Album · Live · 40 years old this year
Live Magic
Live Magic is Queen's second live album, put together from shows on The Magic Tour and released by EMI on 1 December 1986. It followed A Kind of Magic, the studio album from that same year. Most of the performances come from Knebworth Park on 9 August 1986, the band's last ever concert with its classic line-up, which gives the record a lasting significance. American listeners had to wait until August 1996 for a release in the United States.
It is a divisive listing, though. Many songs are heavily edited, and fans criticised the cuts at the time. The opera section is missing from "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Tie Your Mother Down" loses its second verse and chorus, and "Is This the World We Created...?", "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" are trimmed to a single verse and chorus. Worth hearing as a souvenir of Queen's final live run together, if not as the definitive concert document.
Live Magic: tracklist, credits and charts
15 tracks · 49:19Tracklist
- 1One VisionDeacon, May, Mercury, Taylor5:08
- 2Tie Your Mother DownBrian May2:59
- 3Seven Seas of RhyeFreddie Mercury1:19
- 4A Kind of Magic (full live version)Roger Taylor5:32
- 5Under PressureBowie, Deacon, May, Mercury, Taylor3:48
- 6Another One Bites the Dust (full live version)John Deacon5:50
- 7I Want to Break FreeJohn Deacon2:41
- 8Is This the World We Created…?Brian May and Freddie Mercury1:31
- 9Bohemian RhapsodyFreddie Mercury4:41
- 10Hammer to Fall (full live version)Brian May5:20
- 11Radio Ga GaRoger Taylor4:27
- 12We Will Rock YouBrian May1:32
- 13Friends Will Be FriendsJohn Deacon and Freddie Mercury1:10
- 14We Are the ChampionsBrian May and Freddie Mercury2:03
- 15God Save the Queen[unknown]1:18
- Produced by
- Trip Khalaf, Queen
- Recorded at
- Knebworth House, Ferenc Puskás Stadium, Wembley Stadium
- Recorded
- 11–12 July 1986 Wembley Stadium, London, England, 27 July 1986 Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary, 9 August 1986 Knebworth Park, Stevenage, England, September 1986 (overdubs)
- Mixed at
- The Town House
- Engineered by
- John Brough
- Label
- EMI
- Length
- 49:19
Line-up
- John Deacon · electric bass guitar
- Brian May · electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Roger Taylor · drums (drum set)
- Freddie Mercury · lead vocals, piano
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1986–87 | 3 |
| Austrian Albums · 1986–87 | 13 |
| German Albums · 1986–87 | 15 |
| Dutch Albums · 1986–87 | 24 |
| Swiss Albums · 1986–87 | 26 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1986–87 | 36 |
| Swedish Albums · 1986–87 | 50 |
| Australia (Kent Music Report) · 1986–87 | 51 |
| Spanish Albums · 2007 | 87 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Argentina | Gold |
| Germany · 1992 | Gold |
| Poland · 2009 | Platinum |
| Spain · 1987 | Gold |
| Switzerland · 1993 | Platinum |
| United Kingdom · 1987 | Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
50.8
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
324
ListenBrainz listeners
41k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
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Deezer fans (all editions)
Also released on 1 December
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1973
Queen II
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1974
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1975
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1976
Queen’s First E.P.
1977
News of the World
1977
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1980
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1981
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1986
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1987
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1989
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1989
Innuendo
1991
Greatest Hits II
1991
Box of Tricks
1992
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1992
The 12″ Collection
1992
Live at Wembley ’86
1992
Five Live
1993
The Greatest 3
1995
Made in Heaven
1995
Queen Rocks
1997
The Crown Jewels: A 25th Anniversary Celebration
1998
Greatest Hits III
1999
Highlander
2000
Greatest Hits I, II & III: The Platinum Collection
2000
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2002
Jewels
2004
We Are the Champions: Final Live in Japan
2004
Queen on Fire: Live at the Bowl
2004
Stone Cold Classics
2006
The A–Z of Queen, Volume 1
2007
Rock Montreal
2007
The Singles Collection, Volume 1
2008
The Singles Collection, Volume 2
2009
Absolute Greatest
2009
The Singles Collection, Volume 3
2010
The Singles Collection, Volume 4
2010
Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973–1976)
2011
Deep Cuts, Volume 2 (1977–1982)
2011
Deep Cuts, Volume 3 (1984–1995)
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2014
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 1 December 1986 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 1 December 1986 | |
| Wikidata | 1 December 1986 | |
| UK / Europe release | 1 December 1986 | earliest UK or European date |
11 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XW | Hollywood Records | 00720616126726 | other |
| 1986 | FR | EMI | 077774641326 | other |
| 1986 | NL | EMI | 077774641326 | other |
| 1986 | GB | EMI | 5099924067515 | other |
| 1 December 1986 | GB | EMI | 077774641326 | original |
| February 1987 | YE | EMI | other | |
| 4 February 1987 | JP | EMI | 4988006607415 | other |
| 1996 | US | Hollywood Records | 720616126726 | other |
| 27 October 2004 | JP | EMI | 4988006822856 | other |
| 4 May 2008 | ES | EMI | 8423793300218 | other |
| 17 April 2019 | JP | Virgin | 4988031330043 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · upscaled: minor: best source 1400x1400, upscaled to 1500 (x1.07)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1400×1400 | upscaled: minor: best source 1400x1400, upscaled to 1500 (x1.07) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |