Apologies for the re-post, but I've brought this across from the General Discussion in case people don't read that.
Jjeroen,
You're absolutely right, of course, however, the fact remains that there is little - actually NO - product of interest on the market to satiate the appetites of the likes of *us*.
As wonderful as it is that Queen still have the power to captivate new listeners every day with their unique brand of music, frankly, I couldn't give a fuck about those people and what is available for them to buy. They are, literally, spoilt for choice......
John Q Newbie hears WATC for the first time and thinks:
"Wow - that's amazing; the fusion of *that* voice to such a unique guitar sound and a really solid rythm section. Amazing harmonics on both vocals and instruments. Never heard anything like that before! I'm off to the shops to see if I can learn more about this amazing band called Queen!"
Off he goes. Walks in to HMV and heads strait to the Q section.........
".......N.....O.....P.....Q.......aha! Queen. Right, what have we here?"
"I have Greatest Hits albums for all sorts of bands at home and they generally give you a good overview. That song I heard on the radio is on this one. GH1. And look!!! A GH2 and a GH3 set. Wow what a lot of choice!"
"Hang on a minute though - here's 'Queen Rocks'. Maybe that'll give me more of the heavier side of the band's music?"
"Would you believe it! Queen - The Platinum Collection! This looks like all the GH albums in one package!"
"And here's 'Queen - The Singles Box Volume 1' - looks to be a nice package but there are 13 CDs with only a few tracks on each. I can get most of them on the GH albums or The Platinum Collection at a much better price and I only have to change the CD twice to hear all three!"
"And all these individual studio albums too! Maybe I'll just start at the beginning and work my way through their career chronologically from the beginning. Head's up - I've got a choice here of all sorts of versions - Mini-LP CDs, 1991 Re-Masters. I can even get them on vinyl again. And, here's an import box set called "The Crown Jewels which is ALL OF THEM."
"Hi."
"Hello - you look a bit confused"
"Well, yes I am actually - I'm a new Queen fan and have just decided to start really getting in to them because what I heard on the radio really excited me, you know!? My name's John Q Newbie."
"Yes - the same thing happened to me about thirty years ago. They really are amazing. By the way - my name is John Q Collector."
"Pleased to meet you John."
"Likewise. Well, my suggestion is that you go through the albums as they were released originally. That way, you almost get to hear them like everyone else did originally. The material on the first three albums is quite heavy and very raw. The mid-late 70's material is more heavily produced and much more theatrical. The material in the '80's is heavily targetted towards radio and singles airplay with the 90's material moving back towards the production ethics of the mid-late 70s era."
"How about the GH albums - there are 3 of those?"
"Well, they're OK - Queen were a great 'hits' band and I'm sure you've heard of Bohemian Rhapsody?"
"They recorded THAT!?"
"Yes"
"Is that on an album?"
"Yes - 'A Night At The Opera' which was their 4th."
"Well, in that case, I'll get their first 5 albums and move on from there then!"
"Great - you really won't be disappointed. And, as well as all that, there are some cracking DVD's of the videos for their singles and a couple of live ones from concerts they played in the 1980s!"
"Ha ha - give me a chance! I'll move on to thise later."
"Good idea - small steps!!"
"So, with all your knowledge, what are you in here for?"
"Well, with it being Christmas, I'm looking to see if there's anything available for someone to buy me for a present. I've been a fan and collector for 30 years and, looking at all of this, I seem to have at least one copy of each of the tracks on the studio albums, if not 5 or 10 copies across fifferent formats / versions."
"Wow! You're a real Queen devotee, aren't you?"
"Yes - it's cost me a few quid over the years, but it's been worth it."
"I'm sure. I bought The Who's '30 Years Of Maximum RnB' box set in 1993 - it's absolutely brilliant. Record Collector even called it the best box set ever released. If you haven't got the Queen version, why don't you suggest that as your present?"
"Well, I would do, but Queen's management company haven't ever released one. They've been talking about it since Freddie Mercury died in 1991 but nothing's ever come along."
"That's a shame, because they're such a big, famous band. Lots of other bands have sets like that available."
"I know - we've been trying to get it released for years, but they seem to want to keep releasing GH albums of the same old material."
"Well, that's great - especially for people like me."
"I know, but it leaves me in a bit of a dilemma every year when people ask me if there's anything I'd like."
"What about this Singles collection which was released last month?"
"Nice idea, but I don't want to have to change the CD 13 times to hear everything and, besides, I have all the tracks on there at least once."
"Oh. Well......er.........I'm not sure what to suggest....."
"Don't worry. It's the same every year, but I still come in here every so often just in case something comes along."
"Well, thanks for your help and, with all this to choose from, I'm completely spoilt for choice and I've only been a fan for a few days!"
NEWSFLASH!!!! "The Singles Collection: Volume I" is for COLLECTOR'S who want the singles on COMPACT DISC! Meets that demand that you are denying exists so mission accomplished and it is none of you phucking business beyond that. Huh. Imagine that.
Good on ya Alex - once again you found the point of it. Did you buy it? Did you like it? Did you feel short-changed? Did you look at your collection and think - WOW! new product - can't wait to hear it and keep changing the disc every 5 minutes or so.......?