Queen’s meteoric ascendancy during the 1970s has been well documented. From their gloriously ambitious self-titled debut album of 1973 through to the album that put them in the superstar bracket, 1975’s ‘A Night At The Opera’, and beyond, this unique group carved out a singular path as the most visionary, inventive and charismatic band of that epic decade.

But there is another side to Queen’s rise that has been largely overlooked. Between February 1973 and October 1977, the band recorded six radio sessions exclusively for the BBC. The twenty four landmark recordings include alternate versions of the debut single, unique takes of classic album tracks and a radically reworked reimagining of one of their best known anthems that has never previously appeared on any Queen studio release.

The band’s final BBC session was recorded on October 28th, 1977 at Maida Vale 4 studio, London. Queen returned to the BBC a global phenomenon, following the success of Bohemian Rhapsody. They recorded some radically different versions of four songs from the brand new ‘News Of The World’ album, on the same day as it was given its UK release: the epic power ballad Spread Your Wings, the steel-plated rocker It’s Late, the dusky jazz number My Melancholy Blues and two significantly contrasting renditions of the global hit We Will Rock You, the ‘regular’ version and the ‘fast’ version, a full-tilt guitar-heavy take on the song.

The accelerated version on ‘Queen On Air’ is the only studio recording of this live favourite. We Will Rock Youprofundity or just another teenage anthem!?”, remarks John Peel on playing the track during the session. Peel is the person who once said (on air) of the band, “I’ve never seen them live. I must admit I’d like to a band that sounds like nutters, actually, and I like that because I like rock music to sound a little out of control.”

The most notable deviation from the familiar material in this session has to be the unexpected appearance of a curious narrative section between the two different versions of We Will Rock You. A female voice cuts in briefly, reading a dissertation about Herman Hesse’s 1922 Siddhartha novel hence the intriguing references to Buddhism, Brahmanism and deluded spirits. This unlikely excursion came about by happy coincidence. Every session recorded for the BBC during this time, by any artist, was recorded on 8-track machines and while stereo copies were sometimes retained, the numerous multi-track tapes used to create them, were not. When Queen assembled in the control room to play back the material just recorded here, they were surprised to discover the remnants of an un-broadcast Radio 4 programme laid down in the same studio days earlier.

Producer Jeff Griffin comments: “The piece about Buddha just happened to be on a piece of tape in the studio and, as these things often happen, it just seemed to fit the recording, so we used it. There is no special significance to it.”

Ultimately, what emerged was perhaps the definitive alternative version of one of Queen’s best known anthems. Featuring full band instrumentation, different chords and, as the title suggests, a more frenetic pace, this is Queen performing a dramatically different ‘fast’ arrangement of We Will Rock You.

“Right On!” exclaims Freddie at the end of the track. Peel follows this immediately with, “Right On! to you too chaps. Queen, and the first from them tonight. It's called ‘We Will Rock You’… profundity or just another teenage anthem!?”

Jeff Griffin continues:“We Will Rock You, now that was fun, particularly fun for me and my engineer Mark Robinson, because the band said, “Look, we need as many voices on this as possible, so we want you two to come in and sing in the studio”. Mike and I were a bit reluctant at first, not that we minded singing – I sing in a choir and Mike sings old Irish songs – but it’s not quite the same as going in a studio with Queen. It was a great session, and certainly the two Johns [Peel & his producer Walters] were very pleased with it when they heard it and when it went out. When you consider that this was now the era of punk, into which John had bought quite heavily, I think it caused quite a bit of a stir at the time because people were surprised that it would be going out on the John Peel Show among all the other things.”

For the very first time, all six Queen BBC sessions meticulously restored by Queen engineer Kris Fredriksson and mastered by Grammy Award winner Adam Ayan have been brought together on ‘Queen On Air’, to be released on November 4 by Virgin EMI. North America through Hollywood Records. Available as a 2-CD set and a 3-LP vinyl edition, plus a Deluxe 6-disc edition featuring a CD of live concert broadcasts and 3 CDs of radio interviews, ‘Queen On Air’ is an essential addition for connoisseurs of the band.

‘Queen On Air’ is more than just a collection of rare recordings, it is a glorious snapshot of the growth of a legend.