 "An Amazing Performance!" | 2008-07-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3P19DD0TZK2J7 |
| Excellent performance! Queen plays a lot of their hits, including my faves of theirs: Bohemian(sp) Rhapsody, and We are the Champions. Freddie also sings a few hits by other stars, such as an Elvis Presley song, and one of Rickie Nelson's. I must say that they may even be better than the originals. I was a little disappointed that Queen did not sing their song "You're My Best Friend." But, that is a minor point. The songs and performance are wonderful...and I play the DVD frequently. The world really lost an amazing man and an excellent performer when Freddie Mercury passed away. Definitely a five star performance: All Queen fans will surely love this DVD. I know I do! |
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 "The Return Of The Queen" | 2008-05-19 |
| - Reviewed By jed4317 |
Oh that was a terrible Lord Of The Rings pun wasn't it? Besides they weren't "The Queen" at all! Just plain old Queen. But it does maybe describe the idea of Queen returning to something. In this case, public popularity.
I know that Live At Wembley is arguably Queens most popular show, but if I may say so (and it's my review so I can) I don't think that this is Queens greatest ever live show.
What some may not realise is that in the 1970s Queen weren't a stadium rock band at all (if you exclude Hyde Park).They played small to medium mainly indoor venues and managed to connect with the audience in a way that few, if any, bands have achieved before or since. Here though, it's stadium rock all the way. Well that kind of goes with the territory! Queen were somewhat different when it came to studio performances and live shows; in the studio they were usually perfectionists, with a crafstmanship like dedication to songs (in fact that came as something of a criticism from those who liked it rawer and more spontaneous) On stage they proverbially let their hair down, here it was all about giving the crowd 2 hours of entertainment, mainly heavy rock.
I was 16 when they first showed this on TV, and there was a lot of interest around the band at the time. The reason mainly being Live Aid. With that one event Queen went from being rock dinosaurs that were totally unfashionable among the school crowd to the freshest force in rock for a long time. (At least in the UK, can't speak for other places) The release of Highlander and a slew of some good songs further increased the publics anticipation. (Come on, everyone was really hoping for 2 hours of Queen at Live AId here!) And this is undeniably a good show, both musically and that indefinable "event atmopshere". But I don't think that this is the live peak of Queen. By this time they had turned into basically hard rock fast food. Ouch, that sounds harsh doesn't it? But this is a long way from the creativity of the pre 1977 albums, and they perform the songs with a kind of complacency that befits 40 year olds playing to an adoring audience. They're not trying to win anyone over skeptics here, it's largely a workmanlike performance. They know they're good, they know the audience know they're good, they know....okay, you get the idea. The crowd came with high expectations, they duly delivered, everyone goes home satisfied. Many of the older songs are just dashed off with a kind of "Oh well,the crowd want to hear this,so I suppose we'd better play it" The plaintiff ballad part of Bohemian Rhapsody is reduced to Mercury going "Mama. Just killed a man. Put a gun against his head. Pulled my trigger now he's dead." with a smile towards the audience. We Are The Champions suffers from a similar lack of musical passion. Apart from that Freddie Mercury's voice is a bit hit and miss here; he was a heavy smoker at the time,and the rigours of touring and just old wear and tear through age have reduced his sharpness somewhat. Often he sings well here, but make no mistake he sang better than this even in the early 1980s.
Criticism over. There are actually a lot of good perfromances here. Highlights are the more rocking version Kind Of Magic, quite different from the slightly eerie stuido version, a great version of Under Pressure, a great 50s Rock And Roll medley, and a really rousing version of In The Lap Of The Gods (if only they could have shown this kind of emotion of their other early songs!) Good also to hear their early hit Seven Seas Of Rhye make an appearance. And naturally Tie Your Mother Down sounds great, but how can you mess up that one? It's the closest thing to the perfect rock and roll song you can get.
On a somewhat sadder note, Freddie Mercury knew he had AIDS at this time. He actually managed longer that he thought (he though he wouldn't make it past 1989) So when you see the man strutting around the stage, you see him with his "the show must go on" attitude. He knew this would be his last tour, so this concert has an added poignancy to it.
In summary I think that Live At Wembley is a good DVD of live music and worth buying. There is a good mixture of hardness to quieter songs (or light and shade as John Deacon remarked) Few people want to go to a show and get 2 hours of acoustic or piano ballads, but at the same time the band do slow it down on occasion for musical diversity. It starts off loudly and fiercely, they slow it down for a bit and throw in some acoustic songs, then they build to a climax. Just like every other Queenc concert since 1971 in fact. Although essentially hard rock, Queen were a band that managed to appeal to a wide variety of audiences. BUT....Queen did batter live performances than this. This pales in comparison to their classic Hammersmith Odeon 1975 show, or The Rainbow 1974, or Earls Court 1977,or....you get the idea. Even their shows at Milton Keynes 1982 or Montreal 1982 were arguably better than this. As a comparison which you may or may not relate to ,this is like Jimi Hendrix at The Isle Of Wight compared to Monterey, or The Who's Last comapred to Live At Leeds. If you think this show is good you should do yourself a favour and try to hear some of their earlier concerts. |
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| "great concert collection" | 2008-05-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2IKBSAKZEPBMV |
| amazing video, one of queen's greatest concerts. video clarity is amazing, a must buy dvd |
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| "Queen, Live at Wembly on DVD" | 2008-05-08 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1BH9PHZ1OTPJA |
| Absolutely the best concert EVER!!!!!!!!! Queen just blows me away everytime I see this. A real steal for the money. I just feel sorry for my neighbors everytime I play this because I blast it on my surround sound everytime I watch it. I even bought one for my grand kids so they could see what GOOD music really is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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| "Ultimate Queen Concert" | 2008-04-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2QZW3VA0U89L4 |
| Awesome sound and video. Freddie Mercury has proven why he and Queen were the best. Freddie is such a showman that you cannot take your eyes off of him or you are afraid you'll miss something! What a voice range! The greatest voice that Rock ever knew. |
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| "One Golden Glance--It's Magic" | 2008-04-11 |
| - Reviewed By gft |
The rock band Queen formed in England in 1972. Although several critics admired their earliest releases, the public remained largely indifferent until the 1974 SHEER HEART ATTACK, which jolted the band to fame in both England and America--and throughout the 1970s Queen generated one major recording success after another with A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, A DAY AT THE RACES, and NEWS OF THE WORLD. Even so, the band often provoked a "love it or hate it" reaction; they offered an odd mixture of thundering hard rock, English musical hall, and progressive sound in a "glamrock" package, and as time passed American audiences found it less and less appealing--particularly when dogged by rumors about lead singer Freddie Mercury's sexuality and the sexually "ify" nature of the band's name itself.
By the early 1980s those controversies, shifts in musical tastes, and the band's extremely ill-advised gig at the segregated South African resort of Sun City effectively knocked Queen out of the lucrative American market. But something unexpected happened: Queen, which had long been a concert favorite in Asia and Europe, emerged as the world's premiere stadium concert act, and quite suddenly the American market was almost irrelevant. Who cares about New York and Los Angeles when you have out-charted every one from Elvis Presley to the Beatles and when you are the single biggest concert draw in world history?
In 1986 Queen played England's Wembley Stadium, one of the largest venues in Europe, performing two concerts (one in a rainstorm) to sold out audiences. The concert was filmed, and it presents a great band that clearly had a great talent for playing to such incredibly large audiences.
When you listen to Queen's most popular releases you listen to a band that knows how to work a recording studio to the nth degree--and so it is very easy to forget exactly how atheletic and musically muscular Queen was. WEMBLEY reminds you of the fundamental facts in no uncertain terms: four band members, a single back up musician to pick up occasional phrases here and there, and that was it. And they clearly do everything but tear Wembley Stadium down to the ground.
At this point in the band's history concerts focused tightly around lead singer Freddie Mercury, who had a unique talent for dominating the massive audiences to which he played: handsome, muscular, he is all over the stage--and then there is that voice. Mercury is said to have had a four-octave range, and while his upper registers were too delicate for the demands of the concert stage you don't doubt it for a minute. This is a voice as delicate as a trembling candle flame, as roaring as bonfire, and shifting between both extremes without the faintest sign of strain or effort. And the band is behind him every inch of the way: Brian May, lead guitar, is a legendary performer in his own right, and bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor are rock solid as well.
That said, however, the film itself is actually only so-so, and the reason is very obvious: the editing. The thing consists of one flash cut after another, bouncing from Mercury to May to Taylor and shortchanging Deacon in the process. We have plenty of close ups, and very often some remarkable shots of the crowd--"Radio Gaga" is particularly extraordinary in this--but we seldom actually get to see the band as a whole. The endless cuts become more than a little wearing after a while and they ultimately undercut the energy of the concert itself.
The producers make up for this a little bit on the bonus disk, which includes a feature that allows you to focus exclusively on one performer at a time over the course of a few songs. The bonus disk also includes several documentaries that range from the "fair enough" to the "very good." Queen was a great live band, no doubt about it; the film falls short of that, but even so it reminds you very clearly of what Freddie, Brian, John, and Roger could do when they put their minds to it. It also has a certain poignancy, particularly when Mercury remarks that the band will stay together until they die, particularly given that Mercury very likely knew at this point that he was HIV positive and would not be able to tour much longer. He would be dead five years later. Strongly recommended in spite of flaws.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer |
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| "Queen will Amaze you and Rock you" | 2008-04-06 |
| - Reviewed By User: AFF7GLFCXSLIO |
| I know I'm a little late to be doing a review on this concert, but not too late. I've had this disc for years and it is still my favorite rock concert to date. And Queen isn't my favorite band by any means. U2 is my favorite band. This concert is loose, funny, and yet serious all at the same time. It was filmed in 1986 before digital studio cameras and multi Jumbotrons were around. I,m actually surprised to see the one in this concert. If you have seen the other Queen concerts from 1981-82 the light show was all they needed. Todays concerts are full of Giant L.E.D. screens and laserlights galore. I liked most all of the songs in this concert. After all it is their Magic Tour concert so I knew they could not fit in classic songs like "Sombody to Love" and "Play the Game". Seeing Freddy play the piano is as enjoyable as anything. I played this concert to my cousins last year (25 year old girls) and they were amazed to see what a great concert was like and not being there. Jenny asked me "Why aren't concerts like this anymore?" I told her because there are no bands quite like Queen. This concert is well recorded and sounds great especially in DTS. The picture looks very good for not being filmed digitally. It's not widescreen, but how many concerts are widescreen filmed before 1999? I have to say that Queen, U2, The Beatles, Rolling Stones are the four greatest bands ever. This disc is proof of that. Do buy this concert 2 disc set!!! |
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| "Almost perfection" | 2008-03-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: AYQ3WIBLIZ1QV |
| The only thing that really stops me from giving maximum praise to this dvd is that at least one of the cameras that was used to record this footage was apparently either poor quality, malfunctioning, or maladjusted. It leaves ugly streaks on the image from the sensor being over saturated by bright lights. Most all of the other cameras didn't appear to produce that artifact. Also, Freddie's voice cracks a couple times but that's understandable given the context of the concert, and he deals with it like the professional he was. Overall sound quality of the DVD is excellent. This is by far the best DVD of Queen live. I'd rank the Montreal DVD just below this one too. Get both! |
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| "This film rocks!" | 2008-03-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A15VBIUUWHTODA |
| I am an 80's rocker from NorCal. I watched this live concert dvd thru Netflix, my husband and I enjoyed it so much purchased it here. We have watched it over and over again. Sounds real good loud. The clarity is perfect, the photo shots of the stage & fans is also fantastic. Mercurys voice is BIG, his stage presence is also BIG. He wore a Disney tee on stage. I hear there may have been 250,000 concert go-ers. Buy it, you'll love it. I love Amazon! |
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| "Freddie, Roger, John and Brian light it up!" | 2008-02-20 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2TTAL6EQATRLV |
| If you are a Queen fan, this is the MUST HAVE DVD. I personally own On Fire at the Bowl, Queen Rock Montreal, and Live at Wembly, and Wembly makes the other DVDs look silly. This is Queen in their prime, and the best look at them you very well may ever get again. Freddie Mercury entertains an ENORMOUS crowd by singing, talking, and wowing them with his voice. John Deacon and Brian May work magic with the guitars, and Roger Taylor not only drums excellent, but even catches Freddie off guard and has some fun with him. They play their greatest songs to a sellout crowd who is more than happy to participate. The camera angles are good, the extras are fun to watch, and the music speaks for itself. I guarentee you won't be able to watch it just once. |
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