For me this is a tough question. Obviously you can't just duplicate David Bowie, and Freddie can't be expected to duplicate those crazy high falsetto notes he hits on the album, it'd be just too tough on his voice during a tour. I also agree with Freddie that a live performance should not just be an identical version from an album, but a show of it's own. I've seen the Rock Montreal version in '81 where he at least tries to go to falsetto for a bit which was cool, but the song was played really safe like Brian said in the commentary. The Wembley version from '86, was more evolved but Freddie's voice wasn't in terrific shape on that day. What is the closest they've come to really doing it justice live?
J
I noticed that the only concert where Freddie replicate the third "give love" like the studio version is Paris 19.4.82.
Can you confirm that?
Anyway, I think that the best version of under pressure is first night in Montreal 81.
Nah. It was nice, live, but I don't think it was ever as great as the studio track. Hearing the song without Bowie is like when they cut to the opera part of Bo Rhap - it feels like a cop out. A very justifiable one, but still not very satisfying.
I almost always(with a *few* exceptions prefer Studio Queen over Live Queen...and this is no exception.
Yeah, I agree...without Bowie the song is missing all of it's sweeping grandeur. I've never heard a live version of this song that I liked.
Wembley '86 version was horrible imo.
Wembley's wasn't that bad. You want the worst version? The SNL performance by far.
There's also some pretty bad ones on the Works Tour (though they have those awesome falsetto lines in the middle section)!