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Review
by Collectors
music
reviews
The audience recording for Queen’s April 29th, 1975 gig at the
Yamaha Tsumagoi Hallin Shizuoka appeared suddenly in 2000 on this
title by Sweet Encore before hitting the trader’s circuit. It is a
distant but surpisingly clear and enjoyable recording that emphasizes the
bass but without annoying distortion. After a cut in the tape on
disc two there is a bit of distortion but not enough to detract from the
performance. There is also three and a half minutes of silence
at the end of disc one. The tracklisting on the back contains
an error. ”Bring Back That Leroy Brown” is not listed
but is present on the disc and is tracked together with “March Of
The Black Queen” and ”Son And Daughter.”
Early in the show the slower, softer numbers fare much
better. “Now I’m Here” seems to drag along the stage
and takes forever to reach the end. “It’s nice to see so
many of you here” Freddie says before “Ogre Battle.” There is
much more energy in this number with Roger Taylor bashing his drum
kit to great effect. ”That’s a nice banner” Mercury
points out to someone in the audience (it would be nice to see a photo
of the banner) before announcing “White Queen.” The tape picks
up the subtly of the song very well and Brian May’s melancholy solo in
particular.
“Doing All Right” is likewise outstanding and
contains one of their most catchy melodies (”yesterday my life was in
ruin / Now today I know what I’m doing / Got a feeling I should be doing
all right.”) The four song medley brings together four new songs
from Sheer Heart Attack with a short reference to “March
Of The Black Queen.” The Queen II song is such a
fascinating song that makes one wish they would have attempted an
arrangement for the stage instead of including a snippet in medley.
“This is a song from our very first album called Queen I
in Japan. We just call it Queen, called ‘Son And
Daughter’” is Freddie’s introduction for the song that carries May’s
solo spot in the set. The echo bouncing off the walls of the venue
are auible.
“Keep Yourself Alive” contains a short Roger Taylor
drum break in the middle and is followed by a sterling rendition of
“Seven Seas Of Rhye” and “Stone Cold Crazy.” The insanity
continues with a ten minute long “Liar” and afterwards May attempts to
quiet the crowd down. “We have a quieter number now” he
says before the set closer “In The Lap Of The Gods…Revisited.” He
always introduced this song in concert and was instrumental in
placing back in the set list ten years later. Even though it is
Freddie’s song, one gets the impression May likes it much more.
There are no cuts on the tape afterwards so several
minutes of audience cheering is audible before the encores. Taylor
sets the mood, shouting “rock and roll” before a ninety second snippet
of ”Hey Big Spender” (with Taylor continuing his shrieking behind
Freddie) leads into a double time run through of “Modern Times Rock And
Roll.” The studio recording of this track sounds close to Black
Sabbath, but this live version borders very close to the adrenaline rush
of speed metal. That segues into an eight minute oldies medley with
“Jailhouse Rock,” “Shake, Rattle & Roll,” “Stupid
Cupid” and “Be Bop A Lulu.” Queen would play two more
shows in Japan to close out the Sheer Heart Attack tour and
being work on A Night At The Opera. The packaging basic
with several common photos of the era on the liner notes. However
Sweet Encore provides a clear glimpse into this important era of the
band. |
