Captured in Sheffield back in May as part of a 32 date european tour, comes the eagerly anticipated live album from the remaining members of Queen and a certain Mr Paul Rodgers. As with most things ever touched by the Queen brand, the tour turned to gold and sold out despite the inevitable howls from the purists.
Indeed, it is hard to talk about Queen and not mention the absence of Freddie Mercury, the band's iconic lead singer whose death from AIDS in 1991 convinced many that the Queen's back catalogue would never see the light of day on the live stage again. It is perhaps to remaining members Brian May and Roger Taylor's credit that they waited and plumped for former Bad Company and Free frontman Paul Rodgers a superstar in his own right. Could Rodgers form a musical force to satisfy the notoriously perfectionist Queen fanbase?
After a brief Rodgers solo moment, the band blast into a roaring version of the Queen anthem
Tie Your Mother Down. The crowd pleasure is evident, as Rodgers brings his somewhat bluesier and more polished edge to proceedings. As the show rolls on it's clear that although the set has been picked to showcase the new man's excellent blues-rock vocal style, there are some Queen numbers that miss the cheekiness and pomp-laden delivery that died with Mercury.
Listening on, it becomes clear that this concert is more about celebrating the musical talent on display than merely indulging in nostalgia. Along with Queen classics the band launch into Rodgers' own hits
Wishing Well,
Can't Get Enough and
Feel Like Making Love. These fit superbly in the set and sound more like exciting new arrangements than predictable cover versions. Brian May and Roger Taylor are no slouches when it comes to taking the lead either, as both penned number one records back in the Queen days. Taylor leads the audience through an emotional rendition of
These Are The Days of Our Lives and the audience participation classic
Radio Ga Ga. May then steps up to deliver a beautiful rendition of
Love of My Life, a long time favorite of Mercury's . Obviously touched by the occasion, May relinquishes much of the main vocal to the crowd who are only too eager to oblige.
Rodgers takes centre stage once more with a blistering rendition of
I Want it All,a song never performed by Mercury after Queen ceased touring in 1986. It is evident on first listen that this man is putting everything he has into these songs. Whether feeling he has Mercury's shadow to step out of, or hordes of Queen fans to win over, his desire to deliver is evident and more often than not it works. Most importantly, this confidence and showmanship enables the performance to come across as relaxed and energised. No new musical ground is going to be broken by any stretch of the imagination but messrs. Rogers, May and Taylor clearly still have the hunger to give a great live show and leave the audience gasping for more, which seems to have always been the ethos when approaching live performance.
The encore kicks off with the inevitable
Bohemian Rhapsody, with Mercury's vocal being superimposed for the first part perhaps being the only vaguely tacky moment. A charged version of
The Show Must Go On stirs the emotions as May's distinctive guitar work shines through. Free's
All Right Now is given the treatment next, and sits comfortably. If the music press need a definition of "anthem", look no further!
As the show closes with the standard
We Are The Champions it's hard not to reflect on the live experience without experiencing a mix of emotions. Queen fans will find it hard and in some cases downright difficult to swallow that their beloved songs are being trusted to someone who isn't Freddie Mercury. But on further listening it's hard not to appreciate what is happening here. Paul Rodgers, Brian May and Roger Taylor have been there and done that in musical terms. This show is about proving to others and themselves that they can deliver a great, entertaining show, and by God does that happen. Working with great songs, the experience of the band enable a whole new audience to appreciate. There is no hard sell, no pressure.
If clinging to past glories is your thing, you probably won't like this record much. But if listening to some of rock's finest songwriters and performers giving a great show and actually having
fun while they do it is...it's in the shops from today.
Queen and Paul Rodgers: Return of the Champions is out now on
Parlophone.
http://www.queenonline.com/
