most songs were re-arranged.
some that irk me:
In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited (1986, no piano intro, no second verse)
Liar (hyperactive sped-up arrangement that ruins the subtleties and intricacies of the song)
The solo of Son and Daughter was greatly increased.
Modern Times Rock and Roll and '39 were singed by Freddie instead of Roger and Brian.
During in the Lap of the Gods the voice was natural, not processed like in the record.
Dreamer's Ball was stripped down like Love of my Life.
Staying Power was played with two guitars.
Now I'm Here was played faster in later tours.
In Crazy Little Thing Called Love Freddie used a electric guitar during the Works and Magic Tour.
We Will Rock You was played with drums instead of foot and claps.
During We are Champions Freddie had a crown and a cape, he recorded the song with a T-shirt.
It has been said that: "Liar (hyperactive sped-up arrangement that ruins the subtleties and intricacies of the song)". Have a listen to the original De Lane Lea demo and all the power and energy were there from the start. Surely, Liar would rate as one of Queen's most dynamic songs live. The fllexibility of where it could actually go, all depended on how it felt on the night. Try Japan, May 1 1975 for example. From the guitar solo onwards, it could go on in varying degrees of interplay between the members of the band, particularly Brian, Roger and John.
I don't think that any band has to replicate the intricacies of a recorded song in a live situation. Fairy Fella's Master Stroke is layered with material yet sparkles in the live context.
That being said, this is just one opinion, but I have always loved Liar in a live context. I find the whole mix on the first album just kills the drums and bass.
Dreamer's ball and white queen come to mind and sound better (imho) than their studio counterparts. Now, Cruella, what hyperactive arrangement are you talking about?
It was to varying degrees, but really, almost their songs were rearranged and streamlined in many ways for the live setting.
- A Kind of Magic - Much more guitar driven. Real drums. Lots of the unique phrasing towards the end of the studio version is gone. All the really high notes are taken down. New ending with the repeated 'will soon be gone'.
- Bites the Dust - In 1986, they increased the tempo, and Roger started playing the drum part a bit differently, hitting the beats in time with the riff at certain points rather than doing the steady 4/4 beat.
- Bicycle Race - Lots of the multi layered vocals dropped completely.
- Body Language - Faster tempo, real drums, real bass, occasional lead guitar fills. First verse where Freddie speak sings is replaced by full singing in the next octave up. Roger contributes in verse vocals.
- Leroy Brown - Almost entirely instrumental, heavily shortened, Brian playing lead line on electric guitar.
- Fairy Feller - No excessive panning like on album, many of the complexities removed in favour of singing it straight with three part harmonies. Piano instead of harpsichord. Interesting use of vocal harmonies in place of guitar harmonies at the start - the only example of them doing this that I can think of.
- Father to Son - No coda
- Flick of the Wrist - Lead guitar filling the role of the verse backing vocals. Chorus slowed down significantly so Freddie can sing both parts of the call and response between the lead and backing vocals.
- Break Free - So much heavier. Guitar playing the synth solo.
- If You Can't Beat Them - Roger and Freddie singing verse harmonies which weren't there on the album.
- I'm In Love With My Car - Piano
- It's a Hard Life - Huge climax which was the guitar solo on the album is replaced with a simple but effective single guitar line.
- Keep Yourself Alive - One of the key changes is removed. Freddie sings with Brian on 'No, I just think I'm...'
- Killer Queen - No panning like on the album version, vocal harmonies are smaller out of necessity. They sing the full chorus for the second chorus, whereas the studio version has it cut off into the guitar solo.
- Modern Times Rock and Roll - Extended call and response section between Freddie and Roger, almost doubling the song's length.
- Mustapha - Some of the lead guitar work is removed, sadly. Freddie makes up the gibberish lyrics on the spot :P
- Now I'm Here - No piano
- Play the Game - Piano playing some high register stuff to compensate for not having the synth.
- Prophet's Song - Generally much smaller scale, vocal cannon is extended and improvised. They just couldn't do this one justice, in my opinion.
- Save Me - A great example, in the 1979-1981 versions. An additional lead guitar solo replaces the acoustic guitar and synth section, with Freddie then playing the multilayered guitar part on piano. The song's closing notes are also played on electric rather than piano, and end with a big drum hit, much higher key than the album.
- Spread Your Wings - They sometimes went into a double time section, absent on the album.
- Teo Torriate - Chorus harmonies simplified significantly, adding a more conventional high part for Roger. On the full versions, Brian played piano then switched to electric guitar for the bridge, very much like he did every night for Save Me.
- Under Pressure - Freddie taking the lead vocal for the whole song.
- White Queen - Almost everything is different. More drums in the verses, electric guitar instead of acoustic throughout, piano entering for the second verse onwards. Instead of acoustic guitar and building 'aaaah' vocals, there's the duetting piano and guitar with the delay effect on it (so sublime, a great improvement over the studio version, I feel). Like on Save Me, Freddie plays the multi layered guitar bit on piano.
- Who Wants to Live Forever? - Key is dropped a full tone, one of the rare cases where they changed the key for live versions. Much more rock sounding out of necessity, no orchestra.
- You Take My Breath Away - Shortened, made into a complete solo piece for Freddie.
What seems to have been overlooked in this thread is that a large number of the songs played live were played as they were written, and it was actually the process of recording that built the arrangements and structure into something quite different.
Vocal harmony wrote:
What seems to have been overlooked in this thread is that a large number of the songs played live were played as they were written, and it was actually the process of recording that built the arrangements and structure into something quite different.