TALON'S TAKE:
It's LateFrom
News Of The World (1977)Written by: Brian May
Musicians:
Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals
Brian May - guitars, backing vocals
John Deacon - bass guitar
Roger Taylor - drums, backing vocals
- A real archetype Queen song - or at least Brian May track. It is epic, large, bombastic, full of vocal harmonies and soaring guitar. Brian viewed it as a sort of mini-musical with the verses being called Acts in the lyric sheet.
- It was released as a US only single but it ended up peaking at #74
- Freddie gets a pretty high squeal at the end of this track during the real upbeat ending.
- Some great work from Roger during this track as well.
- Only played live through 1979. It is a very difficult track to pull off live.
- When Brian began playing the slow/fast Hammer To Fall, the intro fooled many fans into thinking they were getting It's Late!
QUOTES:
- "Yes, that was actually hammering on the fingerboard with both hands. I stole it from a guy who said that he stole it from Billy Gibbons in ZZ Top. He was playing in some club in Texas, doing hammering stuff. I was so intrigued by it, I went home and played around with it for ages and put it on 'It's Late'. It was a sort of a double hammer. I was fretting with my left hand, hammering with another finger of the left hand, and then hammering with the right hand, as well. It was a problem to do onstage; I found it was a bit too stiff. It's okay if you're sitting down with the guitar. If I persevered with it, it would probably become second nature, but it wasn't an alleyway which led very far, to my way of thinking. It's a bit gimmicky." - Brian May - Off The Record - 1982
- "It's another one of those story-of-your life songs. I think it's about all sorts of experiences that I had, and experiences that I thought other people had, but I guess it was very personal, and it's written in three parts, it's like the first part of the story is at home, the guy is with his woman. The second part is in a room somewhere, the guy is with some other woman, that he loves, and can't help loving, and the last part is he's back with his woman." - Brian May - In The Studio - 1989
ALTERNATIVE RELEASED VERSIONS:
US SINGLE EDIT- And perhaps this is the reason why it didn't do well. The edit takes out half the song and to me ruins the essence of the epic quality of the song.
1991 HOLLYWOOD REMASTERING ERROR- Not on YT and not worth an upload - when Hollywood Records remastered the catalogue, initial pressings had the track starts 2 seconds into the first chord.
QUEEN ROCKS VIDEO VERSION- NOT essential, but not a horrible edit...Although it ends up being a similar length to the single edit, this one doesn't come off so chopped. Still prefer the original though.
- Even though it was a single, the song did not have a video. When it was put on the
Queen Rocks compilation which spawned a video collection this video version was created.
ALTERNATIVE UNRELEASED VERSION:
BBC SESSION 6 VERSION- ESSENTIAL listening.
- A decent version vocally and instrumentally. The middle is quite different as it incorporates portions of
Get Down, Make LoveUNRELEASED LIVE VERSION:
LIVE IN STOCKHOLM - 1978- AUDIO only. A tough song live, the band pull it off well here!
PERSONAL NOTES:
- I love this song. From the get go this was one of my favorites. Emotional, powerful, and flat out rocking at times.
- I believe it showcases Brian's emotional turmoil at the time. Having married his pre-band sweetheart, they were definitely having issues already and the temptations on the road were always lurking. But Brian, unlike many rock stars felt turmoil about it all so he tried to focus it in his music.
CHANCES:
It's Late.....5% -- HIGHLY unlikely but OH I wish it would be played. This is always in my ever rotating Top 10 fav Queen song lists and most of the time in my top 5! However it was only played for a little while and I doubt it will return. Probably the best chance would be for it to be a snippet in the acoustic portion...
SUPPLEMENTAL:
Was It All Worth ItFrom
The Miracle (1989)
Written by: Freddie Mercury
Musicians:
Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals, keyboards, orchestral arrangements
Brian May - guitars, backing vocals, keyboards
John Deacon - bass guitar
Roger Taylor - drums, percussion, backing vocals
- Freddie's doctors had told him he probably wouldn't live past 1989-1990 so there was the belief that this could be the very last album. Thus this song was chosen to close it out. Freddie's positive ode to life and his choices in rock and roll. It was worth it.
- Harkens back to earlier Queen with tempo shifts and some full orchestrations.
QUOTES:
"'Was It All Worth It' , I really like. That's me and Fred, but more him. For that track we did all sit around and try to come up with rhymes and stuff. Roger's very good at that." - Brian May - 1994 Guitarist Magazine
“It’s all emulator and synthesizers. Originally the song didn’t go like that at all, but the band wanted that section added and then moved around two or three times. Because it was virtually a live recording there was no click track, so I had to insert a space on the master, time it, add an equal space on the slave and then add timecode. So some parts of the song go to about ten generations of copying, but because we were working digitally, there’s no loss of quality.” – David Richards
PERSONAL NOTES:
- Hands down one of my favorite Queen tracks. I'm not sure if it's the circumstances but it makes me smile and realize that Freddie enjoyed his short life and that everything is a worthwhile experience.
CHANCES
Was It All Worth It.....1% -- A complicated song with orchestrations that wasn't a hit - I don't think B&R would think it worth it (pun intended) BUT I always thought it would make a nice opener. A nice taped intro before Brian rips in. BUT it's a pipe dream
) in the pool 
