Stealin' Some Queen Songs...And Turnin' 'Em Into A Pretty Cool Album...

If you remember where we left things with Queen and ... Just Another Miracle, the auto-assignment seemed simple: gather up the outtakes and b-sides from the The Miracle era, sequence them et voilà...an album that never was to go with  the alt Miracle and wrap up the OBG work on that boxset. Which is what I did in assembling a first version of the album. But, as it so happens, something happened then that gave the whole project a whole different direction. My assembled album was missing something. On a Cd of outtakes I had this demo version of "Stealin'", a version I have always preferred to the finished one that made it out as a b-side. The finished "Stealin'" has all the hallmarks of The Miracle-era Queen: It sounds hyperprocessed, with glossy keyboard additions that don't seem to add anything, instead choking whatever spontaneity the track once had. Compare that to the demo version, with its overddubbed vocals of Freddie playfully ("So do I"), and funnily answering himself ("So do I!"). That track, while a fully finished demo/run through, is all spontaneity. So I set out to find it, to add that second version as a 'Reprise' version at the end, a trick some of you are now very familiar with when I can't make the hard choice between two versions of a song. 

But to my surprise I found the uncut, eleven minute+ tape of that run through version of "Stealin'", instead of the four and a half minute excerpt of the main song part that I had. Color me intrigued. Turns out that they were doing extended riffs with instruments dropping in and out ad Mercury improvising lyrics. I really liked the loose nature of what was essentially a jam session, with Roger Taylor especially relishing to bash away on the skins (check out his drum rols towards the end of "Stealin' Part III). So, instead of simply having a second version of "Stelin'" I scratched that idea and rebuilt the album entirely around the various parts of "Stealin'". 

The whole eleven minute plus mix was too long and had too many slow spots with the band waiting around to see what to do next. The two most song-like parts were thus turned into "Heart Keeper (Stealin' Part II)" and "Money ("Stealin' Part III)".  Interestingly, during two of the 'waiting parts' Brin May played some Blues licks which I edited together for the (very short) "Stealin' Blues". The album was then sequenced around these four song parts, with "Stealin'" obviously the album opener and "Money (Stealin' Part III)" as the album closer wth Part II showing up towards the middle. Brian May's ballad "You Know You Belong To me" (a solo demo brought to the Miracle sessions) was a logical side A closer, while "Hang On In There", a b-side that could (and probably should) have replaced some of the weaker songs on The Miracle made for a great side b opener. .

There is no way to ignore the somewhat fragmentary nature of this album. A number of songs are rather short, either by design as b-side or demo or because I had to edit what was worth keeping out of longer, but messier songs. I had to do some editing to "I Guess We're Falling Out", because this was clearlly a run through rather than a fully finished take, and Freddie yelled out some instructions before the jam session at the end. Now, I love that little jam session - coming after one of the most classic sounding Queen numbers - but wanted to keep it as a finished studio track as possible, so anything that soundedlike not being part of the song had to go.  I also amused myself by following up Brian's "Water (another solo demo) with Freddie's "No Water", which is the improvised second part of the "A New Life Is Born" intro to "Beakthrough" featured on the original album. Anyway, think of the sequence of short songs in a variety of styles after the opening trio as a tribute to Sheer Heart Attack, which was more or less like that. 

Of the outtakes "Face It Alone" was chosen as the single to promote the The Miracle box set, so it has a much more polished sound (and possibly some autotune?) than the others, but that's the nature of the beast. Roger Taylor gets, like Brian May, two compositions and lead vocals, which sounds about right for a Queen album: Both were used as b-sides. Synth rocker "Hijack My Heart" (with some heavy shredding by Brian) is an interesting diversion, while "Dog With A Bone", with shared lead vocals by Freddie, is one of his slightly knuckleheaded rockers. The b-side "My Life Has Been Saved", co-written by Freddie and John, was later reworked for Made in Heaven. 

Anyway, that's a lot of info on the why and how of an alt album. Suffice it to say that I think this is a really nice companion piece to ...Just Another Miracle, and I hope you'll agree. Now go and steal some really good Queen music...