AOTM: Queen Releasing a Set of 25 Albums -- in Italy

British rock group Queen in concert, from left to right; Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 – 1991), John Deacon, and Brian May. Original Publication: People Disc – HU0463 (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

Queen has fifteen studio albums, nine live albums, numerous nominations, and an equally impressive list of awards. The band, which formed in 1970 in London, was influenced by progressive rock, hard rock, and rock. Their music jumps across a number of genres from rock to pop with each garnering chart-topping status. Celebrating that history, the band is releasing a vinyl collection of 25 albums; however, it’s a limited release reserved for Italy, and leaves out a lot of fans from across the globe.

Posted on their official site this week, Queen announced the release of the collection and highlighted what it entails. This 25 album release is only going to be available online and at newsagents in Italy. Additionally, it is going to be released one vinyl album at a time with a magazine full of stories from the band, “Each album is accompanied by an illustrated 8-page magazine containing the stories behind the group’s renowned recordings. With notes by Queen archivist and writer Greg Brooks (in consultation with Queen publicist Phil Symes and longtime expert fan Jim Jenkins), each issue reveals fascinating details about the creation of the album, including the poignant recording sessions for the last two albums with Freddie, and the key tracks therein, and features quotes and insights from all four members of the band, as well as rare photos, record sleeves and poster art (Queen.com).” The collection is also rounded out with six live albums. Queen The Vinyl Collection has these albums:

A Kind Of Magic
A Night At The Opera
Queen
Innuendo (2LP)
Queen II
Made In Heaven (2LP)
The Miracle
Greatest Hits (2LP)
Sheer Heart Attack
Live Killers (2LP)
Greatest Hits II (2LP)
A Day At The Races
Live At The Rainbow ’74 (2LP)
The Works
Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl (3LP)
News Of The World
Greatest Hits III (2LP)
The Game
Live At Wembley Stadium (3LP)
Hot Space
Queen Rock Montreal (3LP)
Flash Gordon
A Night At The Odeon (2LP)
Jazz
On Air (3LP)

This collection is a fan’s dream come true, especially considering it contains exclusive information about the creative process behind each individual album; however, the extremely limited release leaves out a lot of fans worldwide. Perhaps, it is a test run to see how well the album collection will do before expanding it internationally. At this point, it’s purely speculation on the reason behind such a limited release, but encouraging as well because fans can anticipate a new collection from Queen in the near future. Fans in Italy will be the only ones enjoying every tasty morsel of this ultimate collection for the time being.

Queen is releasing a 25 album collection accompanied by detailed stories from band members. Unfortunately, the collection is currently only being offered in Italy, and fans in the rest of the world will need to wait in anticipation to see if Queen will open this collection up internationally.

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