Queen: Studio Collection

Product Information

The album as originally released on CD, remastered by Bob Ludwig in 2011 from the original first-generation master mixes. It would take 15 months and a radical re-structuring of internal band dynamics before Queen regrouped in London’s Townhouse Studios on December 3rd, 1987, to start work on their thirteenth studio album. For the first time, Queen would share songwriting credits equally, regardless of who conceived each song, a consensus of opinion that was to have fertile results. “Splitting the credits was a very important decision for us. We left our egos outside the studio door,” says Brian, “and worked together as a real band – something that wasn’t always the case. I wish we’d done it 15 years before.” Decide your budget:No matter if you're after an old favourite, a remastered reissue, a limited edition picture disc or a massive 16-disc vinyl box set, setting your budget in advance will help you to not overspend. If you can squirrel away a bit of money before the sales, that's going to help too. I've started putting some cash aside for Cyber Monday - not a lot, but even a couple of pounds or dollars could help secure you a great deal. The inclusion of Poly-lined sleeves in every album in addition to a reproduction sleeve was greatly appreciated. The “single” self explanatory 7″ 45 rpm (12″ singles came later, actually invented in Jamaica to allow extended dub mixes to be presented uninterrupted)

With the band arriving at the studio with scarce mapped-out material these sessions found Queen at their most inspired and impulsive, and that atmosphere is mirrored in not just the music but the familial exchanges that punctuate it. As Freddie said: “I think it’s the closest we’ve ever been in terms of actually writing together.” Universal Music will issue Studio Collection, a new Queen 18LP vinyl box set this September. It will contain all 15 studio albums released by the band pressed on vibrant 180g coloured vinyl in hues sympathetic to the original artwork. Said Roger: “D ecisions are made on artistic merit, so ‘Everybody wrote everything’ is the line, rather than ego or anything else getting in the way. We seem to work together better now than we did before. We’re fairly up-and-down characters. We have different tastes in many ways. We used to have lots of arguments in the studio, but this time we decided to share all the songwriting, which I think was very democratic and a good idea.”The band discuss, in their own words, the creative process behind the album. The first interview, Queen for an Hour, was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 29 May 1989. Host Mike Read speaks with the band for what would be their final group interview. In this interview, Freddie suggests for the first time that his touring days are over. Queen always had a special fondness for vinyl, the medium in which they first began to create, around 1970. As a matter of principle, every Queen studio album was offered at the time of original release on vinyl, even well into the era when CD’s had taken over as the medium of choice for most of the public. However, the final two albums, ‘Innuendo’ and ‘Made In Heaven’ were actually formatted primarily with the CD in mind, with a longer running time, so the contents had to be edited down to fit them on to the two sides of a vinyl album. Now, specially for this edition, for the first time, these two albums have been cut at full length as double vinyl LP’s - four sides each – making up a vinyl set that is complete in every way.

This show of unity was elegantly conveyed by band art director Richard Gray’s cover for The Miracle, which depicts Queen’s four faces merged into one. “The cover art represents the unity of the group at the time: a seamless merging of four people becoming one,” May has said. “We were also dealing with Freddie’s deteriorating health and pulling together to support him.” Flash Gordon - Originally released in December 1980. Recorded at The Town House, The Music Centre, Wembley and Advision Studios, except R10, recorded at Utopia Studios. Additional orchestral arrangements recorded at Anvil Studios. Die cut lyric/picture inner sleeve, published by Queen Music Ltd./EMI Music/Wide Music Ltd. - Yellow vinyl.No individual song credits this time, so it’s hard to evaluate the songwriting contributions of drummer Roger Taylor or bassist John Deacon, but I’ll bet that Deacon had more than a hand in the funkier moments of ‘Khashoggi’s Ship’. Meanwhile, ‘The Invisible Man’ sounds distinctly Tayloresque, with its eerie, shuffling rhythm passages and up-front bass work. There are a few intriguing wrinkles to this collection. Firstly, both Innuendo and Made In Heaven were formatted for CD, each holding a relatively long running time, so the contents had to be edited down to fit them on to the two sides of the original vinyl editions. Now, specially for this edition, for the first time, these two albums have been cut at full length as double vinyl LPs. They used the 2011 remasters. They explained they wanted to do it all analogue but they claimed that the tapes were pretty worn out, which is a pretty fair excuse. HOWEVER, they still could have used DSD files like the Rolling Stones Mono Box or a lot of MOFI titles. The 2011 remasters are good, but are heavily compressed. A DSD transfer would have been amazing and would have even better sounding.