Return Of The Champions - Queen + Paul Rodgers Double Album Review

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Double Album Review

Brian May and Roger Taylor have decided that the show must go on, or is it the 'brands' play on? Controversy still rages as to whether fans are being conned with these kind of 'projects' (without original line-ups), so it becomes a personal opinion.

Many bands are doing it right now, eg The Monkees, as you only get Mickey Dolenz and Davey Jones, The Doors et al.

Here, music worlds collide to bring out a new dimension to standard rockers. Paul Rodgers will never be Freddie Mercury, and Freddie would never have been Rodgers, as purists will testify. Both have been credited as some of the best rock singers of all time. Drummer Roger Taylor, normally back-up vocalist even pops-up as lead singer on self-penned Say It Isn't True, and Brian May leads the rapturous crowd through an acoustic '39 and Love Of My Life for Freddie's mum in the audience. Overall, Rodgers has brought freshness to the world famous repertoire which has graced the air-waves since March 1974 for Queen, and 1970 for Free.

Former Free and Bad Company frontman Rodgers is arguably the only singer who could tackle the material. A brief Freddie tribute hinted that George Michael might be his possible replacement back in 1993: that venture was never seriously on the cards.

Having seen Rodgers lead Free at the Boxing Arena Liverpool in 1971 (my first rock concert) and then Freddie leading Queen at Maine Road Manchester in July 1986, I have the benefit of drawing comparisons between the two legends. Comparisons can often be dangerous territory, but they are invariably inevitable. Also, in reality there's only half of Queen, as bassist John Deacon elected to miss-out on this project, being replaced by New Yorker Danny Miranda. Spike Edney from Chicago on keys and vocals and Jamie Moses beef-up the new line-up. So, if you're happy with the replacement and additions then you'll have no problem with this live album of 27 tracks including some of the greatest moments in rock history. With a combined tracklisting that most bands could only dream of, the fusion definitely works for me. The previously mentioned concerts I attended were amongst the best gigs I've experienced; they were very different affairs though. Free an out-and-out rough-edged soulful Blues outfit: Queen slick and sophisticated Pop-Rockers, both equally as great, but in different stratospheres. Mercury was the in-your-face OTT controller of the band : Rodgers a more static Bluesman. May and co. haven't exactly rushed this one - so does the chemistry work? For the band it must have been a strange experience working together and playing each other's songs for starters. From an audience angle, they sound as if they're lapping it up ( check crowd on Another One Bites The Dust), and had I been there (which I'd planned to be at Hyde Park - but was cancelled due to the London bombings) I would have too. This concert recorded at Hallam FM Arena Sheffield on May 9 2005, where Queen last performed 19 years ago, proves that hybrids can, and do work.

Most tracks are done as originals, with the exception of the sublime intro re-working of Hammer To Fall.

Disc 2 opens with Taylor on the balladic These Are The Days Of Our Lives, doing a fine job. From then on it's a rock-romp - Radio Ga Ga etc. On Bohemian Rhapsody it's hard to work out if it's Freddie's voice or Rodgers who starts the song, but as we all know they let tapes do the operetta - they could never do it live - with Rodgers finishing it off. There's a belting version of Free's classic All Right Now ( 6 mins plus ) with May ripping into Kossoff's solo, sending the crowd nuts, as it did back in 1971. So, did they pull it off? - Just listen to the crowd at the end. Say no more.

A DVD will soon follow.

Elly Roberts