Search - Queen :: Live at Wembley Stadium

Amazing Energy Throughout

Nick Mackler | Canada | 06/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Queen Live at Wembley" captures the band at its most lively, playing in front of 400,000 on July 11th and 12th in 1986. Supporting the music of their latest studio album "A Kind of Magic", Queen's 2 performances at Wembley were backed by outstanding visuals and a 160 feet wide stage (if you're looking for this, get the DVD). As a double live album, these performances stand up to any studio work done by Queen.



"One Vision" is an emphatic opener, with Brian May's heavy guitar and Mercury's powerful vocal driving the song the whole way. "Tie Your Mother Down" is performed in the same vain, as Queen quickly established a heavy rock sound early in this concert. Queen then assembles into a few short, excellent performances of two 70s classics ("In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisted" and "Seven Seas of Rhye) and the hard hitter off "The Works" album "Tear it Up". "A Kind Of Magic" is an excellent, extended live version and "Another One Bites The Dust" has strong energy. "Under Pressure" has one of Mercury's best vocals from the show. "I Want To Break Free" is altered from its studio counterpart to have May playing the synth sections and creates an entirely new sound. The "Brighton Rock Solo" is a 9 minute electrifying, raunchy guitar performance from May. "Now I'm Here" is excellent too, and equally heavy.

The acoustic tunes from the show are just as valuable, with Mercury bringing us down to earth in "Love Of My Life". Brian and Freddie follow this with another moving tune "Is This The World We Created...". The medley of tunes is a nice ode to some oldie tunes. "Hammer To Fall" is another good rocker, and Roger Taylor makes this one with his backing vocals. "Radio Ga Ga" builds amazing crowd energy, and that helps for a great transition to the closing of the show.



Overall, Queen gave two of their most astounding, heavy and beautiful shows at Wembley in 86 and it's all captured in this double album. For the visual aspect of the show, check out the DVD. Currently, there is alot of controversy surrounding the touring of Queen and Paul Rodgers. If you have some kind of problem with this new band, then check out this great live release, Queen Live at the Bowl, or Live Killers. Highly recommended."

Too Big For Their Own Good

Michael Laimo | Melville, NY United States | 10/28/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Queen is one of the greatest bands ever...that said, much can be expected of them from their live shows, and this concert is no exception. Fans of Queen from the first 'half' of their illustrious career may not jive well with the band on this performance. Don't get me wrong, this is an AMAZING show, in front of 65000 screaming fans. However, Queen got a little too showy and a bit less concerned with the music itself. In the old days, there were just four guys on stage, Freddie handling quite adeptly all the piano parts. They rocked like the great rock band they were, with no breaks for air. Now...Freddie hardly plays at all, with the addition of stage musician Spike Edney. He dances and sways and sings wonderfully, but it's all show. Then, the song selection...it's comprised mostly of Queen lighter tunes from their post-Jazz second half: One Vision, World We Created, I Want To Break Free, Bite The Dust, Kind Of Magic, Under Pressure, Radio Gaga. These are great songs, but to me, don't compare to Don't Stop Me now, Spread Your Wings, Death On Two Legs, Somebody To Love, Brighton Rock (why do the solo without the song? Why?), Liar, Keep Yourself Alive, Dead On Time, Sheer Heart Attack, the list goes on and on. THESE are the songs that made Queen the great rock act they are. NOT Who Wants To Live Forever. Then, I can never understand why bands elect to do Blues Medleys when there's such an amazing library of wealthy songs to choose from. Ask anyone in that stadium that night, I'm sure they'd agree that they'd rather hear a few more QUEEN songs than Tutti Frutti and Hello Mary Lou. Again, this is a great show from a great band, but I'd rather have LIVE KILLERS any day of the week.I hear that there will be other classic concert releases from QUEEN, including the wonderful Rainbow '74 show. This I'll be looking forward to."

Queen Live At Wembley - It's A Kind Of Magic

Anthony Nasti | Staten Island, New York United States | 10/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't have the cd of this concert, but I do indeed have the dvd, and I can tell you that this show was simply astonishing. The band never sounded better than they did that day. Freddy has the crowd in the palm of his hand, his consumate showmanship shining through on each and every song. The rest of the band was also fantastic on that magical day, especially Brian May, whose playing on songs like "Now I'm Here" and "Hammer To Fall" are ample proof that his talents are grossly underrated.



As far as the setlist goes, it is a great selection of songs. Some of the highlights include "Tie Your Mother Down", "Under Pressure", "Another One Bites The Dust", the oldies songs, "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will Rock You" / "We Are The Champions". But the album as a whole is fantastic and belongs in any cd collection. I also recomned the accompanying dvd."