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Liar (Queen song)

"Liar" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by the lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1970. The song featured on the band's 1973 debut album Queen. A heavily truncated version of "Liar" was released as a single – backed with "Doing All Right" – in the United States and New Zealand by Elektra Records in February 1974.

"Liar"
A-side label for the US vinyl single
Single by Queen
from the album Queen
B-side"Doing All Right"
Released14 February 1974[1]
RecordedDecember 1971;
June–November 1972
StudioTrident Studios, London
Genre
Length
  • 6:24 (album version)
  • 3:01 (single version)
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)Freddie Mercury
Producer(s)
Queen singles chronology
"Keep Yourself Alive"
(1973) 		"Liar"
(1974) 		"Seven Seas of Rhye"
(1974)

The music video consisted of the band miming to the song on a sound stage. "Liar" was the band's second videoclip and it was filmed one year before it was released as a single.

As confirmed by the transcription on EMI Music Publishing's Off The Record sheet music for the song, this is one of three Queen tracks, the others being "Now I'm Here" and "Under Pressure" (their collaboration originally with David Bowie), to feature a Hammond organ.

This song briefly brought up the problem of songwriting credits within the band. May queried which band members would be credited for developing the music for each song, to which Mercury concluded the discussion, stating that the lyricist, or otherwise the individual who originates the song, should be credited as its writer, a practice that continued until The Miracle (1989).

Composition

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This song makes prominent use of the flanging effect, especially on the drums and cowbell. This is also the longest song on the album.

Reception

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Cash Box called it a "top flight, tightly delivered rocker" with an accent on "bass and lead guitar with energetic lead vocal and harmony performances."[5]

Live performances

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In the band's early years, "Liar" was a concert staple, performed as a conclusion to their main set, and often lasting for up to ten minutes. "Liar" would start to be played scarcely by The News of the World Tour, to be dropped from the setlist for the Jazz Tour. However, starting with the Crazy Tour, the song begins to be performed scarcely again. By the Game Tour, the song was no longer included in the setlist. The song was revived for a few shows in the European leg of the 1982 Hot Space Tour and rumoured to have been played once in the North American leg on that very same tour. The song would be revived again in the Works Tour (though the song was cut down to three minutes or less). "Liar" was referred to in the setlist of the Magic Tour, as Brian May played a partial guitar riff from the song immediately before "Tear it Up".

Personnel

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Track listing

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  1. "Liar" (Freddie Mercury) – 3:03
  2. "Doing All Right" (Brian May, Tim Staffell) – 4:09

Appearances

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Legacy/cover versions

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Comedy heavy metal band Bad News used the opening riff and other song structures in their song "Hey, Hey, Bad News". Brian May produced their self-titled album and played on their cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" from the same album.

Notes

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  1. ^ Lemieux, Patrick; Unger, Adam (April 2018). The Queen Chronology. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781926462103.
  2. ^ Georg Purvis (24 August 2012). Queen: Complete Works. Titan Books. p. 657. ISBN 978-1-78116-287-3.
  3. ^ Popoff, Martin (5 January 2024). "The Top 20 unlikely Progressive Rock hits, ranked". Goldmine. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  4. ^ Queen- Uncensored on the Record. Coda Books. ISBN 9781908538840.
  5. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 23 February 1974. p. 34. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
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