Queen's brand new live release 'Queen Rock Montreal' captures the world’s most iconic rock band at the very peak of their live powers in 1981.
'Queen Rock Montreal' presents Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon at their most exciting and exhilarating. As Brian May puts it, this is Queen “live and dangerous.”
Queen were on all-conquering form when they returned to Montreal, Canada for the fourth time in November 1981 to play two huge concerts at the 18,000-seat Forum. This pair of Montreal concerts marked an historic moment for Queen. After their massive success in the 1970s, the band entered the 80s bigger than ever, with the hugely successful 'The Game' album producing their two biggest ever US singles in 'Another One Bites The Dust' and 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' (both Billboard No.1’s), followed by the UK No.1 single 'Under Pressure'.
Queen’s return to Montreal came after almost two years of touring, including their very first tours of South and Central America, which saw the band playing two nights at Sao Paulo’s Morumbi Stadium to more than 150,000 devoted fans. As a result, when the band arrived in Canada in November 1981 they were in electrifying form. “Montreal is one of our favourite cities, it’s a great audience there, very full of energy,” says Brian May. “We’d played this particular venue, The Forum, several times before, and it was always full of really enthusiastic people giving us a lot of energy back.”
The original concerts, which took place on November 24 and 25, 1981, were truly ground-breaking. They were arranged specifically to be filmed for a full-length concert film to document their live show. Director Saul Swimmer planned to shoot them using state-of-the-art Double Anamorphic 35mm footage, which allowed it to be projected on a gigantic, five-storey high screen. Backstage tensions between the members of Queen and Swimmer could have caused problems, but instead they propelled the band to new heights.
“We were very, very hyped up, some of the tempos are really fast, there’s a lot of really incisive, angry playing,” says May.
'Queen Rock Montreal' features a rawer version of the band who had released 'Bohemian Rhapsody' half a decade earlier, showcasing their unparalleled musicianship, soaring vocal power and unstoppable live energy. “There’s no one on the stage apart from us,” says May.
Says Taylor: “It's fascinating to now realize how free we were on stage in 1981. It's a four piece, just the four of us in Queen, and to see Freddie. It's like being on stage with the band because the cameras are very high quality for the time. I've never seen anything that makes you feel quite so involved with the performance.”
From Freddie Mercury’s opening cry of “Hello Montreal… long time no see. You wanna get crazy?” through to the thrilling climactic one-two of 'We Will Rock You' and 'We Are The Champions', the energy rarely lets up – and even then only for signature ballad 'Love Of My Life'.
The powerful vocal acrobatics of Mercury, May’s dazzling six-string pyrotechnics, Deacon’s rock solid heartbeat bass, Taylor’s unstoppable rhythmic display, and not to mention the unique combination of all four voices – 'Queen Rock Montreal' shows the total cohesion and individual strengths of four musicians who were, as Brian May says, “at the top of our game”.
The Executive Producers for this vinyl were band members Roger Taylor and Brian May. Music mix produced by Justin Shirley-Smith, Kris Fredriksson and Joshua J. Macrae.
The album’s 28-track setlist shows the breadth and brilliance of Queen’s songwriting. It mixes 70s classics ('Killer Queen', 'Now I’m Here', 'We Will Rock You', 'We Are The Champions', 'Bohemian Rhapsody') and recent hits ('Another One Bites The Dust', 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love', 'Play The Game', 'Save Me') with fan-favourite deep cuts and album tracks ('Keep Yourself Alive', 'Dragon Attack', 'I’m In Love With My Car', 'Sheer Heart Attack'), as well as two songs, 'Flash' and 'The Hero', which are exclusive to the 3LP & 2CD formats.
Triple Black Vinyl Pressing
Tracklist
Side A:
1. Intro
2. We Will Rock You (Fast)
3. Let Me Entertain You
4. Play The Game
5. Somebody To Love
Side B:
1. Killer Queen
2. I'm In Love With My Car
3. Get Down, Make Love
4. Save Me
Side C:
1. Now I'm Here
2. Dragon Attack
3. Now I'm Here (Reprise)
4. Love Of My Life
5. Under Pressure
Side D:
1. Keep Yourself Alive
2. Drum And Tympani Solo
3. Guitar Solo
4. Flash
5. The Hero
Side E:
1. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
2. Jailhouse Rock
3. Bohemian Rhapsody
4. Tie Your Mother Down
Side F:
1. Another One Bites The Dust
2. Sheer Heart Attack
3. We Will Rock You
4. We Are The Champions
5. God Save The Queen
