The Queen Collection - played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Written: Jul 12 '06 (Updated Jul 16 '06)
Product Rating:
Pros: Some songs sound great...
Cons: ...But are you going to listen to this?
The Bottom Line: An alright CD to own, not that it gets too much rotation. Most of the CD is sort of authentic sounding, and it seems to be rare these days.
scapp70's Full Review: The Queen Collection by Royal Philharmonic Orchest...
In 1982, conductor Louis Clark conducted The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and The Royal Choral Society to play the music of Queen. Clark was in the 70s classic rock band Electric Light Orchestra, he was the conductor and keyboardist for that band. Also, in 1982 he released The Royal Philharmonic Plays The Beatles as well, and the albums sold modestly well. I remember a vinyl album that came out in the early 80s, and I'm wondering if it is the same music on this CD as it was on that rare vinyl that I forgot the name to.
This album is approximately 50 minutes long, and contains eleven movements. Most of these songs are the biggest Queen hits, with only two songs that are not considered hits by the band.
When you start the CD, you hear the roar of what sounds like a big crowd. The orchestra and choir open up with Flash, just as Queen would do in those tours - they would always play Flash's Theme recording and run onto the stage in these years. Flash sounds inspirational due to the choir, and the crash of the cymbals after the choir sings ♫"FLASH!"♫ give it an authentic vibe.
Play The Game sounds identical in melody to the original Queen recording, as did Flash. I usually would rather hear the conductor's interpretation of the songs, but I suppose Louis Clark doesn't have any, which is why he always stays identical to the original recording, or at least very close.
We Are The Champions is interesting that in the original Queen recording, the song is very soft in the verses and then the chorus has lots of bombast and power. Here, Louis Clark only provides a slight crescendo and instead of going real loud, it's like leaves falling in autumn.
If there was one song that I feel deserves an amazing classical rendition, it's Love of My Life from their 1975 album, A Night at the Opera. Freddie Mercury penned this song and pretty much laid all the groundwork for some future classical interpretation, as if he knew. Queen guitarist Brian May even plays a harp on the original recording, and Freddie's amazing classical style piano in the middle would sound wonderful if done right. While I do like the flute brought to the fore, and soloing throughout the song, Louis Clark had totally ignored the complicated piano from Freddie in the beginning.
Killer Queen is slowed down considerably when compared to the original and despite the lack of a choir on this song, it sounds very authentic. The longest song on the disc at almost eight minutes, is Teo Torriate, a relatively rare track from Queen. The title is in the language of Japanese and it means Let us cling together. When the choir finally comes in at the end it sounds like a hymn, yet not pleasing to the ear.
Under Pressure just sounds exactly the same as the original, pop rock music but performed by an orchestra, and it's the same deal with Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Of course, the show stopping finale is the one and only Bohemian Rhapsody. Besides a couple of chord alternatives, the tune stays faithful to the original. With the swelling of the orchestra at points, it stimulates the senses. The choir performs the "opera section" more like the choir that they are and the finished product certainly has a different spin from the original.
This concert was taped live on December 8th, 1981 at the Royal Albert Hall. Judging by the noise of the audience, it sounds like they really enjoyed the concert.
This same music was used for a Queen video that came out in the early 1990s called Hooked On Queen, which nowadays is also extremely rare. Although this concert was recorded such a long while ago, it wasn't released on CD until Hollywood Records put it out until January 17th, 1995.
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the songs
1. Flash
2. Play the Game
3. We Are The Champions
4. Don't Stop Me Now
5. Love of My Life
6. Killer Queen
7. You're My Best Friend
8. Teo Torriate
9. Under Pressure
10. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
11. Bohemian Rhapsody
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