Queen: A Night at the Odeon

Filmed on the cusp of mega-stardom (the band would perform before more than 150,000 people in Hyde Park the following year), this 1975 BBC-aired Old Grey Whistle Test concert filmed at London's Hammersmith Odeon on Christmas Eve 1975 features rock quartet Queen playing tunes off their first four studio albums in a 17-song set (technically 12, due to a medley and a guitar solo). Full of vigor and vim, wonderfully flamboyant lead singer Freddie Mercury (who would succumb to AIDS in 1991) commands the stage in v-cut-below-the-navel jumpsuits (yes, plural; of course there's costume changes), while guitar virtuoso Brian May serves up swirling guitar licks (including a characteristically spacey, feedback-heavy solo), backed by John Deacon's solid bass, and Roger Taylor's steady drums. Presented in a 4:3 standard format aspect ratio, the image is remarkably clean and sharp (especially considering the age of the source material) as the band mostly eschews the hits (which were not considerable at that point) in favor of deep album tracks. In fact, only truncated versions of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Killer Queen” appear (in a medley), while “You're My Best Friend” was performed after the BBC cut away (so it is not included here). Instead, fans will be treated to songs rarely performed by the band during their later arena rock heyday: “Ogre Battle” (think Led Zeppelin lite), “The March of the Black Queen” (ditto), and “In the Lap of the Gods…Revisited” (ditto again)—all fun, as are the somewhat more familiar “Now I'm Here,” “Keep Yourself Alive,” and “Liar.” Rounding out the evening with a vampy/campy “Big Spender” before the de rigueur closer “God Save the Queen,” this is a winner. Presented in Dolby Digital stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray, extras include bonus songs from a '75 performance in Japan, and an interview with May and Taylor. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)