Live Killers

Live Killers
Live album by Queen
Released 22 June 1979
Recorded January – March 1979 in Europe
Genre Rock[1]
Length 90:08
Label EMI / Parlophone (Europe)
Elektra / Hollywood (US)
Producer Queen
Queen chronology
Live Killers
(1979)		 Live Magic
(1986)Live Magic1986
Singles from Live Killers
  1. "Love of My Life (Live)"
    Released: 29 June 1979
  2. "We Will Rock You (Fast Live)"
    Released: August 1979 (US, Japan)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Record Mirror(favorable)[3]
Rolling Stone(unfavorable)[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]
Smash Hits3½/10[6]

Live Killers is a live album by the British rock band Queen, originally released on 22 June 1979.[7] It received strongly negative reviews from critics on release.[2] In a retrospective appraisal, Greg Prato of AllMusic found the initial reaction inexplicable, calling the album "an excellent document of Queen at the height of their '70s arena rock powers".[2]

Background

The album was recorded live during the European leg of Queen's Jazz world tour, between January and March 1979.

The album was self-produced by the band and was their first to be mixed at their own studios, Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland.[7]

Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor later revealed on the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard (which spotlighted the making of 1980's The Game) that the band had mixed Live Killers themselves and were unhappy with the final mix.

Despite this, the album reached number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and number 16 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, and is certified double platinum in the US.[8][9]

In the territories outside of the United States, Europe and Canada, Elektra Recordsre-released a shorter and edited version of the album in 1985 titled Queen Live.[10]

The 1994 issue released as part of the Digital Master Series by EMI Records did not improve upon the quality of the previous release. It was later remastered and restored in better quality by Peter Mew in 2001.

Track listing

Side 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."We Will Rock You" (fast version)Brian May3:18
2."Let Me Entertain You"Freddie Mercury3:15
3."Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...)*" (Sporthalle, Cologne 1 February)Mercury3:31
4."Killer Queen"Mercury1:59
5."Bicycle Race" (Festhalle, Frankfurt on 2 February)Mercury1:28
6."I'm in Love with My Car"Roger Taylor2:08
7."Get Down, Make Love"Mercury4:31
8."You're My Best Friend"John Deacon2:08

* Part of intro is censored by bleeps in which Mercury says "This song is about a real motherfucker of a gentleman."

Side 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."Now I'm Here" (Festhalle, Frankfurt on February 2)May8:42
10."Dreamer's Ball"May3:44
11."Love of My Life" (Festhalle, Frankfurt on 2 February)Mercury4:57
12."'39" (Festhalle, Frankfurt on 2 February)May4:26
13."Keep Yourself Alive"May4:02
Side 3
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
14."Don't Stop Me Now"Mercury4:28
15."Spread Your Wings"Deacon5:17
16."Brighton Rock"May12:13
Side 4
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
17."Bohemian Rhapsody (with "Mustapha" intro)" (Festhalle, Frankfurt on 2 February)Mercury6:02
18."Tie Your Mother Down" (Festhalle, Frankfurt on 2 February)May3:40
19."Sheer Heart Attack" (Rudi Sedlmayer Halle, Munich on 11 February)Taylor3:35
20."We Will Rock You" (Festhalle, Frankfurt on 2 February)May2:48
21."We Are the Champions"Mercury3:27
22."God Save the Queen"Trad.; arr. May1:31
Omitted tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's Late"May 
2."If You Can't Beat Them"Deacon 
3."Somebody to Love"Mercury 
4."Fat Bottomed Girls"May 
5."Teo Torriate" (played live for the first time during this tour in Japan)May 

Singles

Charts

CountryChartsSales
Peak positionWeeksCertificationSales
Austria312Gold40,000
United Kingdom327Gold380,000
Germany4 Gold450.000
Japan9 250.000
Netherlands10 80.000
Norway107 100.000
Sweden154 50.000
United States1614Platinum (2x)2,500,000
Switzerland342Gold10.000
Canada 150.000

Personnel

Production

References

  1. ↑ "Queen - Live Killers". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 July 2014. ...Other hard rock highlights soon follow, such as...
  2. 1 2 3 Live Killers at AllMusic
  3. ↑ "1979.06.xx - Record Mirror - UK - Killer Queen - QueenCuttings.com - Welcome on board!". QueenCuttings.com. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  4. ↑ Fricke, David (1979-09-06). "Live Killers". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
  5. ↑ "Queen: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
  6. ↑ Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits (July 12–25 1979): 25.
  7. 1 2 Live Killers Ultimate Queen. Retrieved 11 July 2011
  8. ↑ RIAA – Gold and Platinum Archived 4 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Recording Industry Association of America Retrieved 11 July 2011
  9. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited
  10. ↑ http://www.queenonline.com/en/the-band/discography/live-killers/ Queen Online Retrieved 13 December 2016
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