Queen Revisiting Self-Titled 1973 Debut Album with Expanded Box Set Featuring New Mix, Demos, Outtakes, & More

Queen has announced plans to release a new box set focused on their self-titled 1973 debut album, and including a remixed, remastered, and reconfigured version of the record.

The Queen I box set, which can be pre-ordered now, will be released on October 25. It will feature six CDs and a vinyl LP. The centerpiece of the package is a version of the Queen album with its running order restored to what the band had originally intended. “Mad the Swine,” a song left off the original album, has been added after the third track, “Great King Rat.”

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The expansive collection features a total of 63 tracks, and includes 43 new mixes. Besides the remixed Queen album, the set features demos, alternate takes, rare live performances, in-studio chatter, BBC sessions, and more. It also includes a 108-page book boasting handwritten lyrics and memorabilia.

Queen guitarist Brian May discussed the revamped version of Queen in the package notes for the reissue.

“This is not just a remaster,” he said. “This is a brand new 2024 rebuild of the entire Queen debut album, which, with the benefit of hindsight, we have re-titled Queen I.”

He continued, “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.”

About the Queen Album’s Release

Queen was released on July 13, 1973, in the U.K., and on September 4, 1973, in the U.S. The album peaked at No. 24 in the British rock legends’ home country and No. 83 in the States. Two tracks were released as singles from Queen, “Keep Yourself Alive” and “Liar,” although both failed to chart.

Recording the Queen Album

The band’s debut mainly was recorded at Trident Studios in London with the facility’s in-house producers Roy Thomas Baker and John Anthony. Since Queen was just starting out, they were relegated to utilizing the studio at off hours. The band members also weren’t able to get the producers to help them recreate the sound they envisioned in their heads for the actual recordings.

In addition, drummer Roger Taylor wasn’t enamored with the sound of the studio’s Perspex drum kit, and wasn’t allowed to use his own kit.

“[It was a] very dry, quite fat, dead sound, which is not what I wanted,” Taylor noted. “I wanted to hear the drums resonate, to hear the sound of the drum. … It was a bit rough really. So the album never sounded as we wanted it to.”

With modern technology and mixing techniques, Queen now sounds the way May and Taylor hoped it originally would.

About the Demos and Session Outtakes on the Box Set

The Queen I box set features new mixes of early demos of five songs from the Queen album that the band recorded at De Lane Lea Studios in London. The sessions took place between November 1971 and January 1972.

The package also includes alternate takes of the album’s songs created using outtakes from both the De Lane Lea and Trident sessions. Some of these tracks feature between-take conversations and comments from the band members. The collection also features a CD boasting the backing tracks of each song, minus the lead vocal.

BBC Sessions and Live Performances

Another CD offers recordings from four different BBC radio sessions Queen did in February, July, and December 1973, and in April 1974.

Also included is a CD of live performances, including two songs recorded at Queen’s first-ever concert in London. The event took place in August 1970 at Imperial College. The disc also features highlights of Queen’s March 1974 headlining concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London, and two performances from a 1976 show in San Diego.

Queen I Vinyl LP

Rounding out the box set is a vinyl version of the newly mixed and expanded Queen album.

Advance Single and New Music Video

The new mix of the Queen track “The Night Comes Down” has been released as an advance digital track from the Queen I box set. An official music video for the tune is scheduled to premiere on YouTube this Friday, September 13, at 9 a.m. ET.

A 7-inch vinyl single featuring the 2024 mix of “The Night Comes Down” backed with the “backing track only” version of the tune will be released on October 4.

Queen I Will Be Released in Other Configurations and Formats

Queen I also will be available in other configurations and formats. They include as a single CD, two-CD deluxe set, standalone vinyl LP, vinyl picture disc, and cassette. In addition, the album also will be available as a digital download and via streaming services.

Queen I Box Set Track List:

CD 1: 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…”

CD 2: De Lane Lea Demos (2024 Mix)

1. “Keep Yourself Alive”
2. “The Night Comes Down”
3. “Great King Rat”
4. “Jesus”
5. “Liar”

CD 3: 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)

CD 4: 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…”

CD 5: 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)

CD 6: 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)

LP: Queen I (2024 Mix)

Side One

1. “Keep Yourself Alive”
2. “Doing All Right”
3. “Great King Rat”
4. “Mad the Swine”
5. “My Fairy King”

Side Two

1. “Liar”
2. “The Night Comes Down”
3. “Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll”
4. “Son and Daughter”
5. “Jesus”
6. “Seven Seas of Rhye…”