In the post-Greatest hits 1,2 and 3 world it’s very easy for people to forget that Queen were a great rock band first and foremost and that the quirky singles and unabashed stadium material was always sandwiched between some brilliantly heavy slabs of music. While the Queen that limped off the stage following Freddy Mercury’s untimely and tragic death may have preferred to be remembered for their ballads via the utterly hideous ‘made in heaven’ album, casual listeners need look no further than the mighty slab of Zeppelin-esque rock that was ‘Innuendo’ for proof that Queen were always capable of bludgeoning the competition when the mood took them. However, back in 1982 Queen were at something of a crossroads. Having spent the previous decade rocking harder than most, their ‘Hot Space’ album was met with everything from bafflement to outright disgust – something that Freddy acknowledges on stage at Milton Keynes when he states “it’s only an album, you know…” – and even in the light of hindsight time has not been kind to an album that aimed for sexy and intelligent funk but which sounded like nothing so much as a betrayal of everything that the band had become famous for. Perhaps as a result of this, ‘Queen On Fire’ is a heavier set than Queen have released elsewhere and the track-listing certainly knocks spots off the far more patchy and ballad-heavy ‘live at Wembley Stadium’.
Queen live were always an odd proposition. Caught between the insane arrangements of their studio output (let’s be honest, Bohemian Rhapsody never sounded half as good live as it did on record), the demand for the hits and their own to desire to hit the stage and simply batter their audience into submission set lists showed an astonishing lack of awareness when it came to sequencing, which is represented nowhere more clearly than on ‘live at Wembley’ which has a middle section that simply drags thanks to a preponderance of slow, overly-sentimental material. The Queen on tour in 1982 however, had to prove that they could still rock and on this lengthy outing they do exactly that. With a set-list that includes two versions of ‘we will rock you’, the heavy rock of ‘tie your mother down’, ‘sheer heart attack’, ‘get down make love’ and ‘another one bites the dust’ as well as rocked-up versions of tracks found on ‘hot space’, the band tear on stage to Flash as if their lives depend on it and don’t let up until the final strains of ‘God save the Queen’ have faded and the crowd are left standing, dumb struck by the display of muscle from a band who had only just received a panning for dropping the rock ‘n’ roll ball.
This DVD (the set is also available as a double CD set) does a fantastic job of capturing Queen at this all important junction and there is no doubt that this is the finest available reminder of why Queen continue to have a mighty appeal well beyond the coy amusement of ‘fat bottomed girls’ and ‘it’s a kind of magic’ in heavy rock circles. Freddy is on top form, belting out the notes like the consummate showman he was while the band have rarely sounded better or heavier. The mix gets it just right. With the guitars justifiably top-loaded, the bass still thuds away nicely and the drums are satisfyingly clear in the mix. Better still the vocals are well balanced allowing you to hear Roger Taylor’s bluesy backing vocals and the crowd rarely drown out the quieter moments allowing for a satisfyingly meaty live experience. With audio tracks offered in a decent PCM stereo or DTS 5.1, those with a home-cinema set up won’t be disappointed by the fine mix and a lot of effort has clearly gone into making this a superb audio experience.
Sadly the same cannot be said of the visuals. While every effort has been made to clear this up for DVD presentation, the source film was just never good enough. As if the irritating lens flare and streaking wasn’t bad enough, the film grain makes this look like a bad VHS transfer rather than a state-of-the-art film transfer and the distance shots in particular suffer from the lack of clarity. That said, Queen were never that exciting to watch anyway so this is one of those DVDs that you can put on and then read a book to – nonetheless, for those wanting to watch it is a distraction.
In terms of bonus features, this double disc set is once again generous, albeit the generosity is largely aimed at solid fans rather than the casual viewer. The first disc offers up the whole concert (along with a nifty ‘jukebox’ feature that allows you to pick your five favourite tracks to play back to back) while disc 2 offers some tour highlights of dubious quality and interviews with Roger, Brian and Freddy. John is, sadly, not represented here although the diminutive bassist probably said all he ever needed to say when he refused to take part in any post-Freddy Queen work.
Overall this is the one to get if you enjoy Queen as a rock band. While ‘live at Wembley’ may be the most famous of Queen’s live sets, this captures the band fighting to hold onto a crown that their ill-advised step into new territory saw them in danger of forfeiting and as a result they are tighter, meaner and heavier than they ever appeared at any other time. This is Queen at their definitive, audience slaying best – well worth a listen.
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