Yes, it's coming out in a few weeks time! And it's no simple remastering either.
Freddie Mercury's vision for Barcelona (the entire album, not just the song) was to have the music performed by an orchestra, however budget constraints - mostly due to the fact his label refused to release it feeling it was destined to be a major flop, forcing them to find a smaller label - meant that the aside from Freddie and Montserrat Caballe's vocals, the music could only come from synthesisers and drum machines courtesy of Mike Moran.
Finally, this unfortunate blemish has been exorcised, and this remastering will have the original music replaced with that of an 80-piece orchestra. I've heard some of the previews and I must say, it sounds immense. You can view the preview video of the title song here, and you can also click here for a mini-documentary about the process of remastering the album.
This album is actually a beautiful marriage of rock and opera, and is vastly superior, in my opinion, to the more recent "popera" acts. Not only this, but it features some of the greatest songwriting of Freddie's career (and this is saying something!), with songs such as Guide Me Home, How Can I Go On and La Japonaise truly showing Mercury's lyrical depth in a way not seen since Queen's early days. Such a shame that these songs were mostly forgotten.
Definitely worth checking out the previews on iTunes to get an impression, it sounds like a real triumpth! Fingers-crossed the album finally gets the admiration it deserves.
Freddie Mercury's vision for Barcelona (the entire album, not just the song) was to have the music performed by an orchestra, however budget constraints - mostly due to the fact his label refused to release it feeling it was destined to be a major flop, forcing them to find a smaller label - meant that the aside from Freddie and Montserrat Caballe's vocals, the music could only come from synthesisers and drum machines courtesy of Mike Moran.
Finally, this unfortunate blemish has been exorcised, and this remastering will have the original music replaced with that of an 80-piece orchestra. I've heard some of the previews and I must say, it sounds immense. You can view the preview video of the title song here, and you can also click here for a mini-documentary about the process of remastering the album.
This album is actually a beautiful marriage of rock and opera, and is vastly superior, in my opinion, to the more recent "popera" acts. Not only this, but it features some of the greatest songwriting of Freddie's career (and this is saying something!), with songs such as Guide Me Home, How Can I Go On and La Japonaise truly showing Mercury's lyrical depth in a way not seen since Queen's early days. Such a shame that these songs were mostly forgotten.
Definitely worth checking out the previews on iTunes to get an impression, it sounds like a real triumpth! Fingers-crossed the album finally gets the admiration it deserves.
what a magnificent song!
