The Lot (stylised as the lot) is a compilation box set by Queen drummer Roger Taylor, containing nearly all of his solo work outside of Queen, including material released both under his own name and with his band the Cross. The box set's release was originally scheduled for 11 October 2013, but was pushed back a month; both The Lot and Taylor's fifth solo album Fun on Earth were released on 11 November 2013.
Initial pressings featured numerous technical issues, which Taylor and his manufacturing team attempted to address by asking buyers to return affected copies in exchange for corrected copies. The album was re-released on 10 November 2014.
Background
Apart from his work with Queen, Taylor recorded five solo albums, and three with the Cross. He released his first single, "(I Wanna) Testify", in 1977. He went on to record two solo albums, Fun in Space (1981) and Strange Frontier (1984). They were modestly successful when released.
In 1986, two years after the release of Strange Frontier, Taylor formed the Cross, recruiting Spike Edney, Clayton Moss, Peter Noone, and Josh Macrae. The Cross went on to record three albums: Shove It; Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know; and Blue Rock. The band split up in 1993.
After the breakup of the Cross, Taylor released his third solo album, Happiness?. It engendered some controversy, due to the inclusion of the track "Nazis 1994". The furore likely increased sales, however. In 1998, Taylor released his fourth album, Electric Fire. He would not record another album until Fun on Earth, which was released on 11 November 2013, simultaneously with the release of The Lot.
All of Taylor's solo albums and the three albums by the Cross, as well as numerous standalone singles and alternate mixes, are included in The Lot. Discs One through Eight consist of the Taylor and Cross albums, in chronological order, while discs Nine through Twelve include alternative single edits, remixes, non-album singles, B-sides and a handful of previously unreleased rarities. Disc Thirteen is a DVD containing Taylor and the Cross' promotional music videos, along with a number of never-before-seen Taylor live performances.
Upon release, it became apparent there were several technical problems with the first pressing of the box set. These included errors in the printed lyrics, the inclusion of incorrect mixes of certain songs, and several other audio issues. Consumers who had bought the initial release were asked to return their copies to Universal Records, which would replace them with corrected copies.
Taylor assessed The Lot as a good retrospective of his career: "It's very satisfying to get it all in one place. I didn't realise how much there was: eight CDs, videos, lots of singles. I’d forgotten a lot. But it's very satisfying".
Track listing
Personnel The following personnel worked on the album: Roger Taylor: art conception, cover design, design, drums, executive producer, guitar, guitar feedback, instrumentation, keyboards, mixing, percussion, piano, primary artist, producer, soloist, stylophone, lead and backing vocals Spike Edney: composer, keyboards, mandolin, piano, backing vocals Clayton Moss: composer, guitar, lead and backing vocals Peter Noone: bass, composer, backing vocals Josh Macrae: drums, percussion, backing vocals, engineer, mixing, producer, programming
Additional musicians
Keith Airey: guitar Gary Barnacle: saxophone (on "Cowboys and Indians", "Contact", and "Stand Up For Love") Steve Barnacle: bass Jeff Beck: guitar (on "Say It's Not True") Phil Chen: bass Jim Cregan: guitar Mike Crossley: keyboards, piano John Deacon: bass (on some tracks) Matthew Exelby: guitar Jason Falloon: bass, guitar Steve Hamilton: saxophone Kevin Jefferies: bass Helen Liebmann: cello Dick Marx: arranger, strings Brian May: rhythm guitar and lead guitar (on some tracks) Freddie Mercury: lead vocals (on "Heaven for Everyone"), backing vocals (on "Killing Time" and "Feel the Force") Treana Morris: lead vocals (on "Surrender") Jonathan Perkins: keyboards, organ, lead and backing vocals Catherine Porter: backing vocals Keith Prior: drums David Richards: keyboards Geoffrey Richardson: viola, violin Nicola Robins: violin Phil Spalding: bass Steve Stroud: bass Rufus Taylor: drums, piano Candy Yates: backing vocals Claire Yates: backing vocals Yoshiki: arranger, drums, piano, synthesizer (on "Foreign Sand")
Technical personnel
Rich Breen: engineer, mixing John Brough: engineer Brad Buxer: programming Dean S. Crathern: assistant Justine Ellis: project coordinator Mike Ging: engineer Geoff Grace: programming Martin Groves: band coordinator Hiro Inoguchi: artists and repertoire Chris Lawson: assistant engineer Mack: engineer, producer Kevin Metcalfe: cut, mastering Tal Miller: assistant engineer David Richards: engineer, producer Justin Shirley-Smith: producer Wills Spencer: coordination, video editor Mike Stock: assistant engineer Simon Van Zwanenberg: assistant engineer Mark Wallis: engineer, producer Barry Woodward: mastering Yoshiki: producer (on "Foreign Sand")
Artistic personnel
Stephen Bliss: artwork, design Greg Brooks: archival consultant, sleeve notes Simon Fowler: photography Bob Geldof: photography Richard Gray: art conception, artwork, cover design, design, photography George Hurrell: photography Mike Jackson: cover photo Thea Kurun: artwork Tim Mara: paintings Jim Marks: photography Simon Pool: design assistant Sarina Potgieter: photography Neal Preston: cover photo Paul Rider: photography Sheila Rock: photography Gary Taylor: archival consultant, sleeve notes George Taylor: photography Graham Temple: photo montage Rhys Thomas: foreword, liner notes Gary Wathen: design Ian Wright: illustrations
Charts Chart (2013) Peakposition
References