"The demos we made were closer to what we dreamed of than our later sessions": Queen are releasing their De Lane Lea demos on vinyl for Record Store Day

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Queen's De Lane Lea demos were recorded before the band were signed and have never been available on vinyl before

Freddie Mercury recording at De Lane Lea studios
(Image credit: Queen)

Queen have announced that they're releasing their fabled De Lane Lea demos as a standalone vinyl edition for Record Store Day, which is scheduled for April 12.

The demos, which were recorded at the studios in North London in late 1971 and early 1972 before Queen signed with EMI, were originally made available as a CD included in last year's Queen I box set.

"The demos we made at De Lane Lea Studios were closer to what we dreamed of than our later sessions,” says guitarist Brian May. “Nice open drum sounds and ambience on the guitar. That was much more the way we wanted it to go."

The songs recorded at De Lane Lea were rerecorded when Queen relocated to Trident Studios in Soho to work on their debut album in April 1972 , but the band were never entirely happy with the results.

“At De Lane Lea, we’d just turn up and do what we can – and quickly," said Taylor, in a recent episode of their ongoing video series Queen The Greatest. "At Trident, it did feel like, ‘OK, now we're in it’, but I didn’t really get on with their ideas. They had a drum booth and it was a well-known sound: very dry and dead, which is not what I wanted."

The De Lane Lea demos were remixed for the Queen I box set using the original multitrack tapes.

Keep Yourself Alive (De Lane Lea Demo / 2024 Mix) - YouTube Keep Yourself Alive (De Lane Lea Demo / 2024 Mix) - YouTube
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Queen: De Lane Lea Demos tracklist

Keep Yourself Alive
The Night Comes Down
Great King Rat
Jesus
Liar

Queen: De Lane Lea Demos 12” Vinyl Release cover art

(Image credit: Queen)
Fraser Lewry
Fraser Lewry
Online Editor, Classic Rock

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.