Queen - Queen 2011 Remaster

Genre - Rock / Hard Rock / Glam / Classic Rock
Label - Island Records

Tracklist:
01 – Keep Yourself Alive
02 – Doing Alright
03 – Great King Rat
04 – My Fairy King
05 – Liar
06 – The Night Comes Down
07 – Modern Times Rock’n'Roll
08 – Son and Daughter
09 – Jesus
10 – Seven Seas of Rhye…

Bonus CD:
01 – Keep Yourself Alive (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)
02 – The Night Comes Down (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)
03 – Great King Rat (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)
04 – Jesus (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)
05 – Liar (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)
06 – Mad The Swine (June 1972)

Queens mighty debut album gets the 2011 re-mastering treatment and yet another rerelease here, but to be honest I think they've done a great job. The new re-mastering leaves every note crystal clear, and really shows the original albums tracks in all their glory. Queen features some of my favorite Queen tracks, Liar, Great King Rat, Jesus, Son & Daughter to name but a few, and they sound even better now. For the uninitiated, Queens sound at this time had more in common with the power and pomp of the likes of Led Zepplin than the pop majesties that they later became known for, and the amazing thing is that despite the many sounds you here on this album they famously never used synphs!
The bonus disc is a little disappointing to be honest, yes it does include the often bootlegged but never officially released famous De Lane Lea Demo's, taken directly from Brian Mays own Acetate copy, and Mad The Swine, an outtake that first saw the light of day back in 1991 on the Hollywood records rerelease of this album, but I was hoping that a few other famous gems would get to see an official release like Silver Salmon, Polar Bear (Queens 1972 reworking of the Smile track), and the infamous Hangman, which also exists on acetate. They could have also included the relevant tracks recorded for BBC sessions.
On a whole though it’s still a great release and brings warm fond memories flooding back, and as for the missing demos. Well maybe we'll see them when they release the Anthology set they promised back in 2000 when they released the Freddie Mercury Box Set!

website - Queen
Rating - 9/10