We Will Rock You (song)
| We will rock you | |
|---|---|
| Queen | |
| publication | 7th October 1977 |
| length | 2:02 |
| Genre (s) | Rock music |
| Author (s) | Brian May |
| album | News of the World |
We Will Rock You is a rock song written by guitarist Brian May and released in 1977 by his band Queen on the News of the World album.
History of origin
We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions were written during the band's UK tour in 1977. When the group played a concert at Stafford's Bingley Hall on May 29, 1977, the unusual audience reaction was the trigger for the composition of both pieces.
“We did an encore and we went off the stage and instead of just clapping on, the audience sang You'll Never Walk Alone to us and we were just completely hit and overwhelmed - it was quite an emotional experience, and I think this one Chantings are somehow related to it. "
The song, written in June 1977, is the opening song of the Queen's album News of the World , which the group recorded between July and September 1977 at Basing Street Studios and Wessex Studios with music producer Mike Stone. Decisive for the effect of the song is the stamping of feet and clapping accompanied by the drums . Therefore, it is also used as a mood song at sporting events. The rhythm forms a "stomp-stomp-gossip-pause" sequence. In addition, the song consists mostly of vocals, except for the last 30 seconds with the guitar solo by composer Brian May .
The hymn-like chorus “We will, we will rock you” sounds like sung by a polyphonic choir. For the rhythm, the group recorded their stomping and clapping and multiplied the noises by multiple overdubbing . The addition of delay effects gave the impression that numerous people were involved in the recordings. Instead of having Brian May play the last phrase of the guitar solo three times in a row, a loop was used.
Publication and Success
The single was released on October 7, 1977, while the LP was only released on October 28, 1977. The single was marketed with the A-side We Are the Champions and sold two million copies worldwide. A gold record was awarded on January 25, 1978, and platinum on April 25, 1978. In 1979 the title reappeared, as a live version on the B-side of Crazy Little Thing Called Love .
Rolling Stone magazine ranked the piece 330th in its list of the 500 best songs of all time in 2004 , and the RIAA ranked it 146th in the Songs of the Century list . In 2009 We Will Rock You was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame .
The distinctive rhythm was later used again in the song Still Burnin ' , which was included on the album The Cosmos Rocks , released by Queen + Paul Rodgers in September 2008. The DIY chain OBI used the We Will Rock You tune for their advertising slogans.
Alternative version
Queen recorded an alternative version of the song, which was released in November 2016 under the title We Will Rock You (Fast) on the compilation On Air . Various live recordings by the band had already been published and commercially exploited as part of full concert recordings. Queen also made the song available on her official YouTube channel.
The alternative version is almost entirely instrumental and stylistically reminds of bands like The Who and the rock of the 60s. Roger Taylor (drums) plays dynamically emphasized sixteenth notes on the clock-setting hi-hat in this version , the characteristic stomping effect is completely missing in this version and is replaced by a beat played almost continuously. Brian May (guitar) accompanies the song almost continuously along with a few solos instead of mostly only accentuating the lead guitar as in the more well-known version. The chorus and verse are interrupted by a short bass solo, which is followed by a multi-part guitar solo. In the vocal tracks, the band uses harmonies that were popular at the time , based on the time warp of the Rocky Horror Picture Show , as well as several so-called shouts by lead singer Freddie Mercury , which clearly sets the alternative version apart from the better-known and earlier published version in all areas of the song.
Queen played the alternate version as the opening track of the shows in Montreal on November 24 and 25, 1981 and in Tokyo on April 25, 1979.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ schott-musikpaedagogik.de: We Will Rock You .
- ↑ Interview with Tom Browne for BBC Radio 1 , Christmas programs 1977.
- ↑ Ken McLeod, We Are The Champions: The Politics of Sports and Popular Music , 2011, 125 .
- ↑ Brian May: STAMPING ON PIANO'S? . In: Bri's Soapbox . September 22, 2007. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved on August 4, 2010.
- ^ Queen's Brian May Rocks Out To Physics, Photography . In: Fresh Air . NPR. August 3, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
- ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, pp. 445 f.
- ^ Grammy Hall of Fame Award Grammy.org.Retrieved April 21, 2011.
- ^ Queen enter Grammy Hall of Fame BBC News accessed April 21, 2011.
- ^ "On Air" - Discogs.com release information Queen - "On Air" (Discogs.com) accessed December 26, 2018.
- ^ "We Will Rock You (Fast)" on the official Queen YouTube channel "Queen - We Will Rock You (Fast)" on YouTube, accessed on December 26, 2018.
- ^ "Rock Montreal" - Discogs.com release information Queen - "Rock Montreal" (Discogs.com). Retrieved December 26, 2018.
- ^ "Budokan 1979 Live" - Release information on Discogs.com Queen - "Budokan 1979 Live" (Discogs.com). Retrieved December 26, 2018.