Return of the Champions

Return of the Champions is a double live album by English rock band Queen + Paul Rodgers. It was recorded in May 2005 during the Queen + Paul Rodgers Tour at the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, England (except for "Imagine", which was performed in Hyde Park, London immediately after that year's terrorist attack) and released on 19 September 2005. A companion DVD was released in October, directed by David Mallet.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Robert Christgau	D+ link
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[1]

Return of the Champions
Live album by Queen + Paul Rodgers
Released	13 September 2005
Recorded	9 May 2005 in Sheffield
Genre	Rock, hard rock
Length	101:00
Label	Parlophone (Europe) Hollywood (US)
Producer	Joshua J. Macrae, Justin Shirley-Smith, Peter Brandt
Queen + Paul Rodgers chronology
Return of the Champions (2005) The Cosmos Rocks (2008)
Queen + Paul Rodgers video chronology
Return of the Champions (2005) Super Live in Japan (2006)
Singles from Return of the Champions
"Reaching Out (Live)"/"Tie Your Mother Down (Live)" Released: 29 August 2005 (Europe)

Track listing

All lead vocals performed by Paul Rodgers, except where noted.

Disc 1

Track List

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original Album	Length
1.	"Reaching Out"	Don Black, Andy Hill
2.	"Tie Your Mother Down"	Brian May	A Day at the Races (1976 / Queen)
3.	"I Want to Break Free"	John Deacon	The Works (1984 / Queen)
4.	"Fat Bottomed Girls"	May	Jazz (1978 / Queen)
5.	"Wishing Well"	Free	Heartbreaker (1973 / Free Album)
6.	"Another One Bites the Dust"	Deacon	The Game (1980 / Queen)
7.	"Crazy Little Thing Called Love"	Freddie Mercury	The Game
8.	"Say It's Not True" (Lead Vocals by Taylor)	Roger Taylor	The Cosmos Rocks (2008)
9.	"'39" (Lead Vocals by May)	May	A Night at the Opera (1975 / Queen)
10.	"Love of My Life" (Lead Vocals by May)	Mercury	A Night at the Opera
11.	"Hammer to Fall" (Lead Vocals by May & Rodgers)	May	The Works
12.	"Feel Like Makin' Love"	Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs	Straight Shooter (1975 / Bad Company)
13.	"Let There Be Drums"	Sandy Nelson, Richard Podolor
14.	"I'm in Love With My Car" (Lead Vocals by Taylor)	Taylor	A Night at the Opera
15.	"Guitar Solo" (Brighton Rock)
16.	"Last Horizon"	May	Back to the Light (1992 / Brian May)

Disc 2

Track List

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original Album	Length
1.	"These Are the Days of Our Lives" (Lead Vocals by Taylor)	Taylor	Innuendo (1991 / Queen)
2.	"Radio Ga Ga" (Lead Vocals by Taylor & Rodgers)	Taylor	The Works
3.	"Can't Get Enough"	Ralphs	Bad Company (1974 / Bad Company)
4.	"A Kind of Magic"	Taylor	A Kind of Magic (1986 / Queen)
5.	"I Want It All" (Lead Vocals by Rodgers & May)	May	The Miracle (1989 / Queen)
6.	"Bohemian Rhapsody" (Pre-Recorded Vocals by Mercury, With Lead Vocals by Rodgers)	Mercury	A Night at the Opera
7.	"The Show Must Go On"	May	Innuendo
8.	"All Right Now"	Andy Fraser, Rodgers	Fire and Water (1970 / Free)
9.	"We Will Rock You"	May	News of the World (1977 / Queen)
10.	"We Are the Champions"	Mercury	News of the World
11.	"God Save the Queen"	Traditional, Arr. May	A Night at the Opera

DVD Tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original Album	Length
12.	"It's a Beautiful Day" (Remix / Pre-Recorded Vocals by Mercury)	Mercury	Made in Heaven (1995 / Queen)
13.	"Imagine" (Live at Hyde Park / Lead Vocals by May, Taylor & Rodgers)	John Lennon

NOTES: Tracks 12-13 are bonus songs from the DVD

Personnel

• Paul Rodgers – lead vocals, guitars
• Brian May – guitars, arrangements, vocals
• Roger Taylor – drums, percussion, vocals
• Spike Edney – keyboards, percussion, vocals
• Jamie Moses – guitars, vocals
• Danny Miranda – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals
• Freddie Mercury – pre-recorded vocals ("Bohemian Rhapsody", "Beautiful Day"), pre-recorded piano ("Bohemian Rhapsody")

Charts

Album

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[2]	19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[3]	52
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[4]	39
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[5]	19
French Albums (SNEP)[6]	80
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[7]	13
Irish Albums (IRMA)[8]	47
Italian Albums (FIMI)[9]	19
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[10]	28
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[11]	44
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[12]	42
UK Albums (OCC)[13]	12
US Billboard 200[14]	84

DVD

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Australian Music DVDs Chart[15]	16
Austrian Music DVDs Chart[16]	2
Belgian (Flanders) Music DVDs Chart[17]	7
Belgian (Wallonia) Music DVDs Chart[18]	6
Danish Music DVDs Chart[19]	10
Dutch Music DVDs Chart[20]	2
Greek Music DVDs Chart[21]	3
Italian Music DVDs Chart[22]	4
Spanish Music DVDs Chart[23]	6
US Music Videos Chart[24]	13

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[15]	Gold	7,500^^
France (SNEP)[25]	Gold	10,000^*
Germany (BVMI)[26]	Gold	25,000^^
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Queen: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
2. "Austriancharts.at – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
3. "Ultratop.be – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
4. "Ultratop.be – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
5. "Dutchcharts.nl – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
6. "Lescharts.com – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
7. "Officialcharts.de – Top 100 Longplay". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
8. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 38, 2005". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
9. "Italiancharts.com – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
10. "Portuguesecharts.com – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
11. "Spanishcharts.com – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
12. "Swisscharts.com – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
13. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
14. "Awards: Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
15. "ARIA Top 40 DVD" (PDF). The ARIA Report (823): 23. 5 December 2005. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
16. "Austria Top 40 – Musik-DVDs Top 10 11.11.2005". Austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
17. "Ultratop 10 Muziek-DVD". Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
18. "Ultratop 10 DVD Musicaux". Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
19. "Musik DVD Top-10". Hitlisten.nu (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
20. "DVD Music Top 30". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
21. "Top 20 DVD/Video". IFPI Greece (in Greek). Archived from the original on 14 December 2005. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
22. "Classifiche: Archivio – DVD Musicali". FIMI (in Italian). Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
23. "Top 20 DVD Musical" (PDF). PROMUSICAE (in Spanish). Media Control GfK International. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
24. Nielsen Business Media, Inc (5 November 2005). "Top Music Videos". Billboard. 117 (45): 77. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
25. "French video certifications – Queen + Paul Rogers – Return of the Champions" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
26. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Queen; 'Return of the Champions')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2 March 2013.

External links

• Queen official website: Discography: Return Of The Champions: includes lyrics of "Reaching Out", "Wishing Well", "Another Ones Bites The Dust", "Can't Get Enough".
• Return of the Champions at IMDb