Queen - Rare Cuts Vol. 1-6 (2011-2012) {6CD, Remastered, Japan}

Rare Cuts Vol. 1 is the first release of a new Queen-dedicated label Master Stroke. Like QDA a decade ago, their initial efforts focus upon collecting upgrades of very common material and mixing up with much more rare tracks.

Much of the disc is occupied with songs from the BBC sessions which have been released countless times before including “Ogre Battle,” “Liar,” “Modern Times Rock N Roll,’ “Son And Daughter,” “Keep Yourself Alive,” “Stone Cold Crazy,” “See What A Fool I’ve Been,” “Now I’m Here” and “White Queen (As It Began).”

Other tracks are more interesting, such as the three “original remaster mixes.” The first, “Brighton Rock,” features a strange different beginning, a heavily edited guitar solo, Freddie counting off in the middle, and Brian asking “how was that” after the song ends. The lyrics, melody and structure of the piece is intact, but the feel is much more raw and aggressive than the official version on Sheer Heart Attack.

“Killer Queen” is much closer to the studio version. It is the same vocal performance, same drums and rhythm. This take is missing some of the backing vocals and guitar ornaments in the verses.

The third “original remaster mix is “Bohemian Rhapsody” from A Night At The Opera. It features the same piano and vocal performance with the same lyrics. But there are different effects on Freddie’s voice in the first section. The opera middle is the same except the effects and volume on the different voices. In the third part, one measure is omitted from May’s initial guitar solo and the volume is raise on the piano. There is incomprehensible studio chatter at the song’s end.

“In The Lap Of The Gods…revisited” is taken from the UK Digital Master Sampler Promo CD (EMI 1994). The final exploding effect is somewhat cut from the track.

“Funny How Love Is” and “Flick Of The Wrist” are the common single edits. “Funny How Love Is” is taken from the Japanese 3″ CD single of “Seven Seas Of Rhye” and is only true stand-alone mix of the song. It starts with a piano chord and percussion background and ends like the Digital Master Sampler version with a fade out. The other attempts at a stand alone edit include the final chord from “March Of The Black Queen.”

“Flick Of The Wrist” is the basic studio track which starts without the transition from “Tenement Funster” but instead a slightly shortened piano opening and ends with the “baby you’ve been had” lyrics and a drawn out guitar chord. This version was released on the Japan 3″ CD single “Killer Queen” in 1991 and the 2008 UK Singles Collection Vol. 1.

The stand along version of “Love Of My Life” is simply the studio cut without the transition from “The Prophet’s Song.”

The final track “Carnival” is a one minute-seven second instrumental track that was used for the intro to “Brighton Rock” on Sheer Heart Attack. You can hear the circus music and some mutterings in the crowd. There is no Queen music in it, but it’s interesting to hear nonetheless.

Rare Cuts Vol. 1 is a curious mix of common and truly rare (on silver disc) tracks presented in excellent sound quality. It is the first release from Master Stroke, a new Queen label, which hopefully will continue to press onto silver Queen rarities.

All good releases require a sequel and the Master Stroke label followed up their initial release with Rare Cuts Vol. 2. Just like the first, the second volume anthologizes the rare tracks from Queen’s career, this time A Night At The Opera in 1975 through Jazz in 1978.

The first track is a “piano” version of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” All the instruments are removed from the track except for the piano. The vocal performance is the same as found on A Night At The Opera with some difference in the mix during the middle “opera” section. Mixes like this are beneficial in focusing upon a specific part of a song, and this one is good for emphasizing Freddie’s actual vocal delivery of the studio cut.

The narrative in the song has always been mysterious. Why did his momma shoot a man? Why did she pull “my” trigger? Why does he have to leave and “face the truth?” But the vocals have enough passion and conviction to gloss over its vagaries.

The rest of the tracks are culled from official releases that can be easily found. “Fat Bottomed Girls” is the Malouf mix from the 1991 Hollywood remaster of Jazz. It has some phasing added to the vocals and guitar and drum effects, and has slightly different lyrics at the end when Freddie sings “them dirty ladies get me every time.”

“Tie Your Mother Down” is another remix from the 1991 Hollywood edition of Queen’s catalogue. Minor vocal effects added to Freddie’s lead vocal and some lead guitar removed. The differences are minor but are effective. It is followed by another 1991 remix “I’m In Love With My Car.” This version starts with a vocal phased intro of the band singing “I’m in love with my car” with engine sound effects and goes into the normal drum/piano intro. The same chorus is used at the end.

“Death On Two Legs” is called “The eYe Version,” taken from the EA videogame released in 1998. The game uses a forty-second clip, but this track is a three minute long edit without the lead vocals. This version is very good at emphasizing the diabolic piano melody Freddie composed for the tune. It’s the product of a very angry mind and shows how vicious (in music) he could be.

It’s followed by another 1991 Hollywood remix. “You’re My Best Friend” from A Night At The Opera sounds almost identical to the regular studio cut. Freddie’s vocal is a bit louder, but otherwise there is nothing interesting about it.

The Trent Reznor remix of “Stone Cold Crazy” was released on a three track promo CD and the Hollywood Records Freakshow promo sampler CD among others. It’s a great remix, sounding close to NIN circa the Broken EP, a mix between the Queen song and “Happiness In Slavery.” Reznor thrown in some samples from “Sheer Heart Attack” and studio sound bites such as Freddie saying “that should have been a good take” at the end.

“Sweet Lady” is simply the live version from the famous Hyde Park performance in 1976 and is taken from the DVD Classic Albums: The Making Of A Night At The Opera. This take isn’t available on any official CD.

The demo for “You Take My Breath Away” is a simple run-through with Freddie on piano. It’s followed by the last 1991 Hollywood Records remix in the collection. “Somebody To Love” has little touches here and there, but nothing too significant or interesting.

“Fight From The Inside” from News Of The World is taken from The eYe. It’s a three minute long instrumental track showcasing the bizarre rhythms of the track. It’s followed by the 1977 BBC version of “We Will Rock You.” This version incorporates both the “slow” track and the “fast” arrangement, with Roger Taylor reading from Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha as a bridge.

“Get Down, Make Love,” another track from News Of The World, is simply a more raw mix of the studio track. It lasts fifteen seconds longer, has less reverb and affects in the verses, and ends with Freddie’s “love,” a period of silence, and a cymbal crash instead of only Freddie’s “love” like the official version.

“Feelings, Feelings” is a Brian May written outtake from the News Of The World sessions and two takes are in current circulation. Take number ten was included on the 2011 re-release of the album, so Master Stroke offer take nine. It starts off with studio chatter saying “number nine” in the same intonation as John Lennon on “Revolution #9″ from The Beatles. Thought to be from earlier in their career, it’s a basic and enjoyable rock number.

“More Of That Jazz” from is taken from The eYe game. It’s a simple instrumental without vocals and the snippets of the other songs found on the studio cut. It starts off with the opening guitar chords instead of the lazy drum beat, but otherwise is the same as found on Jazz.

“It’s Late” dates from the October 1977 BBC radio session. Found on countless bootlegs, it’s is a strange edit of the studio cut and the ecstasy middle of “Get Down, Make Love.”

“Sheer Heart Attack” is an edit found on the Queen Rocks VHS release. It’s almost identical to the News Of The World mix except missing some of the guitar effects. It’s followed by the High Definition mix of “Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)” found on Jewels II and Japan 2008 In Vision.

The final track in this collection is a semi-instrumental version of “We Are The Champions.” Freddie’s vocals from the verses is missing, but the chorus of “we are the champions” is intact. It’s interesting and a nice addition, but not very revealing.

Overall Rare Cuts Vol. 2 is a good release, but not very ground breaking. Almost all of these tracks can be found in other collections in similar sound quality. We could assume that other volumes, covering their eighties and nineties output, will be forth coming and hopefully will have actual rarities making it worth having.

The third volume of the Rare Cuts series on Master Stroke presents rarities from 1977 to 1982 from News Of The World to Hot Space. Not only is the their peak in popularity, but also a peak in their experimentation with other musical styles and with flirtations with many and various fashion statements. None of the tracks on this disc are new, but it is a nice compilation of the rarities floating around in different forms.

Rare Cuts Vol. 3 has three a capella tracks that sound like they are derived from the Rock Band video game, “We Are The Champions,” “Play The Game” and “Calling All Girls.” These have been floating around for several years and are very limited in appeal. While it’s interesting to hear Freddie’s melodramatic intonation, there isn’t much really of value.

“We Will Rock You,” the “fast” arrangement from Nippon Budokan, 1979 and “Dreamers Ball” live from the Pavillon de Paris, 1979 both come from the bonus online only streaming for the 2009 Absolute Greatest collection. Both are excellent and exciting to have on compact disc. There are eighteen total tracks ranging from 1974 to 1986 (the bulk of Queen’s live career) and it would be great to have them all on compact disc (not that we’re greedy or anything).

Master Stroke also include three “ultra 12″ remixes” of “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Another One Bites The Dust” and “Under Pressure.” The first two are very long, averaging about eight minutes, are are simply the commercial versions of the tracks with instrumental introductions and interludes taken from the songs. They’re fun for dancing, but ultimately aren’t very creative.

But the third “Under Pressure” is quite creative. Lasting 4:44, it features the song set to a disco beat and with variations of David Bowie’s and Freddie’s vocals ripped from other parts of the song. According to Queen Vault there are at least eleven remixes of this track, making it one of the most popular. This version demonstrates how great the song is for the clubs with yet another nice version to dance to.

The interesting tracks include the demos for The Game and Hot Space. “Save Me,” one of Queen’s more underrated tunes, is represented with two separate demos. The “synthesizer” demo starts with a count-in before the track. The grand piano is missing and is replaced by a synthesizer playing the melody, vocal and bass parts. An electronic drum machine keeps the beat. The following vocal demo is a bona fide studio outtake and not a Rock Band style isolated track. It is a minute long tape featuring Freddie singing the song over the instrumental track.

“Sandbox” dates from the 1979 sessions for The Game at Musicland Studio in Munich. It is a heavy instrumental track featuring piano, bass and drums. Brian May doesn’t’ appear on the track (perhaps this was an impromptu jam session while Freddie, Roger and John were waiting). There are occasional vocals, but nothing coherent. This track first surfaced in 2004 at the Queen Fan Club convention. Recorded straight from the audience, the track was marred by Greg Brooks repeating “Property Of Queen Productions” throughout, but thankfully this version has that edited out.

“The Hero Flash Gordon” is taken from the closing credits of the film. It is the same recording as found on the soundtrack but slightly sped up and with additional shouts from Freddie. It’s followed by the excellent five minute promo remix for “Staying Power.” It’s basically the same track from Hot Space but with additional guitars.

Following “Staying Power” are three demos from Hot Space. “Las Palabras De Amor,” clocking in at 4:20, is quite similar to the commercial take but seems more basic. It also omits the ten second build-up to the song, replacing it with a short drum intro, and contains several lyric changes.

“Action This Day” is also quite similar to the official version except for some changes in the mix. The synthesizer solo at 2:19 is noticeably different and slightly longer. The backing vocals after the horn solo are missing and there are slight changes in the lyrics. It’s been rumored that a demo with Taylor singing exists in the vaults, but it has yet to see the light of day. And for “Back Chat,” the obvious difference is Taylor’s heavy drum solo ninety seconds into the song is omitted, leaving only the normal beat.

Ultimately, this is another nicely assembled collection of Queen artifacts that are nice to have enshrined on silver disc and is worth having.

The fourth volume of Master Stroke’s six volume Queen Rare Cuts series documents remixes of tracks from Hot Space through A Kind Of Magic. It starts off with a “naked” remix of “Under Pressure.” It sounds like the basic album cut, but Freddie’s and David Bowie’s vocals are pushed to the center of the mix. The piano and guitar are also highlighted and the famous bass line is pushed deeper into the mix.

The next eight tracks are variations from The Works, recorded in Los Angeles and released in 1984. The extended remix of “Radio Ga Ga” can also be found on The Works Hollywood Remaster released in 1991, the 12" vinyl and 12" Collection CD. It reaches almost seven minutes and has several instrumental interludes not found on the regular studio cut.

“Keep Passing The Open Windows” is the extended version found on the UK “Thank God It’s Christmas” 12" vinyl. The song is identical to the version found on The Works until the final two minutes where it goes into a strange section of synthesizer loops and sound effects including Freddie’s “yeah” repeated over and over again. It’s followed by a rare mix of “It’s A Hard Life” missing the piano. Brian May’s guitar takes a more prominent role in the arrangement.

The extended “Man On The Prowl” can also be found on the UK “Thank God It’s Christmas” 12" vinyl and 12" Collection CD. It’s double the length of the commercial version with added piano, bass and vocal bits. “I Want To Break Free (vocals and guitar remix)” is a bit of a misnomer. It features the vocals and guitar almost exclusively, but the synthesizer solo in the middle is also present (so there wouldn’t be silence). It’s a rather pointless track.

“Hammer To Fall” is taken from the US Hollywood Records promo CD in 1991. The Malouf remix is the same as the album version except the drums are a bit cleaner sounding and the vocals on the final verse are remixed with a phase effect. “Is This The World We Created…?” is taken from the Earthrise: The Rainforest album released in October 1994. It’s the same track as found on The Works but with several seconds of jungle noises added to the end.

The final Works era track is the extended “Thank God It’s Christmas.” This can be found on the 1992 US released The Queen Collection 3CD set, it’s ten seconds longer than the original single due to an extended drum introduction.

“There Must Be More To Life Than This” was written in LA during The Works sessions. Intended to be a duet with Michael Jackson, it eventually was scrapped and was released the following year on Freddie’s only solo album Mr. Bad Guy. A bare-bones piano demo was released in 2004 on State Of Shock (Great Pretender Records GPR-001). The piano demo featured vocals by Jackson only with Freddie accompanying on the piano and giving directions (“ad-lib,” etc).

The new demo features Jackson and Freddie sharing vocals. Some of the lyrics have been changed (Jackson’s creepy lament of “a world without children” is thankfully omitted), and there is a full instrumental accompaniment including guitars, bass, drums, and synthesizer strings and trumpets.

The rest of the tracks on this disc originate from the A Kind Of Magic sessions. The first is an extended mix of the title track which can also be found on the 12" vinyl and 12" Collection compact disc. Clocking in a six and a half minutes, the first half is the album version of the cut, followed by a long instrumental section. The thumping bass and May’s guitar take precedence. It finally returns to the album version at the end.

“One Vision” is another extended mix which is found on 12" vinyl and on A Kind Of Magic Hollywood Records remaster in 1991. It is the same mix as found on the album but with a longer solo in the middle featuring Taylor’s jungle drums and Freddie’s vocal gymnastics. “You Are The Only One” is a demo recorded by Freddie featuring himself on piano. Lasting two minutes, it was recorded in Munich and features no real lyrics just scat and “I’m so sorry” repeated several times.

“Pain Is So Close To Pleasure” is an extended mix of the single version, not the album version which differs by having a different introduction, fade out, and more instrumental bursts in the middle. This take has a much longer introduction with added bass and percussion and a nice little guitar doodle by Brian at the end.

“A Dozen Red Roses For My Darling” is an instrumental track variation of “Don’t Lose Your Head.” The extended version, found on the A Kind Of Magic 12" vinyl clocks in at five minutes and has extra percussion. “One Year Of Love (Extended Version)” appears on Highlander – The Immortal Edition. It features a two minutes long introduction. The final track is the Highlander snippet of Freddie singing “New York, New York.” The actual track is thirty-seven seconds long but the label include a minute of dialogue from the film. It’s a nice version but unfortunately the entire performance (if there was one) has ever surfaced.

The sound quality on all the tracks is superlative and is well thought out and sequenced. It’s Volume 4 is a very nice collection of rarities worth having.

By 1986 Queen’s flirtation with film soundtracks had pretty much come to an end. They weren’t prolific, but what began in 1980’s Flash Gordon with fill involvement with the film score ended with the band writing several original songs to Highlander and lending “One Vision” to the Lou Gossette Jr. flick Iron Eagle. The fifth volume of Master Stroke’s Rare Cuts series continues the documentation of Queen rarities, focusing upon some material from the A Kind Of Magic sessions and continuing with The Miracle, their final artistic statement in the eighties.

The disc begins with a rather pointless remix of “Hammer To Fall” from The Works. It’s identical to the studio track except all of the drums omitted.

The next five tracks originate from the A Kind Of Magic sessions. “Princes Of The Universe” is one of the songs written specifically for the Highlander film and one of their heaviest rockers. Master Stroke present the “soundtrack version,” a re-edit of the studio track with various snippets of dialogue from the film. It’s followed by “Gimme The Prize,” another Highlander track edited for The eYe video game. This version has no guitar intro but instead starts with Freddie’s vocals. All of Kurgan’s lines and the sword-fighting sound effects are edited out of the track.

“Friends Will Be Friends (Extended Version)” is found on the 12" vinyl. Basically the studio track, it has a repeating chorus with a long instrumental break.

An unreleased track named “Back To Storm” follows. A forty-two second piano instrumental and a ninety second take with piano, drums, bass and rudimentary vocals both circulate. Master Stroke present the two in one track. The instrumental serves as a introduction and segues right into the vocal take. It’s an interesting edit of what could have been an exciting piece if it were finished. The descending piano melody sounds vaguely similar to “Hit The Road Jack.” It sounds like Freddie is in one of his snotty, vindictive moods.

The final A Kind Of Magic track is the Freddie vocal version of “Who Wants To Live Forever.” It’s the same as the commercial track except Freddie, not Brian, sings the opening lines.

A bulk of the rest of the disc covers sessions for The Miracle, released in 1989. A couple of these tracks also appear on Ultimate Miracle (Digital Queen Archives Q-004A/B), but most do not and forms a good compliment to the older title. The first is the title track “The Miracle.” Listed as a “multitrack remix,” it is the commercial version found on the original CD except the guitars are mixed much higher and the keyboards are mixed down. It sounds like an attempt to make the song sound “heavier” but doesn’t quite succeed.

The “Breakthru (Almost Now Edit)” is a strange re-edit found on the 1989 “Breakthru” promo CD. It’s the same as the studio cut with introduction but with a different mix in the latter half. It’s followed by the demo for “Hang On In There.” Freddie scats the vocals and the instruments are much more raw than the polished version.

The remix for “Scandal” is a bit odd. It is slowed down and there is a deep resonant drum sound thoughout the track. Otherwise it sounds like the commercial version. A demo for “A New Life Is Born” follows. Lasting a minute and twenty-two seconds, the beginning chorus of this song was used for “Breakthru” on The Miracle. But it continues into a gorgeous little ballad featuring Freddie on piano.

The “multitrack remix” of “I Want It All” is simply the single edit of the song found on the 7" vinyl, Greatest Hits II, etc. The opening guitar squeals are omitted and instead the chorus singing “I want it all” is repeated three times. In some ways this edit is an improvement over the album version.

“Dog With A Bone” is an unreleased song recorded for the 1988 Queen Fan Club Convention in London. It features Freddie and Roger on vocals and spoken greetings to the fans in the song’s middle. It lasts seven minutes and is in excellent sound quality, one of the gems of this collection.

The video edit of “The Invisible Man” follows. Found on Greatest Video Hits 2 and Greatest Flix II, it starts with the sound effects found on the “extended version” until Roger singing his lyric, then it returns to the album edit. It’s followed by an instrumental version of “Was It All Worth It” taken from The eYe video game.

Three demos follow the instrumental. “I Guess We’re Falling Out” is a Freddie penned piano based tune. It starts off with the same rhythm as “My Baby Loves Me” but then moves into a ballad with the great opening line “you stab your knife right in my back.” It could have been another tempermental Freddie tune if it were completed.

“My Baby Loves Me” is a demo of The Miracle track “My Baby Does Me.” It’s quite similar to the final version. Not all of the words are there so Freddie sings some filler. A demo of “Hijack My Heart,” the B-side to “The Invisible Man,” is close to the final version. Roger sings the lead and the instruments are much louder. Maracas can be heard throughout the track and the ending features a little piano coda.

“Too Much Love Will Kill You” is a straight instrumental cut of the Brian May song and is followed by “The Show Must Go On” from Innuendo. The “multitrack remix” has higher guitars than the commercial version. The disc ends with a secret unlisted bonus track called “Have A Nice Day (Fan Club Message).” It was recorded Townhouse Studio in London on April 18th, 1987 by Freddie with Mike Moran for the Fan Club convention.

The sound quality of all the tracks is uniformly excellent. There are enough newer tracks to recommend this as a good supplement to the above mentioned Ultimate Miracle and is worth having.

Master Stroke’s sixth (and presumed final) volume of Queen’s Rare Cuts series focuses upon tracks from the final two LPs, 1991’s Innuendo and 1995’s Made In Heaven. Like the other titles, it presents both rarities that have been out before and brand new tracks making their silver debut. Many can be found on the prior release Secret Fantasy (Queen Digital Archives Q-007).

“The Show Must Go On” from Innuendo begins the disc. It lacks the drums and has a new Freddie vocal track compared to the commercial version. It sounds rather bare without the drums. It’s followed by “Innuendo,” the album’s title track. Called the “wind and explosive version,” it’s the same mix that appears on the single with the explosion at the end. The difference is the short interval of blowing wind at the very beginning.

“I Can’t Live With You” is taken from Brian Malouf mix taken from the promo CD single. It contains extra keyboards in the mix and some phasing effects on the vocals.

“Affairs” and “Grand Dame” are two songs tracked together because they originate from the same sessions in 1989 and the recording was presented by Queen producer David Richards during the party to celebrate The Italian Queen Community’s 5th anniversary online. “Affairs” is a slower piano based tune featuring full lyrics with the opening line “Who said that you could go, I’m losing my past / Who said we had to go and learn from our mistakes.” It’s a pretty tune which the band unfortunately abandoned. It segues into a “Grand Dame,” a quicker tempo instrumental rocker. Richards can be heard at the end thanking everyone.

The demo for “Headlong” comes from an early stage in the song’s development. It features Freedie’s vocals (sounding very similar to the final version), Brian’s backing vocals, a drum machine and John Deacon’s bass.

The following three tracks are unreleased, professionally recorded demos. “My Secret Fantasy” is an interesting mid-paced synthesizer based tune with a complex rhythm. Freddie’s lyrics are simple and underdeveloped. “Robbery” is much more energetic. Obviously a Brian May written tune, it’s heavy on guitars and heavy metal style percussion. There are only a few lines in the lyrics where Freddie sings: “There’s been a robbery / I got away Scot free / what a dirty job / round up the usual suspects.”

“Self Made Man” is another May demo featuring himself on lead vocals and Freddie singing the chorus. The synthesizers carry the melody and the bass, drums and rhythm guitars are also present.

“Ride The Wild Wind” is remixed to bring up Roger’s vocals. They’re more prominent than Freddie’s at certain points. It’s followed by a demo for “Delilah.” Clocking in at 4:16, it is the full version of the snippet found on the Hints Of Innuendo promotional cassette issued in 1990. The arrangment is similar to the final version, but Freddie’s vocals are multitracked.

Following is an “extended instrumental” track of “The Hitman.” This is simply the two instrumental tracks of the song taken from The eYe video game edited together into one. May’s backing vocal “fool for your love” is intact, however. The final Innuendo era track is the radio edit of “These Are The Days Of Our Lives.” It’s identical to the album cut except some guitar was removed.

Several years after Freddie Mercury passed the band assembled material for their final album Made In Heaven. They utilize several songs that were demoed after Innuendo was released early in 1991, various outtakes from Queen’s vaults and they rework two of Freddie’s songs from his solo album Mr. Bad Guy into Queen numbers. The album itself, with themes of life, death, and heaven, is a moving experience in context.

The first Made In Heaven rarity is the karaoke version of “I Was Born To Love You.” It is a full band instrumental except for the occasional lyric in the chorus. It’s followed by the “Heart-Ache” edit of “Too Much Love Will Kill You.” Taken from the 2011 UK Made In Heaven iTunes Deluxe download, it’s identical to the commercial cut except for twenty seconds of sound effects of a jukebox before the start of the song.

The Greatest Flix III video edit of “Heaven For Everyone” is taken from the 1999 VHS release on EMI/ Hollywood Records. It is the same as the single except for the addition of Freddie singing “this could be heaven for everyone” instead of “this could be heaven” in the beginning. The other strange edit is the omission of a drum beat in the middle of the song. These changes were probably made to accommodate the visuals.

The Dutch edit of “You Don’t Fool Me” chops out a full minute from the song. It’s followed by the original recording of “Let Me Live” found on the Made In Heaven promo cassette. It’s the same as the commerical edit except the introduction includes the offending line “Take another little piece of my heart now baby,” which the Janis Joplin estate sued because of its similarity to “Piece Of My Heart.”

The disc ends with a nice edit of the two versions of “It’s A Beatuful Day” from the album and the secret hidden track “Tavaszi Szel Vizet Araszt,” the Hungarian folk tune Freddie sang in Budapest on the A Kind Of Magic tour in 1986. It’s out of place in this collection, but still a nice addition.

Rare Cuts Vol. 6 is a valuable volume to have, especially for the Made In Heaven tracks which are not available anywhere else. All of the Master Stroke titles are good to have because the additional tracks on the 2011 remasters were, with some exceptions, not too interesting. And even though there is some overlap, they offer a nice supplement to already existing silver titles and are all worth having.