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| NOVEMBER 2007 |
Contains some Industry, General and UNOFFICIAL News from 'OUT THERE' © brianmay.com |
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**Wed 14 Nov 0**
11 - NEW 11 QUEEN ROCK MONTREAL & LIVE AID - Queen RAJ/SBME We also have reports of a second consecutive week at top of Italian DVD chart, and the DVD being at No 1 and No 2 in the Netherlands. Queen Rock Italy! Again! DVD Charts (14 Nov): Last week..... (7 Nov) Thanks to Davide and Andy © brianmay.com |
**Wed 14 Nov 07** PR Inside reports Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" has been voted into third place in a new poll conducted by drinks brand Orangina, to find the best party tune of all time. "Dancing Queen", by Swedish 1970s stars Abba, a song which hit the number one spots in both the UK and the US in 1976, is named the most popular party track. Second place went to Dexys Midnight Runners' "Come On Eileen". © brianmay.com |
**Wed 14 Nov 07** A further DVD review: BLOG CRITICS At the tail end of 1981, Queen was at the height of its considerable powers, having topped the album and singles charts in both the UK and US, playing for over 130,000 people in Brazil and with the number one video in the UK. It was during this period that they were filmed over two nights in Montreal. Originally titled We Will Rock You, Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid is 96 minutes of Queen at their live best. Filmed as one-off performances, this was the last time the band played with just its four original members on stage before Hot Space introduced keyboards and extra musicians into their live mix. It is also the first time they played their classic hit, “Under Pressure,” live. Touring off Greatest Hits, Queen played a set featuring songs from their entire career including “Keep Yourself Alive,” “Tie Your Mother Down,” and “Another One Bites the Dust.” The original idea for the show, which was shot on 35mm film, was to take it on the road as sort of a traveling concert, played on large screens at high volumes – a precursor to IMAX in many ways. However the original film suffered from poor editing and sound problems. Those have since been fixed, as Queen now owns the rights to the film, which has been restored from the original negative and presented in newly mixed and remastered DTS Surround Sound. From the included commentary from drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May, we learn the band was never comfortable with the film crew being around and that was a great source of tension, resulting in many of the songs being played much faster than their recorded versions. Still, tension often makes for great rock and roll, and the band really pushes the songs here with Freddie Mercury in great voice throughout. Also included on the two-disc set is the band’s legendary performance at Live Aid. In 20 minutes, Queen reminded the world why they were one of the greatest live acts in the world with their tight powerful set of old classics including “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” as well as “Radio Gaga” and “Hammer to Fall” from their then-new album, The Works. Mercury and May return later for a duet on “Is This The World We Created,” also presented on the DVD. In addition, there’s 11 minutes of unseen rehearsal and interview footage from Live Aid, a Web link to the Queen Rock Montreal Web site and an interview from the old US television show, PM Magazine. For a good look at Queen at their live peak, as well as their complete Live Aid performance, Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid is a must-own DVD. HD DVD and Blu Ray versions come out on Dec.4. © brianmay.com |
**Mon 12 May 07** Austin (Texas) Indy Band 'Spoon' discussed the influence of "We Will Rock You" on their music and latest album in a recent interview with rock critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis, which was put out on their podcast, Sound Opinions, at the weekend. Interviewer: One of the things I think that's cool about Spoon, and it's true of this album as well, is that rather than adding and orchestrating, you guys take stuff away. I think it's a unique sound is because there's a lot of space in your songs and stuff is really stripped down. And I remember having this conversation with Britt a few years ago and you were talking lovingly about Queen's "We Will Rock You", Prince's "Kiss", AC/DC's "Back In Black" and you go, what's the common ground between those songs? And they're all very minimal, elemental type of songs and it seemed like that's something that you've always liked and want to get in your own records. SPOON (Britt Daniel?): Yeah, it seems like a great way to have a sort of classic-sounding single is to just, you know, strip the song down to its essentials, but sometimes the essentials won't carry the song, you know. So with songs like that, they came up with that thing - the stomps and handclaps on "We Will Rock You", that just like makes it the song. Spoon are: Britt Daniel, Jim Eno, Eric Harvey, Rob Pope. Website / Myspace Article at LAIST.COM (Nov 12, 2007) 11.09.07 Sound Opinions with Spoon © brianmay.com |
**Mon 12 Nov 07** "Killer Queen" is one of four tracks already recorded for an all new full orchestral jazz covers project to be released on CD mid-to-late 2008. The as of yet unnamed band began as a recording project founded by composers Ryan Fraley & Ralph Johnson with vocalist Lydia McAdams. As well as Queen, the band is covering Led Zeppelin, Rush, Yes and more. Excerpts are available on their website of four completed tracks where the band cover Queen ("Killer Queen"), Led Zeppelin ("The Rain Song"), Rush ("Available Light") and Yes ("Heart of the Sunrise"). Eight further tracks will complete the album. This unique and lovingly crafted covers album promises to feature classic proressive rock songs, re-worked for full jazz orchestra and beautiful vocal accompaniment. For more information visit www.progjazz.com/ where you can sign up to be notified when the CD becomes available. You can also listen to a one minute sample of "Killer Queen". © brianmay.com |
**Mon 12 Nov 07** Top 10 Music DVDs and Videos : 11.11.2007 1 NEW - Westlife - Back Home DVD (S) © brianmay.com |
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We Will Rock You Canada going strong - has further extended its booking period to 27 january 2008. TORONTO STAR Mirvish Productions starts selling a new block of tickets today for yet another extension of Queen musical We Will Rock You, this time to Jan. 27. © brianmay.com |
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SATELLITEGUYS.COM More info that has come to us about this.... It's on RAVE HD. RAVE HD is available on Dish Network and Cablevsion. If you do not get Rave HD, you need to get Dish or call you cable company and make repeated requests for RAVE HD. This concert is now available on DVD, but RAVE HD is the only place it can be seen in HD. It will be aired many times after it's premiere on [Ed... Rave is part of the Voom HD Network.) © brianmay.com |
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BBC Top 40 Albums : 11.11.2007 34 (20) Wk2 4 NEW McFly - Greatest Hits (Island) © brianmay.com |
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DVD REVIEWER Introduction The legendary Freddie Mercury and Queen are captured here in all their glory. Contains a 1981 concert filmed in Montreal, Canada and the band`s appearance at the historic Live Aid in 1985. As is fitting for one of the greatest rock bands of all-time, Queen’s official DVD releases over the past few years have been nothing short of spectacular. Aside from the beautiful DTS remixing of their two “Greatest Videos” sets, we’ve had some superb work also done to classic concerts such as “Live at Wembley Stadium”, and perhaps more notably for Queen die-hards, “Queen on Fire – Live at the Bowl”. Following on from those, then, is “Queen Rock Montreal”, a re-working of the unofficial VHS release known as “We Will Rock You”. The footage available here was recorded on 24th and 25 November 1981, at The Forum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This release was somewhat of a surprise to Queen fans, who had not considered this to be one of Queen’s best performances, based on the “We Will Rock You” VHS. Perhaps, though, that can be attributed to director Saul Swimmer, who demanded that the band wear the same attire, play the same way, and adopt the same poses on both shows. Though the band were furious about it, Swimmer then sought to edit everything into a mish-mash of music, which led to the blooper on the original release, where Freddie Mercury is heard to be singing during “Killer Queen”, despite his lips failing to move on screen. Though the original video material was not available for re-cutting – the unused footage was binned after editing was completed – the original audio tapes were found in good condition, allowing errors such as the above to be fixed. As Brian May put it, this new release is “the form in which it originally should have been.” Video/Visuals Video is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic PAL (Region 0 – All Regions), and is quite staggering considering that the concerts took place more than 25 years ago. Much of the credit for that can be attributed to the fact that this was recorded on 35mm film, an extreme rarity for concerts of the time. In addition, frame-by-frame remastering was pain-stakingly undertaken, with an apparent 700 Apple Mac G5s working for an entire month to create such high-quality visuals. Indeed, the only thing that stops the video here from being comparable to the highest-quality concert releases today, is the somewhat dated stage production. But it would be ridiculous to count that as a negative, when in fact the restorers deserve even greater credit for so successfully completing a task that no new DVD authors have to go through. Needless to say, then, the video is remarkably sharp and crisp, with no noticeable transfer issues. I would be surprised if any other concert recordings from this era match this quality. One thing that should be noted is how unhappy the band were with the camerawork during the concert. It is true that at certain guitar parts, for example, where you would expect to see Brian May, the camera may instead be focused on Freddie Mercury. But I must say, there were several moments when I enjoyed the fact that the camerawork was not run-of-the-mill, though whether that was by fault or design, is open for debate. Audio/Soundtrack Audio is presented with a choice of PCM stereo, and DTS 5.1. Either way, the mix is excellent, with a vibrancy and energy that matches the performance of the band. And unlike so much concert audio, you can distinctly hear each musician, which makes for a beautiful, full sound when everything comes together. The main difference between the PCM and 5.1 tracks is simply the extra scope that the surround mix allows. With the DTS mix, every note of John Deacon’s bass is clearly audible, while it doesn’t quite have the same impact in PCM stereo. Of course, the extra separation on the 5.1 is a nice treat, and does allow for more of a live feel, too. As far as the individual performances go, the verve of band is incredible here, and even mild-mannered John Deacon seems to be more musically aggressive than usual. Roger Taylor’s drumming is relentless, as are his backing vocals. Brian May is as brilliantly consistent as ever, and Freddie Mercury cements his place as one of the greatest front-men of all-time, with his soaring vocals, and his ability to interact with the crowd. Extra Features It wouldn’t be an official Queen release without some significant extras, and this release does not disappoint. On Disc One, we have a commentary on the concert by Brian May and Roger Taylor. There is some interesting information detailed here, but there are many moments where they too are seemingly sitting back, enjoying the show. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though, because you get the feeling that you are watching the DVD alongside them. The commentary isn’t without humour, a lot of which is very modestly self-depreciating. Delightfully, the it is also subtitled in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch, and Portuguese, meaning that you can watch the feature in DTS, yet still read May and Taylor`s comments. On Disc Two, we have the 25-minute Live Aid performance by the band – including a rendition of “Is This The World We Created?” by Mercury and May - again available in PCM stereo, and DTS 5.1. Queen’s performance was acknowledged as the best of the entire Live Aid festivities, and Freddie Mercury in particular seemed to excel under the pressure of the huge live and television audience. That certainly isn’t a knock on the rest of the band, but Mercury’s performance was quite colossal. The Live Aid visuals do suffer from microphony issues – horizontal lines which occur when a camera lens is subjected to loud noise. Those are irreparable at this stage, even with modern technological advances, and were also present on the Live Aid DVD release. The audio has survived well, however, and it is mixed beautifully in both PCM and DTS. Also on Disc Two is previously unreleased rehearsal footage, which is intertwined with interview footage regarding the Live Aid concert. Though the footage isn’t of the greatest quality, it is still very much worth a look. The same can also be said of the 1982 US TV news story, which is also available here. It contains a short profile of the band, including interviews. Overall Opinion Considering that the Montreal Forum concerts have never previously been regarded as two of Queen’s more impressive shows – largely due to the aforementioned “We Will Rock You” VHS effort of the past – it is with great delight that I note that this is yet another high-quality official Queen release. From the opening “fast” version of “We Will Rock You”, the concert keeps up a strong pace, both in terms of the very short time between each track, and the tempo at which the band play. The latter is partially due to the aggressive mindset with which they entered the stage, due to their disagreements with Saul Swimmer. Based on this evidence, the tension was no bad thing – this is a quite stunning performance. The stand-out tracks here aren’t necessarily those which are best-known to owners of Queen’s “Greatest Hits” collections. Of particular note are the awesome, Taylor-sung “I’m In Love With My Car”, “Get Down, Make Love”, and “Dragon Attack”, although there’s no hiding the genius behind “We Will Rock You”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, or “We Are The Champions” either. In total, it’s a strong set-list, with a nice mix of the aforementioned “Greatest Hits” type songs, and other lesser-known pieces. Though many outside the rock fan-base may wince, the drum and guitar solo spots are also well worth their place here. Overall, “Queen Rock Montreal” is a superb DVD effort, which more than lives up to the band’s reputation, in terms of their performance, and in comparison to their previous official DVD releases. Content 9 © brianmay.com |
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© brianmay.com |
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Wow, is great!! QRM is now NO 1 in the portuguese DVD charts: 1 N 0 - LIVE IN MONTREAL + LIVE AID QUEEN EAGLE VISION EDEL Marcos Ferreira - Portuguese Queen Fan Clube © brianmay.com |
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QUEEN Aside from their slightly dubious mid-80s era where Queen indulged too much in synth-led pop rather than bombastic rock, there is no denying just how amazing this band were. This DVD captures the quartet in their halycyon era and boy, what an amazing performance they delivered. Aside from their dress sense (John Deacon's blue attire and some of Brian May's outfit changes bring a smirk to your face) this DVD shows Queen belting out some awesome tunes, including 'We Will Rock You', 'Under Pressure' performed live for the first time, and of course 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Shot on film (and since digitally restored), the footage is second-to-none. Hunt down the limited edition for a bonus disc from the band's incredible Live Aid show. Superb. www.queenrockmontreal.com --- GenerationQ - Sydney, NSW, Australia QUEEN ROCKS MONTREAL! The greatest rock band ever, Queen, are back with a new live CD and DVD, Queen Rock Montreal. Obviously, it's not a recent concert, but was recorded in November 1981, before the band integrated keyboards into their music, and this concert was the first to be filmed using full cinema format 35mm film. Needless to say, this was recorded when Queen were in their heyday, and performed hits like Play The Game, Killer Queen, Flash, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, and not one, but TWO versions of We Will Rock You, with the concert starting with the fast version, and the "normal" version towards the end. If you have never seen or heard Queen live before, this CD will be a REAL eye-opener for you. Queen were never a band to do things simple ... Freddie Mercury was more of an extrovert live than Cher and Madonna put together!!! Also featuring solos from Roger Taylor on drums, and Brian May on guitar, this incredible album captures the essence of who Queen were, and, for the most part, still are. I'm sure Freddie's looking down on us all at this moment and making sure we don't forget about him. Don't worry Freddie, there's no way we could forget you! For more information about Queen, and info about the Queen rock-opera, We Will Rock You, visit the Official Website. Queen Rock Montreal is out now through EMI Music. -------- Canada Free Press - Toronto, Ontario, Canada QUEEN ROCK MONTREAL Those of us fortunate enough to have attended the theatrical screening of Queen Rock Montreal enjoyed a once in a lifetime thrill. Not only did we did we get to experience the film on the big screen and with big sound, but we also got to view this fantastic concert with hundred of other Queen fans. Now this film is available on DVD and you can watch it in the comfort of your own home. Queen put this event on film during a sold out concert at the Montreal Forum, at the height of their popularity in 1981. These were the only concerts ever shot on film by Queen. Since then, the film has been digitally restored and the sound has been newly mixed and mastered. Freddie Mercury was at his incredible best and the entire band sounds exactly like what they were, the biggest and most popular rock and roll band in the world. And considering how far special effects have come in the years since this concert was shot, it is amazing what the band did with smoke and lights. Queen performs some of its most popular music in this concert, including We Will Rock You, Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites The Dust and We Are The Champions, as well as more than twenty other numbers. And for those of you who want it all, this DVD also comes in a special edition double DVD, Queen Rock Montreal + Live Aid. That’s two Queen concerts in one package. Posted 11/9 at 06:04 AM © brianmay.com |
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The beautiful and talented Canadian songstress, Celine Dion, joined Ken Bruce on BBC Radio 2 on Monday and was choosing the musical tracks. One was Queen's "The Show Must Go On". Here is what she had to say about this choice of song, which she hopes to sing on her next tour: KEN BRUCE: CELINE DION: [Plays "The Show Must Go On"] © brianmay.com |
Queen Rock Montreal DVD debuts in the Australian Aria chart at Number 11 as at 12 Nov 2007.
