Queen - The BASIC Bootlegs

Okay, here it is! Over the weekend I finally obtained a copy of the BASIC Bootlegs album and have been listening to it pretty regularly since. Before I go any further, if you're a Queen purist you're going to be majorly disappointed, whereas if you have a taste for the experimental you'll find this to be a fascinating excursion. As fascinating as this album is though, that alone couldn't save it from a fate of non-release and it makes a lot more sense after hearing what is assumed to be the near final product.

A track by track description of the album and the bonus tracks I've included follows below, but first I want to chat about the quality of the contents and the source of the tracks. Regarding the source, I purchased a download of two bootleg compilations assembled by a Queen fan that sells his CDs and DVDs via his website. Despite the fact I'm not a fan of bootleggers who charge exorbitant fees for material for which they don't own the rights, this person was very polite and even though I'm posting these tracks I'm leaving the remaining majority of the recordings from his collections out of circulation, at least by my hands. The majority of the tracks featured here were already available to collectors so I don't think I'm doing him any harm. With that said, the sources of these tracks is peculiar as many of the tracks' spectral data falls well below the full frequency range, generally inferring they're transcoded MP3s, but for the tracks that didn't receive official releases the ranges differ considerably and there is a large wall of empty background data behind the music, generally the first thing to disappear when an MP3 is created, so I have to assume these were either sourced from an unmastered copy of the album or transferred from a tape, though tape rips never sound this good so I have to assume it's the former, meaning these are probably ripped from one of the official CD-Rs that were issued as promos in 1999 by Hollywood Records. Of course this is all just a theory and I'm ready to proven wrong by anyone that knows better, and I know there are many that do, so please correct me if I'm wrong, I'll be happy to admit my fault.

yar, there be noise from the chyskillz remix!

Queen - The BASIC Bootlegs

01 We Will Rock You (Ruined by Rick Rubin)
This is the same version that appears on the officially released single. Definitely the better of Rick's two remixes, Chad Smith and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers add drums and bass respectively, while Brendan O'Brien gets a mix engineering credit and DJ Zulu Afrika Islam provides the scratches and cuts. As to who provides the additional guitar, they remain uncredited. Maybe a previously unused performance by Brian May? Regardless, Rick got it right by not removing the stomp-stomp-clap-pause from the original, only changing it a little.

02 Don't Try Suicide (Grandmaster Muggs Remix)
This is less a remix and more an original track with lots of samples from the original Don't Try Suicide. I've never heard Muggs rap so I can't tell you if that's him on vocals, but the whole track is rather peculiar since it sounds like something Cypress Hill would have done and Muggs' flow sounds very much like that of B-Real. I'd love to know if Cypress couldn't be cleared for the vocals so Muggs recorded B-Real's rhymes.

03 Another One Bites The Dust (Chyskillz Remix feat. Ice Cube, Hi-C & Chyskillz)
Like Muggs' remix, this is more an original recording, although this features even less of the original. Apart from the song's title being chanted repeatedly and the bass line running throughout, there is practically nothing in common between this and the original version. As for who is responsible for this mix, Chyskillz of Onyx fame mentions in the intro that they're going to remix this track in his style. Ice Cube, who generally gets the credit for this track when it's mentioned, only provides the first verse for which he doesn't even sound engaged.

04 Under Pressure (Mr. Mixx Remix)
I'll admit I'm not very familiar with the works of Mr. Mixx as I know him only through his association with the 2 Live Crew, but this sounds nothing like 2LC and was rather unexpected. It's more like a club track for a primitive rave party. Pretty damn cool!

05 We Are The Champions (Ruined by Rick Rubin)
Again, the same as the officially released single version. This works a little better after having listened to it several times but Rick definitely ruined this one more than he improved it. Chopping the vocals so they'd run in time with James Brown's Funky Drummer break was a good idea in theory, but it really doesn't pay off in execution. The credits on this one are the same as Rick's We Will Rock You remix.

06 Fat Bottomed Girls (Organized Konfusion Remix)
I have to assume Pharoahe Monch and Prince Po are fully responsible for this remix as they did most of their own production work in the early nineties. This isn't a bad remix or anything but it doesn't beat the original. Interestingly, a previously unreleased alternate take Freddie's vocals are used in this remix. Overall, this is simply an attempt to add a little bit of hip-hop rhythm to the song with OK rhyming about big booty beauties and how they can't say no to their charms.

07 Dragon Attack (Jack Benson Remix feat. R.A.K.)
This is the same remix that was released on the 91 reissue of The Game. As I wrote earlier, it's assumed that Jack Benson provided the remix and R.A.K. the rap, although I can't find any information about who R.A.K. might be and Benson's career, at least in the world of studio musicians, seems to have ended in the very early nineties. This isn't much of a description for this remix, but it sounds like the type of thing you might have heard in a Super Nintendo game circa 91, so think about it the next time you're playing Super Metroid or Castlevania IV.

08 Another One Bites The Dust (Phase 5 Dusted B-Boy Version feat. Raw Fusion)
On the promo CD featured at discogs, this mix is credited to Phase and Rave, whereas the reality is that this is merely an edit of the version that appeared on the BASIC beats sampler. Maybe Ogilvie edited this version, but otherwise it's Phase 5's same mix.

09 Stone Cold Crazy (Re-Produced by Trent Reznor)
Reznor's fantasticly overdriven remix still shines! Same as the version released on the promo single.

10 Dragon Attack (Dave "Rave" Ogilvie Instrumental Remix)
This doesn't seem like it should be here, but it kind of fits in at the same time. This is a rather straight remix of Dragon Attack, adding nothing new yet removing Freddie's vocals. The mix is kinda weak and removes a lot of the dynamics from the original version, to which I have to wonder why they didn't just use an instrumental of that version. While this is a bit of a disappointment, Dragon Attack is also one of those Queen tracks that could easily be sampled and turned into a monster hip-hop jam by a skilled producer, so in a twisted way it makes a lot of sense that they would have included an instrumental version of this track, much in the same way that James Brown's Funky Drummer was re-edited into a DJ friendly track for the In The Jungle Groove compilation.

bonus tracks:
Most of these appeared in the previous post of Queen remixes but I wanted to include them since they're from the same era as the above compilation and are thematically similar if not cut from the identical cloth.

11 Flash's Theme (Mista Lawnge Remix)
Mista Lawnge of Black Sheep fame provides this cut and scratch remix of the mostly instrumental Flash's Theme. This would have fit perfectly on the BASIC Bootlegs album so who knows why it wouldn't have been included.

12 Bicycle Race (Junior Vasquez Remix)
Less a club track and more of a polished hip-hop remix, Junior brings a solid remix that sounds great.

13 Another One Bites The Dust (Dave "Rave" Ogilvie Alternative Remix)
This rather odd remix was released on a Hollywood Records promo compilation named Freakshow, which is an oddly appropriate title in conjunction with this track. It sounds more like an exercise in industrial rock dynamics as there is a lot of distortion and not much attention paid to keeping the groove intact. I like it but it seems more like a throwaway.

14 Another One Bites The Dust (Phase 5 Long Dusted B-Boy Version feat. Raw Fusion)
The full version of the all over the place Phase 5 remix, it goes on for over ten minutes and features samples from all over the place. Is that a Captain Kangaroo sample I heard in there? This mix is so scattered it's ridiculous, but that's a lot of the fun of it. It sounds like an excuse to put every cool record you can think of into a crazy remix which is one of the great hallmarks of early hip-hop party remixes. The edit from the main album doesn't do it justice.

15 Seven Seas Of Rhye (Freddy Bastone Remix)
I don't know how involved the band was in approving the remixes intended for the BASIC Bootlegs album or the Hollywood Records reissues. If they were involved, one has to assume that they must have liked this particular track, with it's cheesy, early nineties house flavor, and hated a number of the more hip-hop oriented remixes. On the other hand, maybe they weren't involved at all the Bootlegs album didn't get released due to sample issues and guest clearances. Either theory may hold some water, but this track still somehow saw release. Everything great about early nineties house is turned into bad excuse for someone to use a generic rhythm loop and add twinkling piano. Maybe it had more charm in 91, but it's pretty dated now.

16 Tie Your Mother Down (Re-Produced by Trent Reznor)
This is the same version that has been circulating, although the source on this seems to be a bit clearer and fades out properly instead of cutting off. I figured the spectrals would look better but they look far worse than the version I uploaded previously. Regardless, Trent's minimal and funky remix is as good as ever. Someone should produce a bootleg 12" or 7" of both of his remixes and sell them to indie shops. That's the kind of bootleg that's worth purchasing!





By the way, here is a link to a pseudo-bootleg remix EP that Z-Trip and Murs made a few years ago. There are remixes of Prince's Kiss and Queen's We Will Rock You, both of which suck miserably, but the remix of Fat Bottomed Girls completely makes up for how bad they are. Get this and listen to the Fat Bottom Remix and prepare to be blown away by how stupid good it is!