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This is a really good album and DVD, with a lot of emphasis on the DVD. I have been a Queen fan since day one, they have consistantly blown me away album after album. When Freddie Mercury passed, I figured there would be no more Queen. Then I saw Brian May "live" at a small venue in Atlanta in the mid 90's touring with Cozy Powell on drums. It was an awesome show, Brian not only carried the vocals but proved that he could have been a lead singer in Queen. Don't misunderstand, Freddie was a once in a lifetime singer/showman, but what I mean is that Brian has a voice that can sing the Queen songs. Now let's talk about Paul Rodgers, singer/showman extrordinaire with "Free", "Bad Company" and a host of other projects. Obviously one of the premier rock and blues singers of the past few decades. The resulting marriage of these two powerhouse talents, gives the listener a "best of both worlds" opportunity to enjoy this music all over again with a new slant. It seems that as you hear these songs, you are not compelled to compare, but to enjoy the new influences brought on by the blending of these talents. Wisely, we are not given a "Bohemian Rhapsody" remake, but a tribute and recognition to the great Freddie, it is handled with respect and reverence in a most tasteful manner. The "Free" and "Bad Company" songs are also done in such a way as to pay tribute to the Rock and Roll Gods for giving us these great songs in the first place. In the words of Argent and later Kiss, "God gave Rock and Roll To Us", this album and DVD are a prime example of the longevity of great writing and playing. Some of these songs are over 35 years old and still sound fresh and new, and if we were hearing them anew, undoubtedly, we would make them hits all over again.

Despite the fact that some people didn't like tha fact that QUEEN was with another front man "replacing" Freddie Mercury (what is not really true), I found this union really good. QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS gave us a unique union with quality, performance, stage e a supperb world tour. I had the oportunity to see them alive in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 26 November 2008. A perfect show. You have to know that Paul Rodgers is "simply" a unique singer. Don't try to compare him with Freddie. It is another singer, but a huge voice and talent. This is a great CD/DVD show. I also reccomend THE COSMOS ROCK CD, the QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS studio CD. A unique union, with Queen songs and, also, Free and Bad Company songs by Paul Rodgers. Special. I hope they join again in a short future. God save the Queen + Paul Rodgers!

I kind of avoided this release at first because I was disappointed that there weren't more songs from the Cosmos Rocks album. Why should I get this album which is going to be basically a re-do of the Return of the Champions album from 2005? Well, I decided to get this anyway, and I am so happy that I did. This is almost a totally different listening experience than Return of the Champions was. Even where the setlist was similar, the renditions were changed. I still wished that they would have included some more Cosmos Rocks tunes, but over all I'm very happy with this purchase.

Reviews

Admirers of this very major singer may well judge this to be the very best collection of John McCormack reissues on the market. It gathers together everything he recorded in the last twenty months of his singing life. Joining with accompanist Gerald Moore at London's Abbey Road Studios, he recorded sometimes as many as six items at a recording session. Gerald Moore, in his autobiography, recalled that John McComack was averse both to rehearsing and to recording more than one take of each song. Of the dozens of items here, almost all derive from a first take. Only once was there a tiny error. It occurred in the song "The Green Bushes". Listen carefully, and you will hear John McCormack begin to sing "So sweetly she sang" before correcting it, in the nick of time, to "So sweetly sang she". There was never a chance to do another take, but fortunately the item was eventually issued after McCormack's death. Indeed, there are many items here that were issued posthumously, and at least six published here for the first time. A couple of duets with Maggie Teyte have had little or no circulation. One of them here sounds to be copied from a slightly faulty but perhaps only existing copy. In the old-fashioned, sentimental and imprecise terminology of his day, McCormack sang from his heart, and aimed to touch the hearts of his hearers. It is fortunate that sound recording caught these performances so well, before emphysema silenced McCormack forever, and it is fortunate that Pavilion Records and supervisor Brian Fawcett-Johnston make them available today.

By the time these performances were put to wax, McCormack's voice was twenty or more years past it's prime. But, unlike most classically trained singers, McCormack's vocal limitations appear to have encouraged a more musically adventurous approach to his singing. His later recordings have an immediacy and sponteneity that is absolutely unique to a singer of his era and training. His singing is, in fact, more like that of a "pop" singer, in that the voice takes a back seat to the phrasing, and ablility to convey a lyric with honest emotion instead of histrionics. The clarity of tone, and the ring of the high notes is gone in these recordings, but the "presence" of McCormack the songster is stronger than ever. The transfers are excellent, as we have come to expect from Pearl. While the fidelity is not what most expect from today's recording techniques, to my ear they are more satisfying. The voice is recorded up-front and very clearly, and we can revel in the knowledge that it was all originally recorded "honestly"; that is, without edits and without electronic alterations of any sort. McCormack was a great artist who never became boring. In this day of bellicose tenors who are content to sing the same repertoire in the same manner year after year, that is saying a lot. If McCormack's singing is new to you, do yourself a favor and get this one. Also pick up one of his youthful operatic recitals, and you will come to know just what a great performer and amazingly varied artist he was. Enjoy, for his like will probably not be heard again.