2024 Queen Release Rumour Mill

It's like someone writing an autobiography, but in real time, so they keep adding to it! 😄

manymilesawaywrote: Perhaps this means that we'll be seeing this version as a bonus on whatever comes from Queen I?

Thanks for your post/info. I have the 2011 Universal reissue of Queen I which doesn't include the LLRT of KYA; that version was included on the ANATO reissue from the same reissue series, due to it having been recorded in 1975, the same year as 'Opera'. The 1991 Hollywood Records reissue of Queen I did include KYA - LLRT and I think it would be great to have it on a QI box set.

Ted

It's like someone writing an autobiography, but in real time, so they keep adding to it! 😄

Yeah, but Bowie was phoning it in for years by that point.

hmmm, a typical "Archivist" post.
Must be the only archivist in Christendom that doesn't know how many pages his own book has.

Is it 484, 464 or 400-500? C'mon GB.

I think the Queen catalogue NEEDS to be taken over by someone else for sure. A few minutes ago Greg Brooks just gave an update about the Queen ‘I want it all’ book and that it has now been delayed once again until next year! It’s so funny to me that they have all these “delays” constantly and the way they work has no consistency what so ever. But here is Greg’s very long explanation and mentions they have another album in the “pipeline” for an anniversary release.


“Hello Everyone

So… the ongoing saga of my I WANT IT ALL! Queen memorabilia book needs some explanation again…

I’d like to add my own frustration, to yours, at the news Omnibus Press put out last Thursday, that they've reluctantly put back the publication of the book, one final time, to early next year. There are good reasons behind that difficult decision, but even so it’s hugely frustrating for many of you and I’m genuinely sorry for anyone who’s annoyed by this. I hope this information (much of it new) helps a bit…

I must first tell you that the book is extremely close to completion, so much so that I can tell you exactly how many pages the main chapters span (SEE BELOW). The pages look amazing. I’m hugely impressed by what I see and hope that you will be too.

Though we expected to release the book this year, we’ve had to put it back to early next year largely because I could not guarantee the band approving it in time. It’s 484 pages, showing a thousand+ items as well as Introductory text and lots of captions, so the band could in theory ask for changes that span only weeks, or several months. They may want certain parts of it restructured or even removed. That crucial aspect is unpredictable, as is the printing and shipping processes in these difficult times. For these reasons, the publisher has given themselves some extra breathing space in case there are any such issues. Hopefully, the book will be Queen-approved quickly, and then off to be pressed in quick time too. Then I’ll share the definite release date with you and we can begin to organize some fan-hosted simultaneous launch events.

I would like to share this thought with you if I may. It would ordinarily be the case that the public wouldn’t know about a book until it was just about to be published. In some respects I wish it were the case that I hadn't mentioned this project yet, thus avoiding the frustrations we’ve had, and I dare say some of you feel the same way, but of course that wasn’t possible with this project because such a large proportion of it is contributions from fans and collectors around the world. If I had kept this book quiet until now, I could not have appealed for fans to send me photos of their rarest, most interesting and significant posters, records and worldwide treasures (which hundreds of people did respond to, and continue to), and the book would now feature only Brian's collection. Though that would have been a decent book, running to 400-500 pages, there would have been masses of missing collectables, all very beautiful, all significant and historically interesting, and that would have been intolerable. I really could not do that.

It has been irritating to many fans to see IWIA delayed something six or seven times now, and I too am upset that it's taken so much longer than originally planned. However, I remind myself that the book has grown vastly during its long and enthralling development, in so many unforeseen ways. It was originally going to be ONE book of 340 pages, but then, as most of you know, it snowballed into a mighty THREE volume monster. And, if those volumes are successful, I plan to end with a volume FOUR, covering the equally magnificent solo work – so that you truly do have IT ALL! The page total will be close to 2,000 by then, and will constitute the most ambitious focus on any music artist’s history of memorabilia, ever attempted.

From my perspective, I always wanted to offer the definitive work, and I believe we have – as close as that is possible, I mean, given that Queen is still a functioning band that relentlessly generates new memorabilia, merchandise, and collectible artefacts, every month (most of which I’ll squeeze into Vol III). None of this would have been possible without the help of so many brilliant Queen fans, friends and collectors, of course, and it also wouldn't have been possible to do in just one book.

Queen never ever compromised in their work, and I refused to do so with this project. The publisher felt the same way. Every single item that a fan sent me, that I said would feature over the trilogy, does feature, and every one of those dedicated contributors has been rightly thanked in the credits. In fact, I saw the designed Acknowledgements spread last week and there are so many people, that it spans two entire pages. It makes for fascinating reading and is, in its own little way, an insight into how many people contributed and what territories in the world are represented. In some ways, the Acknowledgements are a mini history of the book, as well as a Who’s Who of Queen Experts past and present. I have included the fans and friends that are sadly no longer with us.

A point of trivia now, that may or may not be of interest: I designed the two-page Acknowledgements spread around three central (‘Works’ theme) linked mechanical cogs, as a recognition all of us likeminded fans collectively working together for the very best end result possible. Each cog is integral to the project, for if any one of them should fail, the entire project fails and grinds to a halt. The machine cannot work unless every tiny part works in unison. That is how I’ve felt from the moment I requested your assistance and the very first fans contributed beloved Queen gems to the project, just to be part of it and just to make it as great as it can be.

Ok, so…. Here’s where we’ve ended up with I WANT IT ALL! Volume 1...

The 464 full colour pages includes eight 4-page fold-out spreads. These spreads open out to be 100 cm wide (a full metre of memorabilia), and 31 cm high, and show for example all the Queen album and single picture discs together for the first time, all the coloured vinyl discs together, all the Japanese LPs and 7”s singles together, as well as a full focus on the wonderful Japanese Music Life magazines and posters, since 1974. One of these 4-pagers shows the handwritten lyrics for every song on a certain Queen album, including its non-album single B-side and even an unreleased song from the original sessions.

To give you an idea of scale; the News Of The World album chapter, and related singles, spans 50 pages on its own, while Jazz covers 40, Opera 28 and Races 38. The Miracle, Magic, Game and Heaven all have 30 pages, while Queen and Queen II span 22 pages each. Innuendo is 28 pages, and Hot Space, 26.

Thank you for your continued patience and support for this project. I hope you’re able to stick with it, with the feeling that generally the best things in life are worth the wait.

…Think of it like Queen’s original studio session outtakes, that you always wanted to hear but never thought you would. For decades, it seemed like they’d never materialize in our lifetimes, but ultimately they did. First came some great stuff on the 2011 Universal bonus CDs, then an entire disc of News Of The World outtakes in 2017, and the same for The Miracle, and another album is in the pipeline too. So… these things DO come and ARE worth the wait… in my humble opinion. But, I say again, genuine apologies for this unavoidable final delay. It’s like the global disclosure of extraterrestrial life abundant in the universe, and even here on Earth: It’s very close now!”