{"id":60596,"date":"2025-12-04T11:44:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T11:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/60596\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T11:44:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T11:44:07","slug":"queens-10-best-b-sides-wembley-and-the-campest-live-medley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/60596\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen\u2019s 10 best B-sides: Wembley and the campest live medley"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we celebrate 50 years of the masterpiece that is \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody<\/a>\u2019, Attitude explores the finest deep cuts of Queen<\/a>\u2018s discography.<\/p>\n

\u2018Who Wants to Live Forever\u2019 (live version)<\/p>\n

Read next<\/p>\n

Without doubt, \u2018Who Wants to Live Forever\u2019 is this listener\u2019s all-time favourite track by Queen. Written at the end of Mercury\u2019s time touring with the band, the live performance at Wembley in 1986 is packed with power and feeling. After Mercury\u2019s diagnosis of HIV\/AIDS in 1987, touring had to end due to the frontman\u2019s ill health. The rawness of the power ballad vocals combine with heartbreaking lyrics, with Mercury wondering \u201cWhat is this thing that builds our dreams \/ Yet slips away from us?\u201d in his final moments in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

\u2018Great King Rat\u2019 (album track)<\/p>\n

From the very first Queen album, this processional and quick-beat track tells the tale of a \u201cdirty old man\u201d condemned by those around him. At first, it appears to be a warning to those who follow a path of depravity and exuberance. However, the song soon turns into something darker and more satirical as it questions religious hypocrisy. The rat may be a sinner, but shouldn\u2019t he also be forgiven, according to doctrine? Mercury\u2019s delicious pondering \u2014 you should be shocked but \u201cwouldn\u2019t you like to know\u201d more \u2014 tempts the listener to stray from the restrictive moral path.<\/p>\n

\u2018Soul Brother\u2019 (B-side)<\/p>\n

Queen\u2019s closest thing to an R&B or soul number, this track features a funky twist on the band\u2019s signature rock sound, with a more relaxed and Stevie Wonder-esque vocal that dips and dives with emotions. Filled with iconic lyrical references to other Queen tracks (\u201cHe will rock you\u201d, \u201cWhen you\u2019re under pressure\u201d, among others), not only is the B-side a success in its own right but an opportunity for fans to go on an Easter egg hunt!<\/p>\n

\u2018The Fairy Feller\u2019s Master-Stroke\u2019 (album track)<\/p>\n

An early signifier of Mercury\u2019s queerness, this track leans into the rock opera tradition of fantasy storytelling by taking the listener on a ride into a magical realm. Inspired by both Shakespeare\u2019s A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream and the eponymous poem and painting by Richard Dadd, is the \u201cquaere fellow\u201d subject actually a reference to the lead singer\u2019s sexuality? Featuring chaotic harpsichord, highfalutin riffs and veering in and out of Mercury\u2019s trademark falsetto, it captures the early bold creative choices the band later became famous for.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ride the Wild Wind\u2019 (album track)<\/p>\n

Freddie Mercury sang lead vocals on most of Queen\u2019s tracks, but here he shares the mic with drummer Roger Taylor, who shows off not only his own awesome rock voice but incredible percussive talents. The pounding, high-paced drums are matched with swooping motorcycle effects that urge the listener to \u201clive life on the razor\u2019s edge\u201d, leading to a song that captures Mercury\u2019s essence as a man who made the most of his wild life as a rock star, living every second unashamedly as himself.<\/p>\n

\u2018Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon\u2019 (album track)\u00a0<\/p>\n

A satirical plinky-plonk piano track found on A Night at the Opera, this playful and breezy number sees Mercury take on the persona of a city worker looking forward to a lazy weekend after a busy week. But trusting as ever in Mercury\u2019s wicked sense of humour, this satirical piece pokes fun at the rich and heteronormative, as the run-through of weekly pressures becomes more and more extravagant (the song refers to \u201cwaltzing to the zoo\u201d, \u201cpainting in the Louvre\u201d). Perhaps the narrator is in fact so blinded by privilege he doesn\u2019t require a rest whatsoever.<\/p>\n

\u2018Big Spender\u2019\/\u2018Jailhouse Rock Medley\u2019 (live cover)<\/p>\n

Was Mercury the greatest showman of all time? Quite possibly. But who was he inspired by? Among many influences, Welsh diva Shirley Bassey and king of rock\u2019n\u2019roll Elvis Presley were key inspirations for his theatrics and stadium-filling charisma. This back-to-back pairing of covers plays cleverly with expectations. \u2018Big Spender\u2019 \u2014 ever camp \u2014 becomes grungier, rougher and more queer. \u2018Jailhouse Rock\u2019, meanwhile, has never sounded so epic and is only enhanced by Mercury\u2019s frenetic rock\u2019n\u2019roll energy.<\/p>\n

\u2018Get Down, Make Love\u2019 (album track)<\/p>\n

Mercury was no doubt a sex symbol for his time. Indeed, his iconic tache has become a staple look on the scene again in recent years. \u2018Get Down, Make Love\u2019 is probably the sexiest of Queen\u2019s backlist, oozing eroticism. What begins as a slow, acoustic pounder soon erupts into a metaphorical climax of instrumental strangeness and epiphanic production.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018The Show Must Go On\u2019 (live)<\/p>\n

Elton John features frequently in B-sides. Seemingly, one of the greatest voices of all time has sung with all of the best musicians of his generation. \u2018The Show Must Go On\u2019 \u2014 always a slice of melodrama \u2014 is only enhanced by live strings and Elton\u2019s heightened emotions as he performs at a memorial concert for Mercury after he passed away. Elton sings with forcefulness that alludes to underlying grief as he belts through the first verse and the iconic chorus, culminating in a rendition that is rawer than typical as the guest singer remembers his rockstar friend.<\/p>\n

\u2018A Winter\u2019s Tale\u2019 (posthumous release)<\/p>\n

Releasing a Christmas song is almost a rite of passage for a band. Queen\u2019s take on this \u2014 one of the last songs written and recorded by Mercury \u2014 is a beautiful, ethereal ballad that avoids the cliches of your typical festive track to instead focus on the awe and wonder of a winter\u2019s day: the gradual change of \u201cred skies\u201d into a \u201csilky moon\u201d. The \u201cAm I dreamin\u2019?\u201d refrain sees the singer find simple pleasures in a cold December evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Subscribe to\u00a0Attitude magazine in print<\/a>, download the\u00a0Attitude app<\/a>, and follow\u00a0Attitude on Apple News+<\/a>. Plus, find Attitude on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0TikTok<\/a>,\u00a0X<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Russell(Image: Attitude\/Mark Cant)
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