Queen is an English rock band formed in 1970 by guitarist Brian May and vocalist/keyboard player Freddie Mercury. Joined by drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon in 1971, Queen rose to prominence during the 70's and are considered one of the most successful bands of all time.
After two albums, Queen and Queen II, they released a breakthrough album Sheer Heart Attack which contained the hit "Killer Queen" followed up by the album A Night at the Opera which contained the hits "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "You're my Best Friend;" the former being voted on several lists as being the best song ever recorded. It was also the first song to ever hit #1 twice with the same version; on original release in 1975 and again in 1991 after the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury when it was re-released as a tribute.
Following their record breaking South American tour, Queen was encouraged to go to Montreal to do a couple "One-Off" shows on November 24th and 25th, 1981. These were the only full Queen concerts ever shot on film. They were the first group ever to film an entire show in full cinema format 35mm. Originally titled We Will Rock You, Queen Rock Montreal is that film.
Queen Rock Montreal was recorded on November 24th and 25th 1981; exactly 10 years to the day of Mercury's death. It is directed by Saul Swimmer, who is best known as the director/producer of 1972's "Concert For Bangladesh" film and co-producer on the documentary "Let It Be" with the Beatles. By the time they began filming, Swimmer and his crew had so irritated Mercury and the rest of the band by getting in the way and interfering with the performance, that Mercury purposely wore short pants on the second night so that the crew couldn't easily rearrange the cuts.
One innovation in the film was the use of Swimmers new Mobilevision Technology. This was a precursor to today's IMAX technology, and in some ways surpassing it; IMAX can only project to a three-story tall screen, whereas Mobilevison could project five-stories. Other new techniques allowed the filming to be almost noise free and without blemishes. In watching the film, the colors to jump off the screen, and the sound is superb, as well.
Article comments
1 - Gabriel Pulvirenti
Great review, I'm watching the concert now and it's video quality is amazing, even in Blu-Ray. One thing to note is that both Flash and The Hero tracks were removed in the video.
The original concert has 28 songs, and the video edition has just 26.