4.15.14 Queen + Adam Lambert get top billing at Summer Sonic

linkis.com/www.youtube.com/acM6q




Rockstar at a crawl....maybe time to LET IT GO

Hmm, did my quoting destroy the attachment? Maybe it did.

I just wanted to remind readers that these small(ish) images can be enlarged by clicking the image. Easier to see details that way or read the text. You'll get back to atop with the back arrow on your browser. 

TALON'S TAKE:

Who Wants To Live Forever

Written by: Brian May

Musicians:

Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals
Brian May - synthesizer, guitars, backing vocals, drum programming, orchestral arrangements
Roger Taylor - backing vocals
Michael Kamen - orchestral arrangements, conductor
National Philharmonic Orchestra - strings




- Issued as a single that hit #24 in the UK. Also issued in Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and Spain.
- On the album version, Brian actually sings the first verse (and part of the bridge) and the Freddie comes in for the second verse. In the film version, Freddie sings the first verse as well.
- Written by Brian for Highlander after viewing a rough cut of the film.
- Played during the 1986 tour and brought back for the Freddie Tribute with Seal performing the lead and again with Adam Lambert in 2012.

QUOTES:

- "The hero of [Highlander] discovers in his first battle that he can't die, and unfortunately he finds that he falls in love with this girl, and everybody tells him that it's a bad idea if they stay together because eventually she must grow old and die, and he won't. But nevertheless he does, he stays with her and she does grow old and she dies in his arms and she says, 'I never understood why you stayed with me,' and he says, 'I see you just the same as I saw you when I first met you', and she's old and she's dying. I was very moved by that and I wrote this song called 'Who Wants To Live Forever (When Love Must Die)'." - Brian May - 1986

- "This is a very different era, of course. The song was written – I've documented this very well, I know – but what happened was we went to see the Highlander rushes with Russell Mulcahy, and that was our first experience in any way with Highlander – I hadn't read the script; I don't think any of us had – and it was very moving. [The film is] about a man who becomes conscious that he's immortal, and he's reluctant to accept that fact, but he's told that if he falls in love he's in big trouble, but of course he falls in love anyway. And the girl that he falls in love with eventually grows old and dies in his arms, and that kind of opened up a floodgate in me – I was dealing with a lot of tragedies in my life: the death of my father, the death of my marriage, and so forth. I could immediately hear this 'Who Wants To Live Forever' in my head, and it was almost complete in the car going home – I remember singing it to my manager as he drove me home, and he was pretty surprised. He said, 'Where did that come from?' and I said, 'I don't even know.'" - Brian May - 2003

- "Yeah, I got quite drunk doing this I couldn't remember my bits. I must've been drunk, because I'm dressed appallingly in some denim outfit. I must've fallen into a vat of bleach! This was a long, boring shoot, and it's all terribly serious. It looks a bit religious, so I can't say I'm very keen on that... I really love the song in the context of the Highlander film, with all the moving shots of the highlander and his wife, and she's getting old and it's all shots in the Highlands, and I thought that was very beautiful and very moving." - Roger Taylor - 2003

- "To my mind, I don't think the video does that much for the song, but it's nice to see Freddie very formal." - Brian May – 2003

ALTERNATE RELEASED VERSIONS:

FILM VERSION

- ESSENTIAL
- Lovely version - this is not really a released version. The version in the film is Freddie but cut up with dialogue and pauses, etc. So a fan took Freddie's vocal and put it onto the regular track as a remix of sorts. It works very well.

SINGLE EDIT

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Just edits out the outro

VIDEO VERSION

- NOT ESSENTIAL but nice
- The official video that also includes some extra guitar in the middle.

GREATEST HITS 2 EDIT
NO YT VID
- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Keeps a bit more of the outro than the Single Edit.

THE ALPS VERSION
NO YT VID
- In 2007 Brian "scored" a documentary film called "The Alps" by including a bunch of Queen tracks, reworked and in some cases playing new variations of them - in this case in snippets.

QUEEN + IAN & BELINDA

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Brian, Roger, & John recorded this with young tv actors Ian & Belinda for a charity single in 1989 for the British Bone Marrow Donor Appeal.
- It features a rearranged ending that in all honesty is a better more definitive ending of the track. I wish I could have heard Freddie with this ending.
- During this time Brian had also been writing a protest song called The Green Parade intending it to be a B-Side but it never came to fruition. It is Brian's favorite protest song though and he posted some lyrics on his website:



QUEEN + IAN & BELINDA EXTENDED & INSTRUMENTAL
NO YT VIDS
- NOT ESSENTIAL - adds instrumental sections to the extended while the instrumental is the backing track only.

QUEEN + LOUISA MAY

- ESSENTIAL because it's cute.
- While recording the backing track for Ian & Belinda, Brian had his then 8 year old daughter, Louisa sing the track. MOST cute, especially when she drops the music in the middle - whooopsie!

BRIAN MAY + JENNIFER RUSH

- ESSENTIAL
- Brian plays guitar, keyboards, does backing vocals and even does the second verse lead vocal!
UNRELEASED VERSIONS:

SKIP DEMO

- NOT ESSENTIAL BUT INTERESTING
- A VERY rough rough keyboard run through of the track - most likely Brian just laying down ideas.

OFFICIALLY RELEASED LIVE VERSIONS

LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM DAY 1

LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM DAY 2


- Day 2 includes Freddie's banter with the audience assuring them that despite rumors, Queen wasn't going to split up and that they'd stay together until "they fucking well died". Prophetic.

QUEEN + SEAL - THE FREDDIE MERCURY TRIBUTE

- A funny quote from Seal was that they lowered the key to the song and it seemed to fit him better. In fact he thought it might be the end of his career! It was the first song to make Seal cry.
- Features the Ian & Belinda style ending.

UNRELEASED LIVE:

BRIAN MAY + KERRY ELLIS + ADAM PASCAL - LONDON 2010

- This was more Kerry as Brian really only does the solo but it is a good one..and to hear Adam Pascal sing anything is amazing also!

QAL - LIVE IN KIEV 2012

- If there was one song that Adam made a real statement on in his defining moment with the band, I think this was it. His take on it was beautiful and spot on - very powerful. I know many Glamberts stake on The Show Must Go On and I appreciate that (and his performance) - but to me that can only be done truly and emotionally by Freddie. This song though was worth the price of admission.

PERSONAL NOTES:
- A Masterpiece. Brian's song is emotional, powerful, beautiful. I get emotional listening to it. Plain and simple masterpiece.

CHANCES:

Who Wants To Live Forever......100% - It's become a staple for Adam to perform with Queen. I can't see them not doing it at this point. It is funny how that works. They hadn't done it after the Freddie Tribute and now I can't imagine them without it in the setlist...of course that's because Adam nails it. I'm not always happy with how Adam sings EVERY Queen song (see Somebody To Love) but this one he absolutely nails.

LOL  ....  mellimom   -  Thank you for the reminder about  the "Rockstar"  Glee Video ..  your reminders do work


.....  I was just finishing up a post of new work done by

   


.... when I saw your post of the Video  :: LET IT GO ::  I needed to bring over his  story board 


Frozen Adam:   'Let It Go'



If you want to see the larger pictures (they are very detailed) here's the LINK :
   
         www.adamtopia.com/post/491475/thread


Picture 1: "Let it go, let it go, can't hold it back anymore"
Picture 2: "The cold never bothered me anyway"
Picture 3: "That perfect boy is gone"
Picture 4: "Let the storm rage on!"