Ask an average teenager today whether they can name a Led Zeppelin song and you’ll most likely get an eye roll and a disengaged stare. The same phenomenon occurs when the Rolling Stones and, yes, even the Beatles are mentioned. One of the only exceptions to this pervasive “old band” rule is Queen. They have somehow stayed alive and risen above the classic-rock abyss. In a class I teach at CUNY (City University of New York), I show Video Games: The Movie, which uses the Queen song “Don’t Stop Me Now” as its theme. When I propose that anyone who can name the tune gets extra credit, to my surprise the classroom inevitably becomes a sea of waving arms with at least half the students shouting out, “Queen!”.

The band’s multi-generational, seemingly immortal popularity has again become a puzzle worth solving with the release of the remastered Queen Rock Montreal, a triple-LP set first released in 2007 as the soundtrack to the concert film, We Will Rock You, which itself has since been re-released as Queen Rock Montreal. The film and audio were recorded during a two-night stand at the Montreal Forum on November 24 and 25, 1981, which were the closing shows of the band’s The Game Tour. The film and audio elements from the show have now been remastered and reissued to coincide with the IMAX release of the film. The new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray offers the choice of seeing the film in a full-frame aspect ratio or the original 16.9 widescreen. It also features, for the first time, Dolby Atmos audio. Like the original 2007 release, the 2024 Blu-ray edition includes the band’s performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert, as well as rehearsal footage captured prior to Live Aid.

The most obvious and poignant reason for the band’s continued relevance is the 2018 release of the biographical film, Bohemian Rhapsody, for which actor Rami Malek won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as singer/frontman Freddie Mercury. The tragic and too-public death spiral of the irrepressible Mercury has always added emotional weight and genuine pathos to the band’s story.

The most crucial factor, however, in their continued popularity, or at least name recognition, is that by any measure Queen was a strong, cohesive four-man unit who could write hit singles. The Montreal performance shows them to be a tight, well-oiled machine, hitting every downbeat and nailing every solo. And when it came to radio play, they were one of rock’s greatest singles machine. In 1981, Queen released their Greatest Hits album which hit #1 in the U.K., went nine times platinum in the U.S., and charted at #4 in Canada. As proof of their ability to craft everlasting songs, Greatest Hits has charted again all over the world nearly every time it’s been reissued. It’s most recent 2023 reissue reached #4 in the U.S. and #30 in Canada.

It’s silly and immaterial to say that the band only performed flamboyantly on these tracks because they knew they were being filmed—flamboyance was Mercury’s stock-in-trade and ultimately what made him and his band famous. The former Farrokh Bulsara, Mercury’s birth name, is in spectacular voice throughout this performance. Near the end of this extended 28-track set is a version of the anthemic “We Are the Champions” that is straight up definitive. When he passionately belts out the rising lyrics—”But it’s been no bed of roses/No pleasure cruise/I consider it a challenge before the human race/And I ain’t gonna lose”,—it’s nearly impossible not to be emotionally swept up. The crowd, whose noise is kept to a minimum in the mix, is wildly appreciative throughout. Always an underrated, if completely unmentioned part of Mercury’s gifts is his piano playing; heard in “Champions” and “Somebody To Love”, among other tracks, it is an essential part of Queen’s musical spectrum. Very clear, even without the images from the film to confirm it, Mercury is in command of the performances throughout. By 1981, Queen was arguably the biggest stadium act in the world.

Brian May’s guitar work on Queen rocks Montreal is superb. While the band members may not be thought of as exceptional on their instruments, even by the reduced standards of the world of stadium rock, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon do have a talent essential to the band’s songwriting: their strong, sometimes high-range backing vocals. This clearer, more pronounced remastering, accentuates the fact that the band’s layered vocals, especially on “Bohemian Rhapsody,” are truly one it’s greatest strengths. Listening to the thundering, accomplished version of “Rhapsody” here, it’s easy to again marvel over one of the eternal mysteries surrounding Queen: how did an overblown, pseudo-classical, generally undefinable mash up like “Bohemian Rhapsody” become a single, let alone a hit?

While there’s always an argument to be had about set lists when it comes to live albums—”Why didn’t they include that song?”—the band does manage to hit most of the highlights here. Oddly enough, in my book at least, they do not play the aforementioned “Don’t Stop Me Now”, which was part of their 1978 album, Jazz.  According to metal music website Loudwire.com, which cites a 2015 study reported in the U.K. newspaper The Telegraph, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, due to its beats-per-minute count and the chords used, is the world’s “most uplifting” popular music song.

Another clue as to why the band’s popularity endures is Mercury’s connection with fans, one he constantly egged on with his famous call-and-response interludes, heard here in “Now I’m Here”. One interesting aside is that Mercury and the band do not spend any time in this long set kibitzing with the crowd. Band introductions are absent, though at this point in their career they might have been superfluous anyway. The show is very businesslike: the band comes out and runs through the 28 songs with clean professionalism. This was the era when bands usually tried to replicate their studio albums when they played live. It was a trend some fans loved but others, like me, grew bored with, especially if the band could really play their instruments. Going to see a band like the Eagles in concert could be an exercise in frustration. Why pay for a live show when you could hear nearly the exact the same thing by just sitting at home and listening to Hotel California?  If there is any flaw to this otherwise classic document of the band near or at the peak of their powers, it’s that Queen Rocks Montreal is very sleek, unrelentingly brisk, and authoritatively predictable.

Sonically, what’s new here is that, compared to the original 2007 CD and LP releases, the sound is now fuller and warmer, with more low-end response and a generally more muscular presentation. Mercury’s vocals, which rung out in the original release, blend better in the mix even though this is not a remix. Brian May’s guitar is especially sharp and prominent. With lacquers cut at Abbey Road Studios and vinyl pressed at Optimal in Germany, this set’s trio of LPs is flat, quiet, and of better quality than most major label mass pressings.

Bombastic? Completely and without even an ounce of restraint! Overwrought? At times, yes, and to great effect. In 1981, in Montreal, Queen was true rock royalty.