8. Modern Times Rock 'N' Roll (Queen - Live In New Orleans: 4/21/1974)

All right, it is now time to get back on schedule and continue the chronological re-uploads for the channel! Seeing how uploading the March Rainbow concert isn’t the greatest idea for this channel (it’s official material and that goes against what I do for my Youtube uploads), the Queen II era uploads will start on the North American leg of the tour in the form of New Orleans 1974! This was a very interesting and fun listen overall, and I’m glad to have revisited these shows. A combination of better copies, and a more refined reviewing style allows me to truly appreciate what Queen has to offer as a live band. This particular copy of New Orleans sounds quite good overall, and is a slight upgrade compared to the old copy that was on this channel. Since it’s most likely complete (there’s still the possibility that the songs “Big Spender” and “Bama Lama Bama Loo” were played at this show and just not taped), it should be a great listen for everybody (especially to the fans who love the raw early performances of the band)! Much like the shows from 1973, the band sound incredibly raw, hungry, and have an incredible amount of youthful energy that comes through the recording. Since this is the band’s first-ever tour of North America, they play with great intensity throughout and the playing signals to everybody that this band wants to really make it big in this territory. Brian and Roger sound especially brilliant at this show and while the playing isn’t always 100% perfect, the energy and passion more than make up for it. Most likely due to this being the sixth show in a row, Freddie isn’t in his strongest vocal form at this gig. He sounds strained when accessing his upper range, and changes phrasing throughout songs to get around the more demanding parts. He also forces his notes at times (which would evolve into a bigger problem during the future Sheer Heart Attack Tour) and that would cause some intonation issues and awkward-sounding phrasing at times. Despite his rougher performances, Freddie’s effort is definitely there and he does do his best to sing the material! Now, time for the song synopsis paragraph! “Father To Son” has some amazing playing by Roger and Brian which highlights their musical prowess at the time very nicely. While Freddie doesn’t sing the song with as much ease as the previous year, he does a good job and still goes for the falsetto lines towards the end. “Ogre Battle” highlights Freddie’s clipped voice as he has trouble with the chorus sections and his upper range doesn’t seem to work very well in spots. On the musical side, this is a fantastic rendition with Roger especially sounding marvelous. “Son And Daughter” once again has Roger drumming up a storm and being the MVP of the performance. Brian also sounds very inspired and plays with excellence. “Great King Rat” has Freddie’s voice giving him problems in spots (ranging from strain, to sour intonation, and generally sounding tired), but the musicianship is really nice on this version. While this performance of the song isn’t the most polished one technically (there are a few moments of sloppiness from Roger and Brian), there’s a great raw energy on this version with a high degree of inspiration being emitted from all four members of Queen. “Liar” has Freddie sounding rough in spots, but he gets through the performance decently enough. The main stars on this version are Brian and Roger as they absolutely tear it up during the instrumental section and give an enormous amount of energy while doing so. “Keep Yourself Alive” has Freddie pushing his voice in spots and singing more conservatively on select parts. The rest of the band sound brilliant on this version and once again, Roger’s drumming is the highlight of the performance. Concluding this show, “Modern Times Rock ’N’ Roll” has Freddie sounding really fatigued in parts, but he gives a good effort and the instrumentation sounds great overall! ENJOY!!!