"Liar" is a song by the British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

, written by the lead singer

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

in 1970. The song featured on the band's 1973 debut album ''

.'' 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 Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

in February 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 EMI Music Publishing Ltd. is a British multinational music publishing company headquartered in London, owned by Sony Music Publishing. In May 2018, Sony Music Publishing agreed to increase its stake in EMI to 90%, pending regulatory approva ...

'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 "Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's tenth studio album ''Hot Space'' (1982). The song reached number one on the U ...

" (their collaboration originally with

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

), to feature a

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

. 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

This song makes prominent use of the

flanging Flanging is an audio signal processing, audio effect produced by mixing two identical audio signal, signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a ...

effect, especially on the drums and cowbell. This is also the longest song on the album.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it a "top flight, tightly delivered rocker" with an accent on "bass and lead guitar with energetic lead vocal and harmony performances."

Live performances

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 more sparingly by The

News of the World Tour The News of the World Tour was the fifth headlining concert tour by the British rock band Queen, supporting their successful 1977 album ''News of the World''. The tour spanned from 11 November 1977 to 13 May 1978 over three tour legs: North Ame ...

, to be dropped from the setlist for the Jazz Tour. However, starting with the Crazy Tour, the song begins to be performed sparingly 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 Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...

played a partial guitar riff from the song immediately before "Tear it Up".

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals, Hammond organ *

– acoustic and electric guitar, backing vocals * Roger Taylor – drums, woodblock, cowbell, backing vocals *

John Deacon John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician who was the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits " You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bites the Dust" a ...

– bass guitar

Track listing

#"Liar" (

) – 3:03 #"Doing All Right" (

Tim Staffell Timothy John Staffell (born 24 February 1948) is an English rock musician, visual artist, model maker and designer. He was a member of Smile, a band that included guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. Upon Staffell's departure, Smile w ...

) – 4:09

Appearances

*''

'' (1973) *'' At the Beeb'' (1989) *'' Live at the Rainbow '74'' (2014) *'' A Night at the Odeon – Hammersmith 1975'' (2015) *''

On Air On air or On Air may refer to: Music *On Air (The Yardbirds album), ''On Air'' (The Yardbirds album), 1991 *On Air (Alan Parsons album), ''On Air'' (Alan Parsons album), 1996 *On Air (John Fahey album), ''On Air'' (John Fahey album), 2004 *On Air ...

'' (2016)

Legacy/cover versions

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 "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock music, rock band Queen (band), Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''A Night at the Opera (Queen album), A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by Queen's lead si ...

" from the same album.

Notes

External links

*
Lyrics at Queen official website

"Liar"
at Queenpedia * "Liar" song reviewat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{authority control Queen (band) songs 1973 songs 1974 singles Songs written by Freddie Mercury Song recordings produced by John Anthony (record producer) Music videos directed by Bruce Gowers EMI Records singles Elektra Records singles Hollywood Records singles British hard rock songs