| Gregsynth 02.06.2011 17:52 |
I wish that there was a video on Youtube of this version, but I guess I can just go off the audio on my iTunes: As you all know, the Live Killers version of We Are The Champions has Freddie singing most of the high notes. We all know that those are obvious studio overdubs (cause by listening to the recordings from the tour--there's no way he sang WATC like that). I was listening to this version earlier, and I noticed these rather interesting observations: Right at around 1:52, Freddie starts singing the second chorus to the song: At this time, I hear what appears to be a slight echo get turned on. I think that is a studio echo being placed on his voice. As I'm listening to the chorus, I hear the crowd sing the "fighting" line at around 2:01, but Freddie sings that word about half a second too early (then he does amended phrasing). At around 2:02--the background crowd swoops down on the end of "fighting"--but that phrasing is something Freddie would do countless times during this era (because his voice was quite weak overall on this tour). After that, the "studio echo" returns and the chorus continues as normal. At 2:22, Roger sings the "of the world" line, but his voice doesn't sound natural--it sounds like either a chorus effect or a phaser effect was placed on his voice--then as his line fades off, I hear some weird reverb effects. I believe Roger's part was edited in the studio in some way. At 2:27, Freddie sings the word "friend" but the echo behind that word doesn't match at all--it's Freddie singing it--but his tone sounds much more strained on the echo--than the Live Killers tone. I believe that was overdubbed over (then the studio echo added). At 2:36, I hear a very strange reverb sound (after Freddie sings "end"), I don't think that was a voice that made that sound, but rather an instrument (don't know unfortunately). During the "We Are The Champions" line at 2:40-2:52, I hear a voice (that echo) singing the chorus an octave down (that's Freddie), while Freddie/Brian/Roger, all sing the chorus in the higher octave. At 2:55, I hear a VERY faint voice sing "of the world" I think that is Freddie singing it, but was edited out of the mix. I personally believe that almost all of Freddie's vocals were either re-done/overdubbed in the studio for this song. Freddie's tone on the song sounds closer to his studio tone around this time (though a bit more rough--since the recording sessions after Live Killers were in the spring/summer of 1979--after the tour ended)! |
| formulaone+queenmad 02.06.2011 18:00 |
Top analysis Greg! What a find! |
| Gregsynth 02.06.2011 18:05 |
formulaone+queenmad wrote: Top analysis Greg! What a find! ==================== Well, I'm just speculating. I could be wrong on this stuff! |
| The Real Wizard 02.06.2011 19:34 |
Gregsynth wrote: "Right at around 1:52, Freddie starts singing the second chorus to the song: At this time, I hear what appears to be a slight echo get turned on. I think that is a studio echo being placed on his voice." You mean reverb? Echo is like delay, where something is heard again, whereas reverb is where the sound hangs around longer, like talking in a big empty room. But definitely, there's a bit of reverb added to make it sound more live. They added an assload of reverb to the guitar in the last chorus to make it sound even more live (i.e. to mask the studio patchwork on the vocal). "At 2:22, Roger sings the "of the world" line, but his voice doesn't sound natural--it sounds like either a chorus effect or a phaser effect was placed on his voice" That's the crowd. Roger is muted in the mix, but perhaps can be faintly heard, as his vocal may have bled into the other tracks. "At 2:36, I hear a very strange reverb sound (after Freddie sings "end"), I don't think that was a voice that made that sound, but rather an instrument (don't know unfortunately)." That's just Brian on his whammy bar for a second.. no biggie there. "At 2:55, I hear a VERY faint voice sing "of the world" I think that is Freddie singing it, but was edited out of the mix." That's the crowd again. "I personally believe that almost all of Freddie's vocals were either re-done/overdubbed in the studio for this song." Absolutely. The first verse is mostly live, but it's back and forth from there. The first spot where it switches is at "but I've come through" at the end of the first verse (his tone clearly changes). The second verse is live, and the last two choruses are mostly studio. Good job overall, Greg ! |
| paulosham 02.06.2011 19:58 |
I was under the assumption that Live Killers was going to be wiped from the memory of everyone involved and was never to be spoken of again. I think that QP have some kind of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind device that will erase it from the mind of every Queen fan whenever they download and listen to any file containing the mantra "Property Of Queen Productions". Am I right here or was it just a dream? |
| jamster1111 02.06.2011 20:26 |
If only they could have waited to record their live album to the next tour and they wouldn't have to do any of this... |
| jamster1111 02.06.2011 20:27 |
If only they could have waited to record their live album to the next tour and they wouldn't have to do any of this... |
| Holly2003 03.06.2011 03:59 |
Am I the only one who likes Livekillers, overdubs and all? The LK fast version of We Will Rock You is among the best things Queen have put on vinyl. It has great versions of Brighton Rock, Spread Your WIngs, Keep Yourself Alive. Death on 2 legs, YMBF, Now I'm Here and Dreamer's Ball. It also has the most famous and one of the best versions of Love of my Life. The reacklisting is much more interesting than any of theior post-Hot Space shows. Its major flaw is in leaving out Somebody To Love, If You Can't Beat Them and It's Late. Omitting STL is inexplicable. IYCBT is great live but maybe not that well known; It's Late was difficult to play live and maybe they weren't happy with any of the live versions (although they could've Frankensteined it, like the did other tracks). Any of those would've been better options than TYMD and SHA. |
| pestgrid 03.06.2011 05:58 |
when you say overdubs in the studio....do you mean that freddie went back in and sang some parts again....or that the vocals were manipulated in the studio after the fact.....because the latter is true of almost every official concert release,songs are fine tuned and edited,mixed and balanced......but Im not aware of any band members rerecording themselves in the studio and then overlaying it into the live concert....wots the point in that anyway...? |
| bootLuca 03.06.2011 06:45 |
Holly2003 wrote: Its major flaw is in leaving out Somebody To Love, If You Can't Beat Them and It's Late. Omitting STL is inexplicable. IYCBT is great live but maybe not that well known; It's Late was difficult to play live and maybe they weren't happy with any of the live versions (although they could've Frankensteined it, like the did other tracks). Any of those would've been better options than TYMD and SHA. I hope that it's late, somebody, beat them and fat bottomed girls are published as bonus tracks when the new label will release the live killers remaster |
| dysan 03.06.2011 06:53 |
Live Killers was one of the first tapes I had (those lovely old issues with the yellow body and the black case... good days) and I still love it to death. I'm unsure about adding those extra tracks to it - the running order of the original release is part of the charm, unless they were tagged on the end which is untidy. Bowie fans will remember the reissue of his '78 live album Stage that corrected the running order and added unreleased tracks in their correct place and ruined the whole thing. |
| Liquid Scream 03.06.2011 09:24 |
I agree that the running order of the album works great. If it gets a remastered release in the future they will probably just throw in another Bonus EP with the additional tracks. Frampton Comes Alive got the re-release treatment a few years back with additional tracks and a new sequencing. It was odd to hear it that way. |
| scollins 03.06.2011 09:35 |
god almighty its a freaking songs, at 3mins 15 seconds you can hear freddie breaking wind lol, WHO CARES |
| The Real Wizard 03.06.2011 10:19 |
Holly2003 wrote: "Am I the only one who likes Livekillers, overdubs and all?" Nope, I love it too. It's still one of my favourite Queen releases. I still listen to side 3 often. Brighton Rock is one my my favourite Queen moments ever. "Its major flaw is in leaving out Somebody To Love, If You Can't Beat Them and It's Late." Agreed. Had they went with the original plan to release the London' 78 shows, two of those three songs would've been included, and they would've been much better performances than '79 too. "IYCBT is great live but maybe not that well known" Dreamers Ball was equally obscure. Maybe they didn't want three Deacon tracks and only two Roger tracks? Roger already hated the album, and with Deacon making money than him, he would've hated it even more.. |
| The Real Wizard 03.06.2011 10:36 |
pestgrid wrote: "when you say overdubs in the studio....do you mean that freddie went back in and sang some parts again" Yep. "Im not aware of any band members rerecording themselves in the studio and then overlaying it into the live concert....wots the point in that anyway...?" Because some of the concert vocals weren't great.. it wasn't a strong tour for Freddie compared to many of the others. The concert is multi-track recorded, so they can just mute whatever they like and add a new one done in the studio. This is very common practice on live albums too. Queen actually didn't do too much on Live Killers compared to say, Kiss Alive or Thin Lizzy's Live And Dangerous. Those both were almost entirely redone in the studio. According to producer Eddie Kramer, the only thing live about Kiss Alive is Ace's guitar. |