The album as originally released on CD, remastered by Bob Ludwig in 2011 from the original first-generation master mixes.

It would take 15 months and a radical restructuring of internal band dynamics before Queen regrouped in London’s Townhouse Studios on December 3 rd, 1987, to start work on their thirteenth studio album. For the first time, Queen would share songwriting credits equally, regardless of who conceived each song, a consensus of opinion that was to have fertile results. “Splitting the credits was a very important decision for us. We left our egos outside the studio door,” says Brian, “and worked together as a real band – something that wasn’t always the case. I wish we’d done it 15 years before.” But perhaps the real gemstones of The Miracle Sessions CD are the spoken segments that bookend the musical takes. As the studio tape keeps rolling in London and Montreux, the four members are caught at their most candid, giving listeners the uncanny fly-on-the wall experience of standing amongst Freddie, Brian, John and Roger as they banter, debate, swap jokes and show both joy and occasional frustration. Both of these are Brian May compositions. Only the latter was worked on with Freddie Mercury providing vocals. They are both unfinished with their demo versions available in the box set. Tantalising enough that this hour-plus disc offers the first official airing of such near-mythical songs as ‘Dog With A Bone’, ‘I Guess We’re Falling Out’, ‘You Know You Belong To Me’, and the poignant ‘Face It Alone’, released as a single in October. Add to that, the trove of sunken treasure spanning from original takes and demos to rough cuts that signpost the album The Miracle would become.But perhaps the real gemstones of ‘The Miracle Sessions’ CD are the spoken segments that bookend the musical takes. As the studio tape keeps rolling in London and Montreux, the four members are caught at their most candid, giving listeners the uncanny fly-on-the wall experience of standing amongst Freddie, Brian, John and Roger as they banter, debate, swap jokes and show both joy and occasional frustration. The Miracle (Collector’s Edition) from Queen is a sprawling set featuring the 1989 album, The Miracle, as well as a wealth of unreleased songs, outtakes, and extra-special recordings from the time the record was made the sessions for what turned out to be Queen’s 13th studio release began in 1987 and would mark a change in how the mega-hit quartet worked. This was the album where guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury, and bassist John Deacon shared songwriting credits equally. Featuring a plethora of fascinating insights into a hugely pivotal moment in Queen’s storied history, this is The Miracle fans have been waiting for. Queen’s writing also reflected their personal circumstances. The torn-from-the-headlines drama of ‘Scandal’ was May’s personal swipe at the press intrusion into the bandmembers’ respective personal affairs. Singled out by Deacon for praise, Freddie’s soaring album closer, ‘Was It All Worth It’, has in retrospect been interpreted as a reflection on the singer’s health. The band discuss, in their own words, the creative process behind the album. The first interview, Queen for an Hour, was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 29 May 1989. Host Mike Read speaks with the band for what would be their final group interview. In this interview, Freddie suggests for the first time that his touring days are over.

This feature contains behind the scenes footage of ‘I Want It All’, ‘Scandal’, ‘The Miracle’ and ‘Breakthru’ videos. One further ingredient in the mix was David Richards, who had worked with Queen since his billing as assistant engineer on Live Killers. After further credits on A Kind of Magic and Live Magic, Richards stepped up to co-produce The Miracle, praised by May for his “whizz kid” technical prowess. Alternative Miracle (CD) has the previously available 12” versions and B-Sides. I haven’t listened to the Radio interviews yet. The DVD and BluRay discs share the same content. Among its contents, the expanded set includes The Miracle Sessions: an hour-plus disc of further previously unreleased recordings, including six unpublished songs. Just as tantalising for fans, the audio includes the band’s candid spoken exchanges on the studio floor in London and Montreux, giving the most revealing window yet into the four members’ creative process and the joy, in-jokes and banter on their return to working together. Heard for the first time in Queen history, the spoken outtakes from The Miracle Sessions invite fans onto the studio floor to experience the band’s unvarnished dynamic, more natural and revealing than any ‘official’ press interview. These unguarded exchanges – by turns mischievous, encouraging, witty, even affectionately waspish – capture the band as they truly were during The Miracle’s late bloom, buzzing with renewed enthusiasm at their return to the studio, and driven by a rare chemistry that still threw up sparks.

Queen’s writing also reflected their personal circumstances. The torn-from-the-headlines drama of “Scandal” was May’s personal swipe at the press intrusion into the bandmembers’ respective personal affairs. Singled out by Deacon for praise, Freddie’s soaring album closer, “Was It All Worth It”, has in retrospect been interpreted as a reflection on the singer’s health. This show of unity was elegantly conveyed by band art director Richard Gray’s cover for The Miracle, which depicts Queen’s four faces merged into one. “The cover art represents the unity of the group at the time: a seamless merging of four people becoming one,” May has said. “We were also dealing with Freddie’s deteriorating health and pulling together to support him.” Queen’s musical has since opened in Australia, Spain, Las Vegas,USA, Russia, Germany and is scheduled to open in Japan this May.