QUEEN Discography- MONTREAL '81 in theaters near you

[DragonAttack]

GH was my introduction to Queen, as I suspect it was for many people. A damn near perfect track selection, however...

It's 58 minutes long. To get this on to a single vinyl called for some serious reduction in sound quality, with songs mastered way too quietly. Only they didn't want to do that, and some songs, particularly the new songs from The Game, are mastered properly, sound great, but to compensate older songs (Seven Seas of Rhye) are mastered so quietly they're virtually a whisper. This carried across to cassette and CD versions for some reason - I bought this on CD as part of the "Platinum" edition, packaged with GH2 and the incredibly pointless GH3, and the supposedly remastered CD sounds the same as the old vinyl did, new songs mastered too loud, old songs mastered too quiet. Don't know if more recent masters have fixed the comparative volume issue, don't care.

No idea about whether the 2011 reissue fixed that or not.  I sampled a few parts of the earlier released UK CD and vinyl, and, yeah, they are 'quiet', most likely due to the crazy amount of time on the vinyl.

I didn't count the Stones or Kiss because largely, their hits packages make a sort of sense.  The Stones ALWAYS include a handful of new songs on their hits' packages, and their packages are usually pretty comprehensive.   Kiss, believe it or not, is pretty generous with their hits packages; most of the songs are not just rehashes of the same hits.  I mean, it's the same songs but there are remixes, or reworkings that make them somewhat unique to those that care about those kinds of things. 

A lot of those are for the 'money grab', and Queen certainly is in that group.  The KISS remixes....similar and going waaaay back to Alice Cooper's original 'Greatest Hits'.....I wanted the original studio versions, not variations.  That's where CDs with room for additional different versions....Queen's 'Son And Daughter', 'Spread Your Wings', 'Doing Alright', 'We Will Rock You' (fast) etc from the BBC sessions, along with various live cuts.....were for....if done properly.

No reminiscing of listening to GH with my Mom, but certainly some of the songs from when the original LPs came out....side one of Queen II, Side Two of ANATO and 'Races' always take me back to those days.

[DragonAttack]

....to finish out the 'Greatest Hits' era, we have....

QUEEN GREATEST FLIX
Released:  November 2, 1981



This video was also included in the 'Box Of Flix' boxed set, adding four bonus tracks, and released as part of 'Greatest Flix I & II' on Video-CD in 1994, and DVD and Laserdisc in 1997. It was also essentially re-released in 2002 on DVD, adding bonus videos and features, as 'Greatest Video Hits I'.

Of course, everyone still has their laser disc copy 😉

At this point in their career, Queen were arguably the biggest band in the UK, becoming the first artists to simultaneously top the album charts (with Greatest Hits), singles charts (with Under Pressure), and video charts (with Greatest Flix).

****************
The 2002 video reissue:
GREATEST VIDEO HITS 1

Released on 14 October 2002, and reached no 1.
Certifications:
Gold in France and Mexico
3x Gold in Germany
Platinum in Argentina, Poland, USA
3x Platinum in UK and Canada
6x Platinum in Australia

Best selling in UK for the year. #1 in UK, USA, Germany, Spain, and other countries.



We'll return to 1981 for their concerts in Montreal tomorrow. Just as the Earl's Court concert in '77 before the release of 'News Of The World' can mark the end of their first 'era', the Montreal shows can mark the end of the next.

[DragonAttack]

Live In Montreal ‘81

The Forum, Montreal, November 24th, 1981   Attendance: 18,000   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xpb0UgpGy4&t=2357s    Sound Quality: B+

Special Event: Rock Montreal Film

After the horrible experiences and shortened tour in Venezuala and Mexico in September, the equipment is flown to New York City for storage for the possibility of filming two nights at Madison Square Garden.  The band take a break to touch up 'Under Pressure' and begin work on their next studio album.  The decision is eventually made to film the shows in Montreal.

The setlists for the two nights were the same:
We Will Rock You (fast) / Let Me Entertain You / Play The Game / Somebody To Love / Killer Queen / I'm In Love With My Car / Get Down Make Love / Save Me / Now I’m Here / Dragon Attack / Now I'm Here (reprise) / Under Pressure / Keep Yourself Alive -drum-guitar solos / Flash / The Hero / Crazy Little Thing Called Love / Bohemian Rhapsody / Tie Your Mother Down
Encores:
Another One Bites The Dust / Sheer Heart Attack / Jailhouse Rock / We Will Rock You / We Are The Champions / God Save The Queen

This is the first performance of ‘Under Pressure’. Dragon Attack and Love Of My Life are missing on this bootleg. 



"A Rolling Stone magazine article circa 1980/81 (not written by Dave Marsh ) said Montreal was chosen as the location for filming because the audience were louder than the monitors at the 1980 show. Madison Square Garden in New York was considered at one point, but the Montreal Forum was also deemed favourable because it was a cheaper option.

Shot on 35 mm film, it was originally intended to be a tour in itself, by a company called Mobilevision that was essentially a traveling Imax. For this reason, the audio was originally given a very dry and sterile mix, to give a sense that the band was in the room with the viewer rather than performing a concert - much to the dismay of the band (also worth noting is that the audience mics were brought down in the mix to a near whisper, which unfortunately contributed to a false idea in some viewers' minds that the audience was bored and unreceptive). Furthermore, the director of the film, Saul Swimmer, managed to assume the rights to all the footage and audio, leading to many official releases that came to fruition - completely without any input from the band.

Brian May has very openly stated many times his dissatisfaction with the sound quality on these releases. The first such release was a VHS in 1982, a 90 minute compilation of most of the songs performed on both nights. Numerous copies followed, a few of which were edited down to one hour (see Discogs for a complete listing). These dozens of releases yielded plenty of LP and CD bootlegs, particularly after Mercury's death in 1991, as expected."  Queenlive.ca

[DragonAttack]

Video:  Released in 1982,

I purchased it in '92, and instantly recorded it onto a cassette to blast away to in the car.  The first live versions of ‘Somebody To Love’ and ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ that I owned (finally!!!!) 
We Will Rock You (fast)/ Let Me Entertain You/ Play The Game/ Somebody To Love/ Killer Queen/ I'm In Love With My Car/ Get Down Make Love/ Save Me/ Now I'm Here/ Dragon Attack/ Now I'm Here (reprise)/ Love Of My Life/ Under Pressure/ Keep Yourself Alive/ drum/guitar solos/ Crazy Little Thing Called Love/ Bohemian Rhapsody/ Tie Your Mother Down/ Another One Bites The Dust/ Sheer Heart Attack/ We Will Rock You/ We Are The Champions/ God Save The Queen



And then this crappy cover   



The drum and guitar solos are included, but still no 'Flash', 'The Hero', or 'Jailhouse Rock'.  This was again released in 2001, with 'Jailhouse Rock'. The '01 release was a satisfying purchase.



The band bought back the rights to this material in early 2007, and the resulting CD/DVD release was called "Queen Rock Montreal" (a second version was entitled "Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid," which included a second disc containing their famed 1985 charity show set and some other extras). A couple weeks before the release, the Montreal film was shown for one night only in theatres worldwide.

[DragonAttack]

QUEEN ROCK MONTREAL

Released:  October 2007 UK (EMI / Parlophone)as a double CD, Blu-ray, DVD, and triple vinyl in the UK and the following day in the US

Charts for the CD sales:
UK #20, Portugal #22, Germany #17, Austria #25, Italy #27, Switzerland #27, Spain #35, Netherlands #54, Belgium #62, Ireland #88

2008:   
Mexico #73

Certifications:  Gold in Australia
******
DVD Charts:
2007
Italy #1, Portugal #1, Sweden #1, Belgium #3, Denmark #3, Austria #4, New Zealand #8, Australia #9

2008
Norway #2
 
Certifications:
Gold in Australia and Switzerland
Platinum in Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, UK

2x Platinum in USA, Canada



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFie0kyu9cs&t=25s

Intro/ We Will Rock You (fast) / Let Me Entertain You / Play The Game / Somebody To Love / Killer Queen / I'm In Love With My Car / Get Down, Make Love / Save Me / Now I'm Here - Dragon Attack - Now I'm Here (reprise) / Love Of My Life / Under Pressure / Keep Yourself Alive / Drum Solo / Guitar Solo / Flash / The Hero / Crazy Little Thing Called Love / Jailhouse Rock / Bohemian Rhapsody / Tie Your Mother Down
Encore 1: Another One Bites The Dust / Sheer Heart Attack   Encore 2: We Will Rock You / We Are The Champions / God Save The Queen
******
The DVD does not contain ‘Flash’ and ‘The Hero’.  Footage was tossed aside.  Fortunately, when Queen bought out the rights, they did include them on the CD release. 

Freddie (and the band) had gotten annoyed at the cameras and such.  They were to wear the same outfits each night at the same points. Well, he wore something entirely different for the one night they played 'Jailhouse Rock', so it was placed after CLTCL, when it was actually played before WWRY.

These would be the final performances of 'Let Me Entertain You', 'I'm In Love With My Car', and 'Flash' (which would be used as the pre-recorded opening music in '82). 'Killer Queen' and 'Keep Yourself Alive' would be dropped as well, but revived in 1984.

These are the final live performances of Queen as a four-piece band. All subsequent tours would have an additional on keyboards and occasional guitar.

At this point in their career, Queen were arguably the biggest band in the UK, becoming the first artists to simultaneously top the album charts (with Greatest Hits), singles charts (with Under Pressure), and video charts (with Greatest Flix).

But.....what goes up, must inevitably come down.  For Queen, that would not take long.  But for this night, it's generally well edited (other than the always close ups during BoRhap), the intro with the 'fly swatter' lighting rig is well captured, along with so many other various moments.  A great show, with only a few overdubs, and a great video documentary of the band at the end of their most successful era. 

(a much better cover for Montreal would have been....)

[Orbert]

I have Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid on Blu-ray.  I love it.  Queen is one of those bands where I don't really like their live albums, because the difference between their studio sound and live sound is so extreme, but I can watch just about any band live.  Watching them playing it live makes all the difference, and this is no exception.

I didn't realize that this was the last tour they did as a four-piece and only four-piece.  Somehow that makes it cooler. 

[TAC]

I definitely recognize this packaging.


I have never watched nor listened to this show.

I am watching now and this is fantastic footage, further cementing my belief that I'll take arena footage over stadium footage any day. Great camera angles. Love how they catch John Deacon in....action.

I think I've mentioned this before, but Freddie's piano playing is hugely underrated part of Queen's music.


I wouldn't bother with the DVD, but I want this CD. I really want the live versions of The Game songs plus Flash and Under Pressure.
Wow, Somebody To Love!

Amazon has a used for $26 including shipping or $14.49 for the mp3.

[DragonAttack]

For the video, though I would ALWAYS prefer fewer changes in camera angles, at least it's not every two to five seconds, and then focusing on just the hands of guitarists and pianists (not calling out DT specifically ) or zoom ins on the crowd (who cares?), the Montreal show was fairly well done.  Even if you don't like 'Get Down Make Love', they give you a fairly good idea of why it was one of the highlights of the visual highlights of their shows, with the lighting rigs moving down and up and dimming etc....

The same goes for Roger's and Brian's solos.

And, yeah, 'Somebody To Love' was pure gold!  A shame I had to wait fifteen years to finally hear it live.  I've made up for it in recent weeks..... 

My setlist review:  'Save Me' is nice, it's good to see Brian at the piano at the beginning, but it didn't grab me the year before in person, the same now.  The very short medley of 'Killer Queen' and 'I'm In Love With My Car' was nice, to the point, and a favorite.  I never cared for the 'Now I'm Here' / 'Dragon Attack' / 'Now I'm Here' (reprise).  So, I joined the two 'Now I'm Here' parts into one, placed 'Dragon Attack' after 'Under Pressure', followed by 'Another One Bites The Dust'.  I was just never a fan of it as an encore. 

BoRhap, TYMD, SHA, WWRY, WATC....and LOML....what can I say but 

anyhoo.....I can't put it off any longer, and will be posting the next album tomorrow.  Tim already has the Spotify totals.  I asked him, (but he's keeping it a secret) as to whether any of the Side One songs had negative numbers. 

[DragonAttack]

Some background leading up to my first listen of the upcoming album:

I recall the days when I unwrapped 'A Day At The Races' and 'News Of The World'.  Gave them each a spin, and then headed over to a friend's home with a handful of people to play the records.  'Jazz', I recorded off an FM station the night before seeing them in Kalamazoo.  The following Friday, I bought the album, and went to the same friend's home and spun it.  'Live Killers' was a after work Friday purchase, and we all heard it for the first time.  'The Game'....  my apartment about a month after its release.  And then a bunch of us met up to see the 'Flash Gordon' movie together.

The new album is released.  Well, ‘Under Pressure’ made this something to look forward to. And even ‘Body Language’ was somewhat Ok, having been out for a few weeks.  ‘Hey, it’s just one song, like AOBTD was on ‘The Game’.  I had just graduated from college the week before, my best friend and roommate had a dozen friends over to a somewhat new apartment to celebrate, a keg of beer and other spirits, and a new Queen album to play…still in its wrapper.  I spin it for the very first time with the gang in attendance

WOW!!!!   I wanted to crawl under a rock within five minutes!!!!  I mean, WTF is this.

Certainly turned the volume down soon, and suffered some more until it was over.  As did we all.  With great trepidation, went ahead and flipped the vinyl over.  OK, breath easier, this is a bit more like it.  It has some of the band’s trademarks included, but certainly not as many as in the past.

A couple of mix tapes with the likes of Rush and Zeppelin immediately followed to wash it out of our ears.

With that, I bring you......

[DragonAttack]

Hot Space

Released:   May 21, 1982 UK (EMI), USA (Elektra)
Recorded   June 1981 – March 1982

Charts:  UK #4, US #22
Austria #1, Norway #3, Sweden #4, New Zealand #5, West Germany #5, Canada #6, France #7, Australia #15

Certifications:
Gold in Austria, UK, US
Platinum in Poland

Singles:  Under Pressure b/w Soul Brother  October ’81 UK #1, US #29 (already mentioned)

Body Language b/w Life Is Real (Song For Lennon)  April 19, 1982  UK #25  US #11
Canada #3, Poland #3, Netherlands #6, Sweden #10, Italy #13, New Zealand #19, Australia #28,

Las Palabras De Amor (The Words Of Love) b/w Cool Cat   June 1st  UK  #17, US (not released)
Poland #1, Ireland #10, Switzerland #13, Netherlands #26, West Germany #68

Back Chat (Single Remix) b/w Staying Power  UK  #40 US (not released)
South Africa #18, Ireland #19, West Germany #69

Back Chat (Extended Remix) b/w Staying Power
Their first 12” single release

US Singles
Calling All Girls b/w Put Out The Fire, July #60
 


PRODUCED BY QUEEN – MACK
*Under Pressure* was writtten, produced and performed by Queen & David Bowie
Album package concept by Freddie Mercury
Recorded at Mountain Studious, Monteux and Musicland Studios, Munich
Cut by Mack & George Marino
Special Thanks to Arif Mardin who arranged and produced some hot and spacey horns on ‘Staying Power’

(Mack would soon have a much more successful end product with Billy Squier …..)

Album audio (if you have the stomach for Side One...)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRfgNSCokmE&list=PL2tMgWgIvcWnzSRjn0D-2_2Xwi3ImsKv0
a look back   https://ultimateclassicrock.com/queen-hot-space/

further reading   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Space
*********
SIDE ONE
Staying Power (Mercury) 4:10
Dancer (May) 3:47
Back Chat (Deacon) 4:33
Body Language (Mercury) 4:32
Action This Day (Taylor) 3:32       

SIDE TWO
Put Out The Fire (May) 3:18
Life Is Real (Song For Lennon) (Mercury) 3:31
Calling All The Girls (Taylor) 3:52
Las Palabras De Amor (The Words Of Love) (May) 4:29
Cool Cat (Deacon/Mercury) 3:28
Under Pressure (Queen/Bowie) 4:03

2011 Universal reissue bonus disc
Staying Power (Milton Keynes) / Soul Brother / Back Chat (45 remix) / ‘Action This Day’ and ‘Calling All Girls’ (Live at Seibu Lions Stadium in Tokorozawa, November 1982)

***********
The live versions are certainly a bonus for those who have not heard them, especially ‘Staying Power’, since it is immensely better and preferred by most over the studio version.   ‘Soul Brother’ finally is made available to those not owning the ‘Under Pressure’ 45.

Omissions are a live ‘Under Pressure’ from either Montreal or Milton Keynes, any decent rare live offerings of 'Put Out The Fire' and 'Life Is Real', and certainly the demos that are unofficially available.   

Back Chat  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5bW2hZeKE0  if you can suffer through it, there is more lead guitar at times

Action This Day      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teWkqh9CNFQ    again, a touch of rawness to this that is somewhat of an improvement, but Freddie sounds a tad hoarse at times

Las Pallabras de Amor  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rf-ZMzoru4  a bit more of Freddie and BVs at the end, with a quicker fade out.

Life Is Real     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DH98B7IucQ  close to the original, with a touch of rawness to it.  Slightly different lead guitar

Cool Cat     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhkYvW9H_TE  David Bowie also did mumbled background words and some nothing BVs.  No wonder this version was tossed, though Freddie’s vocals sound better at times than the official version, the bass is lower, and Brian’s guitar sounds better when its there.

‘Feel Like’ (previously mentioned)….which became ‘Under Pressure’   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TrVnt1mngU   Definitely should have been included.

Related Songs
Freddie’s ‘Man Made Paradise’ (a demo exists, appears later on his solo album), as does ‘There Must Be More To Life Than This’.
Brian’s ‘My Boy’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o28wzg2ezVA 
I Go Crazy (May), which would end up as the nonalbum B-side of ‘Radio GaGa’



Where do I start with this one? Well, it’s got an OK cover, very nice inner sleeve with lyrics.  And side two is very good in my opinion.

Let’s toss all of our signature sounds off to side, other than a few moments here and there, give Freddie 95 percent of the lead vocals, get lazy and try almost an entire side as a crossover funk/dance band.  Yup….like Johnny Cash doing classical music, or Yes performing bluegrass …even if there was something good in it, your target audience is going to feel alienated.

I’ve made various versions of this album, deleting most (or all) of Side One, and inserting various solo songs.

The last time I heard Side One straight through was because I lost a bet in 2002.    Even after fixing that side, the 'sting' is still felt to this day.

[Stadler]

I have, over the years, tried to give this a fair shake, but it's hard to see this as anything but a massive misstep in an otherwise pretty solid career.  The songs are marginally better live, but not enough to fully redeem them.

[ProfessorPeart]

There's a reason I call this Hot Mess.

[TAC]

Looking forward to carefully reading Joe's post giving this a spin tonight...I think.


Anyway, here are the Spotify numbers.

Staying Power....3.4m
Dancer...2.8m
Back Chat...3.9m
Body Language...9.1m
Action This Day...2.4m
Put Out The Fire...2.4m
Life Is Real...3.0m
Calling All Girls....2.5m
Las Palabras De Amor...10.1m
Cool Cat....54.6m
Under Pressure...1.1B


Obviously Under Pressure has huge numbers at over a Billion, but what's the deal with Cool Cat's 54.5 Million streams??
Actually, it's 55.5 Million. It gained another MILLION streams since June 9th, when I ran the numbers.

[Stadler]

Looking forward to carefully reading Joe's post giving this a spin tonight...I think.


Anyway, here are the Spotify numbers.

Staying Power....3.4m
Dancer...2.8m
Back Chat...3.9m
Body Language...9.1m
Action This Day...2.4m
Put Out The Fire...2.4m
Life Is Real...3.0m
Calling All Girls....2.5m
Las Palabras De Amor...10.1m
Cool Cat....54.6m
Under Pressure...1.1B


Obviously Under Pressure has huge numbers at over a Billion, but what's the deal with Cool Cat's 54.5 Million streams??
Actually, it's 55.5 Million. It gained another MILLION streams since June 9th, when I ran the numbers.

I love that song. 

[ZirconBlue]

Looking forward to carefully reading Joe's post giving this a spin tonight...I think.


Anyway, here are the Spotify numbers.

Staying Power....3.4m
Dancer...2.8m
Back Chat...3.9m
Body Language...9.1m
Action This Day...2.4m
Put Out The Fire...2.4m
Life Is Real...3.0m
Calling All Girls....2.5m
Las Palabras De Amor...10.1m
Cool Cat....54.6m
Under Pressure...1.1B


Obviously Under Pressure has huge numbers at over a Billion, but what's the deal with Cool Cat's 54.5 Million streams??
Actually, it's 55.5 Million. It gained another MILLION streams since June 9th, when I ran the numbers.

I love that song.

OK, but do you really need to listen to it 76,923 times per day?

[TAC]

He listens to it after every P/R post.

[Stadler]

He listens to it after every P/R post.

Once for each comma. 

[TAC]

He listens to it after every P/R post.

Once for each comma. (and parentheses)

Fixed.

[TAC]

Going in..wish me luck!

[DragonAttack]

Just in case....

[King Postwhore]

This tour was supposed to be my first concert but my parent would not let me go.  My friend had an extra ticket.  They never toured America again.

My 1st show was next year and it was the Asia, Alpha tour.

[TAC]

This tour was supposed to be my first concert but my parent would not let me go. 

You asked the wrong parent.

[TAC]

OK...I made it through!


Staying Power... Er..what is going on here?  I hear Freddie Mercury. Did anyone tell Brain and Roger that it was time to start the new album? I think the only one that might've known was John.

Dancer...Dancer is definitely better. Feels like a plausible extension of The Game. I wonder if this is one of the live songs. I'd love to hear it if it is. The solo section is pretty good. The second part of the solo feels like Level Headed era Sweet.


Back Chat...Very representative of the time period. I think that there were a lot of songs like this on MTV during this time. This actually reminds me of The Rolling Stones. I think if you remove the electronics, this is a fantastic track. I'm digging it.
Oh, and no surprise. It's another excellent song by John Deacon.


Body Language...Sounds like something from Wreck It Ralph. With Staying Power and Body Language, Freddie seems to be more comfortable with his, for lack of a better word, gayness being part of the Queen experience. This song kind of blows.

Action This Day... Not really sure what to make of this. It's pretty bad, though.


Put Out The Fire...Ooh, this is more like it. Not quite up to par with real Queen, but it's decent enough. I like the solo!

Life Is Real... Freddie seemed to have written this in John Lennon's style. I like the general idea of what they were going for. I think Late 70's Queen would've made this song so much better.

Calling All Girls....First of all, the title is a total turn off. This song blows too. Big time. And for 4 damn minutes at that.


Las Palabras De Amor...Wow, this starts off really interesting. I don't know what instrument is making that fluttering sound. This is another song that Late 70's Queen would've crushed.

Cool Cat....I feel like there's a fairly decent Deacon song underneath Freddie puking all over it.
I mean, it's a great vocal, but c'mon. Another song that has that 80's Stones feel.


Under Pressure...Obviously familiar with this. Great and classy tune.



OK. That's one listen. Seemed a lot of 70's bands made albums in this vain in the early 80's. Wanted to check out the new technology I guess. Kiss' Dynasty is one of my favorite Kiss albums. And Alice Cooper made Flush The Fashion which is half killer half filler.

[King Postwhore]

This tour was supposed to be my first concert but my parent would not let me go. 

You asked the wrong parent.

Both shot me down.

[DragonAttack]

This tour was supposed to be my first concert but my parent would not let me go.  My friend had an extra ticket.  They never toured America again.

My 1st show was next year and it was the Asia, Alpha tour.

Where was the concert?

The same thing happened to me during Alice Cooper’s ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ tour (at least I got to see him over a dozen years later).

[The Curious Orange]

Seemed a lot of 70's bands made albums in this vain in the early 80's. Wanted to check out the new technology I guess.

Being told by their record companies that rock was dead, all the kids were listening to bands with keyboards now, so they better get some keyboards in their sound if they wanted to keep their record deal, more like.

[King Postwhore]

This tour was supposed to be my first concert but my parent would not let me go.  My friend had an extra ticket.  They never toured America again.

My 1st show was next year and it was the Asia, Alpha tour.

Where was the concert?

The same thing happened to me during Alice Cooper’s ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ tour (at least I got to see him over a dozen years later).

It was at the old Boston Garden in July I believe.  I know the next night was in Montreal where they filmed that tour.

[DragonAttack]

^
Actually, Montreal was the night before.  And the film was from '81.  They were handed the keys to the city on 'Queen Day in Boston' (will get to that shortly). 

Back to the album:  First, yeah, I am totally stunned at the ‘Cool Cat’ Spotify numbers…..about 50 million more than I would have guessed. (As always, ‘thank you’ Tim).

Ahhh, the changes that took place at that time.  Look at Yes and Rush (at least they did it right).  Some changes were (overly) driven by the lead singer.  Genesis from 'Duke' to 'Abacab'.  REO and Journey went from their biggest selling albums to even more sacharin.  And yet, 1982 Iron Maiden releases 'Number Of The Beast', and Judas Priest releases their biggest seller.  Yup, there's no room for any sort of hard driving rock.   

Certainly Freddie’s lifestyle while clubbing in New York and Munich had an effect, as was his choice of close personal associates.  The carry over from Brian’s controlling nature during ‘Flash’, and John’s success with AOBTD were other underlying factors.

I’ve read where there was quite a tiff as to Brian insisting on the guitar solo in ‘Back Chat’.  He obviously got his way (if you’ve bothered to listen to it).  The future results, intentional or not:  Brian does not play the leads of the instrumental breaks on the next two Deacon songs.

The ‘what ifs’….certainly doing ‘Staying Power’ with a piano as the man beat, and other ‘real’ instruments, would have helped.  The drum machines gave side one a lazy feel.  One gets their only trademark Brian guitar in ‘Dancer’.  For decades, the German spoken ‘Good morning’ at the end sounded to me like ‘a song with meaning….is too big for them’😉

Anyhoo, my bearable version for side one ended up being:  Flash (LP version), Dancer, Let’s Get Crazy (Roger solo from ‘Fun in Space’), Cool Cat, and Action This Day.   Side Two as is (minus Cool Cat) and ending with The Hero. 

It was made more bearable in '85 when I had a side one of solo tunes, and kept Side Two as is.  I tried my best to make the album into some type of chicken salad

A couple of reviews written later, that are somewhat kind.
https://2loud2oldmusic.com/2021/06/22/queen-hot-space-1982-album-review-the-studio-album-series/#:~:text=It%20is%20has%20a%20cool,has%20a%20great%20May%20solo.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/queen-hot-space/

Will move on with an introduction to Morgan Fisher tonight, and then the European tour tomorrow. 

[King Postwhore]

Awe damn.  I always had it in my head it was the other way around. 

[DragonAttack]

^
stuff like that never happens to me 

MORGAN FISHER

The Montreal '81 shows marked the end of an era that started with Queen's very first concert.  A major change would have a fifth musician onstage for the Hot Space tour. For the European leg, that would be Morgan Fisher.  Here are a couple of quite recent articles.

This article is more focused on his time ‘alongside’ Queen in ‘73/’74 during his days with Mott The Hoople, and then in ’82. 
  https://www.queenonline.com/news/on-the-spotmorgan-fisher-interview



This one looks back at his entire career, from his original band and then moving on with Tim Staffell of Smile (remember him?), his days with Mott, then Queen, then the Hot Space European tour.  It also includes various other projects, including one with, of all people, Yoko Ono!

https://pleasekillme.com/morgan-fisher/

I found both to be quite interesting reads, with the cake below getting mentioned in both articles....

[hefdaddy42]

So, Hot Space is fucking awful.

[DragonAttack]

^
From the initial disappointment I wrote about as a prelude to this album, I've tried to be diplomatic, and I'm certainly not going to argue that opinion. 

A college friend called it a 'steaming void'....

(at least it got 400 views since my first post.... )

moving on....

[DragonAttack]

HOT SPACE EUROPEAN TOUR ‘82



Many changes from the prior tour.  First, of course, there’s the addition of Morgan Fisher.   

The fly swatter lighting rig has gone from six pieces to three, and are now rectangular. Spotlights are on hoists, and manned.  More pix and info here at  https://www.queenconcerts.com/lighting-rigs/1982-hot-space.html

Video of some of the setting up, the  last minute is rather interesting from a ‘bird’s eye’ view.  https://www.queenconcerts.com/queenzone/423178.html 
*******
Throughout their career, Queen’s setlists remained relatively stable during each tour (almost too much so).  That changed during The Game North American tour, mostly due to timing,two lengthy breaks, and the success of AOBTD released during the tour (not played during the first leg, then midway during the second, and then as the first encore of the final leg, with a song or two dropped over those four months). 

This time it took nearly a month, with songs going from the encore to second or not played at all, to some showing up only to be dropped or changed for others.  The ‘Now I’m Here’ medley sometimes ended the concert proper, and, ‘Liar’, of all songs (and a welcome addition), was brought back for the first time since the NOTW tour on a few occasions, and as the concert proper closer a couple of times.  Throughout the year it was rare for two consecutive shows to have the same setlist, with major changes again for North America and Japan.

The ‘Thunderbolts & Lightning’ intro tape is gone, as are ‘Let Me Entertain You’, ‘I'm In Love With My Car’, and ‘Flash’. ‘Killer Queen’ and ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ would be dropped as well, but revived in 1984.  ‘Under Pressure’ is, of course, now part of the standard setlist.  'Action This Day' would be the only other 'Hot Space' song to be part of the main set list.  It sounds much better on stage, as will 'Staying Power' when the time comes.   

Eight of the ‘Hot Space’ songs would be played at one time or another, with only ‘Dancer’, ‘Words Of Love’, and ‘Cool Cat’ missing the cut.

There were various warm up bands on each night, Angel Child for a couple, then Bow Wow Wow until they quit (for good reason).  They were not a good match for the European fans.  I certainly remember ‘I Want Candy’  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoXVYSV4Xcs   and I was surprised way back when to learn that they’d been the warmup band.  They were replaced with The Teardrop Explodes (video for their song ‘Reward’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyStfUvTwDo  )

With that background,….on with the shows…….

[DragonAttack]

a 'work in progress' due to home contractor interruptus

 

[DragonAttack]

The tour begins in Gothenburg, Sweden April 9th, almost six weeks before the album release.

Johanneshovs Isstadion, Stockholm, April 10th,  Attendance: 9,000     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-2tbkMXW0w  Grade: B+
Flash (tape) / The Hero / Tie Your Mother Down / Action This Day / Play The Game / Somebody To Love / Staying Power / Get Down Make Love / We Will Rock You (improvisation) / Fat Bottomed Girls / Love Of My Life / Save Me / keyboard/guitar solo / Liar / Not Fade Away / Crazy Little Thing Called Love / Bohemian Rhapsody / Under Pressure / Now I'm Here / Dragon Attack / Now I'm Here (reprise) (ending cut)
Encore 1: Another One Bites The Dust / Sheer Heart Attack   Encore 2:We Will Rock You / We Are The Champions / God Save The Queen

The new intro is terrific, though the synth at times throughout the tour is a bit too high pitched and noticeable (for this and many other songs).  This is the first available live versions of ‘Staying Power’ and ‘Action This Day’.  But what an absolutely bizarre setlist, with ‘Now I’m Here/Dragon Attack/Now I’m Here' reprise closing the concert proper.

On some nights, ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ is played after ‘The Hero’, nights like this it’s ‘Tie Your Mother Down’
***********************
Drammenshallen, Drammen, Norway April 12th,   Attendance: 6,000    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-EIDgbhP1o  Quality: A-
(the only concert they ever perform in Norway).
The reviewer mentions that Freddie is suffering from ‘cocaine voice’. (I had to look that up, and I guess it means ‘nasally’).   Of all songs, ‘Liar’ is played again, this time at end of the concert proper.  A good ending indeed.


Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland April 16th, Attendance: 11,400  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkbWuAFdYf4  Quality: A-
Missing the ‘Flash/Hero’ intro.  ‘Liar’ is played in the first half, and ‘Now I’m Here’ closes the concert proper again.  Freddie’s voice is still subpar.
***********
Second night, Zurich, April 17th   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77dROv6H-xM   Quality: B+
Freddie’s voice is worse than the prior night.  ‘Liar’ and ‘Somebody To Love’ are dropped for ‘Back Chat’.  (Ouch!!! )

The last time that Brian’s guitar solo would not be played at any concert.
**********
Forest National, Brussels, April 22nd,   Attendance: 9,000    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsLiksJ1Vo   Quality: B+
Freddie's voice is better this night, and would improve throughout the rest of this tour.  'Staying Power' and 'Somebody To Love' return, 'Back Chat' dropped.
*******
Second night, Brussels, April 23rd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUVoN9wrlgc   Quality: B+

This is more of a ‘normal’ 82 setlist, with 'We Will Rock You [fast]' returning, and 'Tie Your Mother Down' ending the concert proper.  'Somebody To Love' is dropped for ‘Liar’
*******


Groenoordhallen, Leiden, The Netherlands, April 24th   Attendance: 12,800   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5enwQUFLGY  Quality: B

'Tie Your Mother Down' is in the second slot again, 'Staying Power' and 'Liar' are included, with 'Now I’m Here' ending the concert proper.   

This is one of the greatest recordings of Queen live per many reviewers, described as having the greatest audience at a Queen show….(that was taped). 
So I gave it a long listen.  It’s certainly in the running! (a shame that Detroit '80 is not available )  The band and audience are on fire.  There’s little doubt of that during ‘The Hero’, especially when Freddie enters the stage.

A great piano and vocal intro of ‘Somebody To Love’….leading into Bohemian Rhapsody.  Feel free to sing along with the 12,000 plus in attendance that night. 😊

Even with a ‘B’ quality, it is a stereo, very consistent sound, and the crowd responses throughout made it a damn fun listening experience last week.

Sadly.....This was the first time I felt a let down when they played 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The intro of 'Somebody To Love' is terrific....but the song itself is not played.  I'm sure that most in the audience had to have felt the same way that night.
************************
Second night, Leiden, April 25th   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r62LQYTK6Kk  Quality:  B+ (varies throughout from great to good)
‘Back Chat’ replaces ‘Staying Power’, ‘Somebody To Love’ is back

Bow Wow Wow's last show as the warm up band, after having bottles and such thrown at them on stage.  Brian felt for the band, but Roger (ever the diplomat ), felt they brought some of those actions were the result of the band's behavior.

from queenlive.ca
"Bow Wow Wow had been supporting Queen since the Zurich shows, but this would be their last show. The final straw was when audience members were throwing beer cans and food at them, which turned into a back and forth fight. They couldn't finish their set, and Queen's roadies had to escort them off. After hearing about this, Brian May openly expressed his disappointment over how narrow-minded a small percentage of Queen fans were. He was quoted saying, "I really am ashamed of the people who did that to them. There were a dozen or so drunks in the audience who did it - it was disgusting."

Brian also stated how Queen enjoyed Bow Wow Wow's music and stage act.

Roger added these thoughts: "It's a common malaise these days. They didn't really give enough to the audience - you have to. The audience aren't there to see you jerk off on stage. They're the one who paid the money. They're there to be entertained in some way, and you've got to give a little bit, and you bend a little bit and you've got to project yourself - especially in these large arenas. And these new groups, a lot of the new bands just sort of come on and do their thing and "hey man, if you don't like us then Fuck You!" and so, fuck them. They end up nowhere, which is a shame really. It's a stupid attitude."


(as always, 'Bless you, Roger!'


 
The Festhalle Frankfurt, Attendance: 14,000   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IInoBMzm_PA   Quality: A-

The Teardrop Explodes start their run as the warm up band. 

A damn fine quality recording of this concert, which includes the last complete performance of  ‘Liar’ 
**************

The Sprothalle, Cologne, May  6th and 7th,    Attendance:  8000  no audio
A second night added due to ticket demand.  ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ was not played at the first show, returns the second night as the second song.  ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ goes back to closing the concert proper.

*******
The Stadthalle, Vienna, May 12th   Attendance: 14,100   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRWqhQl8_7M  Audience/Soundboard Merge  Quality: A

First time in Vienna since the NOTW tour in  ’78.  Freddie’s voice is in great shape, Brian plays some of ‘I Go Crazy’ in the guitar solo.  Mostly a top notch audience recording.

‘Back Chat’ is included, ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ dropped.
*****
Second night, Vienna, May 13th   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX_7zxNcTGc&t=14s  Grade: A-

The debut of ……’Body Language’.  It would be played one more time on the European tour before being dropped. The set is also the only one on the tour in which ‘The Hero’ goes right into ‘Action This Day’. Generally, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘We Will Rock You (Fast)’, or ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ would be played after ‘The Hero’

Video of 'Another One Bites The Dust' and the final encore of WWRY WATC GSTQ  Our first visuals from the tour. Taken from one of the these two nights. Pretty good stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de0IorWIxJE
**********
The Waldbühne, Berlin, West Germany,  May 15th   Attendance: 22,300   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB4U0ze0jd0    Quality: B+

An outdoor concert with many mosquitoes (at least it was better than Mexico the prior year!).  The last time ‘Body Language’ was played in Europe or the UK.    Freddie ‘s banter with the crowd is semi hostile at times, as they are not receptive to the new stuff (gee, I wonder why? ) All encores are missing.

MAY 18th


the rest of the European tour to be posted during the late hours tomorrow. 

Say what you will about the 'new' album.... Queen still gives its all during their concerts, .....and even better stuff awaits....