Nine Inch Nails versus Queen (seriously!)

My tape deck died this morning. I’ve got another but this one was really nice. Mighty disappointing indeed. Luckily, just prior to it’s death spasms, I managed to finish transferring some gems. In particular, I present to you, from a rather well done fan curated mixtape from the mid-nineties, two “lost” remixes by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame! These aren’t your average tracks either, these are unreleased Queen remixes! Yes, officially sanctioned remixes of two Queen classics done for their US label, the Disney owned Hollywood Records. Kind of shocking when you put those names together, but Rick Rubin did some ridiculously heavy remixes of We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. There is information as to additional remixes by other producers, although they appear to remain unreleased and don't seem to be circulating.

These mixes are clearly from the pre-Downward Spiral NIN days, but you can hear Trent’s touch all over the tracks. Stone Cold Crazy did see a promotional only release twice (see here and here), both times credited as Re-Produced by Trent Reznor, but Tie Your Mother Down was clearly passed on. Too bad, cause they’re both great remixes.

In case you’re wondering, I did transfer the whole mixtape which was named, kinda cheesily, Erase Me: The Tainted Touch Of Trent’s Caress, and features a number of rare remixes and a few unreleased tracks. None of this stuff, apart from the Queen mixes, should be considered overly rare by NIN fans or completests, but if anyone would like me to post the whole tape please let me know. It’s pretty great stuff and a lot of these mixes are pretty hard to find even by today’s standards.

One final word before downloading, if you’re expecting PERFECT sound quality, I’m sure you’ll be disappointed. These tracks are fresh transfers from a tape around fifteen years old that is probably a dub of a dub of another dub. That said, as far as I’m concerned these recordings don’t sound bad at all, but don’t expect exceptional digital clarity, it just isn’t there. It’s worth noting that some tracks on the mixtape sound better than others, making me wonder about the sources of the tracks used here, so it’s not just because of analog degradation to blame here. Remember, this was before everyone and anyone could easily record digitally on their most basic of computer systems.

Enjoy!


Nine Inch Nails versus Queen

01 Stone Cold Crazy
02 Tie Your Mother Down