Queen - Queen Rock Montreal (2007)

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. We Will Rock You [Fast]
3. Let Me Entertain You
4. Play the Game
5. Somebody to Love
6. Killer Queen
7. I'm in Love with my Car
8. Get Down, Make Love
9. Save Me
10. Now I'm Here
11. Dragon Attack
12. Now I'm Here (Reprise)
13. Love of my Life

1. Under Pressure
2. Keep Yourself Alive
3. Drum and Tympani Solo
4. Guitar Solo
5. Flash
6. The Hero
7. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
8. Jailhouse Rock
9. Bohemian Rhapsody
10. Tie Your Mother Down
11. Another One Bites the Dust
12. Sheer Heart Attack
13. We Will Rock You
14. We Are the Champions
15. God Save the Queen

Another one? – 7,5/10

For those who love Live at Wembley ’86 and Live at the Bowl so much and can’t get enough, there’s another live album released. This time it’s a concert from the The Game tour. I really like good live albums, but I never find myself listening to them again and again, which is the case with studio albums. You can imagine I’m not particularly fond of a company shitting out live albums like they’re breeding them. At least, it’s not the way to make me enthusiastic.

We all know Queen is great live; we heard it before on the earlier live releases. So what NEW does this album bring us? The tracklist is vaguely similar to Live at the Bowl, except for the disappearance of the Hot Space tracks, which have been replaced with some older classics, which is exactly why you could think of getting this album. “Let Me Entertain You”, “Killer Queen”, “I’m in Love with my Car” and “Keep Yourself Alive” are the only new songs, and they are performed quite well. Needless to say, the other tracks are also performed well, with the ambience, the speeches and games we all know by now.

Conclusion: another good live album by Queen. Recommended if you really need more live albums by the band or if you are a collector. As for me, I’ll pass. I hope the next live album released will be featuring a totally new tracklist with some more surprises.

Queen - On Fire: Live at the Bowl (2004)

Tracklist:
1. Flash
2. The Hero
3. We Will Rock You [Fast]
4. Action This Day
5. Play the Game
6. Staying Power
7. Somebody to Love
8. Now I'm Here
9. Dragon Attack
10. Now I'm Here (Reprise)
11. Love of my Life
12. Save Me
13. Back Chat

1. Get Down, Make Love
2. Guitar Solo
3. Under Pressure
4. Fat Bottomed Girls
5. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
6. Bohemian Rhapsody
7. Tie Your Mother Down
8. Another One Bites the Dust
9. Sheer Heart Attack
10. We Will Rock You
11. We are the Champions
12. God Save the Queen

Queen on Fire – 8,7/10

Hot Space is truly one of the oddest Queen albums and is not mixable with the other studio releases because it’s so different. This album, recorded on the Hot Space tour, shows us that these songs always sounded better in live. There’s still difference with the old songs of course, but they mix remarkably well with the older material. Apart from that the live album is filled with all the energy and games a real Queen concert must’ve had.

The crowd goes insane as the band finally enters with opening track “The Hero”, thereby concluding their Flash Gordon intro suite and they pump some adrenaline with the fast version “We Will Rock You”, which just never looses its power. There are the necessary Space-songs like “Action This Day” that are sounding surprisingly better with the louder guitars and the acoustic drums. The ambience is unbelievable on this album with Freddie Mercury making the listener of this concert feel as if he were there with his eyes closed. His games with the crowd are also never getting old. The setlist is also quite refreshing with more older songs included than on Live at Wembley ’86, like “Fat Bottomed Girls”, with the great harmonies of the Queen choir being great as well live, “Play the Game”, “Somebody to Love” and “Save Me”. To my regret “Get Down, Make Love” seemed to be a live favorite in those days, but it’s at least fun to hear the audience go crazy at the sounding of John Deacon’s famous bass notes.

Not much can be said about this album, except that it’s a great live album and once again shows that Queen is one of the greatest live bands ever. This live album especially is great because it finally contains more than just one song from Hot Space. I will highly recommend this album to every Queen fan; it is essential to your live collection.

Highlights: “We Will Rock You [Fast]”, “Staying Power”, “Fat Bottomed Girls” and "Somebody to Love".

Queen - Greatest Hits III (1999)

Tracklist:
1. The Show Must Go On (live)
2. Under Pressure (Rah mix)
3. Barcelona
4. Too Much Love Will Kill You
5. Somebody to Love (live)
6. You Don't Fool Me
7. Heaven for Everyone
8. Las Palabras de Amor
9. Driven by You
10. Living on my Own (remix)
11. Let Me Live
12. The Great Pretender
13. Princess of the Universe
14. Another One Bites the Dust (mix)
15. No One But You (Only the Good Die Young)
16. These Are the Days of Our Lives
17. Thank God It's Christmas

The Third Chapter... and still not the final – 6,5/10

And then Queen decide to release another greatest hits album with a few more singles released after Greatest Hits II. This album is said to be Queen+, with the plus standing for material from solo careers and guest singers, probably from the Freddie Mercury tribute concert. This does take away the reputation of a title called “Greatest Hits”, but it’s of course another nice compilation, hereby concluding the Greatest Hits series, even though there’s still life to Queen in the future, if only without Freddie and John.

How do you compile a greatest hits album if you don’t want to publish stuff from earlier hit compilations and you have only one new album with not nearly enough hits? Quite simple that is! We’re in the techno age, mind! You make a remix of one of Queen’s bigger hits: “Under Pressure”, but now it’s the “Rah mix”. Mostly the same as the normal song, but with a beat underneath and a firm remastering. And there are some lines twisted and the intro is different. Apart from that I guess it’s nice to hear once, but I prefer the old version. And of course “Another One Bites the Dust” has been given a new face of disgrace with a rapper added... Unlistenable... The original version was pretty boring, but now it’s just repulsive. Alright that’s two songs, but it doesn’t make a compilation album... Take four relatively successful tracks from Made in Heaven, “Let Me Live”, “Too Much Love Will Kill You”, “You Don’t Fool Me” and “Heaven for Everyone”. Let’s see... we forgot some tracks on the previous Greatest Hits release, “Princes of the Universe”, “Las Palabras de Amor”, “These are the Days of our Lives” and the holiday favorite “Thank God It’s Christmas”. That makes ten songs... how do we fill the other half of the album?

Did we release any non-album singles between 1991 and 1999? Yes we did! Remember that live recording from the Freddie Tribute concert? And so “Somebody to Love” with George Michael was added. I guess this version is kind of good. George Michael adds a whole different atmosphere to the song, but that’s good, as he’s being himself. Talking about live, wasn’t there something with Elton John in 1997? Now you mention it, let’s include it too. “The Show Must Go On” with decent but not great vocals was added. Brian, Roger and John were sitting around the table with six empty cups of coffee for hours and hours on and on. Were they ever going to fill this compilation album? Then Brian said:
“What if I...”
“No, Brian!” said Roger.
“But how else...?”
“We’ll find a way...”
They are already a bit moody as we fall in this conversation. Suddenly John spoke:
“Why not? If we’re still finding a way after six hours of coffee then I’m eating my hat I just bought.”
“Yeah,” adds Brian. “I mean, we won’t add a lot of them...”
What are they talking about, you think? They added material from their solo careers... Hits from Freddie Mercury such as “Barcelona” with Montserrat Caballé, Freddie's solo cover "The Great Pretender" and a special remix of “Living on my Own”, and a hit from Brian May known as “Driven by You”. I think this addition is very odd. Wasn’t this a Queen album? Of course, they’re just promoting this stuff, but why isn’t stuff from Roger’s solo career added as well? My humble opinion likes that a lot more than “Driven by You”.

Glad they dealt with this they stared at the current tracklist.
“Something’s missing...” said Brian thoughtfully.
“Yeah, something from my solo albums...” suggested Roger.
“No, I mean something that should be on here... I mean, would you buy this?”
“Not even if it was free. But hey, that’s the record company’s problem. It was their idea after all...”
“What if,” John tried, “we write a new song? I’m sure those silly fans are dying for unreleased Queen material!”
“Yeah,” said Roger. “Probably so... but writing together without Freddie just seems so unreal...”
“Then let’s make a song about Freddie and dedicate it to him! The last Queen song ever as a homage to our friend!”
“Good idea!” said Brian enthusiastically. “I’m starting right away!”
And so “No One But You (Only The Good Die Young)” was born. And boy that song is so beautiful, almost makes me cry. It features a rare sharing of Roger and Brian on vocals with so much emotion put in the creation and just is one of the most beautiful and sensitive Queen songs ever.

All in all, this is a bit of an odd compilation, worth buying only for “No One But You”, since it features only on other out of print compilations. But of course, there are a lot of alternatives to get the song... iTunes, buy the physical single or be very nice to your friend. If not, then this is for collector’s only.

Queen - Made in Heaven (1995)

Tracklist:
1. It's a Beautiful Day
2. Made in Heaven
3. Let Me Live
4. Mother Love
5. My Life Has Been Saved
6. I Was Born to Love You
7. Heaven for Everyone
8. Too Much Love Will Kill You
9. You Don't Fool Me
10. A Winter's Tale
11. It's a Beautiful Day (reprise)


Heavenly – 8,5/10

After the release of Innuendo in 1991, Queen certainly did not do nothing. In the time remaining Freddie Mercury recorded as many vocal samples as he could for what would later become the posthumous release Made in Heaven. Whether it is ethically right or wrong to let a sick man give all his energy to vocals won’t be discussed here, only the result. And the result is nothing disappointing at all.

Where Innuendo was a bit dominated by the dark luring of the upcoming death, Made in Heaven focuses mainly on the beauty of afterlife, commonly believed to be heaven. There are also messages in the lyrics that reach further than just the simple “It’s a Beautiful Day”. Since this album is a bit of a reprise for Queen in the ways they existed, there are some familiar songs for people who explored solo careers. “Made in Heaven” itself was first released on Freddie Mercury’s solo album Mr. Bad Guy in 1985. They maintained the vocals but filled up the otherwise bland instrumental section. It now sounds like Queen. It has these powerful drums at the beginning and the strong guitar riff to make a difference to the 1985 version. “Heaven for Everyone” was first released on the album Shove It in 1988 by The Cross, a solo band of Roger Taylor. The Made in Heaven version also sounds a lot more filled up and a lot better than the 1988 version. “Too Much Love Will Kill You” was first released on Brian May’s solo album Back to the Light in 1992. A few re-recordings later and the Made in Heaven version was ready. It’s a very strong power ballad with a slight reference to the AIDS disease. Last, but not least, “I Was Born to Love You” also featured on Mercury’s Mr. Bad Guy, but as a dance song. Here, it is a fast-paced rock track and easily defeats the older version, as is the case with most re-recordings here. They have all been Queenified.

The genuine song material also does not disappoint. “Let Me Live” sounds like a bit of a gospel track with a rare lead vocal sharing by Freddie Mercury, Brian May AND Roger Taylor. Only for that this song is worth listening to a few times. “Mother Love” is a more sensitive ballad with Brian May singing a verse as well. It takes the theme to another level, like you are seeing your life fly backwards in front of your eyes. The ending is in that case even more fitting when you hear the baby cry. The end of the song is the beginning of a life. “My Life Has Been Saved” previously featured as a b-side to “Scandal” in 1989 but has also been reworked and has changed the otherwise lead guitar in the intro-melody to a calmer atmosphere with piano and mature synths. With its driving force and lyrics this song becomes one of my favorites off the album. “You Don’t Fool Me” is more of a dance track with its continuous beat-like backing track and vocals. It has a quite good guitar solo though. “A Winter’s Tale” is the last composition ever written by the late Freddie Mercury and is a great ballad with a slight swinging atmosphere. And of course there are the “It’s a Beautiful Day”’s. The first is the album intro with solely piano and vocals (and backing synths). Quite enjoyable I’d say, but there’s a party going on in the reprise version where they added a rock section to conclude the album, according to the tracklist. But the tracklist lies, there are hidden tracks! Track 12 features nothing but a sample of Mercury shouting “Yeah!”, but Track 13 is complicated. It’s a 22-minute piece of music of surprises and outbursts. It’s less loud than the rest of the album in terms of recordings, but worth listening to once or twice. There’s an interesting explanation about this song on wikipedia, if you’re interested.

All in all, Made in Heaven is a good Queen album. It’s not to be looked at as is looked at at A Night at the Opera or Hot Space, because it’s not a normal album. It’s the last studio album to feature Freddie Mercury’s voice and for that fact alone this album is worth having. Highly recommended.

Strongest tracks: “Let Me Live”, “Made in Heaven” and “My Life Has Been Saved”.

Queen - Live at Wembley '86 (1992)

Tracklist:
1. One Vision
2. Tie Your Mother Down
3. In the Lap of the Gods
4. Seven Seas of Rhye
5. Liar/Tear it Up
6. A Kind of Magic
7. Under Pressure
8. Another One Bites the Dust
9. Who Wants to Live Forever
10. I Want to Break Free
11. Impromptu
12. Brighton Rock (solo)
13. Now I'm Here

1. Love of my Life
2. Is This the World we Created...?
3. (You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care
4. Hello Mary Lou (Goodbye Heart)
5. Tutti Frutti
6. Gimme Some Lovin'
7. Bohemian Rhapsody
8. Hammer to Fall
9. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
10. Big Spender
11. Radio Ga Ga
13. We Will Rock You
14. Friends Will Be Friends
15. We Are the Champions
16. God Save the Queen

Queen’s First Complete Concert – 8,6/10

So far we have seen two Queen live albums released, both featuring heavy edits, removal of speeches and atmosphere and the fact that they are compilations. The release of Live at Wembley ’86 after the death of one of the greatest vocalists ever Freddie Mercury features none of that. For the first time we have an official live release featuring a whole concert without edits or removals. And now we can finally give a good judgement on Queen’s live performance.

The concert was the concert before the last concert ever with Freddie Mercury. It’s from the Magic Tour, so we would have to count on some songs from that album. And we get them. “One Vision”, “A Kind of Magic”, “Who Wants to Live Forever”... they mix up terribly well with older songs like “Seven Seas of Rhye”, “Tie Your Mother Down” or “Another One Bites the Dust”. Queen is fun to listen to in live. Even though songs like “I Want to Break Free” or “Another One Bites the Dust” are just boring me on the studio record, they’ve got the atmosphere here. Freddie goes wild in his interactions with the crowd, thus making these otherwise quite boring songs come to life. There’s even some fooling around when they do a bunch of old rock ‘n roll covers such as “Tutti Frutti”, “(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care” and “Big Spender”. The crowd just goes crazy with the big hits like “We Will Rock You”, “We Are the Champions” and “Hammer to Fall”. It’s just so mighty to hear. This is a full Queen concert, and we missed that on previous live releases. It’s got everything, from Freddie playing the crowd just after “A Kind of Magic” all the way to the infamous Brian May guitar solo during “Brighton Rock”.

There’s no fooling around here: this is Queen’s finest live release for now. More to come, and perhaps even better to come? The main advantage of this one over Live Magic and Live Killers is the full concert experience without edits or removals. Highly recommended for Queen lovers.

Highlights: “A Kind of Magic”, “Hammer to Fall” and “We Are the Champions”.

Queen - Greatest Hits II (1991)

Tracklist:
1. A Kind of Magic
2. Under Pressure
3. Radio Ga Ga
4. I Want It All
5. I Want to Break Free
6. Innuendo
7. It's A Hard Life
8. Breakthru
9. Who Wants to Live Forever
10. Headlong
11. The Miracle
12. I'm Going Slightly Mad
13. The Invisible Man
14. Hammer to Fall
15. Friends Will Be Friends
16. The Show Must Go On
17. One Vision

The End of Chapter Two – 7/10

As Queen survived the 80s and released lots of singles that became great hits, Queen Productions has decided to release another Greatest Hits compilation, especially after the big success of the first compilation. There’s no other goal to this compilation than to have all the greatest hits from 1982 to 1991 on compact disc, thus you can guess the tracklist without having looked at it.

So are there surprises in the tracklist? No of course not, since Queen wasn’t surprising us anymore in the 80s. Or am I wrong? Yes! The surprise is they included several songs from 1991’s Innuendo, including its title track and “Headlong”. Furthermore there are just the most successful hit singles such as “A Kind of Magic”, “Under Pressure”, “Radio Gaga”, “I Want It All” and “Friends Will Be Friends”. A lot of these songs are not bad at all and there one specific collector’s reason for this compilation: single edits! Yes, Queen decided to edit their beloved compositions for broadcast on air. Often the tracks are shortened and decreased in power, such as “I Want It All” or “Who Wants to Live Forever”, but there’s one song I’d otherwise hate and is quite worth your time on here. “I Want to Break Free” has been given an intro! It’s not really much, but it gives the song more content. Why the hell did this version not make it to the album The Works? Ah well, unfathomable are the ways of Queen...

Anyhow, if you really want to see an album that has all the big hits and single edits together, then I suggest you take a look at Greatest Hits 2. If you already have all the albums you should think very hard first. ‘Nuff said.

Queen - Innuendo (1991)

Tracklist:
1. Innuendo
2. I'm Going Slightly Mad
3. Headlong
4. I Can't Live With You
5. Don't Try So Hard
6. Ride the Wild Wind
7. All Gods People
8. These Are The Days Of Our Lives
9. Delilah
10. The Hitman
11. Bijou
12. The Show Must Go On

Disclosure – 8,5/10

After an uneasy time all the way from 1980 to 1989, Queen has finally created an album that can live up to the classic 70s material. Unfortunately, it’s also the last studio album featuring both vocalist Freddie Mercury and 100% genuine songmaterial. A lot of lyrics feature a hidden undertone about Mercury’s upcoming death, thus making it a quite sad album. That doesn’t take away that this is probably more energetic than any album since Jazz and features progressive influences for the first time since A Night At The Opera. At the time of its release it went platinum and reached #01 in the UK for the third time in a row (or fourth if you count Live Magic).

As said before, the main theme is Freddie Mercury’s upcoming death and therefore there’s a dark atmosphere throughout this album with a lot of ambiguous meanings to the lyrics. Especially in the beginning, the progressive title track, the arrangements don’t hide the atmosphere. A mysterious synth-tone combined with the rolling of the snare drum and an exotic scale creates a haunting atmosphere right away. The song contains a lot of theme and mood changes and refers in the operatic break to “Bohemian Rhapsody”, and this track is certainly of the same quality. Having said that, the album immediately sounds more like the classic material than any album released in the commercial 80s. The album continues with “I’m Going Slightly Mad”; a dramatic ballad teaser with quite innocent lyrics, given a negative load with the upcoming tragedy. There’s a special connection between this track and “These Are the Days of Our Lives”. The latter is an even gentler ballad with the potential to bring tears to your eyes. Another great ballad would be the almost instrumental “Bijou”. It mostly features as an interlude with a beautiful guitar solo before the epic end to the album with “The Show Must Go On”.

And that brings us from ballads to epic tracks. “The Show Must Go On” is perhaps one of Queen’s best tracks, again given a dark load in the lyrics. Definite highlight here, and on the entire album, is vocalist Freddie Mercury, who, despite his disease, still has a vocal range of at least four octaves, as he shows here. This is, besides quite admirable, also very surprising. At the time of the recordings of Innuendo he does not seem to have given up any power, feel or range yet. This is also clearly audible in the equally epic “Don’t Try So Hard”. I always have the feel this is the twinbrother of “The Show Must Go On”. Same dark synth-tone used and both are very haunting and impressive. It’s quite unique for this album. There’s also enough rock material on this album, beginning with the May-penned “Headlong”. Together with “The Hitman” these are the most obvious rockers. Tight riffs, good feel, definitely rock songs. The only problem I have with these is that they forgot how to make an end to them. Just repeating the chorus and the riff until we’ve reached the five-minute-mark is not pleasing me. Otherwise great songs though. Less obvious rockers, but rockers nevertheless, would be “I Can’t Live With You” and “Ride the Wild Wind”. Especially the last one is a peculiar track with some of Mercury’s lower notes and an odd atmosphere...

And of course, like on any other Queen album, we’ve got the necessary duds. “All Gods People” sounds like it could’ve been on a gospel, if only for the Africa-sounding rhythms. This song can either be a refreshing spotlight in the middle of the darkness or a returning pimple on an otherwise smooth skin. And there is of course the notorious “Delilah”, Mercury’s ode to his cat. It is, besides terribly boring, breaking the album and especially notable for Mercury imitating the “meow” of a cat on different pitches. Fairly obsolete and totally uncalled for.

Innuendo is an album of differences. While most songs carry the dark atmosphere, there are some songs that deliberately break away from the darkness, resulting in a very varying journey. If you can take the journey, then Innuendo is for you. I recommend this album to all Queen fans and to people who would like to become a Queen fan.

Strongest tracks: “Innuendo”, “Don’t Try So Hard” and “The Show Must Go On”.
Weakest track: “Delilah”.

Queen - The Miracle (1989)

Tracklist:
1. Party
2. Kashoggi's Ship
3. The Miracle
4. I Want It All
5. The Invisible Man
6. Breakthru
7. Rain Must Fall
8. Scandal
9. My Baby Does Me
10. Was It All Worth It
11. Hang On In There [*]
12. Chinese Torture [*]
13. The Invisible Man (12" version) [*]

Magic Accomplishes Miracles – 7,5/10

They’ve given the message now; whatever they were doing or trying in the early 80s, it was all just some experiments. They are really back to rock ‘n roll now, albeit in the style of their time. Though one could think A Kind of Magic was a one-time effort, they actually tried to accomplish the same kind of material for The Miracle. This album, too, contains five singles that climbed various charts, namely “Miracle”, “Breakthru”, “I Want It All”, “The Invisible Man” and “Scandal”. In the eyes of hitlovers this release is just another album they know only a few songs from (albeit this album contained more hits than average), but what is it apart from that?

Let me get one thing straight. Where A Kind of Magic could be seen as somewhat magical, The Miracle is in no way a true miracle. Surely, they managed to entertain once again, but repeating the same formula twice is never a golden idea. The rock ‘n roll meets mature 80s synth pop features once more. There’s one big improvement to the predecessor though: the songs together form an album. They really fit together, which is debatable with A Kind of Magic. The problem of this album is mostly in the songwriting, however. The style might be overall the same; there are some disappointing tracks on here decreasing the value of the album. Good examples are “My Baby Does Me”, which doesn’t really stand for anything. It’s just the cooked synth-sound and Freddie, with a dash of drums from Mr Taylor. “Rain Must Fall” falls under the same category, although this one can be enjoyed at times.

The rest of the album features mostly sugar and spice. The sugar part features sweet tracks like “Miracle” with its cheesy lyrics but addictive epicness, “The Invisible Man” with its driving bass line and “Scandal” with its very melodic verses and supposedly heavy guitars. The spice part is where it all gets more interesting. The album is surprisingly opened by the duo “Party” and “Kashoggi’s Ship”. The former begins oddly with drums only and then Freddie Mercury joins in, with a heavy swinging guitar riff joining in halfway. This description might not suffice, but I can assure you that this move rejected some fans. “Kashoggi’s Ship” is the continuation of the party begun in “Party”, this time packaged in some sort of rock song with heavy chorus on the guitars. There’s a funny ambience in this intro, which makes them special. Furthermore we have “I Want It All”, which is surprisingly heavy for a mainstream rock single, especially the solo part. Also “Breakthru” tends to kick multiple asses at once with a slightly heroic melody in the chorus and a fast-paced rhythm to keep the energy. True highlight, however, is “Was It All Worth It”. I will always keep saying Queen’s better tracks are hidden on the albums, not between the hits. This is a fine example of that very statement. It contains a great heavy guitar riff, an ingeniously epic main melody and unpredictable changes of themes. A great way to close the official album.

Since every CD release comes with three bonus tracks, I might as well involve them in my review. “Hang On In There” is there to add to the spice part of the album and is a nice addition. “Chinese Torture” is probably the latest way of torturing someone’s ear, made in china. But I think Brian May was just moody and was making some loud noise and recorded it for fun. “The Invisible Man (12” version)” is an interesting extended version of the original song, but if you don’t like the original there’s no way you’ll like this one.

All in all, The Miracle is a nice album. It’s great to see Queen is back to making rock music again, even though this album is just a confirmation of that. It’s a good album, but not one of the best, but then again... the 80s aren’t the best of times for music. If you desperately search a Queen album from the 80s, I could recommend either this one or A Kind of Magic. The decision is yours.

Strongest tracks: “Was It All Worth It”, “Breakthru”, “Party” and “I Want It All”.
Weakest track: “My Baby Does Me”.

Queen - Live Magic (1986)

Tracklist:
1. One Vision
2. Tie Your Mother Down
3. Seven Seas of Rhye
4. A Kind of Magic
5. Under Pressure
6. Another One Bites the Dust
7. I Want to Break Free
8. Is This The World That We Created...?
9. Bohemian Rhapsody
10. Hammer to Fall
11. Radio Ga Ga
12. We Will Rock You
13. Friends Will Be Friends
14. We Are the Champions
15. God Save the Queen

Where’s the magic? – 1,5/10

Remember Live Killers? It didn’t really bother me a lot, but at least we had full songs being performed, though assembled from different concerts. It was a bit of a best of Queen live. If you thought that one was pitiful, then you definitely must consider listening to Live Magic. It adds an entirely new dimension to live albums; a new low in the history of live releases.

Let me tell you about my ultimate live album. What I value highly in live releases is the ambience, the spirit. An obligation here is the presence of an audible audience. Without an audience you can hardly name it live. This audience must be challenged. We don’t only want to hear them clap to the songs; we’d like them to be played. That’s where the frontman comes in. A frontman should play the crowd with games, should comfort them when the guitarist needs to fetch himself a new instrument, should be in contact with the crowd and should involve them in the show. And for fans that do not know every song, or just to get the fans excited, the frontman should announce the next track every now and then. Next, it would be great to have a full concert experience. One full concert on disc, that’s what we want. Full songs, full speeches, full frontman activities and full atmosphere. Apart from that, it’s even better to have the live songs sound differently than on the album. That’s a piece of art and talent, to make the same songs sound different in concert than on the album. If there’s an album that features all of this, you’ve got your ultimate live album.

Live Magic is everything my ultimate live album is not, except maybe for the frontman activities. Freddie Mercury plays the crowd for a short time after “Another One Bites the Dust” and loyally announces the tracks. Furthermore, there’s some cutting and editing in almost every track on the album. Didn’t I say I wanted full tracks? This is awful. The audience is not being challenged. No speeches, nothing. This makes it not a good live recording. There are speeches at every show, even if they’re very short. Though the songs might sound different than on the album for some times, the fact that most of them are reduced to just one verse and one chorus makes it a shitty live release. The song “I Want to Break Free” is being announced by the audience with the band joining them instead of Freddie, which is a bit funny, but clearly proves some editing. Same with “Bohemian Rhapsody”. The middle part is just cut away. A lot of songs have been left out of the album, making this not a full concert. So they left out some songs, they left out parts of songs that did make it to the album and they removed the speeches. How much less inspiring can a live release get?

Still did not get the message? Live Magic is a horrible live release and should never have been released. If you are in search of a live recording from the Magic Tour then get Live at Wembley instead. Avoid this at all costs.

Queen - A Kind of Magic (1986)

Tracklist:
1. One Vision
2. A Kind of Magic
3. One Year of Love
4. Pain is so close to Pleasure
5. Friends Will Be Friends
6. Who Wants to Live Forever
7. Gimme the Prize
8. Don't Lose Your Head
9. Princes of the Universe




Hahaha, it’s Magic! – 8/10

The 80s period was a time of synthesizers, but when those become boring and old again bands like Queen returned to the good old rock ‘n roll, with the occasional synth still popping up, but in a mature way. A Kind of Magic is in a way more of the synth-oriented pop-rock that featured on The Works, but is executed in a much more bearable way, including one of Queen’s greatest front covers. Lots of hits shot this album to the top position in the charts; at least in the UK. These hits are considerably less cheap and simplistic, leaving quality within the album like we were used to. The sudden recover from synth-addiction, it seems to be some kind of magic...

Some people like to talk of A Kind of Magic as an album that expands the direction of The Works. However, with synths being used much more appropriately and with songwriting being a lot more innovative, I think there is a slight, if not a huge difference. Gone are the synthesizer themes and beats, back are the rock riffs. However, keep in mind that this is 1986 and Queen is not playing material of the likes of Queen II or A Day at the Races anymore. What they now do is still a commercial extract of 80s rock ‘n roll. The album has its fair share of hits, including “One Vision”, the title track, “Friends Will Be Friends”, “Who Wants to Live Forever” and “Princes of the Universe”. “One Vision” is a down-to-the-bone rock track and for the first time since A Day at the Races we get an album opened by sheer rock. “A Kind of Magic” seems based on a looping bass line and a mysterious atmosphere, and additionally a great guitar solo by our dearest Brian May. “Friends Will Be Friends” is a cooperation between Deacon and Mercury. It’s a very hopeful track with a light catchy riff and extremely attractive melodies. No wonder that became a hit. May writes a hit with “Who Wants to Live Forever”; a very gentle track with orchestra. Though some say it’s Queen’s most overrated song, I think it just depends on how much you’ve heard it. Too many listens turn every song into an overrated piece of fruitcake. “Princes of the Universe” is the only composition on this record written solely by Mercury and features a damn good rocker which also became a bit of a soundtrack for the movie Highlander.

Apart from the hits, we’ve got some pretty enjoyable album tracks as well, though some of these tend to be a tiny bit dull at times. Myself I’m pretty fond of Deacon’s “One Year of Love”, which is a very soft ballad with very touching vocals by the late Mercury. It makes good background music as well. There’s of course hard rock track “Gimme the Prize”, with lyrics again forwarding to the movie Highlander. This track pretty much is the heaviest track Queen recorded since Jazz’s “More of That Jazz”. There are two synth-dominated tracks in the shapes of “Pain Is So Close to Pleasure” and “Don’t Lose Your Head”. The former features Hot Spacey arrangements with Mercury’s falsetto voice, but then disguised as a Magic-track, and the latter is just a pop song with no hints of Hot Space or The Works, but just happens to feature quite a lot of synths. The song fits the album well and its bombastic drums quite impress the listener as the title once more refers to the movie whose soundtrack this is.

Funny enough, this album sounds much better to me than the two previous records, even though there might be resemblances between them. The return of real rock to Queen is a real relief though, and I’m glad they from now on stuck to rock again. Of course, they were already showing us they could still rock with “Hammer to Fall”, but with A Kind of Magic they proved to have some magic left within them, which is enough to fill some more albums. If you like commercial Queen, then I would recommend this album to you. If not, you’d better take a listen at the early albums.

Strongest tracks: “One Year of Love”, “Who Wants to Live Forever”, “Gimme the Prize” and “Princes of the Universe”.

Queen - The Works (1984)

Tracklist:
1. Radio Ga Ga
2. Tear it Up
3. It's a Hard Life
4. Man on the Prowl
5. Machines (Back to Humans)
6. I Want to Break Free
7. Keep Passing the Open Windows
8. Hammer to Fall
9. Is This The World That We Created?




Synths & Commerce Combined – 4/10

If Hot Space was just a big departure from the things done before, then The Works was the return to their more trademark rock sound, this time accompanied with some leftover elements from Hot Space: synthesizers. Oh how I wish those things were never invented. But then again, only in the 80s people really knew how to kill music with them. The Works is such an album featuring a rock band doing what they do, but this time drenched in synths. Commercially, it brought them many big hits, yet these are not really timeless masterpieces. I guess commercial success is just another double-edged sword to be reckoned with.

Hot Space was just a synth-driven album, but not commercial in nature at all in terms of hits. I can appreciate an album at that level, but The Works, which has probably been in the works for a very short time, at least it sounds like that, seems like Queen desperately trying to come back and fill the record space with mindless pieces of music that mostly remind of works of the past. This album feels like it’s all been done before, but then ten thousand times better. For example “It’s a Hard Life”, though a good song, which is a rarity on this album, reminds heavily of “Play the Game”. “Man on the Prowl” links back to “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” with its rockabilly styled composition. Also the other tracks have a kind of ‘heard before’-feel to them. The album begins with the synth-driven “Radio Ga Ga”. The first thing I noticed was the flat drumsound. Hey, these are synth-drums! They should’ve called this album The Synth-Works. The song itself continues along with even more synth-arrangements to create a synth-opener for a true synth-album. No more of that synth, as Roger Taylor would’ve sung in the 70s. What changed his mind? I don’t know, but he’s responsible for “Radio Ga Ga”. “Tear it Up” has some catchy parts but in fact just feels like an incomplete 80s rock song without too much content.

But there are some good sides to this album, even if that’s very hard to believe. “It’s a Hard Life”, though a remake of “Play the Game”, has the same magic of the original and is quite a good song. “Hammer to Fall” is a good example of the Philips slogan ‘sense and simplicity’. The riff is fairly simple, but oh so powerful. It has become one of my favorite Queen 80s songs. Especially Brian May’s solo really stands out. And furthermore I think “Keep Passing the Open Windows” could be a nice track, even though it’s synth-overloaded. Other tracks rank deeper into mediocre such as the famous hit “I Want to Break Free”, which is just another generic hit put together by John Deacon, who seems responsible for the lamer hits of Queen such as this one and “Another One Bites the Dust”. And let’s not forget “Machines (or Back to Humans)” by Brian May and Roger Taylor. The two worked hopefully on this track that pretends to be a potential track with lots of content, but in fact features more of the synth-covered cake we’ve already eaten, decorated with the occasional guitar chord on top. Oh and let us not forget the oh so epic closer ballad “Is This the World that we Created?”! Isn’t it oh so sensitive with Freddie crying about us having ruined this world full of murder and deceit? No it isn’t. I like songs with messages inside them, but I dislike them if they’re as superficial as this one, packaged in a quite boring song.

Need I say more? This album lacks quality in every corner, with the exception of a few songs. If you are really fond of synthesizers and everything that they dominate, and in the meantime don’t mind the extremely commercial, and thus simple, nature of the album, you should buy The Works. I think you’ll enjoy it. If you prefer quality music, then get “Hammer to Fall” and ignore the rest.

Strongest track: “Hammer to Fall”.
Weakest tracks: “Radio Ga Ga”, “Tear it Up”, “Man on the Prowl”, “Machines”, “I Want to Break Free” and “Is This the World That We Created?”.

Queen - Hot Space (1982)

Tracklist:
1. Staying Power
2. Dancer
3. Back Chat
4. Body Language
5. Action This Day
6. Put Out the Fire
7. Life is Real (song for Lennon)
8. Calling All Girls
9. Las Palabras de Amor
10. Cool Cat
11. Under Pressure


The Synths Strike Back – 6,4/10

And finally we’ve come to Queen’s most disliked album of all time, Hot Space. Nevertheless, it did contain one of their bigger hits, “Under Pressure” featuring David Bowie. The album is mostly disliked for its break with the traditional Queen way of making music. It is dominated by disco influences and synthesizers and sounds very different from any other Queen album. Actually I do understand that Queen wanted to experiment for once. You can’t possibly do the same or at least try to do the same all the time. Risks are needed and sometimes a band goes for it. Mostly I like such risks like on the Scorpions’ Eye II Eye, Megadeth’s Risk or Judas Priest’s Nostradamus, but I’m not so sure whether I’m all that happy with Hot Space.

It seems the terror is mainly hidden on the first few tracks of the album. “Staying Power” right away starts with this synth-bass line and a Freddie Mercury who is quite enjoying himself. Actually it’s him who gives most boring songs on here a good lift-up with his ‘yeah’ and ‘woo!’ in between. Synth-based themes come back in the May-penned “Dancer” although this one tends to become more of a rocker when the solo begins. Deacon strikes us with his “Back Chat”, which contains friendly synth-pop with another soaring solo. Apart from “Staying Power”, I could say these tracks are quite enjoyable. They’re perhaps different from anthems like “Fat Bottomed Girls” or “Love of my Life”, but certainly are charming in a way. Especially “Dancer” invites listeners to fill the dance floor. And that’s what Hot Space is all about. It’s about filling the dance floor. But then it’s a very dated 80s dance floor to be filled, and that’s on the negative side of the album. A climax has been reached with the Mercury-written “Body Language”, which is perhaps the most controversial Queen song to date. It’s based around a dirty synth-bass line, which actually is not that bad. What nails the song is Mercury’s longing for sex as he praises ‘your’ body, which he apparently desires. With quite dirty lyrics, executed in an even more dirty way, the song becomes dirty and infects the otherwise cool synth-bass. Perhaps a song like this should’ve been for Mercury’s solo career instead?

The second half is a more familiar side as they make more use of normal bass guitar and add more guitars to the tracks. Roger Taylor saves the day with two splendid songs, “Action This Day” and “Calling All Girls”. The former is easily my favorite of the album, featuring a steady rock rhythm with a cool riff, not to mention it’s another duet between Freddie and Roger, and those always do the trick. The latter is more in the vein of “Dancer”, yet is based on an acoustic guitar instead of synths. Brian May brings us a real rocker with hilarious lyrics in “Put Out the Fire”, being somewhat repulsive mostly due to the flat production and sound, which I think was done on purpose for the disco effect. That doesn’t make it alright, though. Furthermore there’s a slick ballad “Life is Real”, which is good, but slightly to very much ruined by the sudden “Life is a bitch” at the end. All of sudden the atmosphere of a gentle ballad is ruined because of his ““cool”” use of words. “Las Palabras de Amor” is an instant stadium song, which could’ve been a much bigger hit if it were on a ‘normal’ album with ‘normal’ production. It’s a really powerful anthem with a strong synth theme. “Cool Cat” features Mercury on his falsetto-voice, while being accompanied by a very relaxing rhythm guitar. The song isn’t worth more than two listens in your life. And then finally there’s the much anticipated “Under Pressure”. It obviously sounds the most Queen. Despite it being a big hit I think it’s quite obviously one of the better songs of the album, mostly because the rest isn’t really interesting.

Additionally, even though I said about quite a few songs that they were enjoyable, it’s all just not the level it has been. As for the experiment, I think it succeeded. It’s mostly just the genre why I dislike it, not the failure in quality. Now, if all this talk about discos, dance floors and synthesizers has got you all excited, then I could recommend this album to you. Else, be warned.

Strongest tracks: “Action This Day”, “Las Palabras de Amor” and “Under Pressure”.
Weakest tracks: “Staying Power”, “Body Language” and “Cool Cat”.

Queen - Greatest Hits I (1981)

Tracklist:
1. Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Another One Bites to Dust
3. Killer Queen
4. Fat Bottomed Girls
5. Bicycle Race
6. You're My Best Friend
7. Don't Stop Me Now
8. Save Me
9. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
10. Somebody to Love
11. Now I'm Here
12. Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy
13. Play the Game
14. Flash
15. Seven Seas of Rhye
16. We Will Rock You
17. We Are the Champions

The End of the First Chapter – 7,5/10

And that end is celebrated with the release of Greatest Hits, nowadays called Greatest Hits I. We are at the border of Queen’s big musical change and there’s nothing better than to quickly remind how it was before that change. I can’t say I’m particularly crazy for this tracklist, but it’s a solid overview of their greatest hits, as the album title already suggests.

The tracklist is quite pure. We are looking back at the best period in Queen’s life. Everything you’d expect to find is there: “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Somebody to Love”, “Killer Queen”, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, unfortunately also “Another One Bites to Dust”, “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions”. As I said, a solid hit collection. There are also a few surprises such as “Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy”, “Seven Seas of Rhye” and “Flash”. The old songs flow along with the newer songs perfectly, making this a good collection. There’s actually no reason to buy this if you own all the albums. There’s no special edit in either song either, since Queen started with single edits in the 80s.

All in all, this album gives a good overview of the hits of Queen’s finest era. Keep in mind though that Greatest Hits does not equal Greatest Songs. Once you accept that and don’t really want to buy all the albums but just like to have all the hits on a single album I can really recommend this compilation.

Queen - Flash Gordon (1980)

Tracklist:
1. Flash's Theme
2. In the Space Capsule
3. Ming's Theme
4. The Ring
5. Football Fight
6. In the Death Cell
7. Execution of Flash
8. The Kiss
9. Arboria
10. Escape from the Swamp
11. Flash to the Rescue
12. Vultan's Theme
13. Battle Theme
14. The Wedding March
15. Marriage of Dale and Ming
16. Crash Dive on Mingo City
17. Flash's Theme Reprise
18. The Hero

Saviour of the Universe - 6/10

Ah well... I’m not used to reviewing soundtracks and I would rather not do so, but since Flash Gordon is being looked at as a true studio album instead of a soundtrack I will give it a shot. In order to understand the recordings that together form the album, it is highly recommended that you see the movie Flash Gordon first. Only then all the pieces of music gain an identity and only then can one truly say whether it is appropriate or not.

So will I. I rather enjoyed the movie and its music. The tunes are not so much greater than soundtracks of other movies that have gone long out of print, except for the fact that this is written and recorded by Queen. Of course it fits the movie; else it would never have been accepted. The tragic scenes are accompanied with atmospheric sad tunes, the tense scenes have these mysterious tunes and the battle scenes are accompanied by heroic tunes. Yet what makes this soundtrack better than any other is something I do not know. As for this being written by Queen, there is nothing inside the music that could make that clear, perhaps except for the opening song and last five tracks. Also, most of the music has been arranged with synthesizers, which is something Queen has not done before, thus making it not a trademark Queen soundtrack, in contrast with a later movie’s soundtrack like Highlander’s, which just featured music from their album A Kind of Magic. Apart from that the album features lots of voice samples from the movie itself, giving somehow an identity to the song and gives you the proper place in the story to think about, but is quite annoying. “Vultan’s Theme (Attack of the Hawkmen)” is a great heroic theme, same with “Battle Theme”, but why the hell did they implement the shooting sounds from the laser guns? Bad move that is.

The opening song “Flash’s Theme” is based around this monotonous bass line with sudden outbursts of choir vocals and became the lead single of this ‘album’. It’s an okayish rock song nobody actually cares for. It’s reflected multiple times in other themes like in “Flash to the Rescue” and in “Marriage of Dale and Ming (and Flash approaching)” and at the party end “Flash’s Theme Reprise”. I guess it’s okay for the soundtrack. “The Hero” is the real end to the saga of Flash Gordon which also is a bit of a reprise of the main theme but is a totally new track as well complete with verses and vocals that celebrate the defeat of Ming and the victory of Flash. There is some weird playing with Ming’s Theme later on the song and some other themes, but it’s a satisfying end to the story of Flash Gordon.

All in all, Flash Gordon is not an album you’ll be likely to listen to a lot. Perhaps once or twice as you just bought it or decided to review it, like me. It serves well as a soundtrack to the movie, but as an album it just doesn’t gain a higher score than the one I gave. Get the movie for the full experience and if you desperately search for one of those tunes to have on CD, then that’s where Flash Gordon comes in. Otherwise, it’s collector’s only.

Nicest tunes: “Flash’s Theme”, “The Hero”, “Vultan’s Theme” and “Ming’s Theme”.

Queen - The Game (1980)

Tracklist:
1. Play the Game
2. Dragon Attack
3. Another One Bites the Dust
4. Need Your Loving Tonight
5. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
6. Rock It (Prime Jive)
7. Don't Try Suicide
8. Sail Away Sweet Sister
9. Coming Soon
10. Save Me



A Half-Baked Queen Classic - 7/10

And that pretty much sums it up. We are at the start of a new decade with Queen’s The Game, and the difference with the past is quite noticeable. As will be clear in a mere listen, half of the album was written in the 1979 and the other half in 1980, which causes the differences in style and songwriting, even among the songs. The album itself contains fairly great hits such as “Another One Bites the Dust”, “Play the Game” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”. Actually this album was the only Queen album to reach #1 in the States. I recognize the album as solid in terms of ideas, yet it doesn’t feel all that well at times.

After the experimental Jazz album Queen returned with the crossover record The Game, which is the beginning of what the band would offer on later albums. Luckily we have some tunes on here left over from the 70s. Apart from that, the album is a lot more simplistic in style and is basically back to basic, especially in the dry “Another One Bites the Dust”. There’s an unnoted lack of true rock songs on the album, which mostly features pop tracks, some beautiful, some lame and some alright. At that point, the album falls apart and gets beaten by every predecessor. I don’t mind the fact they chose the more mainstream and pop direction, but the lack of good songs is the main problem here.

There are however some great tunes scattered all across, beginning with opening track “Play the Game”. It’s a very melodic track with a bit of an epic touch to it but drags along the line of anthems very well and makes a good entrance for The Game. Then there is “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”. It’s one of Queen bigger hits and not undeserved. They’ve adopted a bit of a rockabilly sound for this song and swinging rhythm guitars and overall created a true party song, perfect for a live concert. Then there’s “Rock It (Prime Jive)”, a Taylor-penned sung with his vocals as well. It begins with some gentle plucking on the guitars with Freddie singing an epic melody, just before it bursts into a driving fast-paced guitar riff with energetic drums. Actually the song is a bit ruined by the end where the familiar Queen choir shouts “we want some prime jive” and everything that follows. The rest of the song is actually good and rocks. Of course Brian May sings us a good song as well with “Sail Away Sweet Sister”. It begins as a gentle ballad with concerning vocals by May but soon evolves into a more explosive chorus, showing signs of the power ballad syndrome. This is surely one of the highlights of the second half of the album, together with epic closer “Save Me”.

That was the good part of the album. The others could be baked a little better. “Dragon Attack” has an annoying riff which is presented as the riff of riffs, while it just isn’t great. “Another One Bites the Dust” has a catchy and funky bass line, but apart from the cool second verse doesn’t hold anything of interest. Hell, the break is even dead boring with the odd sound effects while Taylor just drums the same boring rhythm on and on and on like a machine. “Need Your Loving Tonight” is enjoyable at best but doesn’t feature anything great. It’s one of those songs that depend on the real standout tracks for it to shine. “Don’t Try Suicide” is the dumbest Queen track ever recorded in terms of lyrics. Besides the music being wannabe funny and terribly misplaced at a topic such as suicide, the lyrics show Freddie’s lack of knowledge about the human psyche. I am not a psychologist, but even I know people who want to commit suicide would not be stopped with a phrase like “nobody cares”. If nobody cares then you can go ahead, right? Seriously, for that song only I’d want to throw an album into the trash can. At last we have “Coming Soon”, another Taylor-penned track with vocals shared by Mercury and Taylor. Actually the song is quite nice but fails to really stun the listener, but as most of Taylor’s songs it is fun to listen to and flows along with the album.

In short, The Game is quite half-baked. With one foot in 1979 and the other in 1980 the two faces of Queen meet here. High quality against medium quality. Unfortunately it is the medium to low quality that sets the tone for the whole album, yet The Game is also the last of Queen’s old school records containing real epics of the likes of “Sail Away Sweet Sister” and “Save Me”. Goodbye 70s! On the other hand we will hear more of the type of “Another One Bites the Dust”, which for some will be a delight, but for me a disappointment. Hence I will not recommend this album to new Queen fans. Instead you should have a look at the amazing Queen II or A Night at the Opera.

Strongest tracks: “Play the Game”, “Save Me” and “Sail Away Sweet Sister”.
Weakest tracks: “Don’t Try Suicide”, “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Dragon Attack”.

Queen - Live Killers (1979)

Tracklist:
1. We Will Rock You
2. Let Me Entertain You
3. Death on Two Legs
4. Killer Queen
5. Bicycle Race
6. I'm in Love with my Car
7. Get Down, Make Love
8. You're My Best Friend
9. Now I'm Here
10. Dreamer's Ball
11. Love of my Life
12. '39
13. Keep Yourself Alive

1. Don't Stop Me Now
2. Spread Your Wings
3. Brighton Rock
4. Bohemian Rhapsody
5. Tie Your Mother Down
6. Sheer Heart Attack
7. We Will Rock You
8. We Are the Champions
9. God Save the Queen

Bleh... - 6/10

Ugh... if there was one album that I did not look forward to to review it’s Live Killers. Despite it being quite a success as Queen’s first live album, it sounds awful in terms of production and sound. Queen’s performance is no doubt excellent, though heavily edited in studio, but fails to impress me because of this terrible production. It’s not as bad as Yngwie Malmsteen’s War to End All Wars, but still annoying. Then exactly what is wrong here? It just sounds like a mess. The vocals seem lost on the background of the mix, the guitars are panned heavily to the right and the drums, especially the cymbals, overrule all other sounds. Deacon’s bass is well audible but nearly merged with the guitars at times. The production is quite bassy.

Alright, on to the actual music. This is all in good condition. Queen is different live than in studio, but not less good. It’s fun to hear Freddie play the audience and the vocal harmonies sound different but has its charms. Since this is still in the 70s, the setlist consists solely of 70s music, which is great. The content is compiled from different concerts, thus not making this album a one-concert performance, which does take away the ambience albums like Live at the Bowl or Queen Rock Montreal do have. According to many sources, testified by existing bootlegs, there were much better concerts in the 70s that could have been released, but instead they assembled Live Killers. I will never say it’s a bad live album, just not good enough for me, despite the good tracks. The one interesting track on here is the opening track "We Will Rock You", which is a fast rock rendition of the anthemic stadium hit everybody knows. But this song also features on later live albums in better production quality.

So, would I recommend this album to anyone? Well, if you desperately search for an official Queen live release of solely 70s material, then I guess you could give Live Killers a go. I would recommend albums like Live at the Bowl or Queen Rock Montreal instead for those who want to hear a good official Queen live album.

Queen - Jazz (1978)

Tracklist:
1. Mustapha
2. Fat Bottomed Girls
3. Jealousy
4. Bicycle Race
5. If You Can't Beat Them
6. Let Me Entertain You
7. Dead on Time
8. In Only Seven Days
9. Dreamers Ball
10. Fun It
11. Leaving Home Ain't Easy
12. Don't Stop Me Now
13. More of That Jazz

Please, More of that Jazz! – 8,5/10

Well, well... after the horrible News of the World album Queen surely recovered it with this record known as Jazz. This is the hardest Queen release to really have a stable grip at. It flies from one corner to the other in terms of musical style, and seems to be executed well in every aspect. It’s pretty different from every other Queen record, and even the songs on the album are all so different from each other. It goes from an attempt at Arabic folk to some laid back rock; from a sensitive ballad to a happy pop song; from fast-paced hard rock to a classic-dance track; and from funk-influences to smooth ‘n catchy glam rock. One word to describe Jazz: impossible!

I have never seen so much diversity on one studio record by one single band. Mostly if you combine different styles it results in too different atmospheres to be a really good combination, but Jazz does the trick. Although there is no jazz music on the album, all the styles that do feature mix together very well. The album is no commercial hitbag and is no progressive masterpiece, but certainly stands its own. We are welcomed into it by the Arabic chants of “Mustapha” and this is one of Queen’s most odd album openers ever. As Freddie chants “Allah, Allah, we’ll pray for you” the music kicks in and doesn’t sound too Arabic at all. Actually they just recorded a rock song in an exotic scale and with Persian lyrics, yet it sounds so unique and odd, but in a good way. From one subject to another, “Fat Bottomed Girls” begins with stadium chanting and harmonies by the familiar Queen choir. When it’s over we get to hear a laid back rock riff eventually evolving into a real stadium anthem, slightly resembling glam rock. Gone were the Arabic influences. Next track “Jealousy” is a more piano driven sensitive ballad with a stunning vocal performance by our dearest Freddie Mercury. Gone were the glam rock influences. “Bicycle Race”, though beginning with the choirs again, more resembles the sloppy happy pop songs seen before on Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera, but changes a bit after a while. The main chorus is quite massive and choiry, the verses are sloppy and happy, a bit rappy, the bridge is more rocking and epic again, and the break features bicycle bells. Gone is the sensitive ballad.

I could go from song to song, but that would just be boring. I will limit myself to the highlights. “If You Can’t Beat Them” is a swift Deacon-penned anthem with a unique character, “Let Me Entertain You” is an odd hard rock song which is great yet has some unpleasant reminders to “Get Down, Make Love”. “Dead on Time” rocks your socks off and features a complex and fast riff and is one of the better rockers since “Tie Your Mother Down”. “In Only Seven Days” is another great ballad by John Deacon; “Dreamers Ball” is a song with a bit of an old sound to it, reminding of ballroom dancing. “Fun It” is a more funk-influenced Taylor-written composition with a rare sharing of vocals between Mercury and Taylor, perhaps slightly forwarding to the ill-famed Hot Space release of the future. Yet this track is a lot more original and features a great guitar riff. Brian May returns with his voice on “Leaving Home Ain’t Easy”. It’s not as spectacular as his other compositions such as “Long Away” or “’39”, but certainly enjoyable to say the least. Then comes two album highlights. “Don’t Stop Me Now” starts off with the familiar piano tunes and the vocals, but soon evolves into a fast-paced piano-based pop song. The vocals preach an irresistible melody and the lack of guitars in the accompaniment was a great move, it only adds more to the guitars in the solo, which is terrifically melodic. Closing track “More of That Jazz” is also great. It features an unusual rhythm and cool arpeggiated chords, before the heavy guitar joins in, thus transforming it into hard rock track with Taylor on vocals. Somewhere in the middle parts of other songs start to interfere, which is a pity, but with modern audio editing technology they can be edited away to create a version which is unbeatable.

As you can read, Jazz is a very diverse recording. A lot of different styles show up here and all compositions are good, varying from enjoyable to great. Especially Roger Taylor is in top form on this album in terms of composing. Yet this album doesn’t live up to the unbeatable positions of A Day at the Races or Queen II. I would not recommend Jazz to the Queen newbie, but to the more experienced Queen fan, since this album demands some Queen listening experience.

Strongest tracks: “Fat Bottomed Girls”, “Fun It”, “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “More of That Jazz”.

Queen - News of the World (1977)

Tracklist:
1. We Will Rock You
2. We Are the Champions
3. Sheer Heart Attack
4. All Dead, All Dead
5. Spread Your Wings
6. Fight from the Inside
7. Get Down, Make Love
8. Sleeping on the Sidewalk
9. Who Needs You
10. It's Late
11. My Melancholy Blues


Depressing World News – 4,5/10

After a row of five good albums Queen finally show themselves uninspired and boring. It had to come one day, no band can make solely good albums and Queen is no exception. It continues down the road paved by A Day at the Races, but takes some unexpected side roads that lead to a ravine. In they fall and out comes News of the World, which in every aspect sounds like a repeat of previous albums with some uninspired new turns. If this would be today’s world news, it would be rather depressing.

Don’t get me entirely wrong; this album is not totally without talent. There are certainly enjoyable tunes spread across and in fact this is just a necessary step in their career. Considering this contains the simple “We Will Rock You” and the anthemic “We Are the Champions” it would be unfair to discard this album as worthless. These songs might disappoint tremendously on the studio record, but when played live they really come to life. That doesn’t take away that the album versions are pretty boring though. After having recorded great rock songs on previous albums such as “Tie Your Mother Down” or “Death on Two Legs”, Taylor writes another rock song named after Queen’s third album “Sheer Heart Attack”. Can a rock song be any more boring? It sounds as cliché as possible, with the necessary heaviness aboard, but with a strong lack of originality. What is funny is the intended replication of a damaged LP in the break.

The May-sung “All Dead, All Dead” does not live up to earlier May compositions but is in essence an enjoyable song, coloured only by the songs around it, which, in this case, make it stand out. Taylor returns again on vocals with the forced “Loser in the End”-replica “Fight from the Inside”. Again we have a boring riff, unoriginal arrangements and a forced ambience. I guess we all lack inspiration sometimes. “Sleeping on the Sidewalk” is an old-styled bluesy track and falls under the same category as “All Dead, All Dead” in terms of quality, and so does the Deacon-written “Who Needs You”, which sounds flamenco-ish. And then the worst song of the decade is the terrible “Get Down, Make Love”. I find this track the most abominable, the most repulsive song Queen ever recorded, perhaps with the exception of “Body Language”.

Oh, but this release contains good songs as well. The Deacon-penned track “Spread Your Wings” beautifully plods along to become one of the best epic pop ballads by Queen. It is a shame it was rarely played live on official recordings; that guitar solo really is brilliant. Quite simple, but brilliant. A great May-written rocker is found in “It’s Late”. It begins with some acoustic plucking, but soon displays a tight and cool riff, which drives the entire song. The chorus explodes, thus giving the power ballad effect, and later becomes a full fast-paced rocker. Another great track is “My Melancholy Blues”. It took me a while to fully get it, but it’s indeed a blues-influenced ballad with beautiful vocals by Mercury. But unfortunately three truly good songs won’t save this album from its downfall. Strange enough, this album did quite well and is nowadays even being looked at as a classic and great Queen record. Yet I think the album is an obvious shift to a more commercial sound and sounds very bland. Only three songs are over three-and-a-half minutes, an obvious sign of mainstreaming their sound.

All in all, I think News of the World shows 70s Queen at their worst. Though there are some good songs scattered across the album, the majority is very bland, boring and unoriginal. I would never want to recommend this album to any possible new Queen fan, even if this was their only album. In fact, if this was their debut album, they would’ve been slammed in the face and could’ve whistle at their record deal and arena success.

Strongest tracks: “Spread Your Wings”, “It’s Late” and “My Melancholy Blues”.
Weakest tracks: “Get Down, Make Love”, “Fight from the Inside”, “Sheer Heart Attack” and “We Will Rock You”.

Queen - A Day at the Races (1976)

Tracklist:
1. Tie Your Mother Down
2. You Take My Breath Away
3. Long Away
4. The Millionaire Waltz
5. You and I
6. Somebody to Love
7. White Man
8. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy
9. Drowse
10. Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together)


I like the races – 9/10

The fifth album of rock legends Queen, A Day at the Races, is a bit of a departure from their old-school style. Where every album from Queen II to A Night at the Opera was a bit more bombastic and featured clear progressive influences, ADATR is a bit more straightforward and features more gentle songs. It’s also the first of the second wave of types of Queen-albums in terms of musical style. This doesn’t exclude similarities with previous efforts, but it’s certainly different.

This release does not highlight the idea of a change immediately with the hard rocking “Tie Your Mother Down” as the first track. A great hard rock riff with clear high-pitched vocals by Mercury is undoubtedly Queen in the vein of “Death on Two Legs” or “Ogre Battle”. To this day the song is a preferred classic and always was a good stage song. A song like “White Man” also pretends we’re still in 1975 with its classic hard rock and Queen trademark effects. The change is more in the other tracks such as “You Take My Breath Away” or “The Millionaire Waltz”. Both are much more displaying a pop atmosphere, being silent ballads, and rely more on the lead vocals and piano than on the guitars and choirs. “Long Away” is a May-styled acoustic rock track in the vein of “’39” and “Some Day One Day”, but blends in quite nicely with the new-style songs. “The Millionaire Waltz” is a catchy waltz-styled pop track with an unnecessary yet enjoyable rock part in the middle. The highlight is undoubtedly May’s great solo. Another new-styled track is the Deacon-penned “You and I”, which is a swinging song.

Possibly an attempt at topping “Bohemian Rhapsody” is “Somebody to Love”, with hints at some gospel-influences with its use of the Queen choir. It’s very piano-based and quite epic, understandably one of their bigger hits. While Queen introduced sloppy funny songs with Sheer Heart Attack’s “Bring Back That Leroy Brown” they managed to put one on A Night at the Opera that actually was enjoyable, and they did it again here with “Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy”. The song has a light touch to it and a swift, slightly funny, atmosphere throughout, yet manages to be musically challenging, which is the innovative aspect of this track. Again the choirs are heavy on this track, but choirs will always be a part of Queen, since they have three vocalists and all want to and deserve to sing. They always take good advantage of it. Roger Taylor wrote a track as well with “Drowse” but somehow is slightly beside the mark with this one. It’s an unnoted track that just passes by without being really noticed. The theme is semi-catchy and all, but shows much similarity with unintended lullabies, yet is beautiful, in a way. The thing is, this is the first time we hear Taylor sing a ballad, and I like it, but I prefer him on the rock songs like “I’m in Love with my Car”. The conclusion to A Day at the Races is splendid in the epic shape of “Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together)”, with a chorus sung in Japanese. It’s one of the best album closers by Queen and is epic throughout, with solely piano and vocals in the verses, accompanied by some rare bass lines and then the epic chorus begins, first in English, later in Japanese.

The biggest change is less progressive influences. Though the experimenting is far from over, there is no “The Prophet’s Song” or “The March of the Black Queen” here, nor anything like it. This does not lessen the album quality; they replaced one good aspect with another and thus give us something different to chew on, which is a very good decision for any band to do. A Day at the Races turned out to be one of my favorite Queen albums, and even beats the somewhat unstable Opera-album. If people would ask, I would definitely recommend A Day at the Races.

Strongest tracks: “Long Away”, “You and I”, “Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy” and “Teo Torriate”.

Queen - A Night at the Opera (1975)

Tracklist
1. Death on Two Legs
2. Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon
3. I'm in Love with my Car
4. You're My Best Friend
5. '39
6. Sweet Lady
7. Seaside Rendezvous
8. The Prophet's Song
9. Love of my Life
10. Good Company
11. Bohemian Rhapsody
12. God Save the Queen

Easy Come, Easy Go – 7,5/10

And in the year of 1975 it was there: the big album that was their first big hit all over the world. Who does not know this album? It contains two of Queen’s biggest hits ever, which were permanent live tracks back in their touring days. Mostly when I encounter such an album I review it with a rather skeptical approach, planning to break it down piece by piece, but if I’d do that to A Night at the Opera, I would just be lying, for this is truly a great album. Not as great as some others, but certainly one that could possibly deserve all the praise it got.

A Night at the Opera is a very diverse album. Where we have raw rock track like “Death on Two Legs” and “Sweet Lady”, there are these goody-goody happy songs like “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon” or “Seaside Rendezvous”; and where there is a “Killer Queen”-equivalent in “You’re My Best Friend”, there are true epics in “The Prophet’s Song” and “Bohemian Rhapsody”, all the way up to sweet and touching ballad “Love of my Life”, and everything in between. Though it doesn’t differ so much from Sheer Heart Attack in terms of musical style, even though it might slightly more varied and polished, the biggest difference is in the balance. Where SHA still contained mostly hard rock tracks with a few poppy tracks and funny things in between, ANATO tends to have less hard rock tracks and more of those poppy and funny tracks. This is not necessarily for the bad, especially since the album is not torn apart near the end now, but is a bit fragile throughout, which, how odd it may sound, fits better as an album. The funny poppy songs are more spread, the rockers are equally distributed and the sing along anthems turn up every now and then, thus making Queen’s most praised album a diverse one.

The quality of the tracks, however, is a bit diminished. If you noticed how I disliked “Bring Back That Leroy Brown” is my Sheer Heart Attack review, you can imagine songs like “Seaside Rendezvous” and “Good Company” won’t do well either. These songs rely on funny atmospheres with often staccato rhythms and these funny lyrics. Songs like these are funny, but I don’t want my music to be funny; that doesn’t make good LISTENING material, which is what music is all about in my opinion. “Lazing On a Sunday Afternoon” is, though short and also funny, also nice to listen to as a nice extra. Strong rock tracks like “Death on Two Legs” or “I’m in Love with my Car” truly make the album shine, especially the latter, which is sung by our dearest Roger Taylor. Brian May also gives a good vocal performance on the anthemic “’39”, a sung driven mostly by acoustic guitar and a great vocal melody. Rocker “Sweet Lady” contains the odd change of rhythms in the chorus, but is a good song itself. Then there’s “The Prophet Song”, a song with a real epic character and one problem. That problem is the overlong break in which Freddie is just singing and chanting and multi-tracking his voice numerous times and lastly dubbing it in numerous of effects, thus stretching the song past the eighth minute. The rest of the song is downright great, great composition, great guitars and stunning, epic melodies, but the break should’ve been a guitar solo, not a voice solo.

Then come the big hits. “Love of my Life” is undeniably a beautiful ballad and worthy a recognition as one of Queen’s greatest songs. Mostly relying on piano, it is a very sensitive song. After the skip-worthy “Good Company” we have Queen’s biggest hit ever: “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Even though I’m mostly not keen on hits, this song is undeniably a brilliant song. A description it would not need, though I can say it begins as a piano ballad, then falls into the opera-ish part, then rocks your socks off, and concludes as the ballad it always was, ending with a gong. I suppose the “God Save the Queen” arrangements by May are very nice, but absolutely not necessary. They’re merely a satisfying ending to the epic “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

In short, A Night at the Opera is a good album, but features a little too much chit-chat to become truly magnificent in my eyes. It’s a very diverse album and I would definitely recommend it to people who are new to Queen, even if it’s only for “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Strongest tracks: “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “I’m in Love with my Car” and “’39”.
Weakest tracks: “Seaside Rendezvous”, “Good Company” and the middle part of “The Prophet’s Song”.