{"id":39589,"date":"2006-01-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-01-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/return-of-the-champions\/"},"modified":"2006-01-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-01-03T00:00:00","slug":"return-of-the-champions","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/return-of-the-champions\/","title":{"rendered":"Return Of The Champions"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

It’s ironic that the most torn I’ve felt about an
\nalbum this year came at the very end of 2005. Listening to
\nReturn Of The Champions<\/i> raised a lot of thought-provoking
\nquestions for me, and I still don’t have answers for all of them.
\nIn the end it came down to the music, which is really what matters
\nmost.<\/p>\n

While I am not a diehard fan, I enjoy a great deal of
\nQueen’s work. Some of their songs are absolute favorites of mine,
\nand Freddie Mercury is in my eyes one of the greatest
\nsingers\/frontmen in rock history. It is that latter aspect that has
\ncause so much debate with this release. To many, Freddie was Queen.
\nMoreso than Keith Moon to the Who and John Bonham to Zeppelin,
\nMercury encapsulated all that Queen was about. So what the hell is
\nPaul Rodgers, formally of Free and Bad Company, doing here?<\/p>\n

First off, from what I gather, Queen has not done
\nmuch as a group since Mercury’s death from AIDS in ’91. This
\neliminated the idea that this tour with Rodgers was done for the
\nmoney. Otherwise, one would think they would be recording and
\ntouring like mad, capitalizing off the Queen name. Secondly, from
\nwhat Brian May and Roger Taylor have indicated, Rodgers is not
\ngoing to be a full member of the band. So in essence, Mercury
\nhasn’t been completely replaced. Be that as it may, there were
\nmoments on Return Of The Champions<\/i> where I expected to hear
\nMercury’s soaring falsetto, but instead got a shot of bar room rock
\nvia Rodgers.<\/p>\n

As I said earlier, it was the music that would make
\nor break this album, and thankfully it is the former. Rodgers does
\nnot attempt to imitate Freddie — while he is a world apart from
\nwhat Mercury brought to the table, he imbues the material with his
\nown style. “Tie Your Mother Down,” “Hammer To Fall” and “We Will
\nRock You\/We Are The Champions,” get the full arena rock treatment,
\nand the gusto with which Rodgers performs is impressive. There
\nisn’t the theatricality of Mercury, but somehow these songs seem to
\n“rock” more than they did on record.<\/p>\n

For the casual fan, this concert features pretty much
\nall of the hits one would expect. And as I mentioned before, the
\nmusical performances are carried off with great panache and style.
\nEighties Queen has never held tremendous appeal for me, so the
\nsecond disc falls part a bit in terms of pacing. Also, since
\nRodgers was performing, we get to hear a few Free and Bad Company
\nsongs, like “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “All Right Now,” and “Can’t
\nGet Enough.” While the covers sound authentic, they don’t fit in
\nwith the rest of the material. Queen was glam\/prog\/punk rock mixed
\ntogether brilliantly and Free and Bad Company were more along the
\nlines of straight-up hard rock. There were some other Queen numbers
\nI would have preferred to see instead.<\/p>\n

Obviously Rodgers is the sticking point for many on
\nReturn Of The Champions, but Brian May and Roger Taylor were the
\nhighlight for me. Taylor still can lay down a damn good beat, and
\nMay delivers knockout riffs after riffs, ensuring that the other
\naspects of Queen’s music have remained. Of particular mention is
\nMay’s performance of “’39,” one of Queen’s most unsung songs off
\nA Night At The Opera<\/i>. It’s essentially a solo performance,
\nbut to hear the crowd singing along with May (in good vocal form)
\nis touching.<\/p>\n

Touching would be a good way to describe some of
\nthese performances. Listening to Mercury’s “Love Of My Life,”
\ndedicated to his mother, is gut-wrenching. Just like “’39,” it’s
\nMay and the crowd trading verses, and you can hear the sadness in
\nthe voices. It’s one of the most emotional moments I’ve heard from
\nan album this year. The same can be said throughout “Bohemian
\nRhapsody.” Queen decided to use Mercury’s vocals practically
\nthroughout the entire song – a wise decision – and the closing
\nlines of “Nothing really matters\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6” receive the
\naforementioned treatment to thunderous applause. Problem is,
\nhearing Rodgers at all during the song is jarring and just wrong.
\n“Rhapsody” is Mercury’s and always will be.<\/p>\n

The shadow of Mercury hangs over the entire disc, and
\nit’s understandable. It could not possibly be avoided; the man was
\na rock god. At the same time, one of the rules I use to judge a
\nlive album is if it sounds like I would have had a good time, and
\nReturn Of The Champions<\/i> is a definite yes. It’s not Freddie,
\nbut it is in no way unlistenable.<\/p>\n

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