NEWS OF THE WORLD

Queen's sixth album came in some very interesting (and tumultuous) times for rock music, with punk rising towards the top of the charts, and the birth of the gradual and undefeatable stupidification and simplification of popular music. So, here we have a 'blockbuster' rock band from Britain that was enjoying a lot of success with their anthemic hard rock that had strong leanings towards progressive rock here and there, that has to stay relevant and has to continue being a factor in the mainstream rock scene. This was easily achieved with a more conventional, acceptable sound, for me marking the beginning of a new era of Queen - the era of massive hits, questionable clothing, and stadium touring.

'News of the World' is strangely entertaining, as it might be the most diverse record since the band's beginning. Each member of the band, as usual, contributed to the writing, and each member of the band got to sing on at least one track (without John Deacon, obviously). And it has to be admitted: there are some pretty good songs on here. However, as much as it is entertaining and colorful, 'News of the World' also contains some not-so-excellent moments.

I can safely say that I do not need to hear 'We Will Rock You' or 'We Are the Champions' ever again. In fact, I like to pretend these songs do not exist while listening to the album; But the fact that 'News of the World' contains two of the three most iconic and recognizable Queen songs has to say something. 'Sheer Heart Attack' is a Led Zeppelin-esque proto-glam metal rocker, of course, written by Roger Taylor; Sometimes you love it, sometimes you hate it. 'All Dead, All Dead', the fourth song on the record, was written by May, who also sings the lead vocals, and it is just decent; For example, 'Sleeping on the Sidewalk', the other song by him on which he sings lead vocals, is much more interesting, and not your standard Queen song. 'Spread Your Wings' has a tremendous performance from Freddie Mercury, a song written by Deacon, and 'Fight from the Inside' is a fantastic hidden gem in the band's catalogue, a trailblazing hard-rocker of a song, with lead vocals from Taylor. 'Get Down, Make Love' and 'My Melancholy Blues', by Mercury, are also good songs that are not necessarily known to everyone. The rest of the album is either dull, or too uninspired, and taking out the two massive hits from the equation, one gets a good album!

At the time of its release in 1977, 'News of the World' was met with mixed reactions, which I believe to be easily justifiable. Two gargantuan hits, a few songs which are actually better and more interesting that those aforementioned hits, and a few unimpressive songs, all making up for an entertaining listen, with Queen shifting styles with virtually each song.