Queen share alternative version of All Dead, All Dead featuring Freddie Mercury
Queen's original News Of The World track featured guitarist Brian May on vocals - watch animated lyric video
by Scott Munro
Feline groovy … Queen. Photograph: Everett Collection / Rex Feature
Queen have released an animated lyric video for an alternative take on their 1977 track All Dead, All Dead.
The original album version featured lead vocals from guitarist Brian May – but the newly released song, which appears on the 40th anniversary edition of News Of The World – has Freddie Mercury on vocal duties.
Tomorrow (October 28) will mark the 40th anniversary of News Of The World, with the deluxe box set arriving on November 17.
Speaking about the track with Guitar Magazine in 1983, May said: “That's one of my favourites. That was one of the ones which I thought came off best, and I was really pleased with the sound.
“It always gives me a surprise when I listen to it because it was meant to really bring tears to your eyes. It almost does it to me.”
The video concept was created by Unanico Studios’ Jason Jameson, Robert Milne and Paul Laikin and tells the story of Pixie the cat, who is lost in a kingdom of cogs and pipes, wires and circuit boards.
May and the studio drew inspiration from Bruno Bozzetto’s animated opus Allegro Non Troppo, the 1976 film itself featuring a wandering feline as one of its protagonists.
Laikin says: “Jason, Robert and I are honoured to have worked with Brian to create a visual world for this fresh and emotional version of All Dead, All Dead.
“The cat in the video is inspired by photos Brian showed us of his childhood pet, and we hope it is also a fitting tribute to Freddie Mercury, who was devoted to his own cats.”
