Queen
Live Killers

THE REVIEW

How to end a prolific decade with style after seven amazing albums? Obviously, with a great live album. "Live Killers" is somewhat the "Made In Japan" of the four old ladies, that is to say, an unrefined, direct, and powerful live, light years away from the twenty-meter-long stages and the twenty thousand cameras of "Live At Wembley", a direct testimony of Queen's golden period, before their slow rise in the world of mass pop/rock (though I personally do not dislike any of the band's albums).

The sampled thunderstorm of "Dead On Time" (see "Jazz") introduces the fast version of "We Will Rock You", performed flawlessly, followed by the customary greeting to the audience and here is the intense "Let Me Entertain You", also from "Jazz", in an even more aggressive version than on the record, a direct testimony of a very underrated album, penalized by a production not always up to par.

We proceed with the more subdued "Death On Two Legs", straight from "A Night At The Opera", another great track performed perfectly.
From here we have a fast descent towards one of the key points of the first album, which is "Now I'm Here". We go through the medley "Killer Queen/Bicycle Race/I'm In Love With My Car" (the second slightly weaker compared to the album version, the third sung as originally by Roger Taylor), the schizophrenic "Get Down, Make Love" and the sweet "You're My Best Friend".
"Now I'm Here" is divided as usual into two parts, only here there is no "Dragon Attack" to fill the gap, but a long improvisation by Freddie and the audience, completely participative, completely engaged. Then, here's the final part of the song and the acoustic moment, which Queen loved so much. We start with "Dreamer's Ball", a charming track from "Jazz" where one can fully appreciate the sensuality of Freddie's voice.
It's a shame that the track is quickly forgotten when "Love Of My Life" arrives, perhaps in its best live version (after all, it was released as a single at the time), and we can say with certainty that this is the best moment of the two albums.
Brian introduces the audience to Roger, John, and Freddie, and right at the height of the vocalist's ovation begins an exceptional "'39", sung by Freddie himself. The track is probably more suited to Brian's subtle voice, but even in this live setting, it is appreciated. The "calm" moment ends and we go back to 1973, to the beats of "Keep Yourself Alive", another piece that is worth much of the album. The first CD ends in a devastating way, but the urge to insert the second is overwhelming.

The album opens with the triptych "Don't Stop Me Now/Spread Your Wings/Brighton Rock", three tracks performed with such fury and precision that they lead the listener to grab the respective albums and use them as coasters at parties.
In the middle of "Brighton Rock", we find the customary guitar solo of Brian and a drum solo by Roger, not too interesting but not boring either.
Moments of calm with "Bohemian Rhapsody", performed without praise or blame, then returning to heavier sounds with "Tie Your Mother Down/Sheer Heart Attack". It's a shame that towards the final tracks Freddie's vocal performance starts to falter (especially in "Sheer Heart Attack"), being a collage of live performances from the entire tour, I would have expected something more. Closing it all are "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions", for which it is unnecessary to spend words. The album ends, the calm notes of "God Save The Queen", sung by the enthusiastic audience, accompany us to the end, until the recording dissolves. Leaving us wishing to listen to the album from the beginning again.

It is without a doubt the best live album of the band, at least among the official ones. Strangely, despite the sales, Roger never appreciated the album, criticizing the production as "not up to Queen's standards". Indeed, it is not a very clean sound and the volume is also quite low, but it is a 1979 recording after all. Probably more could have been done, but probably its "rawness" enhances it further.