JAZZ

Far removed from the operatic magic and the complex structures of their first albums, Queen uses the inexhaustible range of resources they had at their disposal to face the challenges proposed by the music trends towards the end of the 80's, and deploys them with grace and solvency in "Jazz", their seventh album.

Full of short and direct pieces, "Jazz" moves between the agility of the rocking "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Bicycle Race", the turbulence generated by the expansive waves of Brian May's forceful riffs and guitar solos in the vertiginous "If You Can't Beat Them", Let Me Entertain You" and "Dead on Time", and the sensitivity to mobilize the deepest fibers taking the decibels to their minimum expression in the delicate ballads "Jealousy", "In Only Seven Days" and "Leaving Home Ain't Easy", this last one sung by May.

The more experimental vein, so typical of the band, is also present in the album, with the agitated "Mustapha" and its arabesque notes and indecipherable lyrics, and the bluesy and insipid "Dreamer's Ball" and, faithful to their habit of adding collection songs to enhance their legend in each release, Queen crowns "Jazz" with the festive and uninhibited "Don't Stop Me Now", a reflection of the excessive life projected by the immortal Freddie Mercury.

"Jazz" was the last album in which the band expressly placed the non-use of synthesizers on its back cover, a sign that new winds were coming....

3.5 stars