Queen
At The Beeb

THE REVIEW

Everyone knows Queen by now, who doesn't know them? However, not everyone knows that before debuting with the album Queen, our heroes had recorded some demos for the program "Sound of The 70's" that would later come to life on the debut albums Queen and Queen II. Some of these demos, actually, those that could be improved in quality, were included in an album, WHICH IS NOT A BOOTLEG, but an official album: Queen At The Beeb (called in the USA Queen At The BBC).

This album features eight demos, of which the first 4 were recorded on February 5th, 1973, and the other 4 on December 3rd of the same year. The differences between the versions on this album and those released in the debut albums are, in some aspects, different, with fewer arrangements (logically, they are all recorded live) and with some changes. "My Fairy King" opens the album and is almost identical to the version on Queen I. "Keep Yourself Alive," apart from some word changes at the end of the chorus, is practically identical to the original version. "Doing All Right" is the same, except in the last verse, where it's not Freddie singing, but Roger. "Liar" is practically identical to the original, except for some changes in the middle part (the one that goes "Mama I'm Gonna Be Your Slave"). "Ogre Battle" is the only demo from Queen II taken on this album, but it is shortened in the first part, too damaged to be remastered (just listen to it in the bootleg Golden Demos to understand why...).
The rest is almost identical to the final version, with a Freddie, however, with a subdued voice compared to the appearances of the early 70s, as it seems he has a cold when singing this song, but this effect can be heard in practically all the songs on this album. "Great King Rat" doesn't have the stereo effects and is much more similar to the live version. "Modern Times Rock'n'Roll" is the one that differs a bit more from the final version, as it is longer and more heavy metal.
So, we arrive at the song that is most different from the final version, that is, "Son & Daughter," where the first part is almost identical (but "shovel shit" is replaced by "shovel it"...) to the version on Queen I, but after the 2nd verse, there's an instrumental part of almost 5 minutes that turns out to be very boring in certain parts, with unnecessary extremes from May, in which more than ever he shows a big weak point of his: long solos, which turn out to be monotonous, bland even if not bad. In reality, the solo is in the style of "Blag" (a song by Smile), which will then be included and modified in "Brighton Rock." Then the first verse starts again (with the usual censored "shovel shit" which for the record means "shovel shit") and then there's a thrilling final part, with Taylor's tolling and perpetual drums accompanying this epic conclusion! This version will be used in live performances.

Queen At The Beeb is penalized by the lack of knowledge (at least among non-Queen fans) of the original songs and the poor advertising it received, but also by the idea, which isn't bad, but that perhaps would have deserved a repetition with other demos (but bootlegs have thought of that to solve the situation!).