The Lot (album)

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
All tracks written by Roger Taylor, except where noted.

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