Showing posts with label Freddie Mercury. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freddie Mercury. Show all posts

Queen 'Keep Yourself Alive' demo tape hits the auction block

It is the recording that started it all; the one that introduced Queen to America and the one that was used for their first-ever radio play in 1973.


October 2019 - Backstage Auctions is honored to present this rare and one of a kind piece of Queen history in their upcoming Rock and Pop Auction event. “It’s truly a privilege to have Queen’s 1973 demo tape featured in our auction and to give fans and collectors around the world the opportunity to own this Holy Grail piece of music history,” explains Backstage Auctions founder Jacques van Gool.  



The history of the tape and how it became Queen’s introduction to America as well as all the individuals that made it happen is quite remarkable.  Elektra Records founder and president Jac Holzman received the 1973 Queen 'Keep Yourself Alive' demo from the bands' manager Norman Sheffield in the hope that he would sign them to his label for the US markets. Enthused about the band and their potential, Holzman went to see Queen perform at the infamous London Marquee and subsequently signed Queen to Elektra Records. This is when Holtzman issued his company wide memo "I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE OF POP MUSIC AND IT IS QUEEN" which everyone promptly threw into the trash except for the local promo man in Boston, Ric Aliberte.

The single ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ was released in October 1973. Aliberte right away took the 45 to WBCN-FM 's Maxanne Sartori.  Sartori wanted to broadcast it on her show but Program Director Norm Wiener insisted all new music be played using 15-IPS tape only, as he wanted the sound of WBCN-FM to be pristine. Aliberte requested the tape and the only copy available was Jac Holtzman's copy. As Holtzman had just sold Elektra Records and left the company, Ruth Manning, the New York Elektra office manager, gave Aliberte the ONLY copy she had; Holtzman's copy!





Aliberte brought the tape to WBCN-FM and Sartori immediately played it three times a day on her show. Soon Queen was a station favorite and all the DJ's started to spin multiple tracks from the now released vinyl LP. Aliberte retrieved the tape from the station and has had it ever since. This recording has been carefully preserved by Aliberte for the past 46 years and he recently showed it to Brian May, who graciously signed the back of the box. “Brian couldn’t believe that I still had the tape, he recalled the story very well,” says Aliberte. 


The tape was recently evaluated at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles by former VP and studio head Michael Frondelli, a famous engineer and producer in his own right, to check the quality. It turns out to be in perfect condition with the original alignment tones for accurate playback at the top of the reel.

To quote Michael Frondelli "In my 40 years as a recording engineer and producer, 9 years at Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios and as the former VP for Capitol Records Studios for 11 years, I have never seen or even heard of an analog tape ever being sent to a label or radio station, let alone one with alignment tones with this ‘Master’ quality. This so-called demo was truly a master deal closer. I see this as historical evidence of a truly confident, brilliant artist strategy!"

Fans and collectors worldwide can participate in the auction hosted by Backstage Auctions. The item can currently be previewed online now and the online auction bidding will run from October 19, 2019 through October 27, 2019.

Learn more here: Queen 1973 Original Demo Tape

For more information and to register for your VIP All Access Pass for The Rock and Pop 2019 Auction visit:  www.backstageauctions.com 




DVD Review: Queen – A Night At The Odeon, Live At Hammersmith '75

DVD Review: Queen – A Night At The Odeon, Live At Hammersmith '75
Eagle Rock Entertainment
All Access Rating: A

Queen - A Night At The Odeon,
Live At Hammersmith '75 2015
Fog machines on full blast, the stage at the grand old Hammersmith Odeon was immersed in clouds of billowing smoke. Colorful lights circled about, as Queen strutted and preened through the bombastic epic "In the Lap of the Gods ... Revisited" like luminous peacocks in satin suits.

And when they were done, blue balloons and festive streamers fell from the rafters on an ecstatic audience begging for more. Even the toy sex doll seen surfing the crowd seemed to want an encore. And she got one.

Far from spent, on Christmas Eve in 1975, Queen – riding high on the chart-topping success of "Bohemian Rhapsody," celebrating its 40th anniversary this year – re-emerged, vamping through their take on "Big Spender" and then careening into a raw, raucous medley of old-time rock 'n' roll covers based around Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock." A heady celebration, indeed, this performance, filmed beautifully for the U.K. TV show "The Old Grey Whistle Test," was as memorable and glorious as any for Queen, and it has now been released by Eagle Rock Entertainment in various formats as "A Night At The Odeon, Live At Hammersmith '75."

Along with a full CD, DVD and Blu-ray package complete with a never-before-seen "second encore" of "Seven Seas of Rhye" and "See What A Fool I've Been," there are separate DVD and Blu-ray versions with other bonus material. Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor reminisce about being broke and riddled with self-doubt, how wonderful the night in question was and what made this particular period in Queen history so transformative, when the album A Night At The Opera was soaring in popularity, with "Old Grey Whistle Test" presenter Bob Harris in a nostalgic and revealing 22-minute documentary. That's included with rare and rather dodgy, but still vital, footage of Queen on their much-ballyhooed 1975 tour of the Far East playing "Now I'm Here," "Killer Queen" and "In the Lap of the Gods ... Revisited" in the release's "Live at Budokan" segment.

In stark contrast, the vintage video imagery of the triumphant Hammersmith Odeon gig is sumptuous, capturing with superb camera work all the bluster, theatricality and assured brilliance of a band on fire. May's harmonic, echo-laden solo turn during "Brighton Rock" is truly mesmerizing and that great tone of his bites your ear lobe throughout, while Taylor's drumming is controlled fury and John Deacon's bass work becomes the elastic glue that holds it all together. Not surprisingly, though, it's Freddie Mercury who steals the show, his voice so pure and his expression fierce and unabashedly dramatic, while his piano playing displays both an incredibly deft touch and an ability to pound keys into submission when so moved.

Honest-to-God hits are hard to come by in an interesting set list that reflects Queen's position then as relative up-and-comers, but small portions of the lively, bouncing romp "Killer Queen" and the ominously powerful "The March of the Black Queen" are bookended by the lovely intro and outro of "Bohemian Rhapsody." Just for kicks, they tack on a vaudevillian bit of "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" to the back end of this neat and tidy little medley that is entertaining. For openers, Queen charges right into an uplifting, soaring "Now I'm Here" and follows by staging a cinematic, expansive "Orge Battle," before tenderly treating "White Queen (As It Began)" like the elegant maiden she is and getting swept up in the dizzying frenzy of "Keep Yourself Alive" and "Liar."

Here is a young, hungry Queen feeling its oats, buoyed by its recent success and eager to show off its exquisite song craft, dazzling chops and the audacious showmanship of Mercury. What a night it was.
– Peter Lindblad

CD Review: Roger Taylor – Fun in Space/Strange Frontier

CD Review: Roger Taylor – Fun in Space
Omnivore Recordings
All Access Rating: A-

CD Review: Roger Taylor – Strange Frontier
Omnivore Recordings
All Access Rating: B

Roger Taylor - Fun In Space and Strange Frontier 2015
Somewhat overlooked in Queen, what with Freddie Mercury's flamboyance and Brian May's dazzling guitar tricks hogging the spotlight, drummer Roger Taylor put out some rather interesting solo work in the late '70s and early '80s to hardly any fanfare whatsoever.

His obligations with Queen prevented Taylor from doing much, if any, promotion for 1981's Fun In Space or 1984's Strange Frontier, and that certainly contributed to the relative anonymity of both releases – Fun In Space preceded by the 1977 single "I Wanna Testify," which also made very little noise, which is strange considering Taylor's rather sizable songwriting contributions to some of Queen's biggest hits, the divisive "Radio Ga Ga" among them.

Making them ripe for reassessment, Omnivore Recordings is reissuing both Taylor solo outings on March 24 as expanded CDs, along with various vinyl editions. Stripped of Queen's theatricality and bombast, Fun In Space and Strange Frontier are more humble and modest records, although Taylor's wild and intimate studio experimentation and clever, down-to-earth songwriting manage to sparkle through the airbrushed '80s-style production values.

Of the two, both very much a product of their synthesizer-washed times, Fun In Space – recorded in Montreux, Switzerland in the down time between Queen tours in 1980 – is livelier, more whimsical and eclectic, as Taylor produced it himself and performed everything, save for some keyboard work by engineer David Richards. The jazz-rock ease of "Future Management" is reminiscent of Steely Dan's lighter moods, albeit with a chorus that is sharp and cutting, and offers glistening contrast from the bustling, energetic shakedowns and shuffles of "No Violins" and "Let's Get Crazy," the latter a feverish rockabilly workout with "snap, crackle, pop" drumming from Taylor.

Strange and menacing shapes, skittering percussion and swells of synthesizer make a sonic lava lamp of "Fun In Space," while the galloping beats and silvery guitar of "Good Times Are Now" run fast and clean, the circling guitar hooks and grooves of "Airheads" are unexpectedly weird and nasty, and "My Country I & II" is an oddly melodic and entertaining mix of guitar jangle, swirling keyboards and drumming hydraulics. And all of this comes with a single version of "My Country" and bonus tracks "I Wanna Testify" – a tight, funky little number with doo-wop backing vocals that is utterly infectious – and a jagged, herky-jerky "Turn on the TV" that fades out with a solar-powered guitar solo.

Neatly arranged, with unexpected delights planted throughout, Fun In Space is a colorful surprise party, whereas the dated electro-pop environs of Strange Frontier – partly recorded in Munich while Queen made The Works – find Taylor in a dour and mostly somber mood, his overly dramatic and futuristic reading of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" and the disjointed and chaotic "Abandonfire" lacking the fire and drive of the politically charged title track and "Man On Fire," where Taylor's frustration with modern living boils over.

On Fun In Space, Taylor seems playful, this mad scientist drawing inspiration from David Bowie's Let's Dance period, whereas on Strange Frontier, his muse is Bruce Springsteen, mixing introspection with grand socio-political statements but relying almost entirely on synths and electronic beats to deliver the messages, with less varied instrumentation. That's not to say that Strange Frontier is lacking for memorable melodies, the somnambulistic drift of both "Beautiful Dream" and "It's An Illusion" seeping into the subconscious like a cat burglar, and "I Cry For You" brimming with passion.

Padded with four throwaway remixes, two of them for Strange Frontier's closer "I Cry For You," and the extra track "Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad)," Taylor's second solo outing at times seems forced. Even his cover of Springsteen's "Racing in the Street," while still imbued with blue-collar longing, comes off as mere imitation rather than a vigorous overhaul. On the other hand, Strange Frontier isn't without its charms, for all of its flaws. Taylor can have all the fun he wants right here on earth when he's adequately inspired.
– Peter Lindblad

Best of 2012 - Classic Rock


Rush, Thin Lizzy, The Doors, ZZ Top find fountain of youth
By Peter Lindblad
Shaking off the rust that inevitably comes with old age, a number of classic-rock artists showed everybody that they refuse to go gently into that good night.
Rolling Stones - Grrr! 2012
Whether it was the Rolling Stones’ revving up their best song in years with “Doom and Gloom,” or Aerosmith bringing their own brand of “Global Warming” to the masses in live shows that were full of piss and vigor, old greats like those icons, as well as KISS and Bruce Springsteen, burned their AARP cards and did the kind of great work – be it in the studio, as with Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball or Heart’s Fanatic, or on the road – expected of them 20 or 30 years ago.
There were incredible songs, such as Springsteen’s “We Take Care of Our Own” or Joe Walsh’s “Analog Man,” and albums like KISS’s Monster that had unexpected vitality and inspired performances. And tours like the Loverboy/Journey/Pat Benatar triple bill served notice that many of these bands are still capable of delivering the goods onstage. Truly, though, one band rose above them all in 2012, putting out one of the best records of their career and finally getting their just due from critics, while other releases simply outshined the competition. Here’s the best classic rock had to offer in 2012.
Artist of the Year: Rush
Rush - Clockwork Angels 2012
Voters for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame finally saw the light in 2012. After shunning Rush for so long, they did the right thing for once and selected the Canadian progressive-rock power trio for membership, perhaps earning them some small measure of goodwill from their harshest detractors – although they stand to be inundated with slings and arrows for denying Deep Purple again, and deservedly so. What exactly was it that tipped the scales for Rush this time around? Could it be the fact that they produced one of the year’s best albums in Clockwork Angels? Undoubtedly, that had something to do with it, especially when critics that had been unkind – to put it charitably – toward Rush in the past gave in and applauded a record of sublime beauty, complex musicianship and soaring ambition. A sci-fi concept album with a compelling anti-authoritarian narrative, steam-punk imagery and coming-of-age drama, Clockwork Angels is a tour de force of heavy, intricately constructed guitars (see “Headlong Flight” and “BU2B” for proof), crafty melodies, shifting moods and textures, and epic arrangements – in other words, a Rush album. Sometimes the Rock Hall voters need to be hit over the head a number of times before they finally get it, and it seems that Rush knocked some sense into them in 2012.
Album of the Year: ZZ Top – La Futura (Universal Republic)
ZZ Top - La Futura 2012
La Futura, as it turns out, is deeply rooted in ZZ Top’s past, and that makes it a welcome sight in 2012. A spicy, simmering pot full to the brim of Texas blues-fired boogie, with some of the tastiest licks Billy Gibbons has cooked up in quite a while – this being ZZ Top’s first album in nine years – La Futura is nasty and mean from jump-street, with tracks like “Chartreuse,” “Big Shiny Nine” and “I Don’t Wanna Lose, You” recalling the wicked, dusty Panhandle grooves of dirty classics like “La Grange,” “Tush” and “Cheap Sunglasses.” Like a strutting striptease, the tantalizing “Consumption” is trashy, honky-tonkin’ fun, while the soulful “Over You” is a surprisingly tender and heartfelt love song that comes straight out of the Stax Records playbook. And even though a lot of La Futura harkens back to 1973, it has a modern production sheen to it that doesn’t tame these lions, and the first single, “I Gotsta Get Paid,” has more swagger and tight, stop-start hooks than the Black Keys could ever hope to obtain.
Song of the Year: Rush – “The Wreckers” (off of the album Clockwork Angels on Roadrunner Records)
No one has ever accused Rush of sounding like R.E.M. or The Byrds or Matthew Sweet, and there’s good reason for that. Jangly power-pop has never been Rush’s cup of tea – that is, until now. There’s a bright, sunny quality to the guitars in the intro and the verses to “The Wreckers” that couldn’t possibly sound less like Rush, and yet there it is. And it reaches out its hand to invite you in, a warm smile on Geddy Lee’s face and Alex Lifeson’s colorful guitar licks beckoning with a shiny, happy sound that may or may not hide a dark truth. Be careful of these men, for they are not what they seem. Ultimately, they want to warn you that what is sometimes sold as the truth can often be a lie, as Lee sings in the transcendent choruses, “All I know is that sometimes you have to be wary of a miracle too good to be true.” “The Wreckers,” on the other hand, is not. At the very least it is angelic. Awash in swerving, swooping strings and cinematic keyboards, those magical, glorious choruses where a world-weary Lee dispenses that sage advice are some of the most emotionally powerful and soul-stirring moments Rush has ever brought to bear on record. And there is a bridge in “The Wreckers” that is dangerous to cross, for it traverses a deep, wide canyon of synthesizers, crashing drums and doom-laden guitars that is simply magnificent to behold. Do not be wary of “The Wreckers.” It might not be a miracle, but it’s pretty damn close.
Best Concert DVD: The Doors at the Bowl ‘68 (Eagle Vision)
The Doors - Live at The Bowl '68 2012
For its historic value alone, “The Doors at the Bowl ‘68” is heads and shoulders above any concert DVD released this year. Restored in painstaking fashion from the original camera negatives, the band’s entire performance from that night is included here, and it features the band in high spirits. Loose and improvisational when the occasion calls for it, the threesome of John Densmore, Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger could go on endless journeys into the jungles of the musical subconscious, but they could be tight and sinewy. Playing at the famed Hollywood Bowl for the first time – in the area they called home, no less – The Doors set the night on fire, and a particularly impish and focused Jim Morrison howled and sang with a primal energy that only he could summon. An abundance of incisive and fascinating bonus features put the event into perspective and the inclusion of performances of “Hello, I Love You,” “The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)” and “Spanish Caravan” that had previously been lost to time have found their way back. And it’s good to have them again.    
Best Documentary DVD: Freddie Mercury – The Great Pretender (Eagle Vision)
Onstage, Freddie Mercury was indestructible, a force of nature whose flamboyant showmanship knew no bounds and whose voice rang out as clear as a bell in loud stadiums full of adoring fans who hung on his every word – that is, when they weren’t singing along with him. That was the Freddie the world knew. But, in his personal life, Mercury was less sure of himself, a man who sometimes made mistakes and was a slave to his appetites. “Freddie Mercury – The Great Pretender” explores every facet of the singer’s extraordinary life, from his globe-trotting childhood through his wildly successful, if sometimes contentious, studio work with Queen and on to his fascination with opera and the ups and downs of his inconsistent solo work. Loaded with archival images and video footage – including sensational live material – “Freddie Mercury – The Great Pretender” also packs in revealing, insightful commentary and fascinating anecdotes from Brian May, Roger Taylor and a host of other Queen confidantes. It’s a loving portrait of an artist who died too young, and yet, it’s a completely honest rendering that pulls no punches. Mercury probably wouldn’t have it any other way. 
Best Live Album: Thin Lizzy – Live in London 2011 (Four Worlds USA)
Thin Lizzy - Live in London 2011
Phil Lynott isn’t going to come walking through that door … ever again. He’s gone, but the amazing rock ‘n’ roll he left behind deserves to be heard in a live setting, doesn’t it? And who better to play it than Thin Lizzy survivors Scott Gorham and Brian Downey. A fitting tribute to their fallen friend, this concert LP is 19 tracks of explosive hard-rock, containing all the Thin Lizzy hits and then some in a fantastic set list. The mix is primed for optimum power, and this collection of musicians performs classics like “Jailbreak,” “Cowboy Song” and “The Boys are Back in Town” with grit, enthusiasm and swashbuckling panache, those well-executed, signature twin-guitar leads tangled up so exquisitely like ballroom dancers twirling around on the edge of a switchblade. There’s a lot of ground to cover with Thin Lizzy, and this particular incarnation does its best to thumb through the catalog and pick out only the choicest cuts. It’s a flawed record, to be sure, but there’s no doubting the joy and electricity with which Lizzy performs these classics. Word has it that some of the boys from this version of Lizzy are starting a new band called Black Star Riders. Based on this release, which in my eyes becomes more thrilling with repeated listens, expectations should be exceedingly high for them.
Best Reissue: Blue Oyster Cult – The Columbia Albums Collection (Legacy Recordings
Blue Oyster Cult - The Columbia Albums Collection 2012
The word “exhaustive” doesn’t even begin to describe this archeological dig. For starters, this set, released in celebration of Blue Oyster Cult’s 40th anniversary, gathers together every last one of their studio albums released between 1972 and 1988, from their self-titled debut LP on through to Imaginos. That means it includes classic albums such as Agents of Fortune, Spectres, Fire of Unknown Origin, and Cultosaurus Erectus, among others. Oh, and did I mention the live albums? On Your Feet or on Your Knees, Some Enchanted Evening and Extraterrestrial Live are remastered for greater sonic impact and expansiveness. Packed to the gills with great photos and fascinating liner notes, there is a 40-page booklet that accompanies the collection, which is packaged so snugly and efficiently that it won’t throw your cataloging system – if you have one – completely out of whack. You want rarities? There’s a disc for that, too, plus another that gathers as many of their radio broadcasts as they can find and downloads and a bushel full of bonus tracks. Where other classic-rock artists, or rather their record labels, seem to take pleasure in releasing their past works in dribs and drabs, offering very little in the way of rare stuff, Blue Oyster Cult has done it in one fell swoop and they have given the people what they wanted.
Best Book: Gregg Allman – My Cross to Bear (William Morrow)


Gregg Allman - My Cross to Bear 2012
Written in collaboration with esteemed music journalist Alan Light, “My Cross to Bear” finds Gregg Allman in a reflective, confessional mood. Ambling easily through the past, Allman takes his time getting to the real meat of the story, but when he does, the tales he tells are sometimes unsettling, occasionally funny, and often heartbreaking. Life, love, drugs and music – that’s what Allman’s book is about, and it’s a portrayal that isn’t a flattering one. Looking into the mirror, Allman sees his flaws in sharp relief and is willing to expose them for all to read. Once you get past all the self-excoriating personal revelations, there is plenty of behind-the-scenes information on the Allman Brothers to excite fans of their music.

DVD Review: Freddie Mercury - Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender


DVD Review: Freddie Mercury - Freddy Mercury: The Great Pretender
Eagle Vision
All Access Review: A-
Freddie Mercury - The Great Pretender 2012
At death’s door, Freddie Mercury decided to reveal in a press release that he, indeed, had full-blown AIDs and that he wasn’t long for this world. The news wasn’t surprising. In public appearances around that time, Mercury appeared gaunt, as if he was simply wasting away to nothing. The rumor mill had been spinning out of control for a while, with many speculating that Mercury was in the throes of the deadly disease, and when the end came, the vultures descended to viciously pick his bones clean. Mercilessly, the British tabloids savaged Mercury and his personal life, taking him to task for his reckless promiscuity and his libertine lifestyle. Judgment day had arrived for this modern-day Oscar Wilde, only it was the armchair moralists and the gossipmongers rendering their verdicts, not Mercury’s maker.
Coming to his defense, Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor went on TV to attempt to restore his good name and talk about the Freddie Mercury they knew, the quiet, more reserved aesthete who was completely at odds with the over-sexed madman in press portrayals. And there was more – much more, as it turned out – to Mercury than meets the eye, as the new documentary film “Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender” makes so abundantly clear. Mostly concerned with the extreme highs and lows – both professional and personal – that Mercury experienced between the recording of his first solo album, the disastrous Mr. Bad Guy, and his tragic ending, “Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender,” out via Eagle Entertainment, weaves together electrifying live footage – the Live Aid stuff, with Mercury exhorting the massive crowd to sing with him, is captivating – with candid, behind-the-scenes images of the singer and impactful interview snippets from the likes of May and Taylor, as well as friends and associates such as television personality Paul Gambaccini and Queen manager Jim Beach, to manufacture a colorful narrative fabric that Mercury would wear like a royal cape.
Edited and produced by Rhys Thomas, a diehard Queen fanatic, the documentary artfully explores how Mercury immersed himself in New York City’s wild gay club life and became fascinated with disco and Donna Summer, this along with his deep and abiding love and appreciation of opera and the ballet, which resulted in his sublime 1979 performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody” with the Royal Ballet. Going further, through Mercury’s own truthful admission, Thomas reveals the extent to which Mercury felt disengaged and distanced from his Queen band mates, due to their different outside interests, and the bullheadedness Mercury exhibited in steering Hot Space into more dance-oriented territory, which heated the friction between Mercury and May to an almost unbearable temperature.
And while all this controversy and drama certainly makes for good viewing, Thomas is also careful to attend to the smaller, more mundane aspects of Mercury's life, laying bare the vulnerabilities that made him uncertain in interpersonal relationships. Loyal to a fault, as his divisive relationship with former manager Paul Prenter illustrates – in the film, Taylor dismissively says of Prenter, “The less said about him the better” – Mercury was a cat lover, who could be shy and retiring offstage and willingly lament the fact that he didn’t have many close friends, as he did in a poignant talk about his star-crossed relationship with girlfriend Mary Austin in the movie, Mercury wasn’t the arrogant superman his dazzling onstage persona would suggest. He did have his endearing qualities, though, as his giddy adoration of opera singer Montserrat Caballe – whose friendship with Mercury is treated with such tenderness and pure joy in the film – so aptly demonstrates. It was Mercury’s determination to work with her that brought the two vocalists together for one of the most spectacular collaborations in music history, as their clarion calls sent the massive international hit single “Barcelona” soaring to the heavens. Outside of Queen, it was Mercury’s greatest triumph; more than that, it washed away the bad taste left in his mouth from Mr. Bad Guy, the result of a bloated contract with Mercury as a solo artist that caused excruciating financial pain to his record label.
Driving right through that intersection where art and life collide, “Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender” pulls no punches, and yet it is a warm, wistful eulogy to an artist who never stopped creating, even as AIDS ravaged his body. Startlingly honest and forthright about Mercury’s failings and his grand ambitions, the film introduces the world to Mercury’s flawed humanity, and through Thomas’s multi-faceted portrait, the once-blurry and undefined picture of Mercury, the man, comes sharply into focus. Near the end, as is outlined in Thomas’s heartfelt liner notes to the DVD, Beach once asked Mercury what he wanted done with his legacy and all that he’d left behind. Mercury responded, in typical devil-may-care fashion, by saying, “You can do whatever you like with my image, my music, remix it, re-release it, whatever – just never make me boring.” Mission accomplished.

-            Peter Lindblad

DVD Review: Queen - Greatest Video Hits


DVD Review: Queen - Greatest Video Hits
Eagle Vision
All Access Review: A-
Queen - Greatest Video Hits 2012
Donning a studded, black leather jacket in the video to Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” Freddie Mercury vamped around the air-brushed set like a cabaret version of Marlon Brando from “The Wild One,” strutting down a runway with a smoldering quartet of sexy male and female dancers in tow. In paying homage to rock ‘n’ roll’s envelope-pushing past, the always dramatic Mercury cut a very Elvis-like figure, coyly straddling that line between innocent, fun romanticism and explicit sexuality – much as Elvis did.
Where the King was only filmed from the waist up in certain TV performances, Mercury and his “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” playmates only hinted at the lascivious desires boiling up inside of them. Two years later, when Queen needed a visual accompaniment to “Body Language,” Mercury – largely responsible for the video’s steamy content – held nothing back, letting all of his deepest, darkest sexual impulses loose in a writhing orgy of sweaty skin and nubile bodies . As Roger Taylor and Brian May reveal in the surprisingly candid commentary included with “Greatest Video Hits,” the engrossing new compilation of Queen videos from Eagle Vision, the racy imagery was reflective of Mercury’s extreme nature and his increasingly reckless immersion in a homosexual subculture that laughed at prudish convention. And while that side of Mercury’s life may have provided titillating fodder for tabloid exploitation, there was more – much more, in fact – to Queen’s ever-evolving marriage of musical and visual artistry than stylized carnal fantasies, as “Greatest Video Hits” so magnificently illustrates.
Spread across two discs, this collection gathers 33 of Queen’s most inspired cinematic adventures – “Flash” and “A Kind of Magic,” influenced by the movie “Highlander,” being two of the most brilliant – vividly restored and fit into a widescreen format with remixed sound. There’s the lighthearted comedic romp “I Want To Break Free,” an infamous cross-dressing parody of the British soap opera “Coronation Street” directed by David Mallet that was banned by MTV, and the highly conceptual “Under Pressure” and “Radio Ga Ga,” which mixed vintage shots of Queen’s past and scenes from the visionary 1927 science-fiction film “Metropolis.” Evidence of Queen’s cheeky nature is found in “Bicycle Race,” featuring clips of comely naked lasses riding 10-speeds around a track without a care in the world, while the simple, straight-forward performance video of Queen playing “Hammer To Fall,” “Killer Queen,””Friends Will Be Friends” and “Another One Bites the Dust” – in all its grainy 16mm glory – remind one and all of the power and majesty of Queen’s prowess as a captivating, dynamic live band.
And we’re just scratching the surface here. Iconic videos of “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and, of course, the aforementioned “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” are included, as well as later works from when Queen tried to hold it together through May’s marital problems and Mercury’s disintegrating health, such “Breakthru,” which sees the foursome enduring a rather dangerous ride atop a train, and the joyously adorable “The Miracle,” with young children enthusiastically mimicking the roles of May, Mercury, Taylor and John Deacon.
These treasures alone would make “Greatest Video Hits” essential viewing, although what renders it priceless is that savagely honest and witty commentary track. So full of great anecdotes, unflinching opinions and rare insights, it goads May and Taylor into discussing the unvarnished truth behind every single video and song in the collection. Taking viewers behind the curtain, they are brutal when assessing “Scandal,” with Taylor admitting he was bored silly while making both the song and the video and May wishing it would have been more substantive considering how emotionally invested he was in the subject matter – namely, how gossip and rumor can damage not only reputations, but lives as well, as his was by the English press. Even more scathing when the subject turns to the staging of the ridiculously decadent “It’s a Hard Life,” May and Taylor can’t help chuckling at how “stupid” they look in ostentatious costuming that made a horse of Taylor and a colorful bird of paradise of Mercury. Even Queen, evidently, knew when things had gone too far.
Providing the perfect coda to “Greatest Video Hits” is the rousing anthem “One Vision.” Directed by Austrians Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher, the video is memorable for its innovative morphing of Queen’s famed 1975 pose from “Bohemian Rhapsody” into an updated portrait of the band in 1985, but, in “fly on the wall” fashion, it also peeks in on recording sessions for the track at Musicland Studios. While May remembers the sort of bunker atmosphere of the place being rather drab and depressing, the guitarist points out how galvanizing the song was for the band and what a unifying message it had for fans, as well. Even if it’s not entirely thorough – the videos for “Innuendo” and “The Show Must Go On” are missing – “Greatest Video Hits” is, in a sense, a similar vehicle for that communal vibe May found so appealing. Watch them all and bask in the warm Queen-related nostalgia that, chances are, someone else is also experiencing in a place that, suddenly, doesn’t feel so far, far away.
-            Peter Lindblad

DVD Review: Queen - "Days of Our Lives"

DVD Review: Queen - "Days of Our Lives"
Eagle Vision
All Access Review: A


Striding slowly across the stage in 1986, draped in a royal velvet robe with a gold crown on top of his head, Freddie Mercury, his head slightly tilted back, certainly bore a regal countenance. Preening to a packed stadium crowd, his arms spread wide in an ostentatious display of kingly arrogance, Mercury addressed his subjects, numbering in the thousands. As the waves of adulation began to subside at one of Queen’s final concerts, Mercury, laughing and smiling as if he didn’t have a care in the world, playfully places the crown on Roger Taylor’s head, as if abdicating his throne. To everyone, he looked as healthy as a horse. In secret, Mercury was already battling AIDS, and perhaps on some level, he knew then that he was inescapably doomed.
“I think he had an idea that he was not terribly well,” says Taylor, in between shots of the exultant audience, their arms raised to heaven in praise of Queen and the extravagant, theatrical rock and roll spectacle they were about to witness. That bit of foreshadowing from Taylor sets the stage for a moving narrative on Mercury’s last days and the touching elegy for this electric performer that encompasses much of Episode 2 of “Days of Our Lives,” an authoritative, engrossing and emotional two-part DVD documentary on Queen released on the last day of 2011, the 40th anniversary of Queen’s birth. “Days of Our Lives” originally aired in May on BBC in the U.K. over two nights. The DVD release, also available on Blu-Ray with loads more (almost an hour’s worth of interviews and additional scenes) bonus material, includes Episodes 1 and 2, plus a clutch of seven newly created videos for some of Queen’s greatest hits and deleted footage that make for absolutely essential viewing.
It’s a ripping yarn, this tale. Told chronologically by longtime fans Rhys Thomas and Simon Lupton, with Matt Casey directing, “Days of Our Lives” neatly cleaves Queen’s career in two parts, the first spanning 1970-1980 and the second picking right up where The Game leaves off, forging straight on through the inner turmoil of Hot Space and Mercury’s tragic death, and then arriving in the present, where Mercury’s shadow still looms over the lives of the three remaining members. New interviews with Taylor and Brian May, who are both refreshingly open and honest about the excesses and infighting that threatened to destroy Queen, form the core of “Days of Our Lives” – interestingly, bassist John Deacon, considered by many to be Queen’s secret weapon, is conspicuous by his absence, his contributions limited to found interview footage from long ago. Their commentary, so engaging and revealing, is patched in smartly amongst seemingly hundreds of clips of blazing, visceral concert video – including glorious Live Aid and Wembley Stadium triumphs, and South American soccer arena blowouts, with May and Taylor, as well as other Queen insiders, reliving the tension and fear arising from their appearance in totalitarian Argentina – and an abundance of other archival footage, much of it rare and unreleased. From the scandalous “Bicycle Race” promos featuring nude women bikers pedaling their ten-speeds to scintillating TV performances (starting with the band’s first-ever “Top Of The Pops” appearance from 1974, which hasn’t been seen since then – remembered with mixed feelings by May and Taylor), scrapbook black-and-white stills from their youth, piles of interview material and vintage behind-the-scenes film culled from video shoots, “Days of Our Lives” proves to be the ultimate Queen scrapbook, lovingly compiled and artfully arranged to serve a captivating story.
“Days of Our Lives” would be an incredibly vital collection for all that alone were it not for the wealth of colorful anecdotes strewn throughout its well-ordered contents. By turns devilishly funny – as when former manager John Reid recalls walking out on Mercury in a restaurant over an interview he did without Reid’s consent, and Mercury responding by throwing a brick through Reid’s window and telling Reid, in no uncertain terms, that nobody does that to him – and crushingly sad, as when Taylor tears up remembering when he heard that Mercury had died, the documentary is an illustrious history, not given to hyperbole but ever conscious of Queen’s magnificent accomplishments. Rummaging through the past, “Days of Our Lives” thoroughly vets all of Queen’s highs and lows, from the controversial Sun City performance in a South Africa still segregated by Apartheid to the gross financial mismanagement that nearly sunk them early on and ultimately, winding up with the bittersweet catharsis that was the tribute concert for Mercury. Fascinating stories abound, including the revelation that Deacon forgot the memorable bass line he’d created for “Another One Bites The Dust” when the band went out for pizza. And, of course, there are the many remembrances of Mercury the man, courageous in the face of a terminal disease and a wildly creative workaholic right up to the very end, as he tried valiantly to squeeze in as many recordings as he could for Queen before passing on. 
Sharply edited so that every scene has an impact, “Days of Our Lives” runs along at a pace that is quick but not hurried. The story of how Smile morphed into Queen is fleshed out with just enough detail to whet appetites for what’s to come, and from there, “Days of Our Lives” segues seamlessly into the making of Queen I and II, tracking Queen’s early stages of growth and development with surprising candor, humor and historical truth. On the cusp of a breakthrough, Queen kicked down the door with Sheer Heart Attack, and the sophisticated artistry that designed “Killer Queen” is dissected with scientific curiosity. The remainder of “Days of Our Lives” walks that fine line between entertainment and information delivery with relaxed confidence and clarity of vision, all while somehow controlling a gushing geyser of details related to Queen’s recording sessions – particular attention being paid to the groundbreaking multi-tracking techniques and choral-like blending of voices that sounded so angelic on “Somebody to Love” and a bevy of signature Queen tracks – and other key moments in the band’s tumultuous life.
Billed as “the definitive documentary of the world’s greatest rock band,” “Days of Our Lives” is all that and more. And while it is slightly less audacious than Mercury was onstage, it does capture all the pomp and circumstance that made Queen a stadium-rock sensation – for proof, see the deft shuffling of clips of “One Vision” brought to life through May’s cutting riffs and Mercury’s spine-tingling vocals. At Live Aid, Mercury was in rare form, whipping the masses into a writhing, joyous state of ecstasy that threatened to lift Wembley off its foundations. He truly was rock royalty, and so was the classic Queen lineup. Guaranteed to blow your mind, “Days of Our Lives” is that rare video biography that’s both grounded in reality and a completely transcendent experience. Somewhere, Freddie Mercury is smiling. 

- Peter Lindblad