The Miracle (Deluxe Edition)

This review is for the 5CD/DVD/Blu-Ray/LP box set.In terms of presentation and content there is a lot to like about this box set, however there are issues.The CDs, DVD and Blu-Ray are housed in a book which contains the album/reissue credits, photo's from the era, pictures of memorabilia and comments about the songs/video's.I'm not a big fan of storing media within the book, but it appears to be the way that most box-sets are going and I like it's contents and quality of materials.The LP sounds nice despite the late 80's overproduction and the inclusion of "too much love will kill you" enhances it.I'm not sure if I would have placed the additional track between "I want it all" and "the invisible man", but that's where it was originally supposed to be sequenced. Apart from different mastering, there is no difference between the version of "too much love will kill you" here or on "Made in Heaven".The first CD is the original album, minus the 1989 CD bonus tracks which appear on the "alternative Miracle" CD (disk 3) instead.It uses the 2011 remaster which is fine, and my only real complaint is that they should have replicated the LP by including "too much love will kill you".The second CD is the highlight of this box set.It contains demo versions and rough mixes of the album tracks which in some cases are more interesting than those released in 1989 despite being incomplete. In addition there are a number of studio demo's for songs that were never officially released as well as the "new" track "face it alone".There is a lot of studio chatter on this disk which some may object to but I don't have a problem with it."Face it alone" has received online criticism about not being a real song with too much "auto-tune" but I like it and am I'm glad it exists.The third CD is the "alternative Miracle" which collects all the B-Sides and 12" mixes that were issued on the original singles/CD album and it's good to have these tracks all in one place.The 4th CD is the "instrumental" version of the album (i.e. original backing track without the Mercury vocals). It's ok for what it is but I probably won't listen to it again. I've seen "instrumental only" CD's show up in box-sets from other artists recently and it appears to be an industry wide low effort way of padding out content and hiking the price.The 5th CD contains various interviews from back in the day which are interesting.The DVD and Blu-Ray are where I have most complaints about this box set.Both the Blu-Ray and DVD contain the same content and since people who can afford to buy this box-set probably have a Blu-Ray player, the inclusion of the DVD seems like another way to pad out the product and raise the price.Neither the Blu-Ray or the DVD have the promotional video for "face it alone" which is a small but irritating omission.There a lots of interesting "mini-documentaries" about the making of the album, videos and the cover. Most of these are from 1989 and promotional rather than detailed.Although more recent May and Taylor commentary is included in places, I would have liked to have seen a full retrospective documentary and a featurette on how "face it alone" was constructed from the very rough original tape.The promotional video's look great on the Blu-Ray, and the surround sound is very good, but there have been comments online about a mastering fault. I found that the first few seconds of sound on "I want it all" is missing and the motion on the "Scandal" video seems off although both of these could be down to my TV/soundbar set-up.The overall packaging is nice with good quality materials used throughoutIt's not quite as high quality as the News of the World box set and the matt finish is a bit of a fingerprint magnet, but I'm being picky here.There are a couple of posters, copies of the photo's used to make the album cover and postcards. They are nice to have but I suspect most of these will remain in the box.The big issue with this box set is the recommended retail price which at approximately 150 pounds is too high when you take into account the unnecessary items (i.e. the DVD and instrumentals disk).Replacing the DVD with a full surround sound or Atmos mix of the album and a full retrospective "making of" documentary would have justified the price and made this set essential.So in summary this is a very good box set with lots of new material and repeat listening value. The price and padding reduce my rating from 5 to 4 stars but if you can get it at a lower price than RRP then the Miracle box set is recommended.

Another one for my collection

I was 12 when I fell in love with Queen, unfortunately missing Wembley and Knebworth by 2 years - it was a lean period to tune into Queen.When The Miracle came out I vividly remember skipping school early and cycling 10 miles to the nearest town (buses were scarce where I lived - I couldn't wait though, this was Manna from Heaven!) and I was really rather gutted to find that the album release had been put back a week (no internet then!) - I bought the I Want It All single as a consolation, but by god, were my nuts numb by the end of that tortorous bike ride!Very very shortly after The Miracle (a couple of short years anyway) there was the trauma of Freddie's death (a proper kick in the teeth!) - getting into Queen in the late 80's/early 90's really was a real mixed blessing (and by the way, if you aint a Queen fan you can eff off right now, cos this review aint for you! - the anti-Queen sentiment in this period of time was really rife, absolutely stifling (talk about feeling like a pariah!) So, bollox to all you haters out there, you can get knotted!)Now, Queen fans are nothing if not voracious/dedicated. So this release in 2022 is a real mixed blessing... there was the 2011 re-release by Island Records, which really didn't even touch upon the extra material heard here (which really seems remiss of them knowing now what was available).This bumper release after a 30 year hiatus, worth the wait? Yup, absolutely! (less ball numbing for a start.) Even though this 2 disc version still isn't absolutely complete (an incentive to purchase the super-duper box set, but for long-term Queen fans, that isn't the best option (unless really flush) cos you'll have the B-sides and sundry tracks already, and no disrespect, but 'instrumental' versions just tend to be lazy stripped-down versions... and The Miracle LP with Too Much Love Will Kill You wedged in just seems a bit trite, even if novel.Better late than never though, I guess, but c'mon, 30 years!?!! I will be dead soon (which is probably the end of absolute fandom!) So how about stop sitting on this material, and finally just share it with the fans, as they deserve.I wonder how much more material is stockpiled...?So, c'mon, throw the dog a bone!!!