QUEEN

"The Game" is the eighth studio album of Queen that was released in 1980. The album features a more pop/rock sound than its predecessor, "Jazz" and its musical style would be continued and augmented on Queen's next releases. The album received very favourable reviews, when it was launched. "The Game" is one of Queen's most popular albums and it was the first Queen's album to include synthesizers on it. The classic Queen's sound of the 70's is evident with good free flowing music. It contains two massive selling singles, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Another One Bites The Dust". It has many styles including pop rock, funk rock, hard rock and rockabilly. This is a fun album to listen to with free flowing music and well produced tunes. It's their last work with 70's sound and a taste to what was to come.

"The Game" has ten tracks. The first track "Play The Game" written by Freddie Mercury was the song chosen to be released as the third single of the album. It's a very powerful and beautiful ballad, very emotional, which shows the talent composition of the band and Freddie Mercury's excellent vocal work, as usual. This is a typical Queen's song and one my three favourite songs on the album. The second track "Dragon Attack" written by Brian May is a song with a good bass line and a very interesting drumming work, with a solo in the middle of it. It's a hard rock song with some funk influences. Despite being a good song it never was a song that really seduced me very much. The third track "Another One Bites The Dust" written by John Deacon was the song chosen to be released as the fourth single of the album. It was a worldwide hit and became Queen's best selling single. This is another interesting song with a mix of styles of rock, funky and disco. It has a great bass line. This isn't one of my most favourite songs on the album, but I like it very much. The fourth track "Need Your Loving Tonight" written by John Deacon was one of the five songs of the album chosen to be released as a single. This time, it was released as the fifth single of the album. It's a straightforward nice and melodic rock ballad composed in The Beatles' style, but with a more pop sound. There's nothing special on it. It reminds me some vulgar songs from many other bands. The fifth track "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" written by Freddie Mercury was the first song to be chosen for being the first single of the album. The song was written as a tribute to Elvis Presley. It's a very interesting song that sounds completely different from the rest of the album, because it sounds like a 50's rock song. I don't like particularly the rock of the 50's, but I really like this song. I think it's a nice tribute song. The sixth track "Rock It (Prime Jive)" written by Roger Taylor is a rock song that despite being sung by him has an introduction vocalization by Freddie Mercury. It's a very fast rock song with a good guitar solo and nice chorus. This is a typical Roger Taylor's song, is decent enough, but I can't see nothing special on it, really. The seventh track "Don't Try Suicide" written by Freddie Mercury is a song with a good message but it doesn't catch my attention, as much I want. It was a really deception, for me, especially for being a Freddie Mercury's song, which always was my favourite composer of the group. This is, in my humble opinion, the weakest song on the album. The eighth track "Sail Way Sweet Sister" written by Brian May is an acoustic ballad, which is probably the real gem of this album. This is, in my humble opinion, one of the best and most beautiful compositions ever written by Brian May. Unfortunately, it's one of the most unknown, too. It's a lovely song with some progressive lines and made in the good old Queen's style. The ninth track "Coming Soon" written by Roger Taylor is another typical Roger Taylor's song. It's a very simple rock song with a nice tune written in a pop rock style. However and despite being not a bad song, this is one more vulgar song on the album, which doesn't deserve much attention from my own. The tenth and last track "Save Me" written by Brian May was the second song of the album chosen to be released as a single. It's one of the best Queen's ballads. It's a great song, with very touching and beautiful lyrics, nice harmonies and a great guitar work. It represents also one of the best contributions by Brian May in the song writing. It closes perfectly well the album just in the same line it was opened.

Conclusion: This is another album released in the beginning at the fateful 80's. As all we know, the 80's were a terrible decade for the progressive rock music. In the same year, Genesis released "Duke", Gentle Giant released "Civilian", Yes released "Drama" and Jethro Tull released "A". And as we must confess, none of these albums are the best representatives of their best musical period, despite I like very much of "Drama". Relatively to "The Game", it wasn't an exception too. In my humble opinion, "The Game" has three great songs, "Play The Game", "Sail Away Sweet Sister" and "Save Me", and it has also two good songs, "Another One Bites The Dust" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". The other songs are too much vulgar to a Queen's album, with the exception of "Don't Try Suicide", which is for me one of the worst songs made by the band. It reminded me immediately "Who Dunnit?" of Genesis, because in this moment, I'm also preparing a review of "Abacab". Sincerely, I'm afraid that "Don't Try Suicide" is very close to "Who Dunnit?".

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

"The Complete Works" is a very special compilation album of Queen that was released in 1985. The Box set contains, along with the records, a full colour book with all album's information, a map showing the locals where the band had played live in concerts and a small book that contains some information about the entire band's touring equipment.

This is a package that includes their first eleven studio albums "Queen" from 1973, "Queen II" and "Sheer Heart Attack" from 1974, "A Night At The Opera" from 1975, "A Day At The Races" from 1976, "News Of The World" from 1977, "Jazz" from 1978, "The Game" and "Flash Gordon" from 1980, "Hot Space" from 1982, "The Works" from 1984 and their debut live album "Live Killers" from 1979. Besides that, it also contains some non-albums' tracks, "See What A Fool I've Been", "A Human Body", "Soul Brother", "I Go Crazy", "Thank God It's Christmas", "One Vision" and "Blurred Vision".

As I've already reviewed all these albums previously on Progarchives, in a more extensive way, I'm not going to do it again. So, if you are interested to know, in more detail, what I wrote about them before, I invite you to read all those reviews. However, in here, I'm going to write something about them in a more short way. So, of course, I'm not going to analyze them track by track, as I made before, but I'm only going to make a global appreciation of all those albums.

"Queen", "Queen II", "Sheer Heart Attack", "A Night At The Opera", "A Day At The Races" and "Jazz" are the best studio albums made by Queen, only joining in the end by "Innuendo", their last great studio album. "Queen" is a great debut album with hard parts, heavy metal guitars, progressive musical changes, sublime vocal performances, fantastic chorus lines and a great musical orchestration. "Queen II" is an album with great variety of themes and the creativity displayed on it and the epic feel of "Queen II", has make of this Queen's album, one of the best and finest albums released by them. Probably, this is the darkest Queen's record and for sure the most progressive work made by them. "Sheer Heart Attack" is another great album where the music flows beautifully and the variety in styles is surprisingly good. It has fantastic melody moments and the band's members are at their best. "A Night At The Opera" is a huge landmark and a great influence in many rock genres, including the progressive rock, and became as one of the best and most creative and incredible albums ever made in the whole rock music, and not only in the progressive rock style. "A Day At The Races" is still a great album, apart from the musical material on the album can be considered progressive or not. There shouldn't be any doubts about the quality and beauty of the music on it. "News Of The World" is a bit an unbalanced album because it has some anthems, some good songs, but has some weak parts too. It hasn't practically anything of progressive rock on it, but it still is a good album. "Jazz" can be considered the last truly classic album by Queen and it can also be considered the last great album until the end of the 80's. However, it isn't a very well balanced album. It oscillates between great songs and weak songs. "The Game" is also a good album with three great songs, "Play The Game", "Sail Away Sweet Sister" and "Save Me", two good songs, "Another One Bites The Dust" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", but the other songs are too much vulgar and weak too. "Flash Gordon" is one of the weakest Queen's albums. It's a very strange album which has nothing to do with the usual Queen's music, with the exception of the opening track "Flash Theme". "Hot Space" is the worst album ever made by Queen. It has only three real good songs, "Life Is Real (Song For Lennon)", "Las Palabras De Amor" and especially "Under Pressure". The rest is really average or even bad. "The Works" is a good album with some great and beautiful musical moments. It's a very cohesive and balanced album with some great musical moments, especially "It's A Hard Life" and "Hammer To Fall" and only one weak song "Man On The Prowl". "Live Killers" is, in general, a good live album very cohesive and balanced. It has some heavy musical moments, some weak musical moments, but it has also some great live musical moments, indeed.

Conclusion: It's always very difficult, for me, to rate this kind of compilation albums, Box sets with complete original albums from a band. But, in this case, it's even more difficult because this is a package very unbalanced. All we know that the musical career of Queen was very irregular in terms of progressivity and music quality. On this compilation album we have six great albums "Queen", "Queen II", "Sheer Heart Attack", "A Night At The Opera", "A Day At The Races" and "Jazz", of which "Queen II" and "A Night At The Opera" are two masterpieces, three good albums "News Of The World", "The Game" and "The Works", but we have also two very weak albums "Flash Gordon" and especially "Hot Space", which is a bad album. So, despite its weak points and according that this compilation album has the five best Queen's studio albums, the first five albums from the band which are all really great, I decided to rate it with 4 stars.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

"Return Of The Champions" is a DVD of Queen + Paul Rodgers that was released in 2005. It was recorded during the Queen + Paul Rodgers live tour at the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, England. So, we can say this isn't properly a Queen's DVD but a Queen and Rodgers DVD. The concert was also released as a double CD, release in the same year.

Personally, I have the two versions of this live show, the CD and the DVD versions. So, I'm going to make two reviews of this live show. However, as they cross itself one with other completely, I'm going to make both reviews in one as a complement of the other. So, in the CD version I'm going to write more about the music and the songs, saving for the DVD the images of the place and the protagonists on this live show. So, to know what I think, you should read both.

Queen's, Brian May and Roger Taylor members, since John Deacon decided to stay retired after the dead of Freddie Mercury, reunited in 2005 and invited Paul Rodgers to do a live tour with them to be their front man performing some of the most well known Queen's tracks. Rodgers is an English-Canadian rock singer and song writer, best known for his participation as a band's member in the 60's and 70's as vocalist of two rock bands, Free and Bad Company. Beyond them we have on bass Danny Miranda an American musician, on keyboards we have Spike Edney an English musician that has performed with a number of bands and Jamie Moses, an Anglo- American guitarist, all as support musicians.

At the time of this live show was released, fourteen years had passed since Freddie Mercury passed away. So, at that time, it was virtually inconceivable that he could ever been replaced by anyone, and in many ways, it still is, even nowadays. Mercury was a one of the kind of song writers and entertainers, very rare in the musical business, very hard to replace, as happened with many other cases. Regardless of the number of songs that May and Taylor brought to the table, regardless of whether anyone theoretically could replace Mercury's unique and charismatic identity and the reverence Queen's fan base held for their band's iconic front man, nobody actually would, or would even want to do so.

In the history of the popular rock music there are some other bands with the same problem. In this moment come to my mind three of them, The Doors, Led Zeppelin and Area. It's also practically inconceivable, for almost of us, to see these three bands without their charismatic front man. Of course we had the case of Genesis in the early 70's. But, they were able to resolve their problem easily and well. However and in my humble opinion, that was a different and unique case.

Anyway, and after all these considerations, in 2005, Paul Rodgers materialized as Mercury's fill in. The Mercury loyalists howled, cries of "blasphemy" rained down upon the band, yet still, they forged ahead. And as it turned out, even as teeth gnashed and bad publicity shellacked Brian May and Roger Taylor, including some less kind words from the retired bassist John Deacon, people showed up to the live shows. But what is true is they managed to do a great show.

Released as a companion to the CD, this is the first Queen + Paul Rodgers DVD. Filmed on an eighteen camera shoot by the multi award winning director David Mallet, the DVD boasts an immaculate transfer, which copes with everything that is thrown at it. From the constant use of the fog machine to the many crowd sequences, the DVD handles everything and there's never any sign or blocking or pixilation. It's of the high standard that all the other Queen releases have. The solid colours are as warm as they can be and never blur around the edges. As with most of the Queen's releases the soundtrack is in stereo and DTS. Both are cracking mixes containing huge amounts of deep bass. Where the stereo falls down is in capturing the audience participation moments. The DTS puts you in the middle of the concert and is a faultless mix utilising the rears to reproduce the concert experience almost faultlessly. The only disappointing on it is the lack of extras. The first is "Jukebox" which allows us to choose five tracks of our choice to listen in the order we want. The other is a track recorded on Queen's Hide Park show which was given to support London's emergency services in the aftermath of the bombings at the time. Queen + Paul Rodgers cover the John Lennon classic "Imagine".

Conclusion: "Return Of The Champions" is a great live experience with many emotional moments. Of course Mercury will never be replaced by Rodgers or someone else. Still, Rodgers didn't never really attempt to do that. Queen's purists railed against May's and Taylor's alleged greed, disrespect or unprincipled commercial exploitation of Mercury's musical legacy. But, even Mercury himself probably and poignantly gave them the green light to continue in one of his last recorded pieces of music, "The Show Mast Go On", from 1991's "Innuendo", the last Queen's album with him. Concluding, with this kind of concerts, Mercury is still alive among us, and we still can say to him: "We still love you".

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

"Return Of The Champions" is a double live album of Queen + Paul Rodgers that was released in 2005. It was recorded during the Queen + Paul Rodgers live tour at the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, England. So, we can say it isn't properly a Queen's album but a Queen and Rodgers album. The concert was also released on DVD format in the same year.

Personally, I have the two versions of this live show, the CD and the DVD versions. So, I'm going to make two reviews of this live show. However, as they cross itself one with other completely, I'm going to make both reviews in one as a complement of the other. So, in this CD version I'm going to write more about the music and the songs, saving for the DVD the images of the place and the protagonists on this live show. So, to know what I think, you should read both.

"Return Of The Champions" has twenty-seven tracks. "Reaching Out" is a Queen and Rodgers song, a kind of an introduction to the concert. "Tie Your Mother Down" is a Queen's song released on their album "A Day At The Races". "I Want To Break Free" is a Queen's song released on their album "The Works". "Fat Bottomed Girls" is a Queen's song released on their album "Jazz". "Wishing Well" is a Free's song released on their album "Heartbreaker". "Another One Bites The Dust" is a Queen's song released on their album "The Game". "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is a Queen's song released on their album "The Game". "Say It's Not True" is a Queen and Rodgers song released as the first single by Queen + Paul Rodgers. "39" is a Queen's song released on their album "A Night At The Opera". "Love Of My Life" is a Queen's song released on their album "A Night At The Opera". "Hammer To Fall" is a Queen's song released on their album "The Works". "Feel Like Makin' Love" is a Bad Company's song released on their album "Straight Shooter". "Let There Be Drums" is a song by Sandy Nelson and Richard Podolor. "I'm In Love With My Car" is a Queen's song released on their album "A Night At The Opera". "Guitar Solo", as its name indicates, is a guitar solo performed by May. "Last Horizon" is a May's song released on his album "Back To The Light". "These Are The Days Of Our Lives" is a Queen's song released on their album "Innuendo". "Radio Ga Ga" is a Queen's song released on their album "The Works". "Can't Get Enough" is a Bad Company's song released on their album "Bad Company". "A Kind Of Magic" is a Queen's song released on their album "A Kind Of Magic". "I Want It All" is a Queen's song released on their album "The Miracle". "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a Queen's song released on their album "A Night At The Opera". "The Show Must Go On" is a Queen's song released on their album "Innuendo". "All Right Now" is a Free's song released on their album "Fire And Water". "We Will Rock You" is a Queen's song released on their album "News Of The World". "We Are The Champions" is a Queen's song released on their album "News Of The World". "God Save The Queen" is an instrumental version of the British anthem that was originally released on their album "A Night At The Opera".

"Return Of The Champions" is undoubtedly slightly a different Queen's live album. Of course we can miss a lot the absence of two members of the band, their bassist John Deacon and especially their charismatic front man Freddie Mercury. And as we know, Queen always was a band with a stabilized line up, which always was the same, till the dead of Mercury. So, for the purists to see the absence of Mercury is a true sacrilege and the fact that Deacon is also not there makes the case finally out of the question. But, for everyone else, we can look forward to a terrific document of a terrific tour. Of course Rodgers can't be Mercury, at least as far as his unique personality and on stage performance are concerned. But, vocally he is really great. In fact, Rodgers isn't trying to be Mercury, and this becomes apparent during the all performance. Besides Rodgers, May and Taylor also shine in their respective solo spots as well as the show in general. Both also share various vocal spots throughout the album. In relation to the songs, the album includes some of the best and most known tracks of Queen, which are some of the greatest moments in rock history. With a combined track list that most bands could only dream of, the chosen repertoire definitely works for me. Besides that, we have also here a few tracks that aren't linked with Queen. All of this is supported by a superb performance and a great production.

Conclusion: "Return Of The Champions" is really a great concert. It revisits almost all Queens' studio albums and all the live performance is great. Of course it's not Queen, but it represents undoubtedly a great tribute to Mercury and the music that he helped to create. For many of us, it's very refreshing to hear again these songs played once more by the few members of the original Queen's line up plus this front man, who is a legendary singer in his own right. The final result is more than recommendable and if you have an open mind you certainly liked it. They probably could have gone out years ago and gotten some Mercury's sound like. Still, they know very well that is completely impossible to imitate Mercury. So, they took the right decision and invite a singer who sounds nothing like Mercury. It's really recommended.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

1 'We Will Rock You' remember it was cold, they were alone in the snow and they were stomping hard... to warm up, yes before the solo which suddenly tumbles out that was the QUEEN that many listened on a new moon night, clinging to their post, timeless solo even for the grumpy! 2 'We Are The Champions' attack! direct, the clip recorded for a handful of lucky guys, the title that completely des-notes with we will, but chance of the calendar or not, we will see it in stadiums later and not only for their shows; 2 titles, 2 hits fold up the tent, there's no better way to start an album; the title which shows the creation of their various previous albums and the melting pot operated on it 3 'Sheer Heart Attack' for those who didn't know, a bit of QUEEN, yes that was it above all; a crazy space between bombastic glam, low-level hard rock and riff power; I love the 'inar inar inar' that's how it is, I love the speed, this good-natured side like 'Flash' like I could see them doing a BOF on it!; in short, we're in hyperspace, a drum roll on the snare drum and we're off again; 15 mins of music condensed into 3 mins, have you heard the QUEEN effect? 4 'All Dead, All Dead' is also the QUEEN spirit, a banal piano ballad that takes you by the throat, which sends you very far from what you have been able to listen to before; the Impulse effect, I who have little hair, I'm fed up, in short, remember Brian's orgasmic rise with his legendary 'made at home' guitar, the slap even if you're all dead! 5 'Spread Your Wings' 4'35'' for the longest piece of this side A, a title apart that must be tamed; I didn't like it, that's how it was, too easy to record, I liked it better many years later when I saw the clip shot in the same place as we will, 6 'Fight From The Inside' and the return to the heavy dirty title, don't forget that QUEEN was decried everywhere, among the hardos too because... they weren't real hardos; at home the LP sat in front of my LP storage just to indicate the color; and my father, brave among the brave hearing these vulgar cries which threw me 'ah that squeaks', immense, in short the riff which saw you suddenly, Freddie who becomes nervous and this rhythm which was also rocking, come on I get up and flip the disc. 7 'Get Down, Make Love' therefore begins on the other side and the anachronistic title, but there is only that in it; out of tune, sound effects, bass that will go further into disco rock later, Japanese riff, drums that attack you; like an orgasm from Freddy, 3 piano notes here and this heady chorus from entêtemps; shh the break 'Flash' is coming, it's spoiled, before the time, I'll leave you; no synths marked on it? 8 'Sleeping On The Sidewalk' for the second track which I didn't like; the voice, obviously it's not him, the air, the too predictable rhythm I kick into touch; and don't tell me there's a ZZ TOP bluesy thing in it, in short it looks like they had a good time 9 'Who Needs You' for stereophonic pleasure and the memory of my sapphire screwed up for a while and therefore not this musical quality, not my ears filled with this divine nectar, of the voice well on the right; for the trouble with a new sapphire I ate the whole disk all day, just like that; soft track with fruity spleen, a Harlequin candy that melts in your mouth and this dry guitar that runs down my ears like human wax, honey, jelly. 10 'It's Late' that's why I said from the start that it's prog!, see the length of the track, see the intro, see the evolution, the nervous title that chills all the critics, a minimalist crescendo which gives pride of place to the brutality of the queen who could show her claws, good for the faithful... the brutality of the robot but what was it called, who stuffs your head to agree to move on it; it starts on Brian's twisted solo, on his putting into orbit, on the improvised crazy break where everything seems to be unable to stop; phew Roger with his roll manages to hang up everything before launching into this final boosted boogie. Little fun note, look who is under the hand of the robot and who should have been kneaded instead of governing later, if you recognize! 11 'My Melancholy Blues' for the finale and the cabaret title, the sensual tune that would make you want to see Freddie as a maid, a melancholy title no no I hadn't read the title before, the title that brings the album back in the musical concept, a work of art from the start and not only when Freddie left in 91!

It's actually priceless.

'Jazz' is the seventh studio album of Queen that was released in 1978. The varying musical styles on the album were alternately praised and criticised. So, critical reaction upon its release wasn't particularly favourable. In recent years, reviews tend to be more favourable. For many fans, 'Jazz' became also a landmark in the musical career of the band. It's a fun album to listen to and it's equally as theatrical as Queen's mid 70's albums with many lively, beautiful and energetic songs. It represents the end of an era. 'Jazz' is in general considered the last of their classic studio albums.

'Jazz' has thirteen tracks. The first track 'Mustapha' written by Freddie Mercury was released as a single. On some versions the B side was 'Dead On Time' and on others was 'In Only Seven Days'. The single had different covers according to the different versions. It's a great song to open the album. The lyrics, I think, consist of English, Arabic, Persian and certainly a number of invented words. The second track 'Fat Bottomed Girls' written by Brian May was also released as a single with 'Bicycle Race'. It's a good rock song based on an open tuning guitar riff based in blues and hard rock. It has also a great choral work. This is a great song with a slight country touch and excellent vocal harmonies. The third track 'Jealousy' written by Freddie Mercury is another excellent song. We are in presence of a great classic and a typical ballad from the band that features Brian May playing the acoustic guitar. All vocals were performed by Freddie Mercury that shows an incredible vocal work. That explains why he was considered one of the greatest singers ever. The fourth track 'Bicycle Race' written by Freddie Mercury was, as I said before, released as a double A side single together with 'Fat Bottomed Girls'. It's another great song with a very unusual chord progression with several modulations and multi-tracked vocals and guitar harmonies. This is a brilliant short complex musical composition with beautiful harmonies. The fifth track 'If You Can't Beat Them' written by John Deacon is a hard rock composition, one of a live favourite for the band in the late of the 70's. It's one of my favourite songs from him. This is one of the few John Deacon's songs where Brian May plays all the guitars. It has one of his lengthiest guitar solos. Curiously, in some moments it reminds me Boston. The sixth track 'Let Me Entertain You' written by Freddie Mercury is a good rock song but belongs to the second part of the album, the less good part of it. From here the musical quality of the album decreases a bit. Still, this is also a good track. The seventh track 'Dead On Time' written by Brian May is similar to the previous track. It's a good rock song, with good lyrics, great guitar parts and complex melodies. Both songs are good, but I feel they are less good than the previous five. The eighth track 'In Only Seven Days' written by John Deacon is a nice song with good melody, good chorus and good musical atmosphere. Still, it's inferior to his other song. Somehow, it's a banal song and no wonder it became a forgettable song. The ninth track 'Dreamer's Ball' written by Brian May is another disappointing song. Probably, this was a Brain May's tribute to Elvis Presley, who died one year before. This is a song that personally tells me nothing, especially because I'm not a big fan of blues. The tenth track 'Fun It' written by Roger Taylor is the lowest point on the album and it's also one of the worst songs on any Queen's album. It seems the band wanted to produce a disco hit, and they even used a drum machine. This is the kind of songs that never should be part of this album. The eleventh track 'Leaving Home Ain't Easy' written by Brian May is a nice ballad where he sings all the vocals. It's a nice and pleasant acoustic guitar song with good harmonies but like some others, it's also a banal and forgettable song. The twelfth track 'Don't Stop Me Now' written by Freddie Mercury was another song chosen to be released as a single. It was the A side of the single 'In Only Seven Days' and the B side of 'More Of That Jazz'. This is another highlight on the album that fortunately brought back the great musical quality of the album. The thirteenth track 'More Of That Jazz' written by Roger Taylor is much better than his previous song. It's a very good song with acidic lyrics and great melody. One of the most interesting things of the song is the inclusion of short and abrupt musical passages from other songs on the album. It's a great song and an excellent final to the album.

Conclusion: As I wrote before 'Jazz' can be considered the last classic album of Queen and it can also be considered their last great album until the end of the 80's. In reality, it's an album that can oscillates between great songs such as 'Mustapha', 'Fat Bottomed Girls', 'Jealousy', 'Bicycle Race', 'If You Can't Beat Them' and 'Don't Stop Me Now' but it oscillates also between weak songs, especially 'Fun It'. I must confess that I had some hesitation with the rating to give to the album. This isn't really a well balanced album. The B side is less good than the A side, with some really weak songs. So, due to the A side be great and the last two songs on the B side, I decided to rate it with 4 stars. There's a great hard edge to this album. Perhaps you could call it a classic Queen. In general, you won't be disappointed with it.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Play The Game If there's any band that knows how to start an album it's Queen. They know right when that needle drops you need to be transported elsewhere. Play The Game executes that in a clean fresh way that introduces the sound of the album and fits in snugly. The tone rising and quickly falling to bring forth the vocals rids any need for a more elaborate intro. It's like a swig of mouthwash for your eyes, resetting whatever mood you were in before and forcefully seating you in front of this album. I like the metaphor they went with here, it fits the whole vibe they were going for, it's not like it means too much, but it's fun and a great way to get in shape. The guitar solos also add the finishing rough edge to prevent this from being standard step-by-step pop-rock. But at the end of the day this track is best listened to how it is, there's nothing in here that's especially thought-provoking, or meaningful (which is a theme that I feel continues throughout the album). But a good song's a good song, and if I don't gain a third eye from it that's fine. I also [&*!#] myself during the synth solo, I thought they were above that ungodly instrument smh.

Dragon Attack Play The Game still might be a bit poppy for some people, and that's fine. Maybe the traces of hard rock didn't make it up to them, maybe they weren't paying attention, maybe they suck and are awful and I also hate them, and that's fine. But just in case anyone thought Queen lost their cool, Dragon Attack would prove overwise. It's funky, hard, the drum solo is especially cool, and the layered guitar solos jiggle a thousand keys in front of your face. The lyrics and vocals, while still meaningless, are very agreeable. They hit the nerve of "yeah man".

Another One Bites The Dust "Hey! I know this song!" Little Timmy said while I drove past blasting this album, his tiny head exploding from being in the way of my bass frequencies. I figure every man, woman, and child this side of the Atlantic has had this song stuck in their head at one point. One of (if not) the most recognizable bass lines ever written, matched with memorable lyrics sung by an anthemic singer, and a very well-crafted song structure creates what was bound to be a number-one hit. Another One Bites The Dust pulls itself back a little, it strategically holds itself back to keep you listening. You sit there and wonder "when's this [&*!#] gonna pop off?", it never does. It uses this to keep you listening closer for that moment it does go off, and when you get bored it ropes you back in when everything ramps up dramatically at the end of each verse. This ramp-up doesn't last, but it keeps you there. The bridge does much the same thing in the opposite direction, instead of keeping you there by ramping up, it slows down building tension. And if those strategies don't work there's still the amazing, insanely catchy bass line that strings this song together. Another One Bites The Dust doesn't hold you above water, it pushes you above water, and when you start sinking again it punches you back up. Sorta like how your dad would push you on the swing as a child.

Need Your Loving Tonight This is the brown spot on the record. Squeezed between two extremely recognizable tracks is a meaningless, in- your-face, nothing hot dog. The lyrics are uninspired, Freddie's vocals don't fit the nature of our protagonist, the aesthetic is off, and nothing hits me musically. The guitar solos are good, but when talking about Brain May "good" is an insult. The track's only saving grace is being in between two amazing number-one singles, and even then, the flow of Another One Bites The Dust into Need Your Loving Tonight feels so unnatural. The low bass and drums fading and echoing out would fit a lot better with the soft opening guitar of Crazy Little Thing Called Love than it does with Need Your Loving Tonight's "YEAH!", and subsequent rotten cheese guitar riff. This is bar none my least favorite Queen song (as of writing this). This sounds like Queen from an alternate universe where they never took off and were stabbed to death for being [&*!#].

Crazy Little Thing Called Love Another classic of the Queen catalog. Right after the greatest song of all time comes this Elvisy romp. I love the phrase "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", it's a very wholesome way of looking at love. The bass line to this one is my favorite off the album, everything about it is so fun and inclusive. The rockabilly electric guitar solo paired with the claps and doowoping (or whatever you would call it) build a solid atmosphere. Nothing in here feels wrong, or out of place, everything from the voice to the spastic guitar accents works great. This is one of those songs that will always, every time I put it on, make me happy; it's impossible to not be in (at least) brighter spirits listening to this.

Rock It (Prime Jive) Queen has always boasted about not using a synthesizer on their records. If you own a 70's Queen LP you'll see in the credits "No Synthesizers!". And it's great that they finally came around to using one, but isn't it kinda weird to have a song about "real rock 'n' roll" right after you went back on your thing about not using synthesizers in your real rock records? But the use of the synth here is pretty good, so I guess all is forgiven. I feel like the lyrics here should do more in the way of meaning anything at all. Dragon Attack had the excuse that the lyrics are cool, and the rest of the song didn't need them, but I feel like good lyrics are a little bit more needed here. Maybe tell a little story here, that would fit nicely with the progression the song goes through. But when you have a song with good progression and lyrics that don't go anywhere, or move anything, the lyrics play tug-a-war with the rest of the track, and make it all uncomfortable.

Don't Try Suicide I feel that the flexible and uncoordinated core of the instrumentation matched well with the borderline-offensive lyrics. But they shouldn't be offensive to people with suicidal thoughts, it's about attention whores who pretend to be suicidal for whatever reason (imo). The amount of cheesy backing ground vocals and odd inflections elevate the sarcasm to near-Zappa levels. The only time it's honest is on half of the bridge, until the line "You just can't be a prick teaser all of the time", which is [%*!#]ing hilarious. This song is the best time, one of their most plainly enjoyable tracks. And of course the bass line is funky as [&*!#]. I also think the outro blends in nicely with Sail Away Sweet Sister, getting more mellow lending up to the end.

Sail Away Sweet Sister This tugs on the heartstrings hard. The sheer amount of delivery that comes with the fluctuating dynamics of the last line of the verse and the bombastic choruses that follow. The lyrical content reminds me of Bridge Over Troubled Water, the always sticking by your side even when you've sailed on by, of course they do it better, but this also comes near something like that. What Simon & Garfunkel don't have is an aesthetic as [%*!#] guitar solo and brain-poking hard/pop rock. The outro ends it perfectly. All in all, this is an almost flawless track, they could do a bit better with the lyrics. I like how the lyrics reference back to Play The Game ("Ain't no use in pretending you don't wanna play no more"), but they aren't mind-blowing. And the song could be a bit longer, maybe extend the first guitar solo. And it could use more depth... On second thought this is very much not a flawless track, but it's still really good.

Coming Soon There's a lot of meaningless music (of course excluding instrumentals), the vast majority of it's pretty bad. But some songs, like Coming soon, hit the nail on the head when it comes to being good meaningless music. There's nothing fancy with the lyrics here, nothing means anything, "what exactly is coming soon?", doesn't matter it's entertaining. There's a solid beat to this track, there's a solid rhythm, and most of all there's a vibe. It's a fun vibe, it's a vibe you don't wanna leave. If only there was a five-minute guitar solo.

Save Me I get it's a greatest hit and stuff, don't I don't give a [&*!#], nothing is stimulating here. It's all the extreme, but none of the flavor of extreme that makes Queen Queen. If I wanted bombastic music with moving vocals, funky bass, great melody, and amazing guitar solos I'd listen to the huge mound of awesome stuff Queen put out, but not this. It is a solid album closer, but mainly it's Queen-flavored meaningless melodrama.

"Why did you write so little about each track" Ghost Little Timmy howled at me from beyond the grave. "Well there's not a whole lot to write about Little Timmy" I responded, "This album is shallower than anything from Queen's 70's output. It's not bad, but only truly good in the moment." At this point I realized I'm hearing and seeing [&*!#] that isn't there and should go to bed. Goodnight everyone

"News Of The World" is the sixth studio album of Queen that was released in 1977. It was the second album to be produced solely by the band. The first was their previous studio album "A Day At The Races". As the last two studio albums, "A Night At The Opera" and "A Day At The Races", the title of the album followed the references to Marx Brothers. This time, its name wasn't taken from another film of the Marx Brothers, but was based on a radio program, made by them in 1934, that mocked with the news of the world. Queen decided to go a slightly different route from their albums of the mid of the 70's. As punk rock was growing in popularity, Queen went for a back to a basics rock album.

"News Of The World" has eleven tracks. The first track "We Will Rock You" written by Brian May was the song chosen to be released as the B side from their single "We Are The Champions". We are in presence of a great rock song that soon became one of the best known and most popular songs of Queen. The second track "We Are The Champions" written by Freddie Mercury was the song chosen to be the first single of the album and like "We Will Rock You" soon became one of their most famous and popular songs. It also remains among rock's most recognizable anthems, even in our days. It's interesting to note that "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" were issued together and became a worldwide top ten single. These two songs represent, without any doubt, the two highlights on the album. The third track "Sheer Heart Attack" written by Roger Taylor is a very heavy punk rock song, probably the heaviest song that Queen ever wrote. It's interesting to note this song should have been the title track from their previous studio album, but it seems they didn't finish it in time. Sincerely, I don't like very much of this song and it represents, for me, the lowest musical point on the album. The fourth track "All Dead, All Dead" written by Brian May is a lovely sad ballad with a beautiful vocal melody and a nice and beautiful piano work. The song is magnificently sung by Brian May, and is, for me, one of his best vocal works in the band's career. After "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions", this song is, for me, one of the best musical moments on this album. The fifth track "Spread Your Wings" written by John Deacon was the song chosen to be released as the A side of the single "Spread Your Wings/Sheer Heart Attack". This is, in reality, a beautiful rock ballad with good guitar harmonies. With this song, John Deacon did a good and interesting work, making of this song, in my opinion, one of his better musical contributions to the band's musical career. The sixth track "Fight From The Inside" written by Roger Taylor is probably with his other composition "Sheer Heart Attack", the two weakest songs on the album. Despite have a good bass work by John Deacon, it's an uninspired song, very repetitive and predictable, and that never reaches the real musical climax. From a band like Queen we expected much more. The seventh track "Get Down, Make Love" written by Freddie Mercury is a very strange song. It's a kind of an avant-garde track with some electronic experimentation, weird guitar effects and strange vocal sounds. It isn't, in reality, a bad track but it's nothing brilliant, either. The eighth track "Sleeping On The Sidewalk" written by Brian May is clearly a bluesy song, mainly played on the acoustic guitar. Despite being a good song and proving that we are in presence of a very versatile band, we aren't definitely in presence of one of the best musical moments on the album. It's the weakest Brian May's song on the album. The ninth track "Who Needs You" written by John Deacon is a very sweet song with some Latino/Spanish musical influences. It's another nice and beautiful song with some good acoustic guitar work and interesting vocals, but, in reality, it doesn't bring anything new and interesting to the album. The tenth track "It's Late" written by Brian May is, in my opinion, after "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" and with "All Dead, All Dead", one of the four best musical moments on the album. This is a real classic rock Queen's song with excellent melody and great individual musical performance by all band's members. The eleventh track "My Melancholy Blues" written by Freddie Mercury is, as its name says, a melancholic blues song. It's a slow and a peaceful song, with some nice piano work and some beautiful vocal performance. This is in reality a calm and nice way to close the album.

Conclusion: "News Of The World" is, in my humble opinion, an unbalanced album because it has some great songs, some good songs and some weak songs too. It hasn't also practically anything to do with progressive rock. I sincerely think there are two main reasons for that. In the first place there are more contributions in the songriting from Roger Taylor and John Deacon on the album that was usual, and we all know that they aren't the best composers of the group. In the second place, we are in presence, in my opinion, of a Freddie Mercury less inspired in the composition duties, than was usual. For me, "We Are The Champions" is the only great song signed by him, on the album. Fortunately, with Brian May is the opposite. He only signed a weak song "Sleeping On The Sidewalk". "News Of The World" is different from their albums released before. It's far from been one of their best works, but it still is a good album from Queen.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

"A Day At The Races" is the fifth studio album of Queen that was released in 1976. It was their first completely self produced album. The title followed suit with its predecessor "A Night At The Opera" with its name from another film of Marx Brothers. Due to that, the surviving brother Groucho Marx invited Queen to visit him at his Los Angeles home in 1977, five months before he died. Queen decided to continue with another album in the same vein of the previous one. Still, this album isn't totally identical to "A Night At The Opera", but it's equally energetic, versatile and theatrical too.

"A Day At The Races" has ten tracks. The first track "Tie Your Mother Down" written by Brian May is the opening track and the second single from this album. After its release it was performed live by Queen on every subsequent tour. It's a good hard rock guitar based oriented song, where Brian May shines. It was also a big success on the rock radios. The second track "You Take My Breath Away" written by Freddie Mercury is a beautiful Queen's traditional classic ballad, a mellow piano number, very closely to "Love Of My Life" of their previous studio album. This song represents one of the most extraordinary musical performances by Freddie Mercury. He is absolutely brilliant on vocals and piano. With this song he clearly shows how great he was. This was also a great live song, allowing to Freddie Mercury one of his greatest live vocal moments. The third track "Long Way" written by Brian May is the fifth song of the album chosen to be released as a single and was sung by him. It's a song that we can consider a kind of a counterpart to "'39" from their previous studio album. Despite isn't as good as "'39", it still is a good, nice and pleasant song to hear. The main interesting thing on the song is the vocal work of Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, which is amazing. The fourth track "The Millionaire Waltz" written by Freddie Mercury is an epic following the same line of "Bohemian Rhapsody" from their previous studio album. It's another multi-key and multi-metre song, extremely complex using abrupt arrangements and musical passages all over the song. This is an excellent rock/waltz in the typical Queen's style. It's, in my opinion, a great song, the best song on the album, which is, in quality terms, close to "Bohemian Rhapsody". The fifth track "You And I" written by John Deacon represents his contribution for the album, and it features him on the acoustic guitar. It's obvious that we are in presence of a very simple song. However, the musical arrangements and the performance of all band's members are absolutely irreproachable, making of it a very beautiful song. The sixth track "Somebody To Love" written by Freddie Mercury was the first single of this album. This is a song with very complex harmonies and guitar solos and with an incredible gospel choir too. It's probably the most recognizable track of this album and is, without any doubt, another highlight on the album. This is an extraordinary track and represents Queen at their peak. The seventh track "White Man" written by Brian May is a song which its lyrics are about the suffering of Native Americans at the hands of the European immigrants. This is a great hard rock song with excellent musical structure, strong melodies and guitar riffs. It's one of Queen's heaviest works, thematically and musically. The eighth track "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy" written by Freddie Mercury is the fourth single of the album. This was one of the several music-hall inspired songs written by Queen that appeared on their albums from the 70's. It's a song where the band, again, shows their humorous side, creating a nice song. But, it doesn't represent a high point on the album. The ninth track "Drowse" written by Roger Taylor represents his contribution for the album and where he does all the vocals. The song is notable for being Roger Taylor's first soft song on a Queen's album. His previous compositions are being usually the heaviest rock pieces of the previous albums. Despite be a nice song, it's probably one of the weakest points on the album. The tenth and last track "Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together)" written by Brian May represents the third song of the album released as a single. The song is notable for having two choruses sung entirely in Japanese. This is one of my favourite songs on the album, together with "You Take My Breath Away", "The Millionaire Waltz" and "Somebody To Love".

Conclusion: Is "A Day At The Races", in reality, "A Night At The Opera" Part 2? Sincerely, I don't know and I don't care. And I really think that the answer to this question is completely irrelevant because we are in presence of a great piece of music. It's true that there are many similarities between both albums, the use of Marx Brothers films name on both albums, the sleeve appeared as a negative image of the previous album and many obvious comparisons between some songs of both albums. Despite "A Day At The Races" isn't as good as "A Night At The Opera" it still is a great album, whatever almost of the musical material on the album can be progressive or not. There shouldn't be doubts about the quality and beauty of the majority of its music. There are great classic Queen's tunes here. The album is free flowing and artistic. This album would prove to be the last of the proper 70's bombast and the high, layered harmonies.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

'A Night At The Opera' is the fourth studio album of Queen that was released in 1975. This is Queen's most critically acclaimed studio album and is also one of their best selling releases. It was a huge commercial success and it's usually considered the greatest masterpiece of the group. It's often cited among the best rock albums of all time. The album takes its name from the Marx Brothers' film 'A Night At The Opera'. Recorded in the best studios of the time, it was at the time of its release, considered the most expensive album ever recorded. Its production is usually recognized as one of the most perfect of all music history. All instruments were recorded in separate studios, recording only the battery in a studio, the guitar in another and so on. Freddie Mercury once said, at the time: 'It isn't paranoia, is perfectionism'.

'A Night At The Opera' has twelve tracks. The first track 'Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To')' written by Freddie Mercury is a song written to be a 'non-homage' to the band's manager at the time, for a less honest financial conduct with the band. Lyrically, it's an extraordinary song that represents the best character assassination of someone, I've ever heard. Musically, it's a great rock song with good harmonies, nice piano and fantastic vocal work. This is a terrific opener, one of the best I've ever heard. The second track 'Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon' written by Freddie Mercury is a song where he played the piano and made all the vocals. This is a short song with a very old fashioned melody and a theatrical vocal performance. It has a good piano performance and a nice guitar solo too. The third track 'I'm In Love With My Car' written by Roger Taylor is a song with the lyrics inspired and dedicated to one of the band's roadies, Jonathan Harris, whose car was the love of his life. This is a great rock song, very simple and very catchy, which belongs to Roger Taylor's most famous songs in Queen's catalogue. The fourth track 'You're My Best Friend' written by John Deacon represents the first single composed by him to the band. The song was written to his wife, Veronica. This is a beautiful and catchy song with some nice harmonies. The electric piano was performed by him. The fifth track ''39' written by Brian May, relates the story of a group of space explorers who embarked on a very far way space travel, and upon their return, the loved ones they left beyond are all dead. Musically, we are in presence of a superb acoustic ballad with great guitar work and some beautiful harmonies. The sixth track 'Sweet Lady' written by Brian May is, the Achilles' heel on the album. It isn't a very good song but it isn't very bad either. This is my least favourite song on the album. The seventh track 'Seaside Rendezvous' written by Freddie Mercury is a song with similitude with 'Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon'. It has another old fashioned melody and a theatrical vocal performance. This is a funny romantic song with a superior piano work and a fantastic vocal part. The eighth track 'The Prophet's Song' written by Brian May is, without any doubt, with 'Bohemian Rhapsody', the two highlights on the album and represents also the most progressive song on it. It has an astonishing choral section performed a Cappella, probably the best made by him to the band. The ninth track 'Love Of My Life' written by Freddie Mercury was written to his girlfriend at the time, Mary Austin. It's a very beautiful and catchy ballad, probably one of the best ballads I've heard. It became a Queen's classic song, frequently performed on their live shows, where Freddie Mercury frequently stopped singing and allowed the audience to take over of it. The tenth track 'Good Company' written by Brian May is a simple and nice song where he plays koto, a traditional Japanese instrument. This is another song with an old fashioned tune, with a Hawaiian style, very nice and pleasant to hear. The eleventh track 'Bohemian Rhapsody' written by Freddie Mercury is the most known and the best song made by Queen. It was released as a single and soon became a huge commercial success. Perhaps, it's the most progressive single of all time and is really incredible that such complex song may have been so successful. Definitely, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is one of the greatest rock songs of all time. The twelfth and last track 'God Save The Queen' is the traditional UK's anthem arranged by Brian May. It's a short track that represents a perfect way to close this album.

Conclusion: So, with the benefit of more than forty years hindsight, can we say that 'A Night At The Opera' is Queen's best album? Sincerely, I really don't know. But, it was, without any doubt, their great landmark release and it had a great musical influence on many rock genres, including the progressive rock music. With this album, Queen would release one of their most versatile and eclectic albums. Queen isn't maybe quite as dynamic and over the top as on 'Queen II'. However, they produced a very mature album. 'Queen II' is more balanced and most progressive than this one is. But, I like both albums equally. However, 'A Night At The Opera' is a great album and it's also, with 'Queen II', one of the two best studio albums made by the band. And I would even dare to say that 'A Night At The Opera' is one of the best and one of the most creative and incredible albums ever made in the whole rock music and not just in the progressive rock.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)