NEWS OF THE WORLD

The constant need of the brilliant Freddie Mercury and his bandmates not to repeat themselves and to continue exploring new territories, led them to leave aside the development of intricate pieces characterised by an endless number of superimposed layers of voices and guitars, whose maximum expression was the everlasting "A Night at the Opera" and, to a lesser extent, "A Day at the Races". With "News of the World", their sixth album, Queen focused on more direct songs, embracing different musical styles and less complex sonic textures, in a clear demonstration of their versatility and lack of risk-taking.

From the minimalist and powerful "We Will Rock You" and the timeless anthem "We Are the Champions", created to be part of the interaction with the audience at concerts, the album contains a handful of dissimilar pieces with no apparent connection, such as the sensitive ballad "All Dead, All Dead" sung by guitarist Brian May, the singular "Sheer Heart Attack" and its proto punk airs loaded with saturated guitars, the sexualised "Get Down, Make Love", the warm bluesy reminiscence of "Sleeping on the Sidewalk", the fun "Who Needs You" with its frugal Caribbean tune with bassist John Deacon taking charge of the acoustic guitars, or the hard-rocking "It's Late", one of the heaviest and most intense pieces in the band's catalogue, where May takes the lead role with powerful guitar riffs backed by Roger Taylor's raw percussion. And the collage represented by "News of the World" is completed by the sleepy "My Melancholic Blues", a meditative, jazz-influenced rendition, sung by Mercury alone accompanied by his piano, in late-night bar mode.

While the stratospheric success of the double A-side single ("We Will Rock" / "We Are the Champions") took most of the spotlight, the rest of the album's tracks maintained a considerable compositional level and instrumental quality. With "News of the World", a new era was about to dawn for the Brits: stadium rock.

3/3.5 stars