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Queen
Nov 5, 2019 16:22:15 GMT
Post by B.E. on Nov 5, 2019 16:22:15 GMT
Hot Space - 5/10
I like half the album ("Staying Power", "Dancer", "Action This Day", "Put Out The Fire", "Life Is Real", and "Under Pressure"). The rest, on average, is a major drop in quality from their Queen - The Game output, in my opinion. To Queen's credit, I'd been waiting a long time to find that dividing line. And not just in quality, but I'd been waiting to lose that classic sound to the production values of the day. Personally, I have a very strong bias against the production values that became prevalent in the late 70s and throughout the 80s (and beyond, to varying degrees). So, I went into each new album with trepidation and was pleasantly surprised at how long Queen held out. That said, a good song is a good song and a great performance is a great performance. My enjoyment of a song or album may be hindered to an extent, but not eliminated (often, far from it!). Freddie's still in incredible voice, but his songwriting isn't up to the standard I'd grown accustomed to (neither is Deacon's, unfortunately). I think Brian still brought it songwriting-wise and with his guitar playing. While I might not be a fan of the genre or production of a song like "Dancer", I think it's catchy, it's got a great vocal performance (Freddie's lead vocals are my favorite aspect of Queen, so it carries a lot of weight), and it's got great (rock) guitar work.
I hadn't been aware of Queen's tribute to John Lennon. Well done. I think tribute songs are very hard to pull off. Is it a great song? No, I don't think so. But, it's good. I like that they preceded it with an anti-gun song. Furthermore, I thought the transition was great (like the old Queen who were interested in such things!). The backing track of "Put Out The Fire" fades away and we're left with just Freddie's voice shouting "shoot, shoot" (which, itself, is kind of reminiscent of John's "shoot me, shoot me" in "Come Together"). Then, "Life Is Real" begins and there's a somber-sounding piano seemingly mimicking "shoot, shoot". I think where the tribute really succeeds for me is that it successfully incorporates just enough Lennon-esque musical qualities to remind me of Lennon (i.e. I'm not just relying on the name-drop to recognize the tribute). The main one is the lyrical similarity between "life is real" and John's "love is real" from his song, "Love" (which was an entire song based on that lyrical style). Also, unknowingly to Freddie, John wrote a song called "Real Life". It became "Real Love", the Beatles song. So, the lyrical concept behind the tribute works really well for me.
A few other things: - While I like "Under Pressure", I don't love it. Of the hits, it's my least favorite. Even on this album, it's not a favorite. Maybe it's Bowie. I can't really say I'm a fan of his. - I'm nominating "Body Language" as the worst Queen song. I'll be shocked if there's worse to come. - Neil Young released a song in 1980 called "Stayin' Power". The lyrics in the chorus are "we got stayin' power, you and I, stayin' power, through thick and thin". Just a bit of trivia for ya.
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Queen
Nov 5, 2019 16:29:19 GMT
B.E. likes this
Post by kds on Nov 5, 2019 16:29:19 GMT
I'd say Body Language is a solid pick for worst Queen song. With the possible exception of the 22 minute soundscape that ends Made In Heaven, they would certainly not release a worse song.
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Queen
Nov 5, 2019 16:35:13 GMT
Post by B.E. on Nov 5, 2019 16:35:13 GMT
I'd say Body Language is a solid pick for worst Queen song. With the possible exception of the 22 minute soundscape that ends Made In Heaven, they would certainly not release a worse song. a 22 minute soundscape?! Uh-ho.
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Queen
Nov 5, 2019 16:39:05 GMT
Post by kds on Nov 5, 2019 16:39:05 GMT
I'd say Body Language is a solid pick for worst Queen song. With the possible exception of the 22 minute soundscape that ends Made In Heaven, they would certainly not release a worse song. a 22 minute soundscape?! Uh-ho. Yeah, I'll comment on that in a few albums. And the illogical length of the piece is probably the only thing that really makes it worse than Body Language. Staying Power and Dancer were pretty bad IMO, but Body Language is about as far removed from what you'd expect from Queen as you can get. "You've got the cutest little ass I've ever seen. Knock me down for a six anytime." Even David Coverdale would scoff at that.
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Queen
Nov 5, 2019 16:39:37 GMT
Post by B.E. on Nov 5, 2019 16:39:37 GMT
Bellbottoms...I do 100% agree about that "People who shoot people....people..with...guns" lyric on Put Out the Fire. Lyrically, it's one of the low points in the catalog. It's awkward. But, I've got to admit, I didn't even notice it first time around. The line that stood out to me was "you need a gun like a hole in the head". I actually thought that line was pretty good (at least within the context of the song).
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Queen
Nov 5, 2019 16:46:47 GMT
Post by B.E. on Nov 5, 2019 16:46:47 GMT
Yeah, I'll comment on that in a few albums. And the illogical length of the piece is probably the only thing that really makes it worse than Body Language. Staying Power and Dancer were pretty bad IMO, but Body Language is about as far removed from what you'd expect from Queen as you can get. "You've got the cutest little ass I've ever seen. Knock me down for a six anytime." Even David Coverdale would scoff at that. The only positive things I can say about it are that, as bellbottoms pointed out, the bass line hook ain't bad. Also, near the beginning, when you hear all those voices echoing "don't talk". That was kinda cool.
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Queen
Nov 5, 2019 16:53:57 GMT
Post by kds on Nov 5, 2019 16:53:57 GMT
Bellbottoms...I do 100% agree about that "People who shoot people....people..with...guns" lyric on Put Out the Fire. Lyrically, it's one of the low points in the catalog. It's awkward. But, I've got to admit, I didn't even notice it first time around. The line that stood out to me was "you need a gun like a hole in the head". I actually thought that line was pretty good (at least within the context of the song). You need a gun like a hole in the head isn't too bad compared to the near spoken word bit Bellbottoms mentioned.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Queen
Nov 5, 2019 17:47:08 GMT
Post by bellbottoms on Nov 5, 2019 17:47:08 GMT
I'd say Body Language is a solid pick for worst Queen song. With the possible exception of the 22 minute soundscape that ends Made In Heaven, they would certainly not release a worse song. a 22 minute soundscape?! Uh-ho. I'm pretty sure their worst song appears on The Miracle.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Queen
Nov 5, 2019 17:50:19 GMT
B.E. likes this
Post by bellbottoms on Nov 5, 2019 17:50:19 GMT
I hadn't been aware of Queen's tribute to John Lennon. Well done. I think tribute songs are very hard to pull off. Is it a great song? No, I don't think so. But, it's good. I like that they preceded it with an anti-gun song. Furthermore, I thought the transition was great (like the old Queen who were interested in such things!). The backing track of "Put Out The Fire" fades away and we're left with just Freddie's voice shouting "shoot, shoot" (which, itself, is kind of reminiscent of John's "shoot me, shoot me" in "Come Together"). Then, "Life Is Real" begins and there's a somber-sounding piano seemingly mimicking "shoot, shoot". Interesting! I never would have put this together, but I like it.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Queen
Nov 5, 2019 17:55:37 GMT
Post by bellbottoms on Nov 5, 2019 17:55:37 GMT
The thing with Put Out the Fire, is that it almost seems to be a kind of Another One Bites the Dust, part two. "Bites the Dust" is obviously hugely superior to "Fire" but it's message is neutral, it's just a story about Steve the shooter. Then "Fire" comes along and has message. It doesn't work out quite as well, but the thing that binds those two songs together is use of the drums to create a "pop pop pop" gun shooting sound, which is a neat effect. It doesn't stand out quite as much on "Dust" and I feel like they were trying to find a way to use that effect to a greater... errrr, effect.
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Queen
Nov 5, 2019 17:56:27 GMT
Post by kds on Nov 5, 2019 17:56:27 GMT
a 22 minute soundscape?! Uh-ho. I'm pretty sure their worst song appears on The Miracle. Ah, a little intrigue for when I post about The Miracle, probably by next week.
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Queen
Nov 6, 2019 14:12:05 GMT
Post by kds on Nov 6, 2019 14:12:05 GMT
THE WORKS (1984)
If you made a line chart of the quality of Queen albums, you'd have a very high point throughout the 1970s, with a steep dive to it's lowest point with Hot Space. Then, you'd see a steady climb upwards starting with The Works.
The Works is a far superior album to Hot Space, though it's still a little inconsistent for a Queen album. In regards to my made up eras, this begins the Stadium Rock Era.
It's a tad odd that the album opens with a song written by Roger Taylor, with electronic drums - Radio Ga Ga. Radio Ga Ga though is a great enough song to overcome the fact that almost all of the instrumentation of the track is programmed, save for a little bit of guitar. This is another one of those great 80s Queen songs that's superior in concert.
Another one of those great songs that's far better live is I Want to Break Free. Oddly enough, the single version is almost a minute longer than the album version, and features a proper intro. I'm not sure why that would've been left off the LP. The song is perhaps more well known for the (in)famous Queen in drag video, the humor of which was lost on American MTV viewers.
While The Works is more on the poppier side, it does feature some vintage Queen hard rock in Hammer to Fall, the album's best track IMO and their best attempt at political / topical themes IMO, and Tear It Up which is a nice little rocker, though not quite up to the some quality as Queen's previous bangers. Machines (Back to Humans) is a quasi rocker that's really not one of the album's better moments.
Elsewhere, It's a Hard Life is the kind of piano ballad one expects from Freddie. Man on the Prowl is a poor man's Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Filler. Keep Passing the Open Window has a Joe Jackson "Steppin' Out" vibe. Not to shabby. Is This the World We Created is nice musically, even if lyrically, it's more typically awkward for Queen.
Notable non album tracks include I Go Crazy, which would've been a fine addition to such a short album. Leaving this and the longer version of I Want to Break Free off the album makes little sense to me.
Another one is Let Me In Your Heart Again, which was not officially released until the 2014 Forever comp. I'd have rather had this on the album than Man on the Prowl or maybe even Machines.
But, all in all, a good listen. Not quite Queen - The Game quality, but they're getting out of the Flash Space wilderness.
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Queen
Nov 6, 2019 15:24:59 GMT
via mobile
Post by Kapitan on Nov 6, 2019 15:24:59 GMT
The Works is definitely on the lower end for Queen albums, and I usually think of it immediately as an album I don’t much like … but then (as I just did now reading KDS’s summary) I mentally run through the songs and realize I really like quite a few of them. As we discussed during some of those later ‘70s albums, the reality is that you can be among Queen’s worst albums and still be a pretty good album. The only song I actually don’t like is “Machines (Or Back to Humans),” although the studio version of “Radio Ga Ga” is quite low on my list of Queen hits. But I like both of the pure rockers (“Tear it Up” and “Hammer to Fall”). I like the rockabilly album track “Man on the Prowl.” I really like the pop tunes “It’s a Hard Life,” “Keep Passing the Open Windows,” and “I Want to Break Free.” And while I do think (as I’ve said on a few albums now) the lyrics are clumsy, I like “Is This the World We Created?” Some of the tunes that were around at the time definitely could have improved The Works. “I Go Crazy” is a really good song, single-quality in my opinion. Great, silly pop-rock and roll. (I always loved “I don’t wanna go and see the Rolling Stones no more / I don’t wanna go and see Queeeeeeen no more.” They were always funny.) But in addition to that, several of Freddie’s eventual solo songs or eventual remakes or bonus tracks were around and could have been included: “Love Kills,” “There Must Be More to Life Than This,” “Man Made Paradise,” “Let Me Live,” “Let Me In Your Heart Again” among them. Queen were always eclectic, but for some reason it always feels to me that their diversity felt cohesive and coherent on their ‘70s albums and again on their last albums. But for some reason, in the first half of the ‘80s, it felt as if they just couldn’t integrate the new synthesizers-and-programming sounds into their other sounds without things feeling disjointed instead of diverse. The other interesting thing about this era is the decline of Queen’s popularity in America. I have heard it explained away in a few contexts, but I don’t know which (if any) is correct. I’ve heard that America just didn’t like disco by Hot Space, and so they abandoned Queen. But synth-based dance music remained popular well into the ‘80s, and both Hot Space and The Works landed in the Top 25. I’ve heard the backlash was in opposition to the “Body Language” video … but also that it was to the “I Want to Break Free” video. That it was homophobia, which feels odd considering this was almost precisely the time when Boy George came to prominence, when George Michael came to prominence, and when the Pet Shop Boys came to prominence. And I’ve heard that it was because Queen simply stopped prioritizing and touring the U.S. But that is sometimes explained as a response to their already sagging popularity or popular backlash. I think it might be as simple as the fact that they’d been popular for almost a decade by this time, and these things tend to happen with even the biggest bands. Changes in sound often alienate longtime fans to some degree or other, and maybe younger, would-be newer fans simply saw them as an old band, their older siblings’ band, and were excited to latch on to newer acts.
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Queen
Nov 6, 2019 15:34:15 GMT
Post by kds on Nov 6, 2019 15:34:15 GMT
I'd forgotten that There Must Be More to Life Than This was also up for consideration for The Works as well. I don't like that one as much as Let Me In Your Heart Again, but still decent.
I really wonder if a brief US Tour during The Works tour could've helped mend fences with Queen and the US. Maybe if US audiences saw first hand that Queen were still a major kick ass rock band on stage, their popularity wouldn't have waned the way that it did.
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Queen
Nov 6, 2019 15:44:56 GMT
via mobile
Post by Kapitan on Nov 6, 2019 15:44:56 GMT
Oh I DEFINITELY prefer “There must be...” And I’d at least liked to hear a Queen version.
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