"Queen: Days of Our Lives" (2011 UK Documentary)

[pkristen]

Summary: The ultimate documentary of the band from its beginnings in 1971 to today. A mixture of archival interviews, performance pieces and new interviews from Brian May and Roger Taylor. Lots and lots of extras if you buy the DVD/Blu Ray.

Review: Queen was a band that hit major US popularity when I was in junior high, at a time where I knew of their music but it wasn't my taste, and I hadn't yet come out of the closet so there was no real personal meaning for me at the time.

By the time I had come out of the closet as a lebian and AIDS activist, Freddie Mercury was well into his physical decline. So my appreciation of them feels almost "too late" but much richer with hindsight than had I been a fan at the height of their US popularity.

From all aspects, this video is worth it: a true tell-all about the bands best and most notorious moments as well as a frank discussion about what it means to create art. And it has a brutally honest treatment of how Freddie's sexuality both helped and hindered different aspects of the band.

But the biggest thing I took away from this video is how much May and Taylor deeply loved and respected Mercury, and clearly still miss him to this day.