From Queenpedia.com
In the early 2000s, it became en vogue to collect a band's singles into their original sleeves and release them in a nice box set. The Jam did it, Elvis Costello did it, Marillion did it ... well, you get the idea. Everyone from the Rolling Stones to the Who to Depeche Mode rounded up their back catalog of singles, many of which included rare, non-album B-sides, alternate mixes, and 12" extended versions, got some appreciative journalist or archivist to write a brief history about the singles and release information, and the fans were happy. The Singles Collection - Volume 1 is none of the above. Sure, there are 13 singles released between 1973 and 1979, from Keep Yourself Alive to Don't Stop Me Now, and they're all presented in a nice, attractive sleeve, but ... um, well, Queen weren't especially well-known to have featured anything particularly rare on their singles. Except for the odd occasion, most often the B-side would be a standard album track. This policy changed as early as 1989, when each single released from The Miracle contained an outtake from those sessions. But, for the most part, the singles were more or less used as promotional tools and not to give fans anything particularly rare. So that might leave many to ask, well, what's the point in collecting such singles from Queen when there's nothing particularly rare? There would have been plenty of reason, actually. There has been an occasion or two where their record companies would come up with something truly unique, like an edited version of Liar that cut the epic six and a half minute track down to three minutes; or a French version of Bohemian Rhapsody, that drastically reworked the song into something a little more digestible for radio listeners. There was often a single release in the US (for instance, Long Away) or Japan (Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together) or an edited version of It's Late) that didn't appear anywhere else in the world; while this might seem fairly mundane, especially considering those songs were all released on albums, it was something new for the fan. Instead ... instead, what Queen Productions gave us was a box set that was more or less an extended version of The Platinum Collection. There's all the well-known hits, but nothing in the way of rarities, except for single versions of Flick Of The Wrist and Lily Of The Valley, and the non-album B-side See What A Fool I've Been, that would be familiar anyway to US fans for being a bonus track on the CD reissue of Queen II. Well okay, there's also single edits of Tie Your Mother Down (which had been released on Queen Rocks) and I'm In Love With My Car (which had been released on the 2004 CD reissue of Greatest Hits). Five songs out of 28 that can be considered rare. (Oddly enough, Tenement Funster was released in Japan on Queen's First EP in a standalone version, yet the version here is faded up from the album version -- just as it was on the UK version of Queen's First EP. One would think it would be more beneficial to have the standalone version...) It wasn't always like this. Reports had circulated at least two years back that the project was initially more ambitious: a 10 disc box set, much like the Freddie Mercury box set, containing all of Queen's singles (yes, that included rare mixes and edits) in a book-bound box with informative liner notes and beautiful packaging. Fans salivated at the thought, and speculation arose over what songs would be included. Queen had made it clear that they didn't endorse the Liar edit, and that they weren't particularly pleased with the various remixes of You Don't Fool Me, so those were likely to be excised. However, somewhere along the line, someone at Queen Productions decided to impose yet another arbitrary rule: anything that didn't make the UK or US Top 40 would not be considered worthy of release on this box set. (Quite why the Top 40 when the rule of Greatest Hits albums was the Top 30 is unknown.) So, that should naturally mean that Keep Yourself Alive wouldn't be on there, as it didn't chart, right? Well, no. In the press release, it was stated that it would be on there, because that's where it all started. Fair enough. But that means no live version of Love Of My Life, because that reached #63 in the UK. Oh sure, it wouldn't be that much of a loss, but it was released in a slightly modified edit, with a fade-up into the audience cheers and the band introduction at the conclusion excised. Minor stuff, yes, but for anoraks it's pretty substantial. This would be all well and good if there was at least a booklet containing information of the singles and maybe some alternate sleeves from around the world. Except there's not. The only thing that is contained within the box is 13 cardboard sleeves and discs. Nothing more, nothing less. And yet it's selling for £40 ($82 US). £40 for 28 songs, 23 of which are readily available on The Platinum Collection or, God forbid, any of Queen's albums released between 1973 and 1978. 28 songs spread across 13 discs. That's two songs per disc, excepting Queen's First EP, which is four songs. Consider that a compact disc can hold 79 minutes worth of information, and that the average running time of a single is between five and 10 minutes. Well, at least we can look forward to 12" extended versions, right? Mmmm, no. Apparently, the idea is to preserve the integrity of the 7" format and have only an A-side and a B-side, with nothing else. There is absolutely no reason to shell out hard-earned cash on this dross, especially during a time when the economy is in such a crisis that spending £40 on a box set should get you your money's worth. Someone in the Queen camp argued that if the original 10 disc box set were to have been released, it would have cost £100 ($205 US). Well, yes, that would have been exorbitant, but for 10 discs to be filled to the brim with music that many of us never had before, or only had in MP3 format, well, that would have been worth the price. But £40 on music we have isn't worth it. That same person argued that this was designed more for shifting units and to appeal to the average Queen fan, the one who just came back from a Q+PR show or We Will Rock You: The Musical and was interested in getting a Queen set. But, if that was the case, wouldn't The Platinum Collection do just as well? It's packed with more hits that the average Queen fan would be familiar with. Why couldn't something like this have been created just for the hardcore fans, the ones who were clamoring for this in its original presentation? Apparently, because it's more important to shift units than to please the diehards. My advice: spend your £40 on a band who truly deserves it, on a band who's up and coming, on a band who thrives on integrity. Go see a live show, take the missus out for dinner, or give your money to a charity. This is a wasted opportunity that doesn't even deserve to lick the boots of Greatest Hits III. 10 for the music, of course, but -10 for execution. Lucky for us that we have three more similar boxes to look forward to. Tracklists
Credits
Additional info
Reviews
Promotional Material
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
