Queen Discussion Thread
Oct 7, 2012 11:07:51 GMT -5
Post by talon on Oct 7, 2012 11:07:51 GMT -5
We Will Rock You
Written by: Brian May
Musicians:
Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps
Brian May - guitar, backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps
John Deacon - handclaps, footstomps
Roger Taylor - backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps
- If you look above you see that there are actually no drums or bass on the song. It is all handclaps and footstomps, Freddie's vocals, and then the guitar solo!
- Written with audience participation in mind, it became one of the most iconic songs in history.
- Issued as a double A-Side single with We Are The Champions in the US where it hit #4, and also Canada, France, and Italy. In the UK it was actually the B-Side to We Are The Champions
- Played live at every Queen concert since it entered the setlist, sometimes twice when they decided to do the fast version and the slow version. Brian and Roger both also played it on their solo tours and they often played it with friends.
QUOTES:
- "Everybody thinks that’s drums, but it’s not. It’s feet. We sat on a piano and used our feet on an old drum podium. It’s rather hard to explain in words what we did, but what you hear isn’t drums. We must have recorded it, I don’t know, fifteen times or so. We put all sorts of different repeats on it to make it sound big. There’s a catch though. When we do ‘Rock You’ live, I have to do it with drums, so everything is slightly delayed. Everything is to suit the song. To have just one way of working would result in the inability to change or adapt. A good drummer must be flexible. It’s imperative.” – Roger Taylor – Modern Drummer - 1984
- "'We Will Rock You' was a response to a particular phase in Queen's career, when the audience was becoming a bigger part of the show than we were. They would sing all the songs. And in a place like Birmingham, they'd be so vociferous that we'd have to stop the show and let them sing to us. So, both Freddie and I thought it would be an interesting experiment to write a song with audience participation specifically in mind. My feeling was that everyone can stamp and clap and sing a simple motif, so 'We Will Rock You' was based on that. We recorded it at [Basing Street] Wessex, which is an old converted church that has a natural good sound to it. There are no drums on the track. It's just us clapping and stamping on boards, overdubbed many times over with many primitive delay machines. A bit of singing, a bit of guitar playing, and that's it. The amazing thing is to go to football [soccer] matches or sports events in general and hear people do it. It's very gratifying to find that it has become part of folklore, sort of. I'll die happy because of that." - Brian May - Guitar World 1992
- "At concerts, I discovered people tend to do three claps, rather than two stamps and a clap. The amazing thing is to go to football matches, or sports events in general, and to hear people do it. It’s very gratifying to find that it has become part of folklore, sort of. I’ll die happy because of htat.” – Brian May – Guitar World - 1993
- "It came very quickly. It was after an experience we had with an audience. It was fairly early on in our history. We used to like people to sit and damn well listen to the songs, you know. We weren’t a dnace band or a sing along group. Then suddenly, people would sing everything. In the beginning we thought ‘Oh god, what are we going to do about this It’s annoying!’ After a little while, we realized that that was how people felt and it kind of felt good if you actually conditioned yourself that way. One evening we finished a concert and we went off. It was actually in Birmingham, in England. And the audience sang to us a kind of football song or whatever, you know. It was a very moving experience. Freddie and I looked at each other and thought ‘Something important has just happened here, and we should embrace it rather than fight it.’ We both went away and started writing with the idea that we would involve the audience deliberately. And Freddie wrote ‘We Are The Champions’ and I wrote ‘We Will Rock You’. I think I woke up about three in the morning and I heard the initial beat in my head and I thought, ‘That’s what an audience could do. They could sing something along to it, something that was a kind of uniting feeling.’ That’s what happened. We did it very quickly in the studio. Roger thought it was a joke because there was no drums on it.” – Brian May – Undercover – 1998
ALTERNATIVE RELEASED VERSIONS
1991 HOLLYWOOD REMIX RUINED BY RICK RUBIN
1991 RUINED BY RICK RUBIN 12"
BIG BEAT ACAPELLA
RUINED INSTRUMENTAL
ZULU SCRATCH ACAPELLA
EFFECTS A CAPELLA
EFFECTS INSTRUMENTAL
CLAP ACAPELLA
RUBIN CD EDIT
- ESSENTIAL listening at least the first one and once. The others I couldn't find on YT and are just derivatives of the initial remix.
- Released on the 1991 Hollywood remaster of News Of The World
- Famous producer Rick Rubin dubbed it Ruined by Rick Rubin. It is a dancier remix with additional instrumentation by Chad Smith and Flea of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
QUEEN + FIVE VERSION
QUEEN + FIVE RADIO EDIT
QUEEN + FIVE SINGLE VERSION
- NOT essential listening. Brian and Roger teamed up with boyband Five (5ive). Not their finest hour and pretty much unanimously rejected by hardcore fans.
QUEEN + JOHN FARNHAM VERSION
- ESSENTIAL listening.
- John Farnham, an Australian singer best known for his song You're The Voice, recorded a version with Brian and Roger. It seems they used the same stomps and claps and possibly even the original backing vocals but they rearranged the song completely...and this may be blasphemy but this is my favorite arrangement of the track! Luckily I have a live version with Brian on vocals - not that John is bad, but I like keeping it in the Queen family. The song does two verses before guitar solo and then does the third verse with more instrumentation and it just flat out rocks.
QUEEN + PINK/BEYONCE/BRITNEY SPEARS VERSION
- INTERESTING.
- Done for a Pepsi commercial, Pink definitely fits the song best and there is a quick glimpse of Brian and Roger in the audience.
QUEEN + VON LICHTEN
- A mashup in 2012 with Von Lichten who composed the theme for the NFL on CBS - this will feature on CBS football games
- Brian added new symphonic guitars to the track
UNRELEASED VERSIONS:
BBC SESSION #6
- ESSENTIAL listening.
- It has the band doing a part of the slow version and then kicks it into the fast version - the only studio version of the fast version.
ACETATE VERSION
- NOT ESSENTIAL listening.
- I could not find a YT but there isn't much difference.
OFFICIALLY RELEASED LIVE VERSIONS:
LIVE KILLERS FAST VERSION
LIVE KILLERS SLOW VERSION
- Audio Only
ROCK MONTREAL FAST VERSION
ROCK MONTREAL SLOW VERSION
- Great versions both.
ON FIRE AT THE BOWL FAST VERSION
ON FIRE AT THE BOWL SLOW VERSION
- Complete with sombrero or pirate hat...not sure which
LIVE MAGIC VERSION
- Could not find a YT Version - nothing really different)
LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM 1st DAY VERSION
LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM 2nd DAY VERSION
HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY VERSION
- Another 1986 version!
QUEEN + AXL ROSE - FREDDIE MERCURY TRIBUTE
- An interesting version. Brian liked it supposedly.
BRIAN MAY - LIVE AT BRIXTON ACADEMY
- Brian's version does a slow version into the fast version much like the old BBC version.
ROGER TAYLOR - LIVE AT CYBERBARN
- An awesome rock/rap version that RT did as a different arrangement.
QUEEN + WE WILL ROCK YOU CAST - PARTY AT THE PALACE 2002
- Brian and Roger at the Queen's Golden Jubilee - the first year of the We Will Rock You Musical. The cast join the band to back them up for this track.
QUEEN + ANASTASIA + AMANONDO WOMEN UNITE - 46664 - 2003
- From the 46664 Concert in South Africa that Queen and Dave Stewart organized with Nelson Mandela to fight AIDS in Africa. It's a lively version for certain.
QPR - RETURN OF THE CHAMPIONS VERSION
QPR - LIVE IN UKRAINE
- Paul definitely sings it bluesier with a "QUEEN WILL ROCK YOUOOUUO". I actually dig the way he takes on the track.
UNRELEASED LIVE VERSIONS
- I won't bother with any Queen with Freddie versions as there were enough official.
ROGER TAYLOR LIVE IN 1994
- ESSENETIAL listening
- A double drum version.
ROGER TAYLOR LIVE IN 1999
- Roger's more hardcore live version.
QUEEN + FIVE - 2000 BRITS AWARDS
- Despite not liking the collaboration this was kind of cool. Five mimed and then at the end the stage opened up for Brian and Roger to come out and play.
QUEEN INDUCTED INTO ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME VERSION
- Excellent version with Brian and Roger sharing verses!
QUEEN INTO SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME VERSION
- The band does the John Farnham version with Brian taking vocals!
QPR + FOO FIGHTERS - VH1 ROCK HONORS - 2006
- THREE drummers! Dave Grohl/Taylor Hawkins/Roger Taylor. Awesome version.
BRIAN MAY + KERRY ELLIS - PROMS IN THE PARK - 2010
- This includes Anthems and We Are The Champions with WWRY in the middle. Couldn't find a separate one.
QUEEN + TOM JONES/TOM CHAPLIN/PHIL COLLINS - PRINCES TRUST 2010
- Interesting version - not sure it's essential but it's fun.
BRIAN MAY + MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - READING 2011
- Gerard Way is a huge Queen fan. Brian Fucking May indeed!
BRIAN MAY + TANGERINE DREAM - TENERIFE 2011
- Interesting experimental gig for Brian.
BRIAN MAY + DAPPY - WE WILL ROCK YOU RADIO
- Brian recorded with Dappy who is big in the UK. They jammed out for a radio broadcast. It's...um...interesting....not very popular amongst fans.
QAL KIEV FAST VERSION
QAL LONDON DAY 3 SLOW VERSION
- I enjoy Adam's versions but I have to say he's even campier in these performances than Freddie even! It's a bit more theatrical than I like for the song about Rocking people but it does rock...just in a different way.
PERSONAL NOTES:
- What can I possibly say about the song. People can get sick of it but it is simply an iconic song that will never die. I personally have one more YouTube if you can suffer it. It is a remix that I made personally throwing together some parts of the live, farnham, and freddie versions!
Next up...the flipside...We Are The Champions
Written by: Brian May
Musicians:
Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps
Brian May - guitar, backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps
John Deacon - handclaps, footstomps
Roger Taylor - backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps
Buddy you're a boy make a big noise
Playing in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on yo' face
You big disgrace
Kicking your can all over the place
Singing
'We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you'
Buddy you're a young man hard man
Shouting in the street gonna take on the world some day
You got blood on yo' face
You big disgrace
Waving your banner all over the place
'We will we will rock you'
Singing
'We will we will rock you'
Buddy you're an old man poor man
Pleading with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day
You got mud on your face
You big disgrace
Somebody better put you back into your place
'We will we will rock you'
Singing
'We will we will rock you'
Everybody
'We will we will rock you'
'We will we will rock you'
Alright
Playing in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on yo' face
You big disgrace
Kicking your can all over the place
Singing
'We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you'
Buddy you're a young man hard man
Shouting in the street gonna take on the world some day
You got blood on yo' face
You big disgrace
Waving your banner all over the place
'We will we will rock you'
Singing
'We will we will rock you'
Buddy you're an old man poor man
Pleading with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day
You got mud on your face
You big disgrace
Somebody better put you back into your place
'We will we will rock you'
Singing
'We will we will rock you'
Everybody
'We will we will rock you'
'We will we will rock you'
Alright
- If you look above you see that there are actually no drums or bass on the song. It is all handclaps and footstomps, Freddie's vocals, and then the guitar solo!
- Written with audience participation in mind, it became one of the most iconic songs in history.
- Issued as a double A-Side single with We Are The Champions in the US where it hit #4, and also Canada, France, and Italy. In the UK it was actually the B-Side to We Are The Champions
- Played live at every Queen concert since it entered the setlist, sometimes twice when they decided to do the fast version and the slow version. Brian and Roger both also played it on their solo tours and they often played it with friends.
QUOTES:
- "Everybody thinks that’s drums, but it’s not. It’s feet. We sat on a piano and used our feet on an old drum podium. It’s rather hard to explain in words what we did, but what you hear isn’t drums. We must have recorded it, I don’t know, fifteen times or so. We put all sorts of different repeats on it to make it sound big. There’s a catch though. When we do ‘Rock You’ live, I have to do it with drums, so everything is slightly delayed. Everything is to suit the song. To have just one way of working would result in the inability to change or adapt. A good drummer must be flexible. It’s imperative.” – Roger Taylor – Modern Drummer - 1984
- "'We Will Rock You' was a response to a particular phase in Queen's career, when the audience was becoming a bigger part of the show than we were. They would sing all the songs. And in a place like Birmingham, they'd be so vociferous that we'd have to stop the show and let them sing to us. So, both Freddie and I thought it would be an interesting experiment to write a song with audience participation specifically in mind. My feeling was that everyone can stamp and clap and sing a simple motif, so 'We Will Rock You' was based on that. We recorded it at [Basing Street] Wessex, which is an old converted church that has a natural good sound to it. There are no drums on the track. It's just us clapping and stamping on boards, overdubbed many times over with many primitive delay machines. A bit of singing, a bit of guitar playing, and that's it. The amazing thing is to go to football [soccer] matches or sports events in general and hear people do it. It's very gratifying to find that it has become part of folklore, sort of. I'll die happy because of that." - Brian May - Guitar World 1992
- "At concerts, I discovered people tend to do three claps, rather than two stamps and a clap. The amazing thing is to go to football matches, or sports events in general, and to hear people do it. It’s very gratifying to find that it has become part of folklore, sort of. I’ll die happy because of htat.” – Brian May – Guitar World - 1993
- "It came very quickly. It was after an experience we had with an audience. It was fairly early on in our history. We used to like people to sit and damn well listen to the songs, you know. We weren’t a dnace band or a sing along group. Then suddenly, people would sing everything. In the beginning we thought ‘Oh god, what are we going to do about this It’s annoying!’ After a little while, we realized that that was how people felt and it kind of felt good if you actually conditioned yourself that way. One evening we finished a concert and we went off. It was actually in Birmingham, in England. And the audience sang to us a kind of football song or whatever, you know. It was a very moving experience. Freddie and I looked at each other and thought ‘Something important has just happened here, and we should embrace it rather than fight it.’ We both went away and started writing with the idea that we would involve the audience deliberately. And Freddie wrote ‘We Are The Champions’ and I wrote ‘We Will Rock You’. I think I woke up about three in the morning and I heard the initial beat in my head and I thought, ‘That’s what an audience could do. They could sing something along to it, something that was a kind of uniting feeling.’ That’s what happened. We did it very quickly in the studio. Roger thought it was a joke because there was no drums on it.” – Brian May – Undercover – 1998
ALTERNATIVE RELEASED VERSIONS
1991 HOLLYWOOD REMIX RUINED BY RICK RUBIN
1991 RUINED BY RICK RUBIN 12"
BIG BEAT ACAPELLA
RUINED INSTRUMENTAL
ZULU SCRATCH ACAPELLA
EFFECTS A CAPELLA
EFFECTS INSTRUMENTAL
CLAP ACAPELLA
RUBIN CD EDIT
- ESSENTIAL listening at least the first one and once. The others I couldn't find on YT and are just derivatives of the initial remix.
- Released on the 1991 Hollywood remaster of News Of The World
- Famous producer Rick Rubin dubbed it Ruined by Rick Rubin. It is a dancier remix with additional instrumentation by Chad Smith and Flea of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
QUEEN + FIVE VERSION
QUEEN + FIVE RADIO EDIT
QUEEN + FIVE SINGLE VERSION
- NOT essential listening. Brian and Roger teamed up with boyband Five (5ive). Not their finest hour and pretty much unanimously rejected by hardcore fans.
QUEEN + JOHN FARNHAM VERSION
- ESSENTIAL listening.
- John Farnham, an Australian singer best known for his song You're The Voice, recorded a version with Brian and Roger. It seems they used the same stomps and claps and possibly even the original backing vocals but they rearranged the song completely...and this may be blasphemy but this is my favorite arrangement of the track! Luckily I have a live version with Brian on vocals - not that John is bad, but I like keeping it in the Queen family. The song does two verses before guitar solo and then does the third verse with more instrumentation and it just flat out rocks.
QUEEN + PINK/BEYONCE/BRITNEY SPEARS VERSION
- INTERESTING.
- Done for a Pepsi commercial, Pink definitely fits the song best and there is a quick glimpse of Brian and Roger in the audience.
QUEEN + VON LICHTEN
- A mashup in 2012 with Von Lichten who composed the theme for the NFL on CBS - this will feature on CBS football games
- Brian added new symphonic guitars to the track
UNRELEASED VERSIONS:
BBC SESSION #6
- ESSENTIAL listening.
- It has the band doing a part of the slow version and then kicks it into the fast version - the only studio version of the fast version.
ACETATE VERSION
- NOT ESSENTIAL listening.
- I could not find a YT but there isn't much difference.
OFFICIALLY RELEASED LIVE VERSIONS:
LIVE KILLERS FAST VERSION
LIVE KILLERS SLOW VERSION
- Audio Only
ROCK MONTREAL FAST VERSION
ROCK MONTREAL SLOW VERSION
- Great versions both.
ON FIRE AT THE BOWL FAST VERSION
ON FIRE AT THE BOWL SLOW VERSION
- Complete with sombrero or pirate hat...not sure which
LIVE MAGIC VERSION
- Could not find a YT Version - nothing really different)
LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM 1st DAY VERSION
LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM 2nd DAY VERSION
HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY VERSION
- Another 1986 version!
QUEEN + AXL ROSE - FREDDIE MERCURY TRIBUTE
- An interesting version. Brian liked it supposedly.
BRIAN MAY - LIVE AT BRIXTON ACADEMY
- Brian's version does a slow version into the fast version much like the old BBC version.
ROGER TAYLOR - LIVE AT CYBERBARN
- An awesome rock/rap version that RT did as a different arrangement.
QUEEN + WE WILL ROCK YOU CAST - PARTY AT THE PALACE 2002
- Brian and Roger at the Queen's Golden Jubilee - the first year of the We Will Rock You Musical. The cast join the band to back them up for this track.
QUEEN + ANASTASIA + AMANONDO WOMEN UNITE - 46664 - 2003
- From the 46664 Concert in South Africa that Queen and Dave Stewart organized with Nelson Mandela to fight AIDS in Africa. It's a lively version for certain.
QPR - RETURN OF THE CHAMPIONS VERSION
QPR - LIVE IN UKRAINE
- Paul definitely sings it bluesier with a "QUEEN WILL ROCK YOUOOUUO". I actually dig the way he takes on the track.
UNRELEASED LIVE VERSIONS
- I won't bother with any Queen with Freddie versions as there were enough official.
ROGER TAYLOR LIVE IN 1994
- ESSENETIAL listening
- A double drum version.
ROGER TAYLOR LIVE IN 1999
- Roger's more hardcore live version.
QUEEN + FIVE - 2000 BRITS AWARDS
- Despite not liking the collaboration this was kind of cool. Five mimed and then at the end the stage opened up for Brian and Roger to come out and play.
QUEEN INDUCTED INTO ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME VERSION
- Excellent version with Brian and Roger sharing verses!
QUEEN INTO SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME VERSION
- The band does the John Farnham version with Brian taking vocals!
QPR + FOO FIGHTERS - VH1 ROCK HONORS - 2006
- THREE drummers! Dave Grohl/Taylor Hawkins/Roger Taylor. Awesome version.
BRIAN MAY + KERRY ELLIS - PROMS IN THE PARK - 2010
- This includes Anthems and We Are The Champions with WWRY in the middle. Couldn't find a separate one.
QUEEN + TOM JONES/TOM CHAPLIN/PHIL COLLINS - PRINCES TRUST 2010
- Interesting version - not sure it's essential but it's fun.
BRIAN MAY + MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - READING 2011
- Gerard Way is a huge Queen fan. Brian Fucking May indeed!
BRIAN MAY + TANGERINE DREAM - TENERIFE 2011
- Interesting experimental gig for Brian.
BRIAN MAY + DAPPY - WE WILL ROCK YOU RADIO
- Brian recorded with Dappy who is big in the UK. They jammed out for a radio broadcast. It's...um...interesting....not very popular amongst fans.
QAL KIEV FAST VERSION
QAL LONDON DAY 3 SLOW VERSION
- I enjoy Adam's versions but I have to say he's even campier in these performances than Freddie even!
It's a bit more theatrical than I like for the song about Rocking people but it does rock...just in a different way.PERSONAL NOTES:
- What can I possibly say about the song. People can get sick of it but it is simply an iconic song that will never die. I personally have one more YouTube if you can suffer it. It is a remix that I made personally throwing together some parts of the live, farnham, and freddie versions!
Next up...the flipside...We Are The Champions
