Live Magic
Hollywood Records ( USA/1996 )
Occupation
- Freddie Mercury: Vocals, Piano
- John Deacon: bass guitar, backing vocals
- Roger Taylor: drums, vocals
- Brian May: electric and acoustic guitar, vocals
Guest musicians:
- Spike Edney: synthesizer, electric guitar in Hammer to Fall, backing vocals
Live Magic is the end of 1986 appeared, second live album by British rock band Queen. It contains live recordings from the same year, including mostly clips of Freddie Mercury's last live performance with Queen.
The album
Queens Magic tour through eleven European countries took place at the release of the album A Kind of Magic in port. It included a total of 26 concerts and lasted from June 7 to 9 August 1986. It was the second tour of Queen, in which ( as five years earlier at the stadium shows in Latin America), the majority of performances open-air concerts were. On the album Live Magic can be heard from four of these concerts cutouts. In contrast to Queens first live (double) album Live Killers, which almost matches the scope of an entire concert, Live Magic is designed as a single LP, which presents a selection of pieces. The playing time of the album is about half of that duration of the concert. Some songs are played severely cut; For example, missing on the album in the entire Bohemian Rhapsody ( leaked from the tape ) midsection.
The live recordings of most included on the album title - 11 of 15 items - come from the last and best-attended with more than 120,000 viewers concert of the tour, which on 9 August 1986 at Knebworth Park near Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, occurred. It was not until long after the album's release was sure that this was the very last live performance with Queen Freddie Mercury.
The other four songs by Live Magic are recordings of the concerts in Budapest Népstadion or in London's Wembley Stadium; in London were Queen twice on consecutive days.
Co-producer of the album is Queens longtime live sound mixer Trip Khalaf. Live Magic is the first Queen album, whose appearance was not accompanied by a single release.
Later, other recordings appeared with photographs of the Magic Tour: The second concert at Wembley Stadium and the appearance in Budapest were also filmed. The recording from Budapest was released on VHS and laserdisc (Live in Budapest, 1987). The Wembley gig appeared both as a double album (Live at Wembley '86, 1992) as well as VHS (Queen at Wembley, 1990; later Laser Disc) or DVD (Live at Wembley Stadium, 2003).
In the U.S., the album Live Magic was only in 1996, ten years after its original publication date, published.
Title list
Page 1:
Page 2:
The times refer to the CD tracks including announcements and applause and not to the actual, usually shorter title lengths. The LP and cassette editions of the album include abridged versions of the plays A Kind of Magic, Another One Bites the Dust and Hammer to Fall, while only the CD contains the so-called "Full Live Version ".
With the exception of four songs, the recordings of the album from Queens appearance at Knebworth Park in Stevenage submitted on August 9, 1986 The recording dates of the remaining tracks. Wembley Stadium, London, July 11, 1986 (? Is This the World We Created ); Wembley Stadium, London, July 12, 1986 ( Hammer to Fall ); Népstadion, Budapest, July 27, 1986 ( A Kind of Magic Under Pressure ).
The producers of the album are Queen and James "Trip" Khalaf. The live recordings were taken from Mack and David Richards ( the Manor Mobile, the Rolling Stones Mobile and in Power Sound Mobile ). The mix was held in the Town House Studios, where the album was also mastered by Kevin Metcalfe. Sound engineer was John Brough.
Equipment
In addition to the instruments of the musicians, producers are given:
- Piano: Steinway
- Bass Guitar: Fender Precision
- Drums: Yamaha
- Cymbals: Zildjian
- Electric guitar ( Brian May ): Red Special
- Acoustic guitar: Gibson
- Synthesizers: Yamaha DX7, Roland, E -MU Emulator II
- Electric guitar ( Spike Endey in Hammer to Fall ): Gordon Smith
Reception in the media
" [ ... ] A closer look Reveals did it's a better record than the previous Live Killers. [ ... ] Live Magic captures Queen, and Freddie Mercury in Particular, at the height of Their powers. While the set list might also rely a bit too heavily on mediocre mid - '80s material for some tastes, the band is tight and professional, and Mercury HAS to undeniable hold over the crowd. It 's to Queen's credit did the energy rarely dips over the course of the record. Live Magic 'may be designed for hardcore fans, but For Those listeners, it wants Provide a number of highlights, proving did the band 's remarkable performance at Live Aid which no fluke. "
Chart positions
In the Charts Live Magic reached the following placements:
- # 3 - United Kingdom ( platinum).
- # 13 - Austria ( gold).
- # 15 - Germany ( gold).
- # 17 - The Netherlands.
- # 22 - Italy.
- # 26 - Switzerland ( platinum).
- # 49 - Japan.
- # 50 - Sweden.