QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS - RETURN OF THE CHAMPIONS

Review Nº 646

"Return Of The Champions" is a DVD of Queen + Paul Rodgers that was released in 2005. It was recorded during the Queen + Paul Rodgers live tour at the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, England. So, we can say this isn't properly a Queen's DVD but a Queen and Rodgers DVD. The concert was also released as a double CD, released in the same year. Personally, I have the two versions of this live show, the CD and the DVD versions. So, I'm going to make two reviews of this live show. However, as they cross each other completely, I'm going to make both reviews in one as a complement of the other. So, in the CD version I'm going to write more about the music and the songs, saving for the DVD the images of the place and the protagonists on this live show. So, to know what I think, you should read both.

Queen's, Brian May and Roger Taylor members, since John Deacon decided to stay retired after the death of Freddie Mercury, reunited in 2005 and invited Paul Rodgers to do a live tour with them to be their front man performing some of the most well known Queen's tracks. Rodgers is an English-Canadian rock singer and songwriter, best known for his participation as a band's member in the 60's and 70's as vocalist of two rock bands, Free and Bad Company. Beyond them we have on bass Danny Miranda an American musician, on keyboards we have Spike Edney an English musician that has performed with a number of bands and Jamie Moses, an Anglo-American guitarist, all as support musicians.

At the time this live show was released, fourteen years had passed since Freddie Mercury passed away. So, at that time, it was virtually inconceivable that he could ever be replaced by anyone, and in many ways, it still is, even nowadays. Mercury was a one of the kind of song writers and entertainers, very rare in the musical business, very hard to replace, as happened with many other cases. Regardless of the number of songs that May and Taylor brought to the table, regardless of whether anyone theoretically could replace Mercury's unique and charismatic identity and the reverence Queen's fan base held for their band's iconic front man, nobody actually would, or would even want to do so.

In the history of popular rock music there are some other bands with the same problem. In this moment three of them come to my mind, The Doors, Led Zeppelin and Area. It's also practically inconceivable, for most of us, to see these three bands without their charismatic front man. Of course we had the case of Genesis in the early 70's. But, they were able to resolve their problem easily and well. However and in my humble opinion, that was a different and unique case.

Anyway, and after all these considerations, in 2005, Paul Rodgers materialized as Mercury's fill in. The Mercury loyalists howled, cries of "blasphemy" rained down upon the band, yet still, they forged ahead. And as it turned out, even as teeth gnashed and bad publicity shellacked Brian May and Roger Taylor, including some less kind words from the retired bassist John Deacon, people showed up to the live shows. But what is true is they managed to do a great show. Released as a companion to the CD, this is the first Queen + Paul Rodgers DVD. Filmed on an eighteen camera shoot by the multi award winning director David Mallet, the DVD boasts an immaculate transfer, which copes with everything that is thrown at it. From the constant use of the fog machine to the many crowd sequences, the DVD handles everything and there's never any sign or blocking or pixilation. It's of the high standard that all the other Queen releases have. The solid colours are as warm as they can be and never blur around the edges. As with most of Queen's releases the soundtrack is in stereo and DTS. Both are cracking mixes containing huge amounts of deep bass. Where the stereo falls down is in capturing the audience participation moments. The DTS puts you in the middle of the concert and is a faultless mix utilising the rears to reproduce the concert experience almost faultlessly. The only disappointing thing about it is the lack of extras. The first is "Jukebox" which allows us to choose five tracks of our choice to listen to in the order we want. The other was recorded on Queen's Hyde Park show which was given to support London's emergency services in the aftermath of the bombings at the time. Queen + Paul Rodgers cover the John Lennon classic "Imagine".

Conclusion: "Return Of The Champions" is a great live experience with many emotional moments. Of course Mercury will never be replaced by Rodgers or someone else. Still, Rodgers didn't ever really attempt to do that. Queen's purists railed against May's and Taylor's alleged greed, disrespect or unprincipled commercial exploitation of Mercury's musical legacy. But, even Mercury himself probably and poignantly gave them the green light to continue in one of his last recorded pieces, "The Show Must Go On", from 1991's "Innuendo", the last Queen's album with him. In conclusion, we may say that with these kinds of concerts, Mercury is still alive among us, and we still can say: "We still love you".

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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