LIVE KILLERS

When I was at about 12 or 13 years old I used to listen to the illegal radio stations Radio Caroline and Radio Northsea International with my small portable radio while lying in bed. One day they played "Keep yourself alive" I remember and I was hooked on that great catchy and powerful guitar riff. It could have been from Jimmy Page or Ritchie Blackmore but it was from Brian May I later discovered. Unfortunately nobody knew Queen and I couldn't find that single. When Queen performed on the famous Dutch tv programm Toppop with their new single "Killer queen" I became a Queen fan and I was finally able to buy a Queen single. Soon I bought all of their albums but it lasted until 1979 until I could witness a gig from Queen. It was the "News of the world tour" and that tour appeared on the 2-live-LP entilted "Live killers". Although I have very good memories from that concert (especially "Brighton rock" with Brian May just before my eyes playing his extended guitar solo), I later concluded that their inventive rock-based compositions with that typical raw and energetic sound could hardly be found on the albums from "News of the world". I hope that once EMI will release the bootleg-video "Queen live at the Rainbow" (1974) because in those years Queen was in their heyday, some magic from that era is on this live 2-CD. But in general I notice a band that has moved more towards mainstream rock and pop although this is a good and entertaining live set.