Rainbow Theatre
Recording length: 37 minutes (1 CD, incomplete)
Quality: A+
Source: Multi-track
Lineage:
Soundboard Master (multi-track) > ? > TDK-D Cassette (normal bias) > WAV > CDR (1)
01 - Procession [cut]
02 - Father To Son
03 - Ogre Battle
04 - Son And Daughter
05 - Keep Yourself Alive
06 - Seven Seas Of Rhye
07 - Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll
08 - Liar [cut]
Notes:
This is a pre-LP copy in superb quality, rendering all previous versions to be obsolete. Some gaps between songs, as well as the beginnings of Procession and Liar, are filled in with one of the old LP sources.
This soundboard recording (multi-track, to be precise, since it certainly has been properly mixed) contains numerous vocal overdubs. The most glaring example of this is 3 minutes into Liar, when Freddie sings "time after time", and the next line begins before the previous one has ended. Keeping the overdubs in mind, the fact that it's perfectly mixed, the between-song segments having been edited, and that it's 37 minutes long, I'd like to suggest the possibility that this may have once been considered to be a live album by the band and ultimately shelved.
Simply put, overdubs aside, this recording showcases the band at their heaviest and rawest. This is one of those few truly essential Queen recordings recommended to any fan of rock music.
The video contains Freddie asking the audience "What comes next?" (between "I want you" and "To be a woman") during the second chorus of Son And Daughter, and it is cut out on the audio source. This edit is yet another reason why I think this was intended to be an official release at one point.
