Queen | The Audio Perv
Posts Tagged ‘Queen’
06 Oct
2011

Queen: Final Five Albums To Be Reissued November 1st

By drainu182 , Tags :

Between 1984 and 1995 Queen released their last five studio albums and consolidated their reputation as the biggest, brashest and boldest band in the world. They achieved legendary status as they delivered THE defining performance of the century at Live Aid as well as headlining massive stadium concerts all over the world. Queen also released some of their best loved and most anthemic work in this period, before and after the passing of Freddie Mercury in 1991.

Hollywood Records will reissue deluxe editions of the five Queen albums from this period on November 1st as part of the band’s 40th Anniversary celebration – The Works, A Kind Of Magic, The Miracle, Innuendo and Made In Heaven in an exclusive box set only available at Amazon.com

Many Queen favorites were released during this period including “Radio Gaga” (the track from which Lady Gaga took her name), “I Want To Break Free” (complete with the infamous cross-dressing Coronation Street parody video that MTV banned in the US), “One Vision,” “A Kind of Magic,” “I Want It All,” “The Miracle” and “These Are The Days of Our Lives” (featuring Freddie’s haunting final video appearance).

These five albums cover the era when Queen were elevated to truly legendary status as they stole the show at Live Aid in front of a global TV audience of 1.9 billion people, and wowed audiences with subsequent headline shows at Knebworth and Wembley, the latter recently voted by the public as one of the most iconic events ever seen at the stadium. This was also a consistent period of commercial success with each of the five albums going platinum in the UK and A Kind of Magic and Made in Heaven each selling over 1 million copies.

As well as their huge UK gigs they continued the global domination of the late 70’s playing Rock in Rio twice to crowds of over 300,000 each time. On their subsequent Magic tour they sold over 1 million tickets around the world, and played the first ever stadium gig in Eastern Europe at the Nepstadium in Budapest in front of fans who hitchhiked from all over the Eastern Bloc to attend.

After Freddie’s death The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert saw a packed Wembley set alight again to the music of Queen once again, with stars from all over the world joining John Deacon, Brian May and Roger Taylor on stage.

Subsequently The Mercury Phoenix Trust was founded to help distribute money raised from this concert for AIDS awareness. Since then, the Trust has raised and distributed over $15 million to help in the fight against AIDS. The charity has just created a truly unique initiative with the launch of the ‘Freddie For A Day’ Global Charity Network.

Queens 40th Anniversary year has kicked off in spectacular style so far with their first ever major exhibition “Stormtroopers in Stilettos” in London’s East End and kicked off with a star studded launch party attended by the likes of Foo Fighters and Jessie J.

A recent two part BBC TV documentary, “Days of Our Lives”, drew widespread rave reviews as Brian May and Roger Taylor looked back over their first 40 years in detail for the first time. The Guardian described it as ‘fantastic and moving’.

Meanwhile the bands first ten albums have been reissued to considerable acclaim. The Telegraph said of their early work, “Queen’s greatest music was extravagantly innovative, technically brilliant and created with a jeweler’s care.”

Rolling Stone Magazine gave the first set of reissues the magazine’s highest rating of five-stars, describing the collection’s “instrumental intensity” as a “compelling portrait of vehement and violent art.”

These last five studio albums highlight the diverse talent, musical ambition and global success of a band made up of some of the best songwriters, musicians and performers of all time.

www.queenonline.com
www.freddieforaday.com
www.queenextravaganza.com

02 Sep
2011

Queen To Celebrate Freddie Mercury’s 65th Birthday With 48 Hour Stream Of Legendary 1986 Wembley Stadium Concert

By drainu182 , Tags : ,

September 5th would have been legendary frontman Freddie Mercury’s 65th birthday. To mark the occasion, Queen will stream their historic 1986 concert Queen Live At Wembley Stadium for 48 hours on YouTube. The concert can be viewed at www.youtube/queenofficial starting at 12:00AM EST on September 5th. This is the first time in Queen has allowed an online stream of this watershed moment in the band’s career. The concert captures the group’s historic July 1986 two-night performance at London’s Wembley Stadium, where they gave an electrifying performance to 150,000 frenzied fans. The footage features stunning live renditions of many of Queen’s classic songs, including fan favorites such as “We Will Rock You,” “We Are The Champions” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

One year after their triumphant appearance at Live Aid, Queen (vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon) returned to Wembley for two consecutive sold-out concerts. Queen Live At Wembley Stadium documents the second night, July 12th, 1986. The footage highlights Queen’s dazzling performance, which blended older classics like “Seven Seas of Rhye” and “Tie Your Mother Down” with new audience favorites such as “Radio Ga Ga” and “Hammar To Fall.”

Queen Live At Wembley Stadium showcases the legendary rock band’s versatility, musical range and showmanship on their most successful tour. “The Wembley concerts were the pinnacle for us,” says May. “We were at our height band-wise, and Freddie had developed this phenomenal way of dealing with stadium audiences. Being back home in London playing two sell-out nights was such a big, big occasion for us. None us realized that this would be almost the last time we would play together.”

Queen Live At Wembley Stadium is one of the most spectacular rock concerts of all time. The YouTube stream of the concert includes:

One Vision
Tie Your Mother Down
In the Lap of the Gods
Seven Seas of Rhye
A Kind of Magic
Another One Bites the Dust
Who Wants To Live Forever
I Want to Break Free
Impromptu
Brighton Rock
Now I’m Here
Love of My Life
Is This the World We Created
Bohemian Rhapsody
Hammer To Fall
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Radio Ga Ga
We Will Rock You
Friends Will Be Friends
We Are the Champions
God Save the Queen

15 Aug
2011

Five Queen Albums To Be Re-Issued In Celebration Of Band’s 40th Anniversaray

By drainu182 , Tags : ,

Between 1977 and 1982 Queen officially became the most successful band in the world, releasing some of the biggest and best songs of all time including ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy’, ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘Bicycle Race’, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, ‘Save Me’, ‘Play The Game’, ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, ‘Flash’ and ‘Under Pressure’ which features David Bowie.

On September 13, just 8 days after what would have been the 65th birthday of late legendary lead vocalist, Freddie Mercury, Hollywood Records will reissue deluxe editions of the five Queen albums from this period – ‘News of the World’, ‘Jazz’, ’The Game’, ‘Flash Gordon’ and ‘Hot as part of the band’s 40th Anniversary celebration.

These five albums were recorded as Queen’s success spread worldwide – to the USA, South America, Europe and Asia and are the sound of a band breaking through the crash barriers of their own limitless ambition. The early 80′s saw the band conquer South America for the first time, creating rock history when they played at the Morumbi Stadium in Brazil – then the largest paying audience for a single band anywhere in the world.

If the early 70’s and the first five albums Queens released represented the band’s hard-rocking years, then the late 70’s and early 80’s represented their hard partying era. As Brian, Roger, Freddie and John toured the world their reputation for off-stage rock’n’roll extravagance grew with stories of legendary party excess from Kensington to Copacabana informing the Queen mythology.

The Queen image changed too in the second half of the 70s. Infamously Sid Vicious bumped into Freddie Mercury at Wessex Studios where both Pistols and Queen are recording – ‘Ullo Fred – I see you’ve bought ballet to the masses then!’ Says Sid, eyeing up Freddie’s legendary ballet pumps, ‘Ah Mr Ferocious. Yes, doing my best dear’ retorted Freddie.

It was also during this period that one of the most iconic images in contemporary music was developed, when in 1980 Freddie Mercury grew perhaps the most famous moustache of modern times! Inspired by his adventures in the New York nightlife of the late 70’s, the moustache and attendant leathers completely reinvented the band’s look. Famously the moustache caused outrage among many fans that mailed him disposable razors!

Queens 40th Anniversary year has kicked off in spectacular style so far with a major art & photography exhibition ‘Stormtroopers in Stilettos’ in London’s East End. Meanwhile, the bands first five albums have been reissued to considerable acclaim.

Rolling Stone gave the first set of reissues the magazine’s highest rating of five-stars, describing the collection’s “instrumental intensity” as a “compelling portrait of vehement and violent art.”

Queen’s next round of remasters will highlight the more refined and diverse talent, musical ambition and global success of a band made up of some of the best songwriters, musicians and performers of all time.

www.queenonline.com

For more information on the “Freddie For A Day” charitable fundraiser go to
www.freddieforaday.com

24 Feb
2011

Alison Mosshart, Queen and Bjork Lead Sucker Punch Soundtrack

By drainu182 , Tags : , , , , , , , , , ,

WaterTower Music is thrilled to announce the release of “Sucker Punch: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” on March 22, 2011. The audio companion to the film director Zack Snyder describes as “Alice In Wonderland with machine guns” has taken over two years to create, and will delight filmgoers and music fans of all generations.

Snyder (Watchmen, 300), collaborated with Grammy®-nominated composer and music director Marius de Vries (Moulin Rouge!) and composer Tyler Bates (Watchmen, 300, Californication) to select the collection of songs featured on the soundtrack, which play an integral role in the film.

“Working with Marius and re-teaming with Tyler on Sucker Punch’s soundtrack was an extraordinary experience,” said Snyder. “Sucker Punch is a film created with multiple levels of reality, so this same layered construct had to be considered and applied when approaching the music. The selection of songs we chose and the various ways in which they were each re-envisioned had to add depth, dimension and meaning to the sequences they exist within. Marius and Tyler did an amazing job creating an intricate musical landscape to accompany the surreal imagery of the film.”

Fascinatingly reworked versions of classic songs illuminate the soundtrack, with the film’s star Emily Browning covering “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” (Eurythmics), “Where Is My Mind?” (The Pixies), and “Asleep” (The Smiths), and stars Carla Gugino (Watchmen) and Oscar Isaac (Robin Hood) performing a sultry, musical theatre-inspired version of “Love Is The Drug” (Roxy Music). Alison Mosshart (The Dead Weather, The Kills) and Carla Azar (Autolux) team up on a haunting version of “Tomorrow Never Knows” (The Beatles). Björk fans will love the newly created version of “Army Of Me (Sucker Punch Remix)” that features Skunk Anansie and clocks in at nearly seven minutes.

Intense, sexy, edgy and highly imaginative, these new and unrestrained arrangements of legendary songs, along with the original mash up of Queen’s “I Want It All/We Will Rock You” featuring Armageddon Aka Geddy (Terror Squad), are the backbone of the film driving the relationship between the motives of the characters and the lengths they are willing to go for survival.

TRACK LISTING:

1. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” – Emily Browning
2. “Army Of Me (Sucker Punch Remix)” – Björk featuring Skunk Anansie
3. “White Rabbit” – Emiliana Torrini
4. “I Want It All”/”We Will Rock You” Mash-Up – Queen w/ Armageddon Aka Geddy
5. “Search And Destroy” – Skunk Anansie
6. “Tomorrow Never Knows” – Alison Mosshart and Carla Azar
7. “Where Is My Mind?” – Yoav featuring Emily Browning
8. “Asleep” – Emily Browning
9. “Love Is The Drug” – Carla Gugino and Oscar Isaac

Check out Skunk Anansie performing “Search And Destroy” here:
http://soundcloud.com/soundtrack-stream/sucker-punch-search-and-destroy

Sucker Punch is an epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary.

She has been locked away against her will, but Babydoll (Emily Browning) has not lost her will to survive. Determined to fight for her freedom, she urges four other young girls-the outspoken Rocket (Jena Malone), the street-smart Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), the fiercely loyal Amber (Jamie Chung) and the reluctant Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish)-to band together and try to escape their terrible fate at the hands of their captors, Blue (Oscar Isaac), Madam Gorski (Carla Gugino) and the High Roller (Jon Hamm).

Led by Babydoll, the girls engage in fantastical warfare against everything from samurais to serpents, with a virtual arsenal at their disposal. Together, they must decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to stay alive. But with the help of a Wise Man (Scott Glenn), their unbelievable journey-if they succeed-will set them free.

02 Nov
2009

QUEEN: Top British Rock Critic Tells “Ultimate Illustrated History”

By drainu182 , Tags : ,
queenbook

Voyageur Press has joined forces with renowned British rock journalist Phil Sutcliffe (Mojo, Los Angeles Times) for QUEEN: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock. This beautifully packaged book, a perfect balance of photos and text, arrives on Nov. 15, 2009, and retraces the history of this massively popular and influential group.

Brimming with more than 400 photographs and pieces of memorabilia — including concert programs, posters, domestic and foreign 45 singles, LPs, backstage passes, ticket stubs, and more — QUEEN: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock also includes a discography, and commentary from dozens of admiring musicians and performers. The result is the most complete and captivating portrait of this larger-than-life group, one that captures and celebrates as never before Queen — one of popular music’s most successful recording artists of all time.

Fronted by the unforgettable Freddie Mercury, Queen almost single-handedly created the common phrase “arena rock,” with mammoth tours, stage shows, costumes, and such classic anthems as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Under Pressure” (with David Bowie), and “Radio Gaga.”

Nearly two decades after Mercury’s tragic death in 1991, Queen has retained an enormous global fan base. The band’s music continues to live on — both in film (Wayne’s World) and as a major influence on other artists (Lady Gaga supposedly modeled her nom de plum after Queen’s aforementioned “Radio Gaga”), while original members Brian May and Roger Taylor recently reunited with singer Paul Rodgers (Bad Company, Free) to take Queen out on the road once more on a pair world tours.

As of 2005, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Queen albums had spent a total of 1,322 weeks or 27 years on the United Kingdom album charts; more time than any other musical act – including the Beatles and Elvis Presley. As of 2006, Queen had sold in excess of 300 million records, singles, videos and DVDs worldwide. Since 2005, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor have performed with Paul Rodgers under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers. In its first week on the market, their new CD, The Cosmos Rocks, sold 11,826 copies, according to Soundscan. A wide range of rock artists have covered Queen songs over the years, including Metallica, Dwight Yoakam, Joss Stone, Shirley Bassey, and the Flaming Lips. Additionally, Queen songs have been sampled by Grandmaster Flash and Vanilla Ice, and parodied by “Weird Al” Yankovic. Much has been said about Queen and their accomplishments over the years, but with QUEEN: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock, Sutcliffe offers the definitive overview.

In addition to the Queen book, Voyageur Press also is issuing other music-related titles this fall in their ongoing ‘Illustrated History’ book series: Jim DeRogatis’ THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: A Walk on the Wild Side hit shelves September 15th, and Jon Bream’s NEIL DIAMOND IS FOREVER: The Man and His Music will arrive on October 15th. All are equally jam-packed with photos, artifacts, and comprehensive histories of each artist.

For more information on these and other Voyageur titles, go to www.voyageurpress.com

Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock

By Phil Sutcliffe

9.25 x 10.875

288 pages, 300 color photos & 100 b/w photos

$40.00, $49.99 (CAN), £24.99

ISBN-13: 978-0-7603-3719-6

Pub Date: November 15, 2009

21 Jan
2009

Metallica Guitar Hero Game Release Date

By spidersex , Tags : , , , , , ,

If you love Metallica and video games, you’ll be happy to know that you’ll get the perfect combo when the Metallica Guitar Hero video game comes out on March 29th (in North America) for Xbox 360 and PS3. Everyone else can get it in may, including Wii and PS2 owners.

In the game, you’ll be able to play it in single instrument or band career mode which lets you haze your second bassist till he leaves the band and sue your fans before going to group therapy sessionsis pretty darn cool.

Even though it’s a Metallica game, it’ll also feature songs from Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters, Slayer, Machine Head and Queen. And you can play double bass on the drums in the most difficult Expert+ setting. You can watch a trailer for the game here.

Source

26 Sep
2008

Rise Against – Ride to Work Day (Video)

By drainu182 , Tags : ,

At The Audio Perv, we’re all about wasting time and there are few ways better to waste time than to watch videos on Youtube. The boys in Rise Against decided to celebrate Ride to Work Day by.. riding their bikes to work and recording it with Queen’s “Bicycle Race” playing in the background. Mucho fun.