The Queen

Following their hugely successful 32 date European arena tour Queen plus Paul Rodgers release this double CD capturing the magic of their performance. Featured alongside some of the most famous Queen songs are Bad Company and Free classics such as "All Right Now" and "Can't Get Enough"…

Essentially, the 2007 release Queen Rock Montreal is the long-delayed official release of the soundtrack to the We Will Rock You concert video, capturing highlights from the group's two-night stand at the Montreal Forum on November 24 and 25, 1981. This double-disc contains the full set, including the previously unreleased "Flash" and "The Hero," and it benefits from the ebb and flow of a full concert, giving a broader, fuller sense of Queen at the peak of their power, which they were close to being at the time this was recorded…

Carla Thomas was more than deserving of her title "The Queen of Memphis Soul," but she was hardly oblivious to the sleeker, more pop-influenced sweet soul and uptown soul coming out of Detroit, Philadelphia and Chicago. One of her strongest albums, The Queen Alone isn't the work of someone who took a Memphis-only approach, but of someone who was well aware of what Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, Martha Reeves and others were up to. What's surprising is the fact that this album contains only two hits: the playful "Something Good (Is Going to Happen to You)," which made it to number 29 on Billboard's soul singles chart, and the idealistic, gospel-influenced ballad and number 11 R&B single "I'll Always Have Faith in You"…

To open this oddball supergroup's debut, Paul Simonon hints at "Guns of Brixton," and when Tony Allen's flex rhythms come in, there's a shadow of Fela Kuti, too. Then Damon Albarn's slow grit of a voice enters–framed by Simon Tong's flecked guitar. And collectively, The Good, the Bad, & the Queen is quickly sui generis, adamantly different than anything you think you've heard. A band with this much power has at least two options: to cut loose raucously or to mute their overt power for a more covert, dub-inflected atmospheric potency. Smartly, Albarn and his crew opt for the half-light of elastic bass lines, the clouds between the parentheses of drums–the covert. It's not until "Kingdom of Doom," the erstwhile 'single' of the album, that motion expands beyond the languorous. And even then, Tony Allen largely sits out. You get the full flush of Simonon and Allen on "Three Changes" shuffling time even while holding the tempo to a dubbish gait. It's not Blur, the Clash, Fela, the Verve, or Gorillaz. It's more than just names on albums.

Carla Thomas was more than deserving of her title "The Queen of Memphis Soul," but she was hardly oblivious to the sleeker, more pop-influenced sweet soul and uptown soul coming out of Detroit, Philadelphia and Chicago. One of her strongest albums, The Queen Alone isn't the work of someone who took a Memphis-only approach, but of someone who was well aware of what Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, Martha Reeves and others were up to. What's surprising is the fact that this album contains only two hits: the playful "Something Good (Is Going to Happen to You)," which made it to number 29 on Billboard's soul singles chart, and the idealistic, gospel-influenced ballad and number 11 R&B single "I'll Always Have Faith in You"…

It's a mystery if Queen played both I'm A Man and Mannish Boy during this tour or not. These two songs are similar to each other and while it seems very likely they played I'm A Man as the first encore, rumours say the band also played Mannish Boy in Glasgow (the second night).

Queen - 40th Anniversary Series [35CD Japan SHM-CD] [Limited Edition, Remastered] (2011)
MP3 320 Kbps | Run Time: 21:20:22 | Size: 2.86 Gb
Genre: Hard Rock, Classic Rock | Label: Universal Music

For the band's 40th anniversary celebration, Queen’s entire 15-album studio catalog is reissued in a series of deluxe editions. Each studio album is released in a new two-CD edition.
The first CD containing the updated, new remastered original LP recording, the second CD with remastered rarities.
Queen's 40th anniversary celebration kicks off with deluxe reissue of first five studio albums, plus Greatest Hits 1 & 2, and Deep Cuts, vol. 1. Queen’s 40th anniversary is now upon us, and the band plans to pull out all the stops to celebrate this historic occasion. “2011 is an important year for Queen,” said Brian May “and there will be a lot of activity.” Adds Roger Taylor, I can’t believe it’s been that long and that we are still around in such a big way. I’m amazed and grateful!” This yearlong event will be marked by a series of releases, re-releases, special limited-edition items and events around the world.