English rock sensation Queen first rose to prominence in the early '70s by audaciously embracing the excesses of the decade. Honing a bizarre balance of heavy metal and multi-layered progressive rock, Queen became famous for its lavish operatic vocals and stirring theatrics. The band won numerous awards and produced a total of fifteen studio albums, five live recordings, and countless other singles and compilations.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without Freddy Mercury, one the most celebrated frontmen in the history of rock. When Mercury lost his tragic battle with AIDS in 1991, he left behind a legacy of music that continues to influence musicians and rock itself to this day. The consumate showman, Mercury never forgot the fans who traveled the distance and paid good money to see his band.
Eagle Vision's cross-format release of 'Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid' presents two legendary performances from the band. The 1981 Queen Rock Montreal concert was held in Quebec to record a live album of the same name, while their 1985 Live Aid appearance has since been voted the "Greatest Live Gig Ever." The Live Aid appearance is included as a supplemental bonus in standard-def (which I'll discuss in our "Supplements" section), but Queen Rock Montreal gets the full high-def treatment.
Queen Rock Montreal was performed before the band incorporated keyboards into their stage repertoire and is considered the last "raw" Queen concert. Recorded over two nights to a sold-out 18,000 seat auditorium, the Queen Rock Montreal show came at the height of the band's success. Mercury and crew wanted to make the recording special -- as such, they became the first group to shoot an entire show in 35mm film. The results are cinematic to say the least. There's something indefinably natural about the visuals that make the concert seem more more alive than other video-based recordings.
This performance showcases the band in top form -- Mercury is engaging, guitarist Brian May is on point, bassist John Deacon is having the time of his life, and drummer Roger Taylor doesn't lose steam once. The artists launch out of the gate with a rousing up-tempo rendition of "We Will Rock You" that brings the crowd to an immediate frenzy. After the 95 minute concert crescendos through hits like "Somebody to Love," "Killer Queen," and "Now I'm Here," it hits its stride with the relaxed bada-bum-bum of "Under Pressure." By the time they hit such fan-favorites as "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Sheer Heart Attack," and "We Are the Champions," Queen is in a euphoric state of pure rock that defines a great live performance.
Yes, the band's '80s shtick is on full display. Mercury's wardrobe changes multiple times over the course of the performance and everyone's pants are too tight. But anyone coming to this release (or any other classic rock performance) should expect nothing less.
As a longtime fan of Queen's music, I adored Queen Rock Montreal. Obviously, if you didn't dig the band before, you probably won't start here. But this release does everything a live recording should -- it features a band at the peak of its career, and an audience at the height of their fandom.
The full tracklist for Queen Rock Montreal follows below:
The HD DVD editon of this title presents Queen Rock Montreal with a 1080p/VC-1 transfer (identical to the Blu-ray) that looks quite impressive for a twenty-five year old 35mm film. Like other films of its era, fleshtones have a muted appearance, but the palette regularly comes alive as the stage lights flood the performers with color. Edges remain crisp and detail is exceptional. I continually marveled at the well-rendered glitter on the drums, individual strands of glam-rock hair, and the fine texture of clothing. Dimly-lit shots of the crowd can be soft at times, but the band rarely looks anything short of amazing. Black levels are deep, the image is three dimensional, and contrast is spot-on. Best of all, there's no troublesome source noise or artifacting.
Some may be bothered by the abundance of grain when the stage lights flare, but I found it to be a consistent element of the presentation that for the most part wasn't distracting. The transfer suffers at times from black crush (look at Mercury's hair when it's bathed in red spotlights), faint color banding (watch the stage fog), and a handful of softer-than-average long shots. These minor issues aside, the overall the video is excellent and is a clear step-up from the standard DVD.
The audio quality is even more remarkable than the video. Eagle Vision provides two options -- a linear PCM stereo track (48 kHz/24-Bit/2.3 Mbps) and a DTS HD 5.1 mix (96 kHz/24-Bit/1.5 Mbps). To be honest, I found the LPCM track to be phenomenal. I missed the immersive multi-channel crowd roar of the 5.1 DTS HD mix, but the LPCM track offered astounding fidelity, deep bass, and crisp lyrics.
Quite frankly, this may be the best some of these songs have ever sounded. The heaviness of the drums in "We Will Rock You," the guitar riffs in "Under Pressure," and the light dance of piano keys early in the performance combine together for a dynamic presentation that makes this release an audio standout. The age of the source has no bearing here -- the track has been meticulously remixed to perfection and has been spared the hollow sound of over-processing. When Mercury's voice hits the rafters, it never causes any peaking issues or distortion in the soundscape. When operatic choir harmonies erupt in "Bohemian Rhapsody," the sound is stable and clean. When the crowd sings along to "We Are the Champions," their cheers pepper the experience with well-prioritized details.
In fact, the only thing I missed during the experience was a DTS HD Master Audio or PCM 5.1 audio track. I found myself wishing there were immersive crowd surrounds in the LPCM stereo track, and higher quality sound in the 5.1 mix. When it comes to music titles, I'd rather get the best of both worlds than have to pick between two tracks based solely on what aspect of the sound production I'm willing to forego. Still, this release hovers close to perfection and will certainly please Queen fans on either side of the ocean.
(Note the audio options and quality of the HD DVD and Blu-ray versions of 'Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid' are identical. Also note that both the Queen Rock Montreal and the Live Aid performances feature remixed LPCM and DTS HD tracks.)
The HD DVD edition of 'Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid' includes all of the special features available on the 2-disc standard DVD. It's certainly a nice collection of bonus material that even includes something you rarely see on a live concert disc -- a commentary.
'Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid' was easily my favorite live concert high-def release of 2007. This HD DVD edition features an outstanding remastered video transfer, faithful LPCM and DTS HD audio tracks, and a great collection of supplements that include a commentary, the legendary Live Aid performance, and some fun archival video. An easy recommend for any Queen fan.
Portions of this review also appear in our coverage of Dunkirk on Blu-ray. This post features unique Vital Disc Stats, Video, and Final Thoughts sections.
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