Review of Queen Rock Montreal

Introduction

As is fitting for one of the greatest rock bands of all-time, Queen`s official DVD releases over the past few years have been nothing short of spectacular. Aside from the beautiful DTS remixing of their two "Greatest Videos" sets, we`ve had some superb work also done to classic concerts such as "Live at Wembley Stadium", and perhaps more notably for Queen die-hards, "Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl".

Following on from those, then, is "Queen Rock Montreal", a re-working of the unofficial VHS release known as "We Will Rock You". The footage available here was recorded on 24th and 25 November 1981, at The Forum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

This release was somewhat of a surprise to Queen fans, who had not considered this to be one of Queen`s best performances, based on the "We Will Rock You" VHS. Perhaps, though, that can be attributed to director Saul Swimmer, who demanded that the band wear the same attire, play the same way, and adopt the same poses on both shows. Though the band were furious about it, Swimmer then sought to edit everything into a mish-mash of music, which led to the blooper on the original release, where Freddie Mercury is heard to be singing during "Killer Queen", despite his lips failing to move on screen.

Though the original video material was not available for re-cutting - the unused footage was binned after editing was completed - the original audio tapes were found in good condition, allowing errors such as the above to be fixed. As Brian May put it, this new release is "the form in which it originally should have been."

Video

Video is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic PAL (Region 0 - All Regions), and is quite staggering considering that the concerts took place more than 25 years ago. Much of the credit for that can be attributed to the fact that this was recorded on 35mm film, an extreme rarity for concerts of the time. In addition, frame-by-frame remastering was pain-stakingly undertaken, with an apparent 700 Apple Mac G5s working for an entire month to create such high-quality visuals.

Indeed, the only thing that stops the video here from being comparable to the highest-quality concert releases today, is the somewhat dated stage production. But it would be ridiculous to count that as a negative, when in fact the restorers deserve even greater credit for so successfully completing a task that no new DVD authors have to go through.

Needless to say, then, the video is remarkably sharp and crisp, with no noticeable transfer issues. I would be surprised if any other concert recordings from this era match this quality.

One thing that should be noted is how unhappy the band were with the camerawork during the concert. It is true that at certain guitar parts, for example, where you would expect to see Brian May, the camera may instead be focused on Freddie Mercury. But I must say, there were several moments when I enjoyed the fact that the camerawork was not run-of-the-mill, though whether that was by fault or design, is open for debate.

Audio

Audio is presented with a choice of PCM stereo, and DTS 5.1. Either way, the mix is excellent, with a vibrancy and energy that matches the performance of the band. And unlike so much concert audio, you can distinctly hear each musician, which makes for a beautiful, full sound when everything comes together.

The main difference between the PCM and 5.1 tracks is simply the extra scope that the surround mix allows. With the DTS mix, every note of John Deacon`s bass is clearly audible, while it doesn`t quite have the same impact in PCM stereo. Of course, the extra separation on the 5.1 is a nice treat, and does allow for more of a live feel, too.

As far as the individual performances go, the verve of band is incredible here, and even mild-mannered John Deacon seems to be more musically aggressive than usual. Roger Taylor`s drumming is relentless, as are his backing vocals. Brian May is as brilliantly consistent as ever, and Freddie Mercury cements his place as one of the greatest front-men of all-time, with his soaring vocals, and his ability to interact with the crowd.

Features

It wouldn`t be an official Queen release without some significant extras, and this release does not disappoint.

On Disc One, we have a commentary on the concert by Brian May and Roger Taylor. There is some interesting information detailed here, but there are many moments where they too are seemingly sitting back, enjoying the show. That`s not necessarily a bad thing, though, because you get the feeling that you are watching the DVD alongside them. The commentary isn`t without humour, a lot of which is very modestly self-depreciating. Delightfully, the it is also subtitled in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch, and Portuguese, meaning that you can watch the feature in DTS, yet still read May and Taylor`s comments.

On Disc Two, we have the 25-minute Live Aid performance by the band - including a rendition of "Is This The World We Created?" by Mercury and May - again available in PCM stereo, and DTS 5.1. Queen`s performance was acknowledged as the best of the entire Live Aid festivities, and Freddie Mercury in particular seemed to excel under the pressure of the huge live and television audience. That certainly isn`t a knock on the rest of the band, but Mercury`s performance was quite colossal.

The Live Aid visuals do suffer from microphony issues - horizontal lines which occur when a camera lens is subjected to loud noise. Those are irreparable at this stage, even with modern technological advances, and were also present on the Live Aid DVD release. The audio has survived well, however, and it is mixed beautifully in both PCM and DTS.

Also on Disc Two is previously unreleased rehearsal footage, which is intertwined with interview footage regarding the Live Aid concert. Though the footage isn`t of the greatest quality, it is still very much worth a look.

The same can also be said of the 1982 US TV news story, which is also available here. It contains a short profile of the band, including interviews.

Conclusion

Considering that the Montreal Forum concerts have never previously been regarded as two of Queen`s more impressive shows - largely due to the aforementioned "We Will Rock You" VHS effort of the past - it is with great delight that I note that this is yet another high-quality official Queen release.

From the opening "fast" version of "We Will Rock You", the concert keeps up a strong pace, both in terms of the very short time between each track, and the tempo at which the band play. The latter is partially due to the aggressive mindset with which they entered the stage, due to their disagreements with Saul Swimmer. Based on this evidence, the tension was no bad thing - this is a quite stunning performance.

The stand-out tracks here aren`t necessarily those which are best-known to owners of Queen`s "Greatest Hits" collections. Of particular note are the awesome, Taylor-sung "I`m In Love With My Car", "Get Down, Make Love", and "Dragon Attack", although there`s no hiding the genius behind "We Will Rock You", "Bohemian Rhapsody", or "We Are The Champions" either.

In total, it`s a strong set-list, with a nice mix of the aforementioned "Greatest Hits" type songs, and other lesser-known pieces. Though many outside the rock fan-base may wince, the drum and guitar solo spots are also well worth their place here.

Overall, "Queen Rock Montreal" is a superb DVD effort, which more than lives up to the band`s reputation, in terms of their performance, and in comparison to their previous official DVD releases.

With an RRP of £16.99 (and available for much less), the set is also very competitively priced, and as such, even casual fans of the band or the genre, should be adding this to their collection.