Maps of Music

Live Killers (1979)

Where the lyrics of Live Killers take you, and where it was really made.

The band mixed this live album in their own studio for the first time, and later said they were unhappy with the final mix.

Key places

Mixed at the band's own studio (1979)

Recording site Mountain Studios — The band mixed Live Killers themselves at Mountain Studios in Montreux. It was their first album mixed at their own studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Frankfurt concert, 2 February 1979 (1979)

Live show Festhalle Frankfurt — The album's version of Love of My Life was recorded at the Festhalle Frankfurt concert on 2 February 1979. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Live Killers: double live album by the British rock band Queen
• Released 22 June 1979 as a double vinyl album in the UK by EMI
• Europe by Parlophone; US by Elektra and Hollywood Records
• Recorded live during the European leg of the Jazz Tour, 26 January to 1 March 1979
• Self-produced by the band
• First album the band mixed at their own studio, Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland
• Tracks drawn from the band's 1970s catalogue, covering many of their best-known songs

Background

• Follows the studio album Jazz, released in 1978
• Recorded during the Jazz Tour, Queen's concert tour in support of that album
• Some shows could not be used for technical reasons
• Band entered the studio right after the European tour and before the Japanese tour to add overdubs
• Overdubs were a common practice on live albums of the period

Recording

• Band mixed the album themselves at Mountain Studios
• Brian May and Roger Taylor later said they were unhappy with the final mix
• Final master by George Marino at Sterling Sound, New York City

Release

• 1985: Elektra Records issued a shorter, edited version titled Queen Live outside the US, Europe and Canada
• 1994 Digital Master Series reissue did not improve on the earlier release
• 2001: Peter Mew remastered and restored the album in better quality

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals).
• John Deacon (bass) joined in February 1971, completing the classic line-up.
• Mercury suggested the name "Queen".
• Early works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, later expanding into arena rock and pop rock.

Members

• Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano, 1970–1991, died 1991).
• Brian May (guitar, vocals, 1970–present).
• Roger Taylor (drums, vocals, 1970–present).
• John Deacon (bass, 1971–1997, retired).
• Paul Rodgers (vocals, 2004–2009) and Adam Lambert (vocals, 2011–present) toured as "Queen +".

Career

• First UK chart hit with Queen II (1974); international success with A Night at the Opera (1975) and "Bohemian Rhapsody", which topped the UK chart for nine weeks.
• News of the World (1977) contained "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", now sports anthems.
• Greatest Hits (1981) is the best-selling album in UK chart history.
• Live Aid performance (1985) is ranked among the greatest in rock history.
• Estimated record sales of 250–300 million, one of the world's best-selling music artists.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001; received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and the Polar Music Prize in 2025.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The album received negative reviews from critics on release.
• Mixed reviews from some critics at release, according to the Spanish-language article.

Reappraisal

• Greg Prato of AllMusic found the initial reaction inexplicable in a retrospective appraisal.
• Prato called the album an excellent document of Queen at the height of their '70s arena rock powers.

Records

• Reached number 3 on the UK Albums Chart.
• Reached number 16 on the Billboard 200 in the United States.
• Certified double platinum in the US.
• The UK edition was the first to be mixed by the band at their own studio, and their own mix is what the band later disliked.
• Single "Love of My Life" reached number 63 on the British charts, per the French article.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album mixed several concerts; the French and Portuguese articles list different cities for individual tracks.
• Live Killers left out Somebody to Love, Fat Bottomed Girls, If You Can't Beat Them and It's Late from the final track list.
• A version of Fat Bottomed Girls from a Paris show on 27 February 1979 was released on the Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack instead.
• Roger Taylor said many times that he did not like the album, because he was disappointed by the concert extracts that were chosen.
• The album's only single, Love of My Life, was taken from this record and reached number 63 on the British charts.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

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