ROGER TAYLOR
Outsider Live (UME)
This tour was such an exceptional triumph that a live album was always going to be a welcome souvenir, for those lucky enough to catch Queen drummer Roger Taylor on excellent form behind the mic and in front of the band. Maybe there is nothing that can compare to hearing and seeing these exceptional songs live: Queen classics like Radio GaGa and Under Pressure have an indefinable ability to move an audience and these recordings do capture the enthusiasm of the crowd from opener Strange Frontier onward.
Roger Taylor Outsider Live is a solo tour, so there is much more from his six studio albums without Queen than the 15 with – but it is a superbly judged set and this double album version, that takes the best performances from across the UK tour, features Brian May’s appearance at London for a ripping solo on Tutti Frutti. It may never happen again, and with a backing band as good as this, it may never be any better.
words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES