i'm a relatively new fan and i was considering dishing out for the freddie box set but before i buy it i just wanted u guys to give ur reviews of it if you have it, just so i know what i'm in for
well imo !! its fucking great well worth the money for what you get, the quality of the cd's is top notch imo (im waiting to b slated lol) and theres loads of demos plus interviews, but the big glossy book is fab its got some great pics in from freddies career, plus of course the dvd's the vids collection + the untold story(doc)
Ernie-
This is a no brainer... you want to own the box set of the greatest rock entertainer ever?
So what's the question?
Make sure you have your Queen collection under control first, then grab the FM box set.
This isn't a rule in stone....
But I feel you need to have a grasp of masterpieces such as Queen 2, A Night At the Opera, A Day at the Races..etc..etc before you can fully appreciate "Barcelona" for example.
If you like Freddie's solo work - buy it without any doubts, but if you're not much into music that he did out of Queen - don't buy it. Depends on your taste actually. Not all Queen fans like 'Mr Bad Guy' and 'Barcelona'.
My personal point of view is - the great collection of Freddie's music!
If you want a longer-winded, more in-depth opinion, send me an email if you want.
As is, I gave it 3 1/2 stars of 5, mostly due to price, which was $200 USD at the time of its release.
There's some terrific ext versions of Barcelona, MIH, LMLTNTomorrow, the nonalbum B-sides and ext versions, Brian playing lead on SBH&C, the instrumentals, IWBTLYou and YKOL without the annoying disco bass and drum kit, certain Barcelona tracks minus Montserrat's vocals that are superb, unfinished demo tracks of never released songs, the DVD, the book....but it also has TGP CD and the LOMO remixes that Freddie didn't have a thing to do with.
(How odd that this was not released by Hwood Records, yet they used TGP CD and not The FM album CD and sleeve)
I recall a Mark May on alt.music.queen a couple of years back. He made a list of around twenty various recordings that were NOT included in the box set. (ie the LP versions of 'Love Is The Hero' and 'Lady With A Tenor Sax' with Billy Squier, to name but a few).
So, it wasn't ALL inclusive as promised.
The book is terrific, but most (if not all) of the pix are now available on the web.
Did we enjoy it? Yup. Do we still? Yup. Did we pay too much at the time? Yup.
One more thing....a word to the wise: so many people immediately burned copies for themselves, so as not to scratch the originals. Some of these deviants have then sold the copies and kept the originals. Make sure you ask any seller what type of disks you are receiving.
Oh you should DEFINITLY buy it. Easily the best purchase I have ever made. All of his solo stuff, interviews, rarities, demo's, The Untold Story DVD, and a huge book with loads of photo's. On sale in HMV for £99.99 instead of something like £125.00.
I agree with Scott that listening to the maximum Queen output and then sampling Fred's solo stuff before the FM boxset was a good thing to do.
I was one of those that didn't buy it straight away and instead waited a long time before I found some great offers. I got my set for £55, which is roughly $100 these days.
It's certainly a nice set with some interesting features that should interest most. You might find some straggling around on Ebay.
Hey, look what I found - link
Peace,
Adam.
I want to know if theres a part of the boxset that contains all the barcelona alum without the vocals FM and MC. And if they could be used as for karaoke use or to record your own vocals over it?
Even at the time of release, it was value for money. $200 may be a lot, but 10 CDs and 2 DVDs, plus a large book would cost more than that separately.
The Jackson tracks are not on it, New York & some Barcelona instrumentals are.
It's not perfect, but if the Queen boxes were as good, I'd be satisfied. Well, maybe!
here is the list of wots on the instumentals cd..i hope it helps.
01 - Barcelona
02 - La Japonaise
03 - The fallen priest
04 - Ensueno
05 - The golden boy
06 - Guide me home
07 - How can I go on
08 - Love me like there's no tomorrow
09 - Made in heaven
10 - Mr Bad Guy
11 - There must be more to life than this
12 - In my defence
13 - The great pretender
oh i know i should get my queen collection under control first but i've just been so tempted to jump the gun and go ahead and buy the box set...i will take ur advice though
but the general consensus seems to be that it's missing some things, it's is a bit over priced but still well worth it am i right?
It's not one for Queen fans who "kind of" like Queen, you've got to really know your stuff, and there's no Queen on it, so there'll be no interesting out-takes and all that stuff, but it's a fascinating insight into what Freddie got up to outside the band, and the interviews are great, the videos are great, but Mr Bad Guy is a bit rubbish.The Barcelona album makes it all worthwhile I think, it's bloody amazing!