Tracklist:1. Cosmos Rockin'
2. Time to Shine
3. Still Burnin'
4. Small
5. Warboys
6. We Believe
7. Call Me
8. Voodoo
9. Some Things That Glitter
10. C-lebrity
11. Through the Night
12. Say It's Not True
13. Surf's Up... School's Out!
14. Small Reprise
Ouch... – 5/10
What a big sensation was there when the two remaining Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor announced to record a full-length studio effort as Queen, albeit with a different singer. Can Paul Rodgers live up to the expectations of Queen fans, and most importantly, will the album relive or destroy the image of the legendary quartet known as Queen? No way.
That being said, The Cosmos Rocks would probably never have enjoyed as much success as it did, were it not Queen who released it, but May, Taylor and Rodgers. The Queen-level of the album might also be questioned. Does this album still qualify as Queen? Is Queen minus two members still Queen? Probably not. This album does not differ a lot from the so called ‘comebacks’ of famous old bands. As a Queen album, The Cosmos Rocks is average with almost no memorable moments, and as a stand-alone album, it’s a little better, but still nothing to write home about. Apart from that, it’s also all just loose song material on record that doesn’t complement each other. The Taylor-penned tracks are Taylor solo tracks, the May-written songs are May solo songs, and the Rodgers-composed tracks are bluesy little anthems and gimmicks that never belonged to Queen. Rodgers’ voice sounds very whiny and uninspired to me, probably because you always keep wondering what the great vocalist with the big range Freddie Mercury would’ve done with the songs. That’s one thing that’s hard to face; this is Queen + Paul Rodgers, and not Queen. Therefore, I will stop questioning the Queenness of the album, and review it as if it were a debut album by a brand new band.
The album is quite bad, but still not dreadful. The opening on the other hand is strong. “Cosmos Rockin’” is a true Taylor-penned rocker, quite reminding of a track from his latest solo album in terms of style. It’s a fast-paced and uplifting rocker carrying a lot of adrenaline along with it. Rodgers’ vocals sound quite calm and cool here and really fit the song. Second is a Paul Rodgers track “Time to Shine”, instantly setting foot on new area. It’s a bit of a slow-paced track build largely around the vocals, which lead the track. Whiny in the verses, hopeful in the chorus. May’s “Still Burnin’” sounds like written for 1992’s Back to the Light, his first solo record. A driving rock song with some glam-ish influences. It’s got a good beat to it though, but isn’t very interesting in the end. This is where the album causes mixed feelings. “Small”, written by Taylor, reminds of his 1994 album Happiness?. We’ve got here a mellow ballad with a more uplifting chorus, and of course the song’s got a positive message. Rodgers gives us a rocker with the somewhat cool “Warboys”. It’s a strong rocker with a tense drumming pattern and an active vocal performance. The last of the enjoyable tracks for a while.
Now we’re really entering a few lows. “We Believe” is a May-written ballad with another goodwill theme but some less memorable themes, though it isn’t bad, could’ve been a Queen song. Rodgers kills a possible respect for the album with his blues songs “Call Me” and “Voodoo”. The former features a very happy and uplifting ambience with some incredibly cheesy performances by our vocalist Paul Rodgers, while the latter is a true homage to boredom and annoying vocalists. Rodgers sings through his nose over a backing track where every musician is sleeping... I’m sorry; you’ve got to make a song more interesting in order to keep people’s attention and respect. After having fallen asleep during “Voodoo”, Brian May says hello with a ballad called “Some Things That Glitter”. While the track actually is pretty strong and once more could’ve been a Queen song, it still features the same sleep-inviting and annoying vocalist as the previous song. “C-lebrity” should wake us up with its strong and pounding guitar riff that reminds us somehow a very lot of... Judas Priest’s “A Touch of Evil”...?! Is Brian May stealing riffs from the Metal Gods? Aside from that, it’s a pretty obvious Roger Taylor song with a strong and present-day theme, lyrically something we would’ve seen on his solo records. “Through the Night” features more of the nose-singing boredom, and “Surf’s Up... School’s Out!” sounds like a forced attempt at trying to relive the old days where Taylor wrote these songs about youth and freedom... now he is old and matured. Imagine how that would sound. “Say It’s Not True”, another track by Taylor, is a ballad dedicated to Nelson Mandela’s AIDS foundation 46664. Lyrically it’s typically Taylor, and as a ballad it’s just another solo song. It features Taylor and May on vocals though, and even though alongside Rodgers, it finally signals you’re listening to something Queen members worked at.
Well, as you can see the album is not dreadful... but it’s just not Queen. The name of the product is not nearly as important as the quality of the product, but the name often invites us to have a peek inside the product’s packaging. I would love to hear the May- and Taylor-penned songs being sung by their writers on a solo record... I could imagine them sounding a lot more convincing. Apart from the quality everything points out that this album was not a serious effort to release something great, but only a moneymaker and a reason to continue the Queen + Paul Rodgers tour. As possible proof for this statement, take a look at Live in Ukraine’s setlist and tell me how many new songs were played.
Strongest tracks: “Cosmos Rockin’”, “Warboys” and “Say It’s Not True”.
Worst tracks: “Call Me”, “Voodoo” and “Through the Night”.
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