Live Magic - Queen

...and recorded their performance on live aid as they captured the heart & souls of millions of people with their sheer showmanship, effort and musical genius. The following year they gave a live performance at Wembley stadium, Knebworth Park (England) and in Budapest. From this came the CD I now treasure "Queen Live Magic".

From the cheers of the fans Queen launch into "One Vision" (from the motion picture Iron Eagle), ...
...him from his performance on live aid when he made everyone feel a champion despite his or her own feelings of inadequacy.

The recording is over too quickly, Freddie tells the audience they have been fantastic and I don't doubt that anyone who was there went away without a natural "high". He finishes with "God save the Queen" and I see no innuendo in the last track.

Despite the shortness of this ... more

It was New Years Eve 1975 my daughter was 18 months old and I had had been a single mum for just six months. I was only 23 at the time and my life was on hold but as I sat with a group of friends watching the television I was about to become a lifelong fan of the group "Queen". I sat spellbound as the now familiar strains of "Bohemian Rhapsody" started gently rose to a crescendo introduced a staggering few minutes of superb rock and then rose to the heights of a musical extravaganza ending with a sublime finale.
Where had this group sprung from? I had been out of circulation for a few years so had missed the debut of Queen although they were then a small band that had just started to become popular. I soon found out that the group consisted of Freddie Mercury on vocals, Brian May on guitar, Roger Taylor on percussion and John Deacon on the bass guitar. Each member of the band wrote the songs although May and Mercury were to have the biggest input until finally the music credits just became one single name… Queen.

Over the next two decades I watched and listened as they rose through the ranks to become possibly the best band in history even eclipsing my love for the Beatles. I collected as many types of albums as I could afford switching to cassettes and eventually buying a few CD's. I couldn't afford to go to concerts but in 1985 I watched and recorded their performance on live aid as they captured the heart & souls of millions of people with their sheer showmanship, effort and musical genius. The following year they gave a live performance at Wembley stadium, Knebworth Park (England) and in Budapest. From this came the CD I now treasure "Queen Live Magic".

From the cheers of the fans Queen launch into "One Vision" (from the motion picture Iron Eagle), this isn't one of my favourite tracks but May plays like a demon and Freddie gives it his all. Without pause this leads into "Tie your mother Down" another strong instrumental track. The audience cheers there is a pause and Freddie launches into "Seven Seas of Ryhe" a short song.
Onto one of my favourite songs "A Kind of Magic" inspired and used in the film "Highlander" a racy song but with the type of harmony that echoes of Bohemian Rhapsody .May completes this with a superb guitar riff and then Freddie says simply "under Pressure" and without pause starts on the song that he wrote with David Bowie. This is less a rock song but has that distinctive style that is a trademark of Bowie just adapted to suit to the vocals of the band and with more emphasis on the percussion side.

More cheers as Freddie says, " this one calls for a boogie" the crowd goes wild as "Another one bites the Dust" starts with strong percussion from Taylor this time it's a rare song from Deacon. You can just feel the atmosphere as the crowd joins in with the song. Freddie sings a line and the audience repeats it back to him. I can feel his presence as he struts up and down the stage urging the crowd on.

Now Freddie is really getting into his stride and "I want to break free" becomes a communal song as the crowd is with him all the way.
A slow guitar intro starts the next song "Is this the world we created?" a ballad of simplicity of want, hunger and yearning for a better world.
The crowd hushes and then goes into ecstasy as the first lines of "Bohemian Rhapsody" starts up. This is an abridged version as the original took three weeks to record with the four members of the band singing as a choir with overlapping voices something that just couldn't be done live. Just as a point of interest it was actually Roger Taylor that hit that high "C" at the end of the choral piece. Still Queen gives the shorter version absolutely everything they can and the heavy rock solo is a masterpiece.

Now the band launches into "Hammer to fall" a foot tapping get up and go track with a strong rhythm from each member and very few vocals, May almost makes the guitar scream on this track but Deacon is not far behind him.

I'd know the next track with just a few bars, "Radio Ga-Ga" a song that many feel a lightweight but another of my favourites. A rhythmic song with Freddie doing most of the vocals but that slight tinny sound of a radio station in the background.
A drum solo brings in the next track "We will rock you" and the audience is again singing along.
Another slower Ballard now " Friends who will be friends" a short track but quite haunting.
Then that greatest song "We are the champions" and I can see Freddie strutting across the stage sweat pouring down his back leading the audience into higher and higher participation. This is how I will always remember him from his performance on live aid when he made everyone feel a champion despite his or her own feelings of inadequacy.

The recording is over too quickly, Freddie tells the audience they have been fantastic and I don't doubt that anyone who was there went away without a natural "high". He finishes with "God save the Queen" and I see no innuendo in the last track.

Despite the shortness of this recording (just under an hour long) it has pride of place in my CD collection. The actual performance was much longer with only two complete full live recordings. I haven't put in any words I think any Queen fan could sing then off by heart except maybe for the lesser-known tracks. It's the whole spirit of the recording and that feeling that you wish you could have been there to see Queen in action that makes it so popular. I put it on, turn up the sound and imagine I am there I laugh sing and dance when I can but through it all I close my eyes and I'm there.

Freddie Mercury made the band for me it was his flamboyance his style and his energy that made him so great a star. But the other members played their parts and deserve an accolade as well. I've mentioned May's performance and sadly have not quite given Deacon his due, as it's hard to tell without wearing out the CD where his bass guitar comes in. Taylor is easy to hear percussion is strong in every track.

Would I recommend it? I think you know the answer to that. I can't remember how much I paid for it, it came out in 1986 but I think I bought it in 1990. I am sure I paid full price for it and I'm amazed that Amazon has only a few copies for £12.99; maybe it's still as popular today as it was when I bought it.
E-Bay has a few bargains but they are still not that cheap.
There are a few weak tracks but it's possible that these are ones I haven't listened to in full. Most of my favourites are on this recording and although some are shorter they have that "live " spirit which will always keep alive for me those glorious days when the band was whole. RIP Freddie you were the best.
Lisa@Ciao. 

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