We’ve been waiting for this one since Queen graced the first official trailer for Suicide Squad.
Thursday morning on Zane Lowe’s Apple Music show in L.A., Panic! At The Disco debuted the studio version of their “Bohemian Rhapsody” cover for the film Suicide Squad… and it was surprisingly pretty good! Covering Queen is a herculean task for several reasons—the technical precision of the music, Freddie Mercury’s inimitable voice and vocal range, the cult of personality that now surrounds the late lead singer—so anytime you hear about anyone attempting a cover, you can’t help but roll your eyes and tense up a little bit.
However, Panic!, the Las Vegas band who rose to prominence with their twist on pop punk in the mid aughts, actually does a really faithful cover of the original. Ignoring the fact that Brendon Urie could never do a facsimile imitation of Freddie Mercury (and thank God he didn’t try), the track moves and breathes much like the original, with little tweaks to background vocal levels and the volume of the guitar riff when it first kicks in.
For a deeper dive, check out the band performing the track live a few years back, using some of Queen’s original background melodies in the mix.
What do you guys think of Panic! At The Disco’s cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody?” Think they’re cover stacks up or should this song be immune from covers? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter.
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Featured Image: EMI Records
