BUDOKAN 1981 FINAL NIGHT  Definitive Master

1 CD

Label: Wardour 472
Country: Japan.
Released: May 2021.
Recorded: Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan  February 18th, 1981.
Sound: Excellent audience recording.
Comments:  This comes from a new source but unfortunately only contains the first 56 minutes.
Wardour label also released at same time, this concert on a 2CD from another audio source, but with same title, with number 475.
'The Millionaire Waltz' is just a short piano intro to 'Play The Game'.

1:30 minutes out in 'Keep Yourself Alive', Freddie throws a tambourine in front of the audience by singing. The audience is confused!!, and a battle broke out just beside the taper. A scream also boiled. You can also experience the noisy scene where you can no longer record.
Roots: Audience recorded tape.
Time: 55:30

Front cover
 CD
 1. We Will Rock You (fast version)
 2. Let Me Entertain You
 3. The Millionaire Waltz  (short instrumental intro bits)
 4. Play the Game
 5. Mustapha
 6. Death on Two Legs
 7. Killer Queen
 8. I'm in Love With My Car
 9. Get Down, Make Love
 10. Rock It (Prime Jive)
 11. Save Me
 12. Now I'm Here ~
 13. Dragon Attack ~
 14. Now I'm Here  (reprise)
 15. Sakura Sakura  (Brian's guitar solo)
 16. Love of My Life
 17. Keep Yourself Alive


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Review from Internet

QUEEN in the "THE GAME" era, where both albums and singles were sent to No. 1 in the United States, and "GREATEST HITS" became a historic blockbuster. Two unreleased masters who have vacuum-packed the performance in Japan and have been unveiled for the first time in the world have been unearthed at the same time! It is a miracle simultaneous release decision. Although the two masters this time were excavated from a route that has nothing to do with each other, they were recorded on the same day. It is a shocking audience recording of the "February 18, 1981: Nippon Budokan" performance.

[Ultra-high-quality sound board that jumped out of the topical master collection]
Although four types of recordings have been known for this show, both of these two are the best impact masters for the first time. While the simultaneous release "BUDOKAN 1981 FINAL NIGHT: COMPLETE MASTER (Wardour-475)" is a complete version of the show as its name suggests, this work is a live album that overwhelms others with its incomplete but outstanding sound. You may be wondering what the imperfections are, but in reality, this "imperfections" is also due to the fact that it was not a recording error but an incident that occurred at the scene. Until then, it's something to listen to.

Before the content of concern, first of all, the position of the show. At our shop, we have archived many masterpieces of Japan tours in their heyday, but all of our visits to Japan in 1981 tend to be a little confusing because they are all at Nippon Budokan. Now let's look back at the schedule at the time and organize the collection.

・ February 12 "BATTLE THEME (Nippon Budokan)"
・ February 13 "DEFINITIVE BUDOKAN 1981 2ND NIGHT"
-Off for 2 days-
・ February 16 "BUDOKAN 1981 3RD NIGHT"
・ February 17, "DEFINITIVE BUDOKAN 1981 4TH NIGHT"
・ February 18: Nippon Budokan ← ★ This work ★
* Note: Only representative works on each day.

Above, all 5 performances. So far, we have introduced live albums from the first day to the fourth day, but this work is the only remaining last day. It is the first appearance recording. What's more, the surprise is that this work has updated the highest and highest peaks ever. On this final day, four types of recordings were known, including recordings not handled by our shop, but this work sounds better than any of them.

Actually, the sound is shocking. The clapping of hands must be a vivid audience recording, but the essential performance sound / singing voice is completely out of the common sense of the guest record. A powerful and on core is struck in front of you, and the details that accompany it are also super detailed. Even on a bass that is difficult to record, the gritty attack sound and the groove that is created by connecting them will shine brightly in black. It's definitely Nippon Budokan only in 1981, but it doesn't have a reverberant component like the outdoors in terms of sound. Although there is evidence of audience recording in the snare sound, it is almost a sound board ... it is also the best sound of the official work level.

There is also a reason why it became such a superb sound. In addition to the good position of "Arena E row", the recording technique itself is more than that. Some of you may have come to the point, but the person who worked on this work is a person who is talking about super-name recordings such as WHITESNAKE, Jeff Beck, THE POLICE, AC / DC and so on. Its quality has won high praise as "official work level" and "Japanese Mike Millard", and this work is also a collection of such masters.

[A vivid incident scene where a battle for competition suddenly occurred]
It was a mysterious super high quality sound that was completely stored, but in terms of content, it is understandable. This is because it is incompletely recorded as introduced at the beginning. So why did the master who was so accustomed to recording stop halfway through? That's because there was a great deal of confusion at the scene. It was recorded without incident for about an hour after the performance started, but the incident happened with "Keep Yourself Alive". He threw the tambourine, which Freddie was hitting in a good mood, right next to the taper.

Of course, the surroundings were competing at once. The women's screams boiled, and the voice shook vigorously with a rattling noise. The screams didn't last long, and the desperate appearance of them came to my mind from the fact that they were swallowed in pieces with a "hit" feeling. And the sound of the tambourine being scrambled ... This is close to fierce. I don't know if the taper itself won, but it's still not strange. After that, recording resumes after a pause, but recording ends immediately. The historic super-masterpiece became an unfinished masterpiece, and for as long as 40 years, it couldn't be heard by anyone and kept sleeping ...

Anyway, superb quality. It is a live album with super high sound quality that surpasses all conventional recordings (lightly). With such a miracle sound, you can witness the heyday of QUEEN and witness the scene of a vivid trouble. You can't taste the full form of the show, but the ultra-realistic experience is so delicious that it's out of the question. Enjoy the press CD that conveys the impact of new excavation forever!

★ Recording of a transcendental audience for the performance of "February 18, 1981: Nippon Budokan". Despite the incomplete recording up to the middle of the show, the quality is superb, the strong on core is struck in front of you, and the details that accompany it are also super detailed. There is no reverberant component like in the open air, and it is almost a sound board ... It is also the best sound of the official work level. Also, listen to the recording interruption scene. Freddie threw a tambourine into the audience in "Keep Yourself Alive" and a battle broke out just beside the taper. A scream also boiled. You can also experience the noisy scene where you can no longer record.

★★ Complete first appearance sound source. Super high sound quality.