The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert

Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING
Review: From Axel and Elton doing 'Rapsody' (strange pair, but OH how it worked) to Annie Lenox and David Bowie this tribute concert for one of the best front this business has ever seen is a MUST! Wonderful to see Brian May play again. This concert is some 11 years old now...and I continue to wear out my VCR tape...THANK GOD it game out on DVD....George Michaels 'Sombody to Love' is worth the cost of the DVD on it's own. buy it, you will not be sorry

Rating:
Summary: ...Go Buy the VHS...
Review: I was so excited to see this out on DVD, I went right out and bought it without checking it out. I've worn out 2 VHS tapes of the concert. Why am I [mad]? Because they cut out a good 45 minutes of music. Three incredible Metallica songs, a very good Guns n Roses set, a fun Xtreme medley, and an amazing Def Leppard/Brian May version of Here I am. Don't get me wrong, the other songs are also great, but why cut anything?

I can't believe anyone who has the tape or the VideoDisc could ever give this a good review. This a big business trying to make a quick buck by ripping off people who don't know any better and impulse-buying dummies like me.

At least they could have put the remaining songs on the second DVD. Don't buy this DVD. There's plenty of new VHS tapes available on Ebay for about 20 bucks.

I'd give it one star...but for Freddie, I'll give it 2.

Rating:
Summary: Newer is not always better
Review: I was trolling for Christmas gifts when I happened on the 10th Anniversary DVD release of the 1992 concert. My original exposure to this concert was a copy of the VHS tape that I borrowed from a friend, who had borrowed it from another friend. I was stoked!

Too bad. One of the most powerful distillations of rock & roll was contained on that tape. The DVD, inexplicably, has left off a significant part of the show, i.e., the daylight part. Coincidentally, this also eliminated much of the American bands' input. A killer lead-off set of 3 songs by Metallica - gone. Paradise City and Knockin' on Heaven's Door by GNR - gone. The tape was nearly 3 hours of music, yet the publishers felt it necessary to give us 2 discs with far less music and much more peripheral stuff.

The video part is a definite improvement on the scratchy old tape. The audio part, well, I'm not convinced it's better. The DTS sound is muddy and poorly balanced. Switch your receiver to stereo or direct output for a sharper playback.

If I'd never viewed the tape I'd probably give this DVD 4 or maybe even 5 stars as the concert was still one of the best ever captured on film...

Rating:
Summary: SKIP THIS ONE
Review: I have bought this DVD 2 months ago from Australia. I really wish I have never bought it at all. Do yourselves a favor, save your money or buy "WE WILL ROCK YOU" DVD instead if you don't have one. It is much much much better.

Rating:
Summary: A TEAR TO MY EYE
Review: What can I say but this DVD is great. To see 72,000 people all clap in unison on RADIO GA GA, sing along with George Michael,Elton John, David Bowie and Annie Lenox with perfect pitch and phrasing just makes me miss Freddie all the more. Also, the fact that so many different types of singers steped into Freddie's shoe (or ballet slippers) is a statement to how diverse QUEEN's music is and how unique Freddie's writing and vocal talent was.

Rating:
Summary: AFTER YOU WATCH IT, YOU WON'T EVER FORGET IT.
Review: ABOUT THE FREDDIE MERCURY TRIBUTE CONCERT.

Ok... Let me start by saying that I watched this concert a couple of weeks after it's original broadcast day, and to this day I still think of how great it was. At that time in 1992, I lived in Colombia and I was in middle school, and after the show was on TV everybody in school was saying that they were blown away by this concert.
I can honestly say that the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was the biggest musical event of the 90s (and perhaps -and to my own judgement-, the greatest concert in music history). Besides, where else were you able to find artists like Metallica, Roger Daltrey (The Who), Def Leppard, George Michael, David Bowie, Guns N' Roses, Robert Plant(Led Zeppelin), Elton John, and of course Queen. All in one bill!!
The greatness of this show is not based on the just the "name" of the performers, but because all of these artists gave the best of themselves to give their own send off to Freddie by stepping on his shoes, performing to his crowd, and singing his songs. Although some of them came close, none of them were able to equalize Freddie as a performer and a singer.
As a Queen fan this concert gives you a lot of mixed emotions of sadness and joy. There are moments where you want to cry and others where you want to jump out of your seat and sing your heart out. No other concert like this would make you feel more like wishing you were on this crowd of 72.000 people at Wembley stadium.

About the DVD:
I'm giving this DVD 4 stars for not including the first part of the show. Metallica, Def Leppard, and Guns N' Roses gave
KICK-ASS performances, while Extreme gave an excellent Queen Medley which was the perfect "appetizer" of this great show.
However this DVD includes the rehearsals of the songs on the second part of the show. It also includes a very poignant documentary about the show itself with commentaries from the performers and the members of Queen about how this show was organized.
It also shows some of the video clips that played on the giant screens during the show while the stage was being set for the next performer. Some of these clips weren't show on the original U.S. video version.

Whether you're a Queen fan or not... whether you already own the VHS version or not ... get this DVD!! It's worth it and I guarantee... YOU WON'T EVER FORGET IT. If you are a Queen fan, grab some Kleenex because you will cry.

Rating:
Summary: Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
Review: An awesome concert of superstars as a tribute to one of the greatest vocalist of all time. I still have the original VHS tape and love it. This DVD (finally) is a must for all the fans of Queen and Rock & Roll music.

Rating:
Summary: I can't understand why they cut the first part on DVD.......
Review: I owned it on laserdisc and I've been waiting for the DVD release for a long time....so when I bought it (Region 4)...Well I am very disappointed....the first part of the show (Metallica, Def Lepard, Extreme..)was taken out of the DVD !!! So tell me why they insert extra material and cut out the first part of the show ??

Rating:
Summary: Show Must Go On
Review: On April 20, 1992, the legends of rock came together before a packed Wembley Stadium to honor the life and music of one Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen, who died the previous year of AIDS. This three-hour video encompasses some of the best performances from the concert (and according to early reports, the upcoming 10th anniversary DVD release will be missing several of these performances due to licensing disputes from many of the record companies involved).

Rarely does this caliber of musician come together in one place. Freddie Mercury is easily one of the legends of rock, but the performers on this video take his songs and put their own fingerprints on them (while still managing to pay homage to Freddie), and in several cases, bring home a performance that actually surpasses Freddie himself. Look no further than Elton John's version of "The Show Must Go On" and you'll understand what I mean. It's also a great video because of the production values; the performances and the production never lose focus of honoring Freddie through his music. Not once do you feel as if the performer's real reason for being there was to further his own career - every performance is deeply sincere, humble and honest.

Here, in order, is what's on the tape -

* Metallica - "Enter Sandman", "Sad But True", and "Nothing Else Matters"

- A vignette honoring Freddie in music and interviews

* Extreme perform a powerful medley of Queen songs.

- Another vignette honoring Freddie, this one also including interview clips with Phil Collins (Genesis), Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones) and Paul McCartney (The Beatles).

* Def Leppard with Brian May (Queen) - Queen's "Now I'm Here"

* Guns N' Roses - "Paradise City" and their remake of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"

- An obligatory speech by Elizabeth Taylor on AIDS awareness (thank God for the fast-forward button)

For the remainder of the show, the artists are backed up by the remaining members of Queen (Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor) as they performed Queen songs (except where noted) ....

* Joe Elliot (Def Leppard) with Slash (Guns N' Roses) - "Tie Your Mother Down"

* Roger Daltrey (The Who) with Tommy Iommi (Black Sabbath) - "I Want It All"

* Gary Cherone (Extreme) with Tommy Iommi - "Hammer To Fall"

* James Hetfield (Metallica) with Tommy Iommi - "Stone Cold Crazy"

* Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) - "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"

* Brian May on lead vocals - "Too Much Love Will Kill You"

* Paul Young - "Radio Ga Ga"

* Seal - "Who Wants To Live Forever"

* Lisa Stansfield - "I Want To Break Free"

* David Bowie and Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) - "Under Pressure" (originally a duet between David Bowie and Queen)

* Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople) with David Bowie, Mick Ronson (The Spiders From Mars) and Joe Elliot - Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes" (written by David Bowie)

* David Bowie with Mick Ronson - David Bowie's "Heroes"

* George Michael - "39", "These Are The Days of Our Lives" (duet with Lisa Stansfield), and "Somebody to Love"

* Elton John and Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses) - "Bohemian Rhapsody" (this also includes a segment by Freddie Mercury)

* Elton John with Tommy Iommi - "The Show Must Go On"

* Axl Rose - "We Will Rock You"

* Liza Minelli and pretty much everyone else - "We Are The Champions"

- Freddie Mercury and fans - "God Save the Queen"

In the entire concert, there are really only two low points (not including Elizabeth Taylor's droll speech). The first is Paul Young's performance of Radio Ga Ga; Paul is talented enough on his own stuff, but his voice cracks enough here that it's obvious he doesn't have Freddie's range. The other is Liza Minelli, who's Broadway style is just out-of-place with Freddie's music, but apparently Freddie is a fan of hers, so in keeping with the honoring of Freddie, she still fits.

Again, nearly every performance on here is worth tracking this video down, and the DVD is rumored to not be as complete. Besides, it's not every day you get to see Elton John and Axl Rose performing arm-in-arm on stage.

Rating:
Summary: How could they let this go out-of-print???
Review: An exhaustive concert organized by Brian May and Roger Taylor just months after Freddie Mercury's death. This show was also an AIDS benefit raising money for various charities around the world.Metallica starts off with a thundering 3 song set and while the crowd was into them, they wanted Queen songs.Guns 'n' Roses' set was threatened with sabotage by radical AIDS activists but it went through without incident.The first half of the show consisted of bands who were influenced by Queen, the second half featured Queen acting as back up to many big name acts.As previously mentioned, George Michael's rendition of "Somebody to Love" was the highlight of the evening but Seal tugged at the heartstrings the most with the moving "Who Wants to Live Forever." This was the one that made me cry the first 50,000 times I heard it.For me, another highlight was the "reunion" of Bowie, Hunter, Ronson and Queen. Hunter and Ronson were former members of Mott the Hoople...the only band Queen ever opened for, Ronson was also a member of Bowie's back up band Spiders from Mars...Bowie played an important part of Hoople, writing songs for them and preventing them from breaking up for a time....and of course, Bowie & Queen had a number one hit with "Under Pressure". Lennox did a marvelous job singing Freddie's part in "..Pressure".There were, of course, many flubs during the evening. George Michael mishandling the lyrics to "39", Axl Rose messing up the lyrical tempo of "We Will Rock You" and Elton John playing the wrong keys on piano during the opening of "Bohemian Rhapsody".Regardless, seeing Elton and Axl embrace in front of millions was a sight to see!Probably the biggest mistake was asking Liza Minelli to perform. Sorry but her glory days were FAR behind her at this stage. Her warbling was horrible to listen to but she was one of Freddie's favorites......This was a grand and fitting tribute to Freddie's legend, he would've been proud.Why this concert was never officially released onto compact disc and DVD remains one of the world's greatest mysteries.