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Review
by
Collectors
music
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Queen’s tour of Europe for The
Game coincided with the release both of Flash Gordon and the death of
John Lennon, both ironically on December 8th. Material from the film
soundtrack was introduced into the setlist that night and on the following evening
a short tribute to Lennon with a cover of “Imagine” was also
introduced.
One of the better documents
from this era and with the cover intact comes from the December 14th show
in Frankfurt, Germany. Imagine on Gypsy Eye is
potentially a very good and clear audience recording of the event.
The mastering on the tape is really poor, however. There are
clicks scattered throughout the show and it sounds as if the remote plug
for the tape recorder’s microphone wasn’t complete in the slot.
It’s an annoying mastering fault by the label (it’s present in the
alternate tape too).
It’s a frustrating listen
and it makes it very hard to make it though the concert.
“Sheer Heart Attack” and the forty-second fragment of “God
Save The Queen” are missing from this source and Gypsy Eye edit a poor
sounding alternate source to complete the show.
The performance is
outstanding. And Frankfurt, known to have many disturbances in the
audience because of inebriated American soldiers (Led Zeppelin,
Genesis and Queen in 1982 all has problems in this venue), but this night
they are well behaved.
European shows began as the
American, with the cover of “Jailhouse Rock” serving as an
introduction to the fast “We Will Rock You” and “Let Me Entertain
You.” After “Play The Game” comes the medley which
includes “Mustapha,” “Death On Two Legs,” “Killer Queen,”
“I’m In Love With My Car,” and “Get Down Make Love” and like
many of their releases Gypsy Eye groups the songs into one track.
Brian plays the piano at the
beginning of “Save Me” but plays the wrong notes. Freddie has to
stop singing for a bit and allow May to figure out the chord. The
song continues without a hitch. “Now I’m Here,” which had
the long vocal gymnastics on the Jazz tour now has the new
song “Dragon Attack.” This is followed by “Fat Bottomed
Girls” and afterwards May tells the audience: “I have very little to
say, except you’re probably the best audience in the western world. The
loudest, anyway…. This better be good, I tell you. You gotta sing this
pretty good. This is called ‘Love Of My Life.’”
An acoustic arrangement of
“Imagine” follows, lasting almost three full minutes and is greeted
with loud applause. May’s eight minute guitar solo follows which
segues into the Battle Theme from Flash Gordon, “Flash” and
“The Hero.” All of this is tremendous fun.
The show ends with “Tie
Your Mother Down.” The first encore set follows with “Sheer
Heart Attack” and “Another One Bites The Dust” and the second with
the expected “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions.”
Gypsy Eye’s artwork is clever, utilizing a motif inspired by the Lennon
LP Imagine with Freddie’s photo on the front. But as good
as it is, this release could have been so much better and is another
wasted opportunity. |
