Queen Enters 'New Phase' With New Record Label, Reissues

Formed in 1971, Queen had an undeniably illustrious, storied career right up through singer Freddie Mercury's death twenty years into it, in 1991. After that, the band released some posthumous material but kept a mostly catalog-only presence, save for a short throwback tour with Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company) filling in for Mercury in 2005. A studio release three years later, entitled 'The Cosmos Rocks' (and attributed to 'Queen + Paul Rodgers') made little noise and was generally viewed as an afterthought to Queen's monumental, proper canon.

That said, founding guitarist and default figurehead, Brian May (pictured), is gearing up for a revival of sorts. NME reports that, after singing a new catalog deal with Universal Music Group, May said, "We are very excited, after all this time, to be embarking on a new phase of our career – with a new record company – with new ideas, and new dreams."

The first of these new dreams will come to fruition in March with the reissue of the band's first five albums – 'Queen,' 'Queen II,' 'Sheer Heart Attack,' 'A Night at the Opera,' and 'A Day at the Races.' After that, the band's entire catalog will – eventually – be reissued. No hard news on whether or not the reissues will pave the way for brand new material, although now would be the time: comedic actor Sacha Baron Cohen will portray Freddie Mercury in an upcoming Queen biopic.

In other words, it looks like -- once again -- Queen will, Queen will rock you.