Someone please remind me...
Just WHAT was it about the original 7" pic sleeve for Hammer To Fall that Brian didn't like? He was the reason it was pulled and replaced with the generic-looking red sleeve, right?
I ask because I just came across a pic of the original sleeve and, to me, it looks fantastic! So I'm curious as to why exactly it was pulled.
If memory serves me correctly, the argument was that the public would think live sleeve = live single, when in fact it was the studio version. So to avoid any confusion, the red sleeve came into play.
If I remember correctly reading somewhere on Queenmuseum.com, a fan got his 12" HTF lieve sleeve signed by Brian and asked him why he didn't like the sleeve. He responded that it wasn't the he thought people would think it was a live version instead of a studio version but because the photographer who took the pic on the live sleeve was not a licensed Queen photographer, so they would have to pay him royalties to use the picture for the sleeve.