Hi. I was wondering if anyone has seen the doccumentary The Magic Years. I was looking to buy it and was wondering if it was worth getting. Also, I was looking at getting Queen At The BBC as well. Anyone have any info on that either, if this is worth buying also. Thanks
Magic Years is a three-part documentary. I HIGHLY recommend them. Just interviews and archival concert clips and stuff. If you find you don't like watching them, they'll at least be a new addition to your collection.
Sergey, everybody...Yo...Check this out!
Sir Bob Geldof chimes in! Excellent! link
''Introduction - excerpt of 'One Vision' (intro)
Interview with Bob Geldof '' link
''Live Aid
Footage of 'Is This The World We Created?' (Knebworth, 1986), interview with Bob Geldof, footage of 'Radio Ga Ga' (Live Aid), and interviews with Brian, John and Roger
Interview with Freddie, footage of Freddie Singalong (Live Aid), and interview with Brian
Footage of 'Hammer To Fall' (Live Aid),
interview with Bob Geldof, and footage of 'We Are The Champions' (Live Aid)''
I hope they release all 3 on DVD.
Magic Years is a nice set in my opinion, and worth having. There are some decent illegal/unlicensed DVD versions out there, recorded from laserdisc, but no guarantees of course. Knowing the way Queen Productions works, it'll never be released officially on DVD. Perhaps in a selected country like Japan though...
As for At The BBC, it's still around but based on my experience it's hard to find in stores. You'll probably need to order it online.
There's also the original UK version 'At The Beeb' which some prefer. The stereo channels are apparently swapped on 'At The BBC', but it's remastered and much louder, and I think the artwork is superior. The insert folds out into a giant poster, though the 'Beeb' version cover pic is quite nice too.
These BBC sessions are worth having in my opinion. The first half isn't too different from the album versions and in fact contain some of the same recorded elements. Queen actually brought some of the backing tracks which were being worked on for the first album and added to them for that session.
The 2nd half of the album is most exciting though, with an early version of 'Ogre Battle' (though it's missing some of the intro due to damaged tapes, it still works fine without it), a much different version of 'Modern Times Rock N' Roll' and a 7 minute version of 'Son And Daughter' which includes some guitar stuff that would later become part of 'Brighton Rock'.