Live Killers | ||||
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Live album by Queen | ||||
Released | 22 June 1979 | |||
Recorded | January – March 1979 in Europe | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 90:08 | |||
Label |
EMI / Parlophone (Europe) Elektra / Hollywood (US) |
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Producer | Queen | |||
Queen chronology | ||||
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Singles from Live Killers | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
Record Mirror | (favorable) |
Rolling Stone | (unfavorable) |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Smash Hits | 3½/10 |
Live Killers is a live album by the British rock band Queen, originally released on 22 June 1979. It received strongly negative reviews from critics on release. In a retrospective appraisal, Greg Prato of AllMusic found the initial reaction inexplicable, calling the album "an excellent document of Queen at the height of their '70s arena rock powers".
The album was recorded live during the European leg of Queen's Jazz world tour, between January and March 1979.
The album was self-produced by the band and was their first to be mixed at their own studios, Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland.
Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor later revealed on the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard (which spotlighted the making of 1980's The Game) that the band had mixed Live Killers themselves and were unhappy with the final mix.
Despite this, the album reached number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and number 16 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, and is certified double platinum in the US.
In the territories outside of the United States, Europe and Canada, Elektra Recordsre-released a shorter and edited version of the album in 1985 titled Queen Live.
The 1994 issue released as part of the Digital Master Series by EMI Records did not improve upon the quality of the previous release. It was later remastered and restored in better quality by Peter Mew in 2001.
* Part of intro is censored by bleeps in which Mercury says "This song is about a real motherfucker of a gentleman."