I'd bet that it's been discussed before, but do we know why there's no full recording of Mad the Swine available? The first line is clearly cut, with 'I've been here before' truncated to 'Been here before'. It seems odd that this mistake is present on the officially released version (1991 CD bonus tracks).
"Been here before" isn't a strange line IMO. A line later in the song starts with the same phrasing - "three feet tall, so very small", not I'm three feet tall, I'm so very small".
CruellaDeVille wrote: I remember someone theorised that it was because it was originally coming directly after the drum fill of Great King Rat. Hmm.....
Indeed. If you search on here, you'll find something from John S Stuart where he says that, and goes into a bit more detail.
Queen
Line-up: Freddie Mercury (vocals), Brian May (guitar), Roger Meddows Taylor (drums), Deacon John (bass).
Recorded June – Nov 1972. Released 13th July 1973. Produced by John Anthony, Roy Thomas Baker & Queen at Trident Studios, London, for Neptune Productions. Engineered by Roy Thomas Baker, Mike Stone, Ted Sharpe & Dave Hertschel. Night Comes Down recorded by Louie Austin.
Mad The Swine
US 1991 3:23 Remix Queen: US 1991 Hollywood HR-61064-2
Original Trident Studio Version Unreleased:
(Roger Taylor & Roy Thomas Baker argued about the strength of drums in the final mix, so eventually dropped. Originally featured between Great King Rat & My Fairy King. 1991 release NOT a remix but a remaster).
When "Mad The Swine" safety master was flown out to Dave Richards in 1991, the band knew that it could not be "remixed" but it could be "enhanced" - ie a cleaner reproduction which could be EQ'd - but not classically "remixed". So it is the "same" version.
To make maters worse, and to show that "Mad The Swine" did come from the safety master (and not from the actual master mixes) the version we know and love has actually been cut by about one or two seconds.
Right at the end of "Great King Rat", Roger ends on a final drum solo (Roll?). This solo fades out to a stop, and "My Fairy King" starts with a clean guitar intro. You can hear this still - whatever version of the disc you have. But "Mad The Swine" used to sit between both before it was removed from the final album. What should have happened is that Roger's final drum solo was ever so slightly longer and it segued into "Mad The Swine".
Obviously to start the 1991 version of "Mad The Swine" with the final (bar?) beat of a faded drumroll sounded "incorrect" - but there was no way that this final beat could be removed. (If they had the master mixes this would have been no problem - but because it was from a safety master - it could not be "un-mixed" or removed).
So to overcome this problem, they simply "cut-out", the final drumbeat and edited "Mad The Swine" to start a second or so later. You can still hear this today - if you know what you are listening for.
The track should begin "I've been here before". (notice the word "I've"). But because the "tail" of the final "Great King Rat" segue coincided with "I've" - "I've" was cut from the final edit - so the song now begins "Been here before". (I think "I've been..." is the actual official lyric).
"Great King Rat" posed no such problem, because the track was faded out a second or so earlier - the segue did not exist.
Source: link
I have to ask another question.....
There's an "Oooh" at 2.12 (maybe 2.13) that sounds like a 1991 Freddie in comparison to the 1971 Freddie on the rest of it.... What does everyone else think? link
miraclesteinway wrote:
I have to ask another question.....
There's an "Oooh" at 2.12 (maybe 2.13) that sounds like a 1991 Freddie in comparison to the 1971 Freddie on the rest of it.... What does everyone else think?
link
His tone does sound a bit more solid and gruff on that line than on the rest of the song, but I don't think that's any reason to make the leap of assumption that it was a tiny and seemingly pointless overdub from twenty years later. Freddie generally sang with a lighter tone on the first couple albums, but that doesn't mean it's all he was capable of - indeed, he generally sang with power rather than delicacy in the live setting, even as early as 72-73.
mooghead wrote:
Miss John S Stuart and his encyclopaedic knowledge based on fact with no assumptions*
* I <---- missed this from the start of the sentence, sorry x
That's one thing you have in common with Mad the Swine.