1 – With Guide Vocal] (5:48) – Freddie’s different spin on the vocals here is quite enjoyable, especially when he scats his way through sections where the lyrics haven’t been finalised yet. It does sound like he’s having fun with it.
4. Mad The Swine [Trident Take 3 – With Guide Vocal] (4:21) – “Oh it’s you, Bulsara, it’s you that’s flat, you bastard!” The opening and closing banter on this is very funny, and it’s nice to hear Freddie being addressed by his real name. There aren’t many lyrics, but even just hearing Freddie filling the gaps with simple humming and “na-na-na” refrains is pleasant given his voice. Brian and Roger are doing a great job as well, although Freddie does tell Roger he “fucked it up” at the end, and Brian suggests they call the group “Queen Bitch”!

5. My Fairy King [Trident Backing Track In Development] (6:03) – “Ah, fuck!” Freddie gets exasperated early on that he can’t get the timing right on the piano alongside Roger’s drumming, but he’s brilliant once he gets into his stride, accompanied by some lovely bass work from John, who it’s nice to hear a brief bit of chatter from too.

6. Liar [Trident Take 1 – Unused Master] (6:50) – “Get a load of this!” Even on its first take, this is a belter, with some fun improvisation by Freddie during the intro section, and some lovely harmonies on the title refrains.
7. The Night Comes Down [De Lane Lea Takes 1 & 2 – With Guide Vocal] (5:34) – Brian has to do a bit of work to get his intro right to start with, but it all sounds great once they get going. There’s a nice little echo on Freddie’s vocals, and it’s interesting to hear him without backing harmonies during the chorus. It’s fun to hear Brian messing around at the end too, until Freddie tells him to shut up!
8. Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll [Trident Takes 8 & 9] (2:52) – There’s a bit of experimentation to get the sound right, and then Roger, Brian and John give a blazing instrumental rendition of this track.

9. Son And Daughter [Trident Takes 1 & 2 – With Guide Vocal] (4:23) – After a false start with the intro, they get into a great performance of this song, with a relaxed approach to the vocals by Freddie, not worrying about hitting the highest notes or timing the lyrics exactly on the beats.
10. Jesus [De Lane Lea Take 2 – With Guide Vocal] (5:38) – “Fucked it Brian. Shiiiiit!” More amusing banter precedes their performance here, and again I love the guitar work in the middle of this song.
11. Seven Seas Of Rhye [Trident Take 3] (1:39) – Lovely piano playing by Freddie as usual, but he prefers one of his earlier takes, and he makes it quite clear that he’s not quite ready to do another one straight away afterwards.

12. See What A Fool I’ve Been [De Lane Lea Test Session] (6:11) – This track eventually got an official release as the B-side to Seven Seas Of Rhye, but wasn’t included on the Queen II album until it was a bonus track on the Hollywood Records remaster in 1991. So really it should be on a box set of that album, if they do indeed produce one, but as it was clearly part of the Queen I sessions, it’s nice to hear an early version of it here.

Total Runtime = 58:04

Disc 4 – Backing Tracks

These are the backing tracks for the new 2024 mixes, so they’re mainly instrumental though there are a few backing vocals here and there. It is interesting to hear the songs in this way, but there’s nothing really exceptional going on that you can’t already hear on the complete versions. And Seven Seas Of Rhye was already an instrumental, so the final track is just a repeat of what’s on the main album.

1. Keep Yourself Alive (3:46)
2. Doing All Right (4:11)
3. Great King Rat (5:46)
4. Mad The Swine (3:20)
5. My Fairy King (4:12)
6. Liar (6:27)
7. The Night Comes Down (4:22)
8. Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll (1:48)
9. Son And Daughter (3:23)
10. Jesus (3:42)
11. Seven Seas Of Rhye (1:19)

Total Runtime = 42:16

Disc 5 – BBC Sessions

The BBC sessions have been released several times over the years, either in part or in full, most comprehensively in the On Air box set I already own. So it’s rather pointless including them in this set as well. But still, if you’ve never heard them before, they’re well worth a listen.

BBC Session 1 – February 5th 1973:

1. My Fairy King (4:16)
2. Keep Yourself Alive (3:53)
3. Doing All Right (4:17)
4. Liar (6:35)

These performances use the original backing tracks from the album, with fresh vocals by Freddie and other little additions on top. So they’re not fully live or radically different to the album versions. The only one that really stands out is Doing All Right where, relative to the original album mix, the piano sounds clearer without an echo effect added to it, and Roger sings the final verse instead of Freddie.

BBC Session 2 – July 25th 1973:

5. Keep Yourself Alive (3:56)
6. Liar (6:37)
7. Son And Daughter (6:12)

The first 2 songs here again use the backing tracks with new vocals, although there are more live elements added to Liar, as there are notable differences to the original. The stand-out track, however, is Son Daughter, which is nearly 3 minutes longer than the album version, thanks to an extended jam section featuring guitar riffs that would become part of Brighton Rock on the Sheer Heart Attack album the following year. Freddie, meanwhile, censors the lyrics because he’s on the BBC, singing “shovel shhh…” instead of the alternative. Then at the end, DJ Alan Black observes that the band have “been holding back until they feel they’re ready, and I think that time has arrived”.

BBC Session 3 – December 3rd 1973:

8. Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll (2:06)
9. Great King Rat (5:57)
10. Son And Daughter (7:15)

No backing tracks this time, this is the band live in all their glory, and all the performances are fantastic. Son And Daughter is again the highlight though, this time extended by 4 minutes, while Freddie sings “shovel it” to censor the swear word. I like John Peel’s closing remark as well, that they’re “a band that sounds like nutters actually, and I like that.” Getting an endorsement from that legendary DJ was a huge deal for any artist, and Queen had easily earned his praise.

BBC Session 4 – April 3rd 1974:

11. Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll (2:53)

The band obviously performed other tracks in this session, but this is the only one that’s relevant. It’s much slower than the album version though, which feels a bit strange.

Total Runtime = 53:59

Disc 6 – Live Performances

These tracks are taken from 3 different live shows, the first of which has been released before.

The Rainbow, March 31st 1974:

1. Son And Daughter (3:49)
2. Guitar Solo (2:25)
3. Son And Daughter (Reprise) (1:52)
4. Great King Rat (6:49)
5. Keep Yourself Alive (2:22)
6. Drum Solo (0:27)
7. Keep Yourself Alive (Reprise) (1:18)
8. Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll (2:41)
9. Liar (7:47)

These tracks were previously released on Live At The Rainbow, so they’re again superfluous for the many fans who already own them. Still, they are fantastic performances, in several cases being faster, heavier and longer than their studio versions, with some fabulous jamming by Brian and Roger along the way.

As on that live album, they’ve again separated the short drum solo in Keep Yourself Alive into a track of its own, which makes no sense, as it’s all part of one continuous performance and isn’t something you’d listen to on its own. The beautiful guitar solo in the middle of Son And Daughter is considerably longer and does have a brief pause for applause at the end, so that makes a bit more sense, but again it would do no harm to have a single 8-minute track for that amazing song. It’s also interesting that Freddie continues to censor his “shovel shit” line even in this live performance, given that he was quite happy to swear on stage occasionally.

San Diego, March 12th 1976:

10. Hangman (6:36)
11. Doing All Right (5:32)

These excellent performances, from the last night of their 1976 US tour, are much more interesting, because concert recordings of both of these songs have been very hard to come by. As I understand it, the only official releases so far have been part of the Top 100 Bootlegs project about 20 years ago, which was variable in quality by its nature and didn’t sell well.

So this is a much more mainstream release for both of these tracks. And the most significant one is Hangman, because it’s a song that fans have known about for decades, but the much-rumoured studio version has never been released, so live bootlegs have been the only way to hear it. Freddie even teases the audience that they’ll record it for their next album, but sadly they never did. It’s a shame because it’s a great song, I love the catchy rhythm it’s got. It’s also disappointing that they haven’t included more from the concert in this set, especially as Freddie mentions performing other songs from their first album. The Rainbow stuff could easily have been dropped to make room.

Imperial College, August 23rd 1970

12. Jesus (5:41)
13. I’m A Man (4:42)

These tracks are from the earliest surviving recording of the band, in the days before John Deacon joined, performing their first ever live performance in London. So this really is something special to finish with, and it’s a shame they haven’t included more than just 2 tracks. Considering it’s been rescued from an old cassette, the quality isn’t too bad either. I’m A Man is a cover of a song by the Spencer Davis Group and Freddie certainly gives it his all.

Total Runtime = 52:03

Conclusion

All in all, I do like this release, given the price I paid for it (£17.99). I’m certainly glad I didn’t pay £149.99 for the physical box, as it wouldn’t have been worth it. The new mixes aren’t perfect and they aren’t better than the original album, but I still think they’re enjoyable alternative ways of hearing the tracks. The De Lane Lea Demos didn’t need to be upgraded as well, and could have gone on the end of the first disc to fill it out, but it’s nice to hear what they’re like after being cleaned up.

The Sessions disc is by far the most interesting and fun element of the whole package, along with the rare live tracks at the end of the final disc. But the BBC sessions and Rainbow performances are needless padding given that they’ve been released already, and the instrumentals are nice for completeness but don’t really add anything special either.

So it is a mixed bag, and I know that the fanbase has a lot of varied opinions on it, which is understandable. But for me the new mixes, the sessions and the rare live tracks are a nice addition to my Queen collection, so I’m happy with it.