'There are now a few nice adventurous Easter eggs in there...' Queen album getting limited edition release
Queen's Sir Brian May and Roger Taylor have announced a brand new special limited edition version of the band's 1973 debut album 'Queen I'.
Queen are releasing a special limited edition version of their debut album 'Queen I'.
The band has announced an immersive Dolby Atmos version of their first LP - which was released in July 1973 - which will be available from June 13 on on Audiophile Blu-ray complete with a 12 page booklet celebrating the record.
Queen’s landmark debut album was reissued to widespread acclaim in 2024 as a remixed, remastered and expanded 6CD+1PL box set edition.
Retitled 'Queen I', it restored the ‘lost’ track Mad The Swine to the final tracklisting and saw the band return to the UK album chart, providing them with their highest chart placing since 'Live Around The World', recorded with current singer Adam Lambert, reached No.1 in 2020.
An image from the Queen I booklet
With Brian May and Roger Taylor acting as executive producers, and overseen by Queen’s long-standing audio-production team of Justin Shirley-Smith, Joshua J Macrae and Kris Fredriksson, this enhanced spatial surround sound format release breathes stunning new life into the band’s epic and unique multi-layered sound.
Guitarist May - who recently made a surprise appearance on stage with Benson Boone at Coachella - said: "I'm particularly excited about this new Dolby Atmos version of what we now call 'Queen I'. When the boys were converting the stereo rebuild into a surround experience, I was unable to be there, due to a health hiccup. So I was very happy to have the opportunity to go back in with them recently and add my own contribution to this multichannel mix.
"There are now a few nice adventurous Easter eggs in there, which those who know the album intimately will hopefully enjoy. So the Blu-ray version is an update from the version that has currently been available to stream. Nobody has ever heard our first album quite like this."
Taylor added: "At last, we get our first album to sound as we imagined it should sound ... phew!”
Justin Shirley-Smith said: “It always feels like Queen’s music was designed for immersive formats. It’s dramatic and powerful and has a lot of dynamics. The original album was recorded more than 50 years ago, but it was so ambitious musically, rhythmically and lyrically. It’s beyond belief really, and it’s such a joy for us to work on.
“It’s always fun working in Atmos because we are confident that the mix is already good from the stereo and this expanded sound field gives us an opportunity to feature the backing track without masking some of the intricate multi-layered elements that Queen are famous for.
“We finished the mix with Lewis Jones at Abbey Road where they have a great mix studio equipped with all the speakers required. Lewis has worked on a great many significant immersive projects and is a crucial part of the Atmos mix team.”
Queen I limited edition release
To mix 'Queen I' in Dolby Atmos, the team made stems from the 2024 stereo mix, allowing them to process and pan each musical part individually, bringing new depth and dimensions to an album already bursting with invention.
Originally released in 1973 and featuring the iconic line-up of singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist May, drummer Taylor and bassist John Deacon, Queen’s self-titled debut album marked the start of the band’s stellar journey, showcasing a band whose staggering musical talents and breadth of ambition remain unmatched.
Songs such as 'Keep Yourself Alive', 'Liar', 'The Night Comes Down', 'Great King Rat', 'My Fairy King' and 'Modern Times Rock ’n’ Roll' are the work of a band able to deliver everything from surging hard rock anthems and delicate ballads to ornate, visionary mini-symphonies.
Justin added: "There are so many different styles on the album. For instance, the song 'My Fairy King' is a precursor to what came later with 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. It’s so adventurous, and this new mix brings out things that you won’t have heard before. Like everything on the album, it sounds fantastic.”
You can pre-order 'Queen I' Dolby Atmos Blu-ray here
For more information visit the 'Queen I' website
'Queen I' tracklisting:
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...
