For the first time ever audio tracks from Queen’s legendary performance at Live Aid are being released as part of the soundtrack album to Bohemian Rhapsody, 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises’ forthcoming feature film celebrating the band, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury. Recorded at the historic Wembley concert in July 1985, these Live Aid songs are among the rare gems and unheard versions from the band’s rich catalogue.
Alongside the show-stopping Live Aid performances of Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Ga Ga, Hammer To Fall and We Are The Champions, the album features other rare live tracks spanning Queen’s entire career, new versions of old favorites, and a choice selection of the band’s finest studio recordings. Among them are some of Queen’s biggest hits, including eleven all-time greatest anthems that reached number one around the world. The track listing was announced on September 5th, which would have been Freddie’s 72nd birthday.
Bohemian Rhapsody will have its world premiere in the UK on October 23rd before opening across the globe in early November. It stars Rami Malek as Freddie, Gwilym Lee as Brian May, Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, Joe Mazzello as John Deacon, and Lucy Boynton as Freddie’s lifelong companion Mary Austin. The soundtrack, featuring all-original Queen recordings and vocals, will be released on CD and digital formats on October 19th.
The 22 songs on the soundtrack were produced by Brian May and Roger Taylor, with engineering and co-production by long-time Queen studio collaborators Justin Shirley-Smith, Kris Fredriksson and Joshua J Macrae, and mastering by Adam Ayan and Bob Ludwig.
The key task for the team behind the Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack was sourcing the most suitable versions of the band’s songs, especially live performances, to fit the screenplay’s career-spanning narrative. Their brief was not merely to produce a greatest hits playlist package but a soundtrack album to stand on its own merits, underscoring key moments in the screenplay. May, Taylor, and their co-producers worked with the filmmakers to find the best versions of each track to heighten the dramatic power of each scene.
Ensuring that listeners are in no doubt they are listening to a soundtrack album, Brian came up with the inspired idea that Queen should record their own arrangement of the famous 20th Century Fox Fanfare. Featuring May’s famous multi-layered guitars and Roger Taylor’s distinctive percussion, this revamped track provides a suitably flamboyant opening fanfare to both film and album.
The five tracks from Queen’s 21-minute performance at Live Aid on July 13th, 1985, have never been released in audio form before. They’ve only ever been featured on video as a special extra on the DVD/BluRay release of Queen Rock Montreal, which features the Montreal Forum shows of November 1981. The Live Aid audio is exclusive to this new soundtrack album.
Other tracks on the soundtrack have been sourced from different decades and even different continents. Fat Bottomed Girls comes from the 1979 Paris shows, part of the Jazz world tour, and has never been released before. Now I’m Here was recorded at the band’s 1975 Christmas Eve show at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. And the history making duet between Freddie and Brian on Love of My Life”comes from the Rock in Rio festival of January 1985 when 300,000 Brazilians sang along. Previously this track was only available to fans on the video releases of this performance.
The three remaining songs on the soundtrack will be fresh to Queen fans, old and new. We Will Rock You starts out as the studio version, then seamlessly blends into a live performance with audience participation. This has been created especially for the film. Don’t Stop Me Now features Brian’s newly recorded guitar parts and is much closer to how the band plays the track live today.
Doing All Right was originally recorded by Smile, the predecessor band to Queen that featured Brian and Roger with vocalist Tim Staffell. When Tim later left, Roger and Brian would join forces with Freddie to form Queen. Freddie’s interpretation of the song is featured on the first Queen album. To recreate the original Smile version, Brian and Roger reunited with Staffell at Abbey Road Studios to re-record Doing All Right for the Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack. This session which featured Roger, Tim and Brian all singing lead vocals took place almost 50 years after the original Smile recording.
Full track listing for Bohemian Rhapsody the original soundtrack is:
1. 20th Century Fox Theme 0:25
2. Somebody To Love 4:56
3. Doing All Right… revisited (Performed by Smile) 3:17
4. Keep Yourself Alive (Live At The Rainbow) 3:56
5. Killer Queen 2:59
6. Fat Bottomed Girls (Live In Paris) 4:38
7. Bohemian Rhapsody 5:55
8. Now I’m Here (Live At Hammersmith Odeon) 4:26
9. Crazy Little Thing Called Love 2:43
10. Love Of My Life (Rock In Rio) 4:29
11. We Will Rock You (Movie Mix) 2:09
12. Another One Bites The Dust 3:35
13. I Want To Break Free 3:43
14. Under Pressure (Performed by Queen & David Bowie) 4:04
15. Who Wants To Live Forever 5:15
16. Bohemian Rhapsody (Live Aid) 2:28
17. Radio Ga Ga (Live Aid) 4:06
18. Ay-Oh (Live Aid) 0:41
19. Hammer To Fall (Live Aid) 4:04
20. We Are The Champions (Live Aid) 3:57
21. Don’t Stop Me Now… revisited 3:38
22. The Show Must Go On 4:32
With record sales estimated at 300 million and counting, Queen remain evergreen rock favorites whose glorious catalogue of songs continues to thrill fans of all ages across the globe. Despite the loss of Freddie in 1991, their following has continued to grow over the decades, boosted by a new wave of fans who first discovered the band’s music through their hugely successful stage show We Will Rock You or via hit TV shows like Glee, American Idol and The X-Factor.
The Bohemian Rhapsody film and its original soundtrack album are certain to introduce Queen to a new generation of listeners, and remind existing fans just how magnificent the band was in its prime. Queen remain spectacular performers today, both live and in the studio, their songs having comfortably stood the test of time. After almost 50 years together, Queen remain one of the most exciting and beloved bands in rock history.
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8 Responses
My top 20 Queen songs:
20) The Invisible Man
19) Fat Bottomed Girls
18) Killer Queen
17) Play The Game
16) Save Me
15) Bicycle Race
14) A Kind Of Magic
13) Need Your Loving Tonight
12) We Will Rock You
11) We Are The Champions
10) Bohemian Rhapsody
09) Somebody To Love
08) Keep Yourself Alive
07) Tie Your Mother Down
06) Stone Cold Crazy
05) Crazy Little Thing Called Love
04) Dragon Attack
03) Another One Bites The Dust
02) Don’t Stop Me Now
01) You’re My Best Friend
Cheers!! 🙂
Great band with one of the best vocalists of any generation. Hope this movie is good.
Brilliant catalog. My top 4.
4. Sheer heart attack
3.Get down make love
2. Dragon attack
1. The Prophet Song
Excellent article, thank you Dana! My top 3 favorite rock bands are Kiss, Queen and The Beatles…and I am very much looking forward to the movie and this soundtrack! Freddie is my all time favorite performer. Nobody comes close. Since others are posting their favorite Queen tunes, and although it’s so difficult to do, here is a top 5 for me: Prophet’s Song, Bohemian Rhapsody, Nevermore, The Show Must Go On, Brighton Rock. My god, I feel awful not listing gems such as She Makes Me, March Of The Black Queen, Liar, Somebody To Love, It’s Late, A Kind Of Magic, Hammer To Fall…lol you get the picture if you are a Queen fanatic!
I feel awful not listing I’m In Love With My Car!
Good to see some live mixes added to this release and a professional recording of a boot that everyone has.