THE WORKS

Well sometimes a change of rules does produce side effects. The weighing factor, installed to prevent reviews as bad as the one you are about to read, has forced me to actually write a review. I had been content on giving a low rating to bad Queen albums (this means from The Game until Innuendo), but now it has to come out , just like Freddy Mercury did his coming out (I'd rather Freddy Kruger doing his coming out than Mercury >> less gory ;-) once more with the awful and atrocious Radio Gaga. Unfortunately, this track is not the only bad one on this album! Actually, if you can believe Radio Gaga is almost an average track on such a crappy album.

So here is my coming out: AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fabulous album. After Queen's daring (and relatively failed) atempt at disco music with Hot Space they took a year off, to gather their senses, and work on solo material. After the much needed break they took a step back, and instead of their usual routine of seeking their borders maintained what they knew they could do.

May wrote some heavy rock songs (Tear It Up, Hammer to Fall), Deacon contributed one of the best pop-song ever written (I Want To Break Free), Taylor improved on his songwriting once again (Radio GaGA) and Mercury was being himself, combining opera with Rock&Roll (It's A Hard Life, Man On The Prowl and Just Keep Passing The Open Windows). two songs were written combining forces, the fabulous and fairly progressive Machines (May/Taylor) and the accoustic ballad "Is this The World we Created...(May/Mercury).

Radio GaGa, was one of the biggest hits Queen wrote, a protest against the importance of music video's on the record sales, as oposed to the musical qualities of the then current bands, and a love song to Radio, naturally combined with a fabulous video (not a contradiction in Queen's world). Elements of Fritz Lang's version of the movie 'Metropolis' where used in the video as part of the deal of Freddie's contribution to Giorgio Moroder's soundtrack for the movie. Basicaly written by Roger, but Freddie took it upon him to improve it, the result is Roger's most progressive pop song.

I Want To Break Free, also came out as a single, with the Queen members dressed in drag the video was rather controversial in the US, but Roger sure looks good in drag.The song in itself is beautifull, although a bit too poppy for most proggers I suppose.

Machines, starting completely electronic, when the human rock band kick in, the song takes the shape of a battle, musically I always compare it to Pink Floyd's Have A Cigar, but I doubt any of you will see the resemblens. A fabulous song.

Just Keep Passing The Open windows, originaly written for the movie Hotel New Hampshire (didn't make the soundtrack), but adapted to fit the album. The title comes from a John Irving's book, and means something along the line of Don't Try Suicide ("The Game"album). Fantastic keyboards and one of Queen's best songs ever (IMO).

I think the four singles (Radio GaGA, I Want To Break Free, It's A Hard Life and Hammer To Fall) are known by most of you. If you like any of these songs the album will be worth your while. For The works is one of Queen's most cohesive records ever, combining the heavy rock of Brian May, with the Rock and Roll infested brilliant rock songs from Mercury, and the two great singles from John and Roger.

A fabulous album, with some progressive elements (Mercury songs, Machines and Radio gaga). Highly recommended to all who like good rock music.

Not bad songs but very commercial (radio gaga)...I like only Hammer to Fall and the initial part of Tear it Up...the rest is old pop that doesn't express the musicians feelings (and that have nothing in common with prog!!!)..Listening to this album I think: "is Queen a real prog related band or it is only a pop rock band???" ...only for collectors and fans...

A huge step in the right direction!!!!! For this release the band decided to leave the disco and the rockabilly alone and do what they do best, hard rock and melodic balladry! At most times, the hard rock on this disc is slightly diluted (listen to something from Queen or Queen II and see what mean) but nowhere near shabby. Although the band was still deeply rooted in poppier matieral (Radio Ga Ga, I Want To Break Free, Keep Passing The Open Windows) there are enough rock moments on here to call some of the older fans back.

"Tear It Up" is certainly one of these heavier tracks, and it remained in Queen's setlist until their final concerts in 1986. "Hammer To Fall" is possibly one of Queen's best rock tracks EVER!! The album mix is much better than the mixes that showed up on several of Queen's compilations over the years! For a real treat, track down the Hammer To Fall Headbanger's Mix!! I doubt if it was ever released on CD, but if you can find it on vinyl it's well worth it: it's heavier folks, with added guitar fills and much heavier drumming!!!!! This is still played live today, although updated, it is even better now than before.

Now, you also have several other album tracks that are just wonderful, including the mechanized rock sound of "Machines (or Back To Humans)" and the Freddie ballad "It's A Hard Life." The one ommission from the original vinyl releases was the wonderful B-side "I Go Crazy." It was added to the CD remaster in 1991 and proves that if this made the album it could have been the best track there...certainly the heaviest track Queen had done for some time!!

One note on the extended mixes which appear on the CD!! There are dozens of these, some which made the remasters and some which did not. There is usually nothing good about these 12" mixes and they were generally mixed for a dance audience. Although there are a few great extended mixes out there, Hollywood Records failed to add them to the remasters. Today, most can only be found on the original 12" vinyl singles.

Anyway, this is the beginning of modern Queen and it was a step in the right direction after the monstrous "Flash Gordon / Hot Space" nonsense. If you can tolerate a more pop / rock sound than give it try.

A lot better than Hot Space, Queen found their way again. There are pop songs on The Works but by far superior to those on their previous album. The album starts with Radio Gaga, a Roger Taylor song, poppy and full of synths, but inspired and catchy, overall an enjoyable track. Tear It Up is a nice rocker, written by May. It's a Hard Life is a great Freddie Mercury number, amazing vocals IMO. Man on the Prowl is a rock'n'roll song in the manner of Crazy Little Thing Called Love from "The Game" album. Machines is a collective effort, electronic, full of synths again but also with some great guitar from May; Freddie's vocals are amazing (again). I Want to Break Free is one of the most popular songs ever written (thank you John Deacon), amazingly enjoyable, a great treat. Hammer to Fall is another Brian May rocker, one of the best songs of the album. My favourite song for the moment is Keep on Passing the Open Windows; it is indeed one of Queen's best songs ever. The album closes with Is This the World We Created, a sensitive ballad with sensible lyrics, nice acoustic guitar from Brian May and great vocals from Freddie.

Queen's The Works is a great pop-rock album, but it won't work for prog purists. There is a lot to enjoy on this album to satisfy the listener, rockers or prog-rockers. This album is an excellent addition to any music collection, but prog purists had better stay away from this one.

An excellent album from the 80's, bordering progressive genre.

After a terrifying disco attempt "Hot Space", the guys are back on the right track with their "Works". To be very honest, most progressive thing from this album is the cover itself, which reminds a lot of EMERSON LAKE AND PALMER's "Works" (One and Two) album. Design is similar, the album title is similar, the font is similar. Coincidence?!?

Anyway, QUEEN's "The Works" does not sound like a ELP's namesake (luckily). The album is sort of a mixed bag, but overall it's very good. There are few hard-rock numbers such are "Tear It Up", often played on gigs with zeppelinesque intro added, and "Hammer To Fall", neat glam-metal tune with lyrics about desperate struggle in everyday's existence. "Man In the Prowl" resembles rockabilly style already seen in "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" five years earlier, but it's not even close. Forgettable and weakest track which doesn't fit into album sci-fi/machinery spleen at all. "It's A Hard Life" was a huge hit, borrowing intro from the Leoncavallo's opera "Pagliacci", but connection with prog rock is ending here, because rest of the track is poppish and chorus is literally the carbon-copy of their 1979 hit "Play The Game".

"Radio Ga Ga" and "I Want To Break Free" are the most known hits from this album both ranking very high on charts, and both gained an anthem-like status. High quality-pop songs with nice bass guitar and synth work on "Radio Ga Ga" (including band's use of a vocoder - Roland VK330 - for the first time in their career), and "I Want To Break Free" houses the highlight of the solos - that famous synth solo that was played so expressive, full of pitch bending and guitar-like pronunciations. It's NOT Brian's guitar, it's a keyboard! I do not want to sound like a snob, but I guess you have to be a keyboard player to fully appreciate this.

"Is This The World We Created...?" is a lovely acoustic ballad with lyrics so typical for the mid-eighties, and "Keep Passing The Open Windows" is one of the best unknown songs that QUEEN ever did, with relatively simple chord structure, beautiful melodies and bass & piano driven pattern that is really making driving impression (they will do the similar thing on "Breakthru" five years later, but the result wouldn't be even close). Brilliant!

For the very end, the track that deserves all the rating stars for itself: "Machines (or Back To Humans)": perhaps one of the finest examples of science fiction genre in (prog!) rock music. This track is just perfect, with perfect amount of lobotomising-dehumanising sounds, mechanical rhythm, and excellent rock vocals and guitar. It's like the mixture of PINK FLOYD, Peter Gabriel circa "Shock The Monkey"-era and the best KRAFTWERK's moments, all that wrapped in the perfectly digestible 5-minute pop package. You must be both genius and highly-experienced professional to create this.

At the end of the day, this album deserves four stars. It's fantastic, and you won't get any closer to prog than this - we are talking about the famous band in the middle of the 80's. Get it.

This is another album that I do not favor but the album itself was quite popular, especially through the song "Radio Gaga" which I never understand at all. For me "Radio Gaga" is a song with a boring composition and repetitive loops as rhythm. But for some reason that I never understand, this song was one of major hits of the band, even from friends around me. I'd rather listen to "Tear It Up" which is much more rockin' than the Radio gaga hit. "It's a Hard Life" is another good song that represents the old style. I can hear clearly during Brian May's guitar solo at the interlude part. Freddie Mercury vocals seem so powerful and clear. Another major hit is "I Want To Break Free" which, again, for me sounds so boring as well. "Keep Passing The Open Window" combines the piano and repetitive bass guitar lines continued with a pop beat that sounds boring too.

It's recommended only for completionist.

Queen dropped so low during their last three albums that at some point they have to release another good album to satisfy the disappointed and early fans, don't they?

But when you listen to "Radio", you can't really be overwhelmed by this "machin-chose" (can't translate this). Same disco-electro beats than during most of the disgusting "Hot Space". The only difference resides in its melody. Maybe.

Is it to keep some rock fans awake that the band is recording the poor AOR-ish "Tear It Up". Awful drum noises (sorry Roger). It sounds almost as a Gary Glitter track. Press next of course.

It's a hard life, the one of reviewer. At times there are such poor works from once great bands. But in this case, "It A Hard Life" is the next track... Almost a relief after these two opening numbers. A melodic track, with nice vocals, great guitar from Brian, like he used to produce ages ago. Of course, it is a very commercial ballad but it sounds so much as a breathe of fresh in the midst of so much mediocrity like "Man On The Prowl" which is one of the worst track on "The Works".

My feeling are pretty mixed about "Machines". Isn't it the poorest song out here? Or just only one of them? Dreadful beat (similar to ""Tear It Up"). The second average moment is "I Want To Break Free" the second hit single from this album. Good vocals from Freddie and catchy melody are much appreciated. Finally a good song.

And even if "Keep Passing The Open Windows" is rocking alright, it is far from being great. At times it reminds me of the very good "Stepping Out" from Joe Jackson. But that one was a great song. The queen one only average.

My fave (if any) is "Hammer To Fall". I guess that it should be the song that most early days "Queen" fans should tolerated (but these heavy drumming are annoying at times). It is almost a classic Queen song. The highlight.

Did the band got inspired by the great Worksfrom ELP that they chose the same title for this album? Who knows. This album is slightly better than their later ones and I rate this one with two stars. I can't really understand those high ratings here.

Is it necessary to tell you that you shouldn't expect any prog in here. Maybe for their next album?

A return to formula perhaps, but not yet a big return to form

With the previous Hot Space album, Queen tried out a slightly different approach compared to earlier albums. This led some critics to accuse them of abandoning their Rock based sound. This was only partly true, but Hot Space was a rather weak album anyway, so with this album they reverted somewhat to the formula of The Game. Man On The Prowl, for example, is a blatant try at making another Crazy Little Thing Called Love (which was not very good in the first place!). However, there were also new elements introduced to the ever evolving Queen sound. The Works is the most electronic sounding Queen album, most clearly noticeable on Radio Ga Ga and Machines (or Back To Humans) which almost seem to be influenced by the likes of Kraftwerk! Side by side with the traditional Rock 'N' Roll influences, this creates a quite interesting mix, I must say.

By this time in their career, Queen had transformed into more of a singles band than an albums band. Keeping this in mind we ought to expect some fillers on their albums from this period, and indeed there are some fillers here like the aforementioned Man On The Prowl and Keep Passing The Open Windows. Tear It Up is also not a particularly strong number and it certainly doesn't offer any surprises. Radio Ga Ga and I Want To Break Free became big hits, but they have never been favourites of mine. However, the latter has a keyboard solo that shows the band having fun in the studio, I love that solo!

The rest of the tracks are pretty good though, even if the lyrics to Machines are hard to take seriously (I'm thinking of Kraftwerk's Man Machine album). The strongest tracks are It's A Hard Life, Hammer To Fall and Is This The World We Created?, the latter two closing the album on a high note. The guitar work of Brian May, when it is present, is very strong as always, but while his presence is stronger here than on Hot Space, it is still weaker than on future albums like A Kind Of Magic and The Miracle.

The Works constituted an improvement over Hot Space and with every subsequent album starting with the present one, things would improve further, culminating with the excellent Innuendo. The Works features some good moments but it is still one of Queen's weaker albums.

After the mediocre and the worst Queen album ever produce Hot space, they released in 1984 The works. An improvement is made but not expect to something great here. Another album in charts and another more than 2 pieces on top 100. To me this is a good album if you want to listen to something easy, accesible, for everybody, nothing groundbreaking here . The comercial attitude were at their peak, but with all that they manage to create something enjoyble. The music from this album is pop with some rock flavours, typical Queen album in the '80's. One piece from this album is absolute excellent: Keep Passing the Open Windows , I think one of the best they ever done, catchy tune. 3 stars for this album . Better than predecesor for sure Hot space , at same level with the nest one , not among their best but not among their worst.

People are going to look at this review and think I'm crazy when they see this rating but to tell you the truth, I just don't see any bad tracks on this album. Sure it's dance music, but a lot of the time it sounds like prog-dance. (a new genre?) Anyways, if your not a prog-dance fan look no further than the excellent songs Keep Passing the Open Windows and It's a Hard Life which will please any music fan. But if your like me, I enjoy the tracks I Want to Break Free, Hammer to Fall, and the ever-so soft ballad Is This the World We Created. People may call other tracks on this album weak, and they may seem so at first listen but I assure you that they were just Queen experimenting with a new sound. They even, you must admit are at the least bit enjoyable. Queen's best eighties album in my opinion!

Back in 1984 when I used to watch video clips a lot more frequently along comes the new Queen single Radio Ga Ga and I immediately loved it. While I would be the first to say that Queen was not my favourite band at the time, I heard them frequently as my wife and friends loved them. ( A Night at The Opera, Day at The Races etc).The next single, I Want to Break Free I heard on the radio and so found myself down at the record store on the way home.

This album is a creature of the eighties period and of course starts off with Radio Ga Ga and then straight onto the Brian May song Tear It Up and really the title says it all with that great start, Are You Ready is how the tune is introduced with a qiuck blistering guitar solo from Brian May and we are off. Wonderful song. Track 4 Man On The Prowl with its rockabilly influence which was written by Freddie Mecury is another song worth a mention but for me this album really has no weakpoints and the track selection was done to perfection for the songs on the album which keeps things interesting right throughout. Another Freddie tune that I find interesting on this album is Keep Passing the Open Window but where would it be without I Want to Break Free and even though John Deacon wrote the song,who else could have sang it but Freddie.

Although the majority will say that A Night At The Opera, Queen 2 and A Day at the Races are the high points in this bands career, it is this album that grabbed me. Also I would like to mention, miss you Freddie. Great vocalist,songwriter and last but not least showman.

This album when it finishes always makes me think,what about another play. Has to be 4 Stars

Whether it's because he realised that continuing down the Hot Space route wouldn't have been too clever an idea is beyond me, but drummer Roger Taylor was heard to remark "let's give them the works!" during the formulative stages of this album. That statement, in brief, sums up everything about this album - indeed, it touches lightly upon all of the core facets of Queen's sound up until that point.

Unfortunately for some, the aforementioned 'Hot Space' sound creeps up right from the get go with 'Radio Ga Ga', although it becomes readily apparent that the influence has been diluted and perfomed much more subtly this time around. Admittedly it sounds both commercial (then again much of the album does), and the dated synths are probably sounding a lot more cheesy today than they did in 1984, but it's still a gracious and highly enjoyable track which transitions effortlessly from smoothness to bombast. 'Tear it Up' is a ferocious rocker, which is an enjoyable 'party' tune but begins to wear a little thin for me after a few listens. It seems to be a conscious revisitation of anthems such as 'We Will Rock You', although most of the later revisitations of older Queen sounds work much better.

'It's a Hard Life' is a wonderful Freddie Mercury number, and as ever, it comes complete with operatic flourishes and Bohemian grandeur. A couple of listens are needed to take in the subtleties in the arrangements of this track. The short piano break climaxing with Brian's excellent harmonised guitars is the highlight here, along with the final, almost screamed, line ("I did it for love!"), although the song is flawless. 'Man on the Prowl' is an unremarkable one in a sort of old-time swing style - not much to say about this one. 'Machines (or Back to Humans)' is a bit of a curio, with a lot of electronics and vocoders and whatnot going on, but is ultimately rather forgettable.

'I Want to Break Free', by the oft-overlooked John Deacon (personally my least favourite of all his pieces), needs no introduction, which is a shame in a way because the follower 'Keep Passing the Open Windows' is a real gem. For me, this is the best song on the album - granted, it's a little cheesy and happy - sort of a precursor to 'Breakthru' from five years later, in some ways; however, every twist and turn and every little refrain is greatly pleasing. Again, the highlight are the harmonised guitars that come in before "you just gotta be strong..." around half way in.

The final two songs on this album are lyrically both rather conscious of the state of the world - Hammer to Fall is a bit of a balls-out rocker, this time much more intelligently crafted than the likes of 'Tear it Up'. There are a few interesting key changes around the long Brian May solo (which ranks up there with his very best), but mostly this is just a highly headbangable one - fantastic nonetheless. 'Is This the World We Created?' rounds off the album with a short, pretty but melancholic acoustic guitar number regarding poverty.

All in all, a not TOO consistent, but mostly great album, excellently produced, and a massive improvement on Hot Space. Arguably the best of their 80s output, although the jury's out on that one. Overall highlights are Freddie's vocals (which are stellar as always), It's a Hard Life and Keep Passing the Open Windows. Not too much progginess on this one except the sheer diversity in the sounds and textures of the tracks, which in this reviewer's opinion speaks volumes more than 8 identical sounding Dream Theater tracks. 4 stars.

All we play is radio caca"

Queen followed up the atrocious disco abomination "Hot Space" with another brown jewel for the litter box that is their ninteen eighties production. Where they once wrote and performed with style and daring, they now alternate schmaltz and cliche. To make the album even more frustrating, at a few points, the band almost sounds like they are going to play something that doesn't sound fit for a dentist's waiting room, but then, every time, the song veers into the predictable MOR that Queen was then making their trademark.

"You had your time, you had the power" You've squandered away your finest hour

The Works ? 1984 (2.8/5)

10 ? Best Song: I Want to Break Free

So now we've finally succumbed entirely to the dreaded 1980's recording and production values and are forced into recording such massive hits as 'I sucked a big dick today and recorded it on sunset strip while nikki Sixx lit my ass-hairs on fire'. What I meant to say was 'Radio Ga Ga' is a fine, catchy little synth-pop song where Freddie Mercury sings skillfully over a skinny electronic beat, and the chorus is priceless, if not venomously predictable. Ya know, if you pay very close attention to the evolution of the album, you can see a very tumultuous battle between Queen supposedly taking it upon themselves to sell out as fast and hard as possible, but still retain their artistic integrity and creativity under the stress of that kind of choice. 'It's a Hard Life' is just like a classic Queen song, with te uplifting vocal harmonies, and very 1970's-ish lyrical themes. I can't be too hard when the guy sings about it being all his fault and trying to mend the broken pieces. Mercury is being sincere? I don't think so for a second, but he's riveting when he pretends to be. The Works, for all the poisonous repetition and predictability, shows the band in a sympathetic light, where you can almost pretend it came out just about 1979. 'Man on the Prowl' is another Elvis tribute, and only a few songs fall hard to the newer elements coming out, like the stricken beat of the new wave 'I Want To Break Free'. For that, I'll probably be alone in rating this thing as high as Queen II, but I will, because it's my right. Don't try and prey upon the Works, but for the love of god give it a chance, it's interesting.

"All we hear is Radio Gagging..."

Not a good Queen album by any stretch of the imagination, "The Works" is a product of the dreaded 80s, and sounds like the saccharine synth soaked manufactured pop that churned out of the music industry. The music was chewed up and regurgitated by radio airwaves, and remains the sound of the 80s undoubtedly. 'Radio Ga Ga' is one of the main culprits complete with handclaps that crowds loved to emulate in live performances.

'It's a Hard Life' continues the harmonies and strong melodies till we get to 'Man on the Prowl' and throwaway 'Machines (Back to Humans)' with synths to the wall and Mercury as the robotic debonair capitaine. It gets unbearable with radio stalwart 'I Want to Break Free' that admittedly is infectious and clever but Mercury admits his preferences all too blatantly especially in the over produced over played videoclip. The musicianship disappears to make way for multi tracked mixing and lots of processed vocals.

'Hammer to Fall' rocks out for a while reminding us of how capable the band could play but it is all too late. This is a very outdated album and vanished in the stale onslaught of other radio friendly tripe. Not really worth the effort and not a shred of prog to be found.

8/10

"Let's give them the works!"

Queen slowly returns to its roots. And that's more than good, given the mediocrity of his two predecessors efforts. Yes, there are still a lot of synthesizers here - and they will not leave most of the band - but I can not complain about them! Indeed The Works is an excellent album.

Starting at one of the greatest classics of the band, Radio Gaga, a festival of synthesizers - and how could not enjoy it? Needless to say something about that is one of the Queen´s most famous songs. Tear It Up portrays the band's yearning to return to their roots of hard rock, and It's a Hard Life shows us that classical music has influenced them. About Man on the Prowl ... good, let's say this song does not cause me the positive effect of Crazy Little Thing Called Love (from The Game album) caused me, but both are the same style, rockabilly.

If you liked the synthesizers Radio Gaga will love Machines (Back To Humans), because this is pure sintesizer! First, Taylor's vocals are processed by a dark vocoder that gives a great effect robotic! I really love that phrase, was the most amazing thing I've heard this album! I Want to Break Free is another famous song, although more for its controversial clip ... oh my God, that clip ... I actually prefer the version of the song that accompanies the controversial video (with the input of the synthesizer and a solo after the "guitar" - put in quotes because we know that the synthesizer makes the soil too). Keep Passing the Open Windows is another highlight, and I really love the piano here, while Hammer To Fall is another effort of the band (successful, in my view) to return to the heavy rock of his early years. Finally, there are the beautiful and short voice-guitar ballad Is this the World We Created?.

I am grateful that the Queen has not decided to continue with the waste that was Hot Space and became aware that his best was in the past. With The Works they would begin a slow and gradual process of returning to its roots, which unfortunately was unable to fully realize the death of Freddie.

The works is definitely not a bad album at all. While I love 70's Queen the most and wouldn't sit this among their best, it certainly showed that they had found thier feet for the 80's and this marked a new era for the band. Hats off to them I say, they had to somehow re-invent their sound with tracks like "Radio Gaga" and "I Want to Break Free" and they ended up being classics. There is quite a large share of the old styles on the album too such as the operatic rock tinged "Hard Life" and the rocking "Hammer To Fall". "Man On The Prowl" often gets slagged off but it is a decent bit of 50's rock and roll, a bit tongue in cheek perhaps but what's wrong with a bit of fun? And come on, even "Machines" is a good song! In fact there is quite a strong collection of songs here. Three and a half stars.

Queen's tenth effort Hot Space alienated a lot of the band's fanbase, many believing that the group's dance influence went way overboard. It was certainly a huge departure from the normal Queen sound, being more restrained and poppy than their previous efforts. So what did they do with their next record The Works? They made more hard-rocking tunes again! Unfortunately, they also spend most of the record rehashing their old material and boring listeners to death. That's not to say every song sucks; in fact, the "average" label on its rating is pretty much accurate. It's simply an average album.

On the bright side, there's more of the classic Queen feel on this record than Hot Space, but at the same time they really don't break any new ground. Some traces of Hot Space are still present, such as with the synthrock anthem "Radio Ga Ga," but thankfully things are more downplayed in that regard. As for the good tunes, there are a good few songs you'll wanna come back to, such as "Hammer to Fall," "I Want to Break Free," "Is This the World We Created?" "Tear It Up" and so forth. "Hammer to Fall" is especially fantastic, revolving around a mammoth hard rock riff from May and leading up to a classic harmonized chorus that resembles Queen's 70s heyday. "I Want to Break Free" is a great ballad that benefits from a beautifully arranged chorus; the synthesizers really add a nice orchestral touch, and even have a nice solo in the middle near the song's bridge. "Tear It Up" is your typical hard rocking Queen affair, but "Is This the World We Created?" is really where more attention should be given. The song is based around a beautiful acoustic guitar melody as the band leave us some food for thought at the end of the record; it's a very tasteful conclusion.

But now it's time for the bad, and there's a lot of it. I'll just address this right now and get it out of the way though: I don't like "Radio Ga Ga." It just never struck me as anything special; it sounds like a bland synthpop song that could have been taken right out of an early A-ha record. Not only that, but the chorus is just cheesy beyond belief; the band's chants of "radio goo goo" and "radio blah blah" just seem really childish and unnecessary. The instrumentation isn't really stellar either; it's just a midtempo pop song with no real standout moments. Further into the record, there are many rote rehashes of previous albums by the band. "Man on the Prowl" is a fast piano rocker that tries to cash in on the success of their 1980 hit "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." It has a very similar style, but is simply not as memorable. "It's a Hard Life" sounds almost exactly like "Play the Game," so analysis is pretty limited on that one as well. Finally, we get to the biggest travesty on the record, "Machines (or 'Back to Humans')". It's pretty much "Radio Ga Ga" with even less memorability, and it even includes extremely cheesy robotic vocals that could have fit on Styx's song "Mr. Roboto." The entire song is bland and boring, taking a midtempo pop/rock approach and sucking any life and likability out of it; the synthesizers are merely ok, the vocals seem a bit average compared to Freddie's usual work, and the overall tune just doesn't do much of anything in the end.

The thing is, this isn't a bad record; it's just very, very average. There are amazing tracks and there are terrible tracks, so it sort of evens out in the end. The big negative aspect of this record is how much of a boring retread it is; at least Hot Space tried to do some new things with the band's sound and think outside the box a little. But to be fair, there are some fantastic tunes on this record; "Hammer to Fall" in particular is almost worth the price of admission alone. So I guess this is simply... average. That's about all there is.

The things that always attracted me to Queens music was the variety and the originality of it all. No one could do all of the different genres like Queen could do, with Brian May's amazing guitar and Freddie Mercury's bombastic vocals. This was glam rock at it's best and everything that Queen tried to do was pure gold. Things started to slip a little on "The Game" but it was still salvageable. Then there was the big downturn in their sound in the synth heavy "Hot Space". "The Works" was supposed to be a return to form, and at this point, I would have been happy if they even approached the feeling of "The Game". But this album just doesn't quite reach even that status. The sound here is just too poppy for my taste.

There were two hits from this album; "Radio Ga Ga" which is famous only because it's easy to sing along with and the catchy guitar hook, and "I Want to Break Free" which I think is the closest they come to their true sound of their pre-"Game" sound. I do love the instrumental break, it's original and fresh, but that is the only place on this album that is a slight step above the mediocrity of this album. "Keep Passing the Open Windows" is also decent and could have squeaked by on one of their better albums. But overall, the album just doesn't have the spirit, the originality of those previous albums.

It doesn't make sense to do a track by track analysis of this album. There are a few rock anthems, a show tune or two, a few songs that sound like they are trying to copy previous songs, but there is a complete lack of originality. The variety that I used to love from this band is completely washed-out by trying to give each song a pop edge and staying away from the true feeling of each style of music. There are plenty of other genres of music they could have tried and there are plenty of ways they could have even built on the older styles they had in the past, but everything is weighed down by trying to make things accessible and radio friendly and trying in vain to recreate past successes.

No doubt that the members of this band are extremely talented. But, unfortunately, they were continuing to miss the mark by trying to be too accessible. It's just too much of a disappointment hearing mediocrity from a band that was capable of so much more.

After the ruinous "Hot Space" and with the constant rumors of the band's split flying through the air, Queen had to face the challenge of reversing the moment. A difficult task for those who had tasted worldwide success with the immortal "Bohemian Rapsody", "Somebody to Love", and at least a dozen other songs.

"The Works" is the answer and it brought several positive things: a pair of band anthems for posterity, "Radio Ga Ga" and "I Want to Break Free," both of which conveyed a vitality and energy in the band's live performances that the album versions did not; "Its a Hard Life," a beautiful Freddie Mercury melody crowned with a splendid solo by Brian May, who also showed off his Red Special on the super rocking and powerful "Hammer to Fall"; and the unplugged and reflective "Is This the World We Created...?"

The return to the sources was partial, it is true, not all the songs were at the same height, but "The Works" at least served to clean the face of Queen, and that they begin to recover the confidence of the followers that in good part the "Hot Space" had kidnapped.

3 stars

Review Nº 696

"The Works" is the eleventh studio album of Queen and that was released in 1984. It became, without any doubt, a partial return to their beginning rock roots, after their previous studio album "Hot Space", although with a much lighter musical approach. It isn't entirely a classic Queen's album, but it's more on the safe ground. It became the heaviest electronic album amongst all their albums too. In comparison with their previous studio album, rock was mostly absent on "Hot Space", which was substituted by dance and funk music, with the massive use of the synthesizers and brass. The band praised the album, saying that they were hoped that it helped re-established the band, especially in Europe.

"The Works" has nine tracks. The first track "Radio Ga Ga" written by Roger Taylor was the first single from the album, with "I Go Crazy" by Brian May, on the B side of the single. The single was a worldwide success from the band, and became as one of the biggest hits of Queen. Lyrically, it's a protest song against the growing influence of music videos on the record sales, against the musical quality itself. Musically, it's an excellent song and probably it became the best song ever written by Roger Taylor to the band. The video for the song, which was directed by David Mallet, was made especially with the additions of scenes of the restored version of Giorgio Moroder's "Metropolis", of Fritz Lang's science fiction movie "Metropolis", made in 1927. The second track "Tear It Up" written by Brian May was the song chosen to be released as the B side of their single "Hammer To Fall". It's completely different from the previous song on the album. It's a hard song in the same vein of some of the old songs of the band. It's clearly a typical Brian May's song. The final result is a nice and good rock song pleasant to hear. The third track "It's A Hard Life" written by Freddie Mercury was a song chosen to be released as the third single of the album, with "Is This The World We Created??" as the B side. It's a song recorded much close to the sound of the earlier Queen's albums in which they didn't use synthesizers. This is an excellent song with a simple musical structure and a beautiful melody. This is, in my opinion, one of the highlights on the album. The fourth track "Man On The Prowl" written by Freddie Mercury is a song that sounds too much close to the rock of the 50's. This is another song written by Freddie Mercury as a tribute to Elvis Presley. It sounds completely different from the rest of the album. As you know, I don't like particularly of the rock of the 50's, and for me, this is one of the weakest songs on the album. The fifth track "Machines (Or 'Back To Humans')" written by Brian May and Roger Taylor was the song released as the B side of their single "I Want To Break Free". It's a very strange song that starts completely electronic and that sounds as a music battle of a future war between humans and machines. It's an interesting rock song with a good musical performance, especially the guitar work of Brian May, which is very pleasant and nice to hear. The sixth track "I Want To Break Free" written by John Deacon was the song chosen as the second single of the album. Curiously, the song had three different versions, album, single and extended version, differing in length and in some factors. It became the second hit single of the album. This is a great song with a catchy melody and an excellent vocal performance. However, this is only a pop song without any kind of progressivity. The seventh track "Keep Passing The Open Windows" written by Freddie Mercury was a song originally written to be part of the film "Hotel New Hampshire" but didn't make part of the final soundtrack of it. It's a good song with a simple musical structure, a beautiful melody and a nice piano performance. The eighth track "Hammer To Fall" written by Brian May was the fourth and final single to be released from the album. The song harks back to Queen's old sound, built around a hard and muscular guitar riff. It became as one of their live favourite songs. Probably, this song became with "It's A Hard Life", the two songs that most of the earlier Queen's fans should better tolerate from this album, because both are almost two classic Queen's songs. The ninth track "Is This The World We Created??" written by Freddie Mercury and Brian May was the B side of their third single, "It's A Hard Life". It's a beautiful acoustic ballad composed only for the acoustic guitar of Brian May and to the voice of Freddie Mercury. This is a nice way to finish the album.

Conclusion: "The Works" is, without any doubt, a good Queen's album with some great and beautiful musical moments. I've no doubt in saying that "The Works" is undoubtedly the best studio album of Queen since their seventh studio album "Jazz". Compared with their previous studio album "Hot Space", we can even say that "The Works" is a real masterpiece. In my humble opinion, this is a very cohesive and balanced album with only one weak song "Man On The Prowl". By the other hand it has some great musical moments, especially "It's A Hard Life" and "Hammer To Fall", which make us remember the good and old Queen's music. The final result is that "The Works" doesn't belong to their best works but it doesn't belong to their worst either. However, like as happened with "Duke" of Genesis, we aren't in presence of a true progressive album. So, I'm going to rate "The Works" with the same 3 stars that I've rated "Duke".

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)