THE GAME

Following their 1978 change in pace, Jazz, Queen starts to move down the disco road with this effort. Not there quite yet, but the sound is starting to run in that direction. The Game is a blend of old school (pseudo-1950s) Rock 'n Roll, some almost disco moments and a bit of old Queen. Really, this is where Queen started to adapt to the 80s and really started to aim at the hits. While Queen had always been a trendy band who managed to find commercial success in everything they did, this is where they really started to lose the progressive and hard rock audience. Some may argue that this started back with News Of The World (and others say Night At The Opera), but at least that album had some very bright rock moments with a couple of truly brilliant anthems. This one plays it safe, and while it does have its moments, this one is mostly the stuff of progressive nightmares.

Starting with the promising Play The Game we're treated to some of the Queen that we know so well. A slow, yet effective song that shows the emotion that Queen has usually portrayed so well with Mercury's excellent vocal talents and the compositions of the rest of the band. But that's when it all starts to go downhill. Dragon Attack has an interesting bass riff that starts off the track promisingly, and a great Taylor drum solo near the middle... but the track never really goes anywhere. It sticks to the strait and narrow so much that it simply becomes that one bass riff over and over until the song ends. Following that is the song that many people know so well, Another One Bites The Dust. A good pop-rock track, yes. but is it very good in the progressive scope? No, not really. Another good bass riff is what saves this one from becoming just another track.

Now for some good ol' rock and roll. A bundle of enjoyable, if somewhat predictable song are up next. Proving that they're still an excellent force to be reckoned with in the rock world, Queen puts out a couple of numbers here that should appeal to the classic rocker, if not so much the prog-head. Need Your Loving Tonight and Rock It (Prime Jive) are a couple of upbeat tracks with a fast pace that are enjoyable, while Crazy Little Thing Called Love brings back memories of 50s rock and roll music. Sail Away Sweet Sister coupled with Coming Soon make up for the very redeeming saving grace of this album along with the crowd favorite, Save Me, all of which are good rock tunes but lack the complexities that Queen usually are so good at playing around with.

However, one track has been skipped here. The album's nadir, Don't Try Suicide is an annoying track that's amusing at best and terribly irritating at the worst. Though a short track, this is one of those, ''What were they thinking!?'' tracks whose comparison could fall close to Genesis's ''Who Dunnit?''.

Not Queen's best effort, this is one best skipped by those who don't consider themselves fans of the band. Still a couple highlights, this one is a full head and shoulders above its successor, Hot Space, which would be a couple years later. Though that's really not saying much based on the caliber of that album. This one is for people who enjoy dancable classic rock and who really like Queen's 80s outputs. Everyone else should just retreat back into 80s Queen if they're looking for something to get into. I'd be hard-pressed to give this album anything higher than a 2.

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