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!

Hollywood BASIC: BASIC beats sampler

If you're not familiar with Hollywood BASIC, lets take a moment to discuss this anomaly of the early nineties hip-hop scene. Generally recognized as the brainchild of Dave "Funken" Klein, a writer and purveyor of hip-hop culture, the label was home to Organized Konfusion, a young DJ Shadow, Digital Underground associates Raw Fusion, African hip-hop duo Zimbabwe Legit, rapper Charizma and his partner Peanut Butter Wolf, real-life convicts the Lifers Group and the South Central soundtrack.

Everyone should know who Organized Konfusion are, as well as DJ Shadow, and Raw Fusion, consisting of Money B and DJ Fuze, had a few moments in the spotlight, though it's understandable you might not be familiar with Lifers Group or Zimbabwe Legit. As for Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf, their only releases via BASIC were a flexi-disc given away with an issue of Bomb Hip-Hop magazine and a promotional cassette, both featuring a single track, although those tracks and much more eventually gained official releases years later on Stones Throw Records.

Hollywood BASIC was a sister label to Hollywood Records which was distributed by Elektra in the early nineties, so their distribution was pretty good all things considered and a lot of their singles got played on Yo! MTV Raps, but video play never necessarily translates into record sales and a lot of the label's releases slipped into obscurity. Now, if you're wondering how an early nineties hip-hop powerhouse like Elektra, what with it's major label distribution via Warner Bros., could fail at selling artists with easy cred like Organized Konfusion and Raw Fusion, it should be noted who the Hollywood labels owners were, and that would be an entertainment entity that while amazingly successful rarely sold much of anything with an edge, and when they attempted to do generally failed miserably, and that wonderous entity would be...

Disney

The people that signed the Insane Clown Posse without realizing how stupid an idea that was from the start, the people that canceled the Insane Clown Posse album after it had been sent to retail, the people that would sign any group as detestable as the Insane Clown Posse and drop them without at least imagining the amount of money they could have made despite having a track record for doing things of that sort to begin with, that's Hollywood Records and they're owned by Disney. They also signed a lot of interesting acts that had plenty of credibility and talent like the Butthole Surfers, Danzig, Indigo Girls, Sparta, Big Kenny of Big & Rich, The Dead Milkmen, Fishbone and Fastball among many others, although I bet most people had no idea any of these groups and artists had anything to do with this label which seems to be cursed by its association with its parent entity. Their biggest act was arguably Queen, for which they purchased their catalog rights and proceeded to reissue their albums in the US, often with bizarre practices like including vaguely altered remixes of album tracks as bonuses and funding countless producers to create stylistically divergent remixes, most of which have never seen the light of day with only a handful having been issued via promotional releases.

Anyway, Hollywood BASIC, apart from suffering the Disney curse, was dealt a death blow when Dave "Funken" Klein lost his battle with cancer, and the label disappeared completely in the mid nineties with several unreleased records in its archives including the unreleased Queen remix compilation, the hip-hop themed BASIC Bootlegs. The label truly had it's heart in the right place though, as is evident from the amazing BASIC beats sampler. Alongside tracks from all of the artists on the label's roster, barring Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf, you also get a cross section of bizarre interludes including angry messages from members of Lifers Group, Rick Rubin singing badly, someone getting really pissed off about Milli Vanilli and lots of other oddities. It reminds me of what is generally becoming a lost era of hip-hop, the crazy early nineties when bizarre interludes and general confusion was accepted and encouraged, making things very "interesting"!

If you love hip-hop, you'll love this. Seriously, just grab this and enjoy it, there isn't anything else that needs to be said!


Hollywood BASIC: BASIC beats sampler

01 You've Reached BASIC
02 Organized Konfusion - The Rough Side Of Town (South Side)
03 Niz-Nuts
04 Lifers Group - The Real Deal (Shadow Remix)
05 Women's Bathroom
06 Raw Fusion - Rockin' To The P.M. (Oaktown Homies Remix)
07 Rick Sings
08 Queen - We Will Rock You (Ruined by Rick Rubin)
09 Zimbabwe's In The House
10 Zimbabwe Legit - Rhymin' Wit The African Symphony
11 Bomba Fleur
12 Last Acustic Remains - untitled
13 Hank Love
14 Hello
15 Raw Fusion - Throw Your Hands In The Air
16 Ass Out The Bed
17 Lifers Group - Belly Of The Beast
18 Report The BASICs
19 Queen - Another One Bites The Dust (Long Dusted B-Boy Version)
20 Rockbarry
21 Organized Konfusion - Open Your Eyes
22 Money Back
23 Shadow - BASIC Mega-Mix


So, now that you've got this, anyone got a copy of that Queen BASIC Bootlegs album? From what I understand, it is circulating among Queen fans but is generally looked at as heresy since there are a lot of rappers making guest appearances. It's got production from DJ Muggs, Dave "Rave" Ogilvie, Trent Reznor, Rick Rubin, Mr. Mixx and appearances from Ice Cube and Money B. Apparently a David Cohen and Femi Jiya remix of The Miracle was also made for it but wouldn't have made the cut. You can see a little more about it here. So, anyone wanna have pity on me so I can share it with everyone else?



On a final note, there was yet another short-lived sister label of Hollywood Records, Hollywood METAL, their rock and, uh, metal label. Apart from promotional appearances by a few of that label's artists, there were no releases by the METAL label. Once again, how are you supposed to do business as a respectable label when the mouse is clearly holding the reigns?