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Hard Rock
Sony Music Vision
Reissue
Queen
Queen: Budapest
Reviewed in issue:
117
Release Date:
6 Nov 2026
Reviewed by:
🟣 Pete Arnett
For Fans Of
Muse
The Darkness
E.L.O
Top three tracks
• One Vision
• Is This The World We Created?
• We Will Rock You
Fireworks Verdict:
"It is beautiful, breathtaking and a triumph of what modern technology can achieve."
THE REVIEW
Words Of Wisdom!
The passing of time can be a cruel mistress, condemning once-great performances to almost-forgotten status. As a thirteen-year-old, I remember my mother buying the VHS of ‘Queen – Live In Budapest’ on the day it was released, and the joy we shared watching one of the greatest Rock bands in the world strut their stuff in Hungary. As I grew older, I would still slip the video on from time to time, but as technology advanced, I gradually became more distant from it. Its age became increasingly apparent next to all the shiny new concert releases out there, and although there was a brief resurgence when the DVD arrived in September 2012, it still somehow felt incomplete and was soon resigned to the shelf after a handful of viewings.
Fast-forward fourteen years, and I have the opportunity to review this latest restoration in full 4K resolution, complete with newly remixed sound from the original multitrack recordings. I'm not going to lie, loading it onto my screen was quite an emotional moment. I was hoping that technological justice would finally be done to a recording that had brought so much happiness into our home.
"I was hoping that technological justice would finally be done to a recording that had brought so much happiness into our home."
It sounds clichéd to say it, but as soon as the opening strains of Brian May's guitar signalled the start of ‘One Vision’, and footage of Queen arriving by riverboat was intercut with snippets of modern-day interviews with May and Roger Taylor explaining the new version, I had an inkling that it was a kind of magic!
Then Freddie Mercury and co. launched into the opening song with breathtaking clarity, both visually and sonically, and I was completely blown away. The restoration work is nothing short of outstanding. The footage is razor-sharp, the sound immaculate and the colours vibrant and unapologetically in your face, exactly as they should be. A huge amount of hard work by Peter Jackson and his crew has gone into this, and the result is magnificent.
The track list remains unchanged, but the experience of watching the concert has been transformed. It is simply jaw-dropping.
May hopes people will get lost in it and enjoy the crispness of it all. Well... mission accomplished.
" The restoration work is nothing short of outstanding."
If you remember the original, I implore you to watch this new version. If you're discovering Queen for the first time, this is the band at their greatest. It is beautiful, breathtaking and a triumph of what modern technology can achieve.
Long Live Queen!
Reviewer:
🟣 Pete Arnett
Let Us Know The Score!
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