Live Killers
	Produced by Queen
	Released on June 26, 1979
	UK CHART POSITION #3 . . . US CHART POSITION #16 . . . GOLD RECORD (7/24/79), 2x PLATINUM (11/14/02)
	Find it at GEMM
HR-61066-2 cover

M aybe the killer live album you were waiting for, maybe not. The double-live albums that came after Frampton Comes Alive were specious creatures, dubious in intent. Record companies likely saw them as an inexpensive way to make money, since double albums sold for considerably more than single elpees and didn’t carry the financial/critical risks that a new studio album might. So the battle-forged steel is trotted out for the faithful, who run a simultaneous soundtrack of the original studio wonders in their head that forms an amalgam of once-pristine intent and live animal energy. If you’re looking for an introduction to the body of Queen, Live Killers has the right content (mostly) but the wrong incarnation. The hermetically sealed magic of “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “You’re My Best Friend” unravels on stage, the bottled intensity of “Keep Yourself Alive” and “Sheer Heart Attack” fizzles. Queen is surprisingly faithful some of the time, re-creating the strange musical shapes of “Get Down, Make Love” in the middle, but play hard and fast with the opening “We Will Rock You” for example. And some things done in the studio wouldn’t translate on stage well, so Freddie assumes the lead vocals on “’39” and “Sheer Heart Attack.” The band sounds excellent throughout, with some guitar and drum solos thrown in along with audience intermingling led by Mercury (though I could have lived without the call-and-response on “Now I’m Here”). I was surprised to find some of these songs on here (“Brighton Rock,” “Dreamer’s Ball”) and others missing (“Somebody To Love”), but with highlights that include “Love of My Life” and a medley featuring “Death On Two Legs” and “I’m In Love With My Car,” Live Killers shows it doesn’t take a hit to score a mortal blow. It’s the essential live Queen record by default, much as Bootleg and Bursting Out were to Aerosmith and Tull respectively, but it won’t kill you to buy the studio albums first. Note that the record was apparently taken from a mix of venues, so the audience response varies along the way.

HR-61066-2 inner gatefold

TRACK LISTING

disc one

1. WE WILL ROCK YOU    3:18
2. LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU    3:15
3. DEATH ON TWO LEGS    3:31
4. KILLER QUEEN    1:59
5. BICYCLE RACE    1:28
6. I'M IN LOVE WITH MY CAR    2:01
7. GET DOWN, MAKE LOVE    4:31
8. YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND    2:08
9. NOW I'M HERE    8:42
10. DREAMER'S BALL    3:44
11. LOVE OF MY LIFE    4:57
12. '39    3:26
13. KEEP YOURSELF ALIVE    4:02
    
    disc two
    
1. DON'T STOP ME NOW    4:28
2. SPREAD YOUR WINGS    5:22
3. BRIGHTON ROCK    12:13
4. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY    6:02
5. TIE YOUR MOTHER DOWN    3:40
6. SHEER HEART ATTACK    3:35
7. WE WILL ROCK YOU    2:48
8. WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS    3:27
9. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN    1:31

CREDITS

JOHN DEACON --
BRIAN MAY --
FREDDIE MERCURY --
ROGER TAYLOR --
John Etchells -- engineer
Queen -- sleeve concept
Foster & Knowles -- sleeve design
Koh Hasabe -- cover photo

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