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Queen
Oct 7, 2019 12:18:11 GMT
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 7, 2019 12:18:11 GMT
My favorite song on the album is "Great King Rat". That one really knocked me out. It impressed me like many of their most popular songs do. Actually, let me rank the songs... 1. Great King Rat 2. Liar 3. Son and Daughter 4. Keep Yourself Alive 5. Jesus 6. The Night Comes Down 7. Modern Times Rock 'N' Roll 8. Doing All Right 9. My Fairy King 10. Seven Seas of Rhye Your high rating (and it's a favorite of Kapitan, too) of "Great King Rat" prompted me to give it another good listen and evaluation. You're right...it is one of the best songs on the album; I think I under-appreciated it.
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Queen
Oct 7, 2019 12:20:13 GMT
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Post by kds on Oct 7, 2019 12:20:13 GMT
Queen - 7/10 I was looking for something different to listen to, so I decided to give Queen's debut a try. I've always been a fan of the hits, but I've never listened to their studio albums. After listening twice, I read your comments. You guys covered the album really well. In regard to "Jesus", I agree with both of you, kds and Kapitan . The refrain is catchy, but the lyrics are pedestrian. If instead of repeating one of the verses they came up with a few more (interesting) lines, then that would have done it for me. I still enjoy it quite a bit, but then again I'm a fan of "He Come Down" as well. Overall, I found this album to be consistent and well sequenced. There were a few transitions that I didn't even realize were new tracks, initially. My biggest complaint is the mix. Right off the bat, the lead vocals on "Keep Yourself Alive" were distractingly low. I had trouble deciphering some of the lyrics and was just generally confused why they'd bury Freddie's voice (of all vocalists). They were obviously emphasizing the heavy guitar throughout the album, but they went seriously overboard on certain tracks. "Liar" is good example. The exaggerated quiet and loud sections were just too much. Good mixes shouldn't distract you, in my opinion. I believe "Doing All Right" had similar problems as well. Anyway, that's my only complaint! My favorite song on the album is "Great King Rat". That one really knocked me out. It impressed me like many of their most popular songs do. Actually, let me rank the songs... 1. Great King Rat 2. Liar 3. Son and Daughter 4. Keep Yourself Alive 5. Jesus 6. The Night Comes Down 7. Modern Times Rock 'N' Roll 8. Doing All Right 9. My Fairy King 10. Seven Seas of Rhye Also, I just wanted to add that there's some cool song endings. Actually, three in a row: 1) the fantastic vocal harmonies at the end of "Doing All Right" 2) the drum outro to "Great King Rat" and 3) the final chords of "My Fairy King" sound like a classic doo-wop progression. I think Great King Rat is a very underrated gem in Queen's catalog. It contains some of my favorite Brian May moments as well. I've always thought the final chords on My Fairy King sounded like When a Man Loves a Woman.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Queen
Oct 7, 2019 12:35:19 GMT
Post by bellbottoms on Oct 7, 2019 12:35:19 GMT
Glad I’m here just in time for the Queen album discussion. I’ve really gone deep on them over the past several months. Not a bad album in their discography, if you ask me, including Hot Space (I can’t wait to defend it, when we get there).
Regarding Queen’s debut, I agree with pretty much everything that’s been said. I’ve found it to be a grower, with The Night Comes Down taking a longer time to click with me. If I’m being honest, Jesus just doesn’t do it for me and I’m not sure it ever will.
Doing All Right was a joy to hear live at a recent Q+AL concert - even if it was just the first part of it.
Liar is easily one of my all time top Queen tracks - something about it… it sounds so “hungry”, like they just held nothing back and went for it, and every moment of it rocks. I love the constant changes, just when you think you know how this song goes, it’s doing something else, and that makes it just so interesting.
I think I’d rate this one a 7.5.
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Queen
Oct 7, 2019 15:49:26 GMT
Post by kds on Oct 7, 2019 15:49:26 GMT
Glad I’m here just in time for the Queen album discussion. I’ve really gone deep on them over the past several months. Not a bad album in their discography, if you ask me, including Hot Space (I can’t wait to defend it, when we get there). Regarding Queen’s debut, I agree with pretty much everything that’s been said. I’ve found it to be a grower, with The Night Comes Down taking a longer time to click with me. If I’m being honest, Jesus just doesn’t do it for me and I’m not sure it ever will. Doing All Right was a joy to hear live at a recent Q+AL concert - even if it was just the first part of it. Liar is easily one of my all time top Queen tracks - something about it… it sounds so “hungry”, like they just held nothing back and went for it, and every moment of it rocks. I love the constant changes, just when you think you know how this song goes, it’s doing something else, and that makes it just so interesting. I think I’d rate this one a 7.5. Welcome Aboard. I'd probably give the Queen debut a 9/10 if I were rating it. Now...onto Queen II
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Queen
Oct 7, 2019 16:13:49 GMT
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Post by kds on Oct 7, 2019 16:13:49 GMT
QUEEN II (1974)
No sophomore slump here. Queen II is not just my favorite Queen album, but it's one of my all time favorite albums.
I think Queen II has a better overall sound than Queen I. Queen II does pick up where the debut left off with bombastic, heavy, and at times proggy hard rock with a touch of the dramatic, with plenty of fantasy lyrics. In fact, I said this earlier in the thread, Queen II might be the first ever power metal (sometimes AKA "beer hall" metal) album, predating Ronnie James Dio's first album with Rainbow by a year. With the big choruses, heavy guitars, and lyrics about fairies, ogres, kings, and white / black queens, it would fit right in.
The album opens with a short Brian May guitar instrumental called Procession, with wound up being the band's intro on stage for a few years. The intro segues into one of Queen's greatest songs, Father to Son. I often think of these two as one song, but Father to Son is a powerhouse track of riffs, distortion, and vocals which highlight Freddie's full range. Speaking of riffs, Ogre Battle has an opening riff that would make Tony Iommi jealous.
The early power ballad White Queen (As It Began) is another highlight. Although, I tend to prefer May's guitar solo on the live versions as opposed to the sitar-esque solo on the studio song.
This album also features the first Brian May lead vocal on the mostly acoustic Some Day One Day. I've always liked bands with multiple lead singers (The Beatles, Beach Boys, The Who, KISS, Blue Oyster Cult, Pink Floyd), and I think having a couple leads on the 70s Queen albums by Brian and Roger add some diversity, and their voices are distinctly different from Freddie's. I think it's a shame Queen got away from having Brian and Roger sing lead in the 2nd half of their career.
I like the short but bonkers Fairy Feller's Master Stroke, followed by the gentle Nevermore, leading to the album's centerpiece, the proggy March of the Black Queen, which is a great mix of light and shade, and one of the band's most ambitious songs. Sadly, the full song was never played in concert, only a portion was played as part of a medley.
The album closes with it's most well known song, Seven Seas of Rhye, which appeared as a minute long instrumental on the debut. Here, it's easily the song which more than any other on the album offers a glimpse into the future. It's a much more compact and accessible song than songs like Father to Son and Black Queen, which is likely why it's really the only song from Queen II to have any longevity.
Queen II marks the end of a short era of Early Queen. While the band would go on to release a lot of great material, which would be far more popular, I really enjoy the early, heavy, proggy, and hungry albums by the fledgling not yet legends. I think it's a shame these first two albums tend to be overlooked.
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Queen
Oct 7, 2019 17:43:02 GMT
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 7, 2019 17:43:02 GMT
I’m saving my real comments on this album for later, once I’m home and have a good chance to re-listen as I reflect and write. But just right off the bat I can say that this was one of my favorite albums (like KDS, not just by Queen, but overall) through my high school and college years, before my taste shifted more toward other styles of music. Taste notwithstanding, I think this is Queen’s first great album, and it is a terribly under-acclaimed album overall from the rock press, which usually seems to mark Queen’s real birth with the subsequent (and also fabulous) Sheer Heart Attack. (That’s for those who praise Queen at all. These days, that’s the majority, but let’s remember that during the band’s real life, they were critically despised.) Queen II is a great album.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Oct 7, 2019 23:14:34 GMT
Queen II is fantastic. One of the things I love about early Queen albums is just how well sequenced they are and I think this one is perfect for just sitting back and listening to as a whole, especially the way a lot of the songs meld into one another. Side B might be one of the best album sides ever in that regard.
I think The March of the Black Queen is as good as Bohemian Rhapsody and it’s a shame that more people are not aware of it. Maybe it’s because I’ve heard BR so many times that I find myself preferring TMOTBQ, but I love the way it moves. Its structure, the vocals, everything on it is just really powerful.
I will say that while I appreciate the Spectorian wall-of-sound production on Funny How Love Is, I find the difference in the sound from the rest of the album kind of irks me just the slightest, tiny little bit. I think it’s a wonderful song though.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 7, 2019 23:44:28 GMT
Queen II is ridiculous. It's ridiculous for the quality of the performances. It's ridiculous for the ambition of the arrangements and (still low budget) production. And it's ridiculous for, well, for grown men dressed in all black and white singing about the fairy feller's master stroke, for chrissakes.
Put another way, it's dramatic. Majestic. Funny. Campy. And wonderful. A three-dimensional technicolor cartoon set to thunderous drums, distorted riffs, and layer upon layer of vocal majesty.
My personal favorite is probably one of the more understated songs, "Nevermore." I think it's as beautiful a ballad as Freddie ever wrote or sang. But there's much more than that. "Ogre Battle" is indeed one of those all-time riffs: what a lead-up to the actual song proper, which doesn't begin for about a minute. When it does, it truly feels like you're being set down and told a great old legend, each verse building up to a climax. I love, love, love the pause after the first verse and Freddie's return, first without new instrumentation: "he gives a great big cry..." and of course he's immediately backed by the cacophony.
The other standouts for me are "The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke" and "The March of the Black Queen," both jewels in Queen's crown of complex arrangements and both loaded with melodic tidbits and memorable touches. The nearly a capella vocal parts midway through "Black Queen" are soul-crushingly beautiful, from the falsetto melody to layered harmonies to the clever piano parts. And the rocking part after it almost swings with Freddie as "queen of the night."
Maybe its lower reputation is its subject matter: it was (along with certain predictable Zeppelin tracks) the soundtrack to my early-teenage Middle Earth Role Playing, if that tells you anything... I don't think witches, queens, and fairies have aged well in rock music, whereas there's always time for fat-bottomed girls. But as a set of music, you'd have a hard time convincing me this album is qualitatively worse than some of the band's next few albums.
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Queen
Oct 8, 2019 12:27:12 GMT
Post by kds on Oct 8, 2019 12:27:12 GMT
Queen II is fantastic. One of the things I love about early Queen albums is just how well sequenced they are and I think this one is perfect for just sitting back and listening to as a whole, especially the way a lot of the songs meld into one another. Side B might be one of the best album sides ever in that regard. I think The March of the Black Queen is as good as Bohemian Rhapsody and it’s a shame that more people are not aware of it. Maybe it’s because I’ve heard BR so many times that I find myself preferring TMOTBQ, but I love the way it moves. Its structure, the vocals, everything on it is just really powerful. I will say that while I appreciate the Spectorian wall-of-sound production on Funny How Love Is, I find the difference in the sound from the rest of the album kind of irks me just the slightest, tiny little bit. I think it’s a wonderful song though. I think Black Queen was quickly overshadowed because Bo Rhap came out a little more than a year and a half later. And March of the Black Queen never got the push that Bohemian Rhapsody got. But, gun to my head, I probably also prefer March of the Black Queen. Father to Son and March of the Black Queen might actually be my two favorite Queen songs. I didn't mention the non album b-side See What a Fool I've Been, apparently a leftover blues number from the Smile days. Queen does a lot of things well, but I don't think blues is really one of them.
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Queen
Oct 8, 2019 12:29:38 GMT
Post by kds on Oct 8, 2019 12:29:38 GMT
Maybe its lower reputation is its subject matter: it was (along with certain predictable Zeppelin tracks) the soundtrack to my early-teenage Middle Earth Role Playing, if that tells you anything... I don't think witches, queens, and fairies have aged well in rock music, whereas there's always time for fat-bottomed girls. But as a set of music, you'd have a hard time convincing me this album is qualitatively worse than some of the band's next few albums.
I tend to agree. This type of fantasy, D&D rock tends to not have universal appeal. I guess Queen had to shed those themes in order to become icons. Sometimes I wonder if Ronnie James Dio would be more revered outside of the metal community (who by the way holds the first 2-3 Queen albums in very high regard) if he'd penned more songs about universal themes and less songs about demons, rainbows, knights, kings, and queens. This holds especially true in the States. Funny how US audiences can sit through a three hour movie about Middle Earth or teenage wizards, but throw them a seven minute song about black queens of the night, and there's no interest.
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Queen
Oct 8, 2019 12:30:57 GMT
Post by kds on Oct 8, 2019 12:30:57 GMT
I also forgot to mention the Spector esque Funny How Love Is. I think it's a good bridge between March of the Black Queen and Seven Seas of Rhye.
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Queen
Oct 8, 2019 12:33:54 GMT
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 8, 2019 12:33:54 GMT
Agree 100% that Queen doesn’t do blues well. It always comes across as a joke, or a Broadway version. I love “My Melancholy Blues,” for example, but that’s more showtune than Mississippi Delta.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Queen
Oct 8, 2019 12:50:37 GMT
Post by bellbottoms on Oct 8, 2019 12:50:37 GMT
I also forgot to mention the Spector esque Funny How Love Is. I think it's a good bridge between March of the Black Queen and Seven Seas of Rhye. The long fade is sublime.
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Post by kds on Oct 8, 2019 13:31:34 GMT
I also forgot to mention the Spector esque Funny How Love Is. I think it's a good bridge between March of the Black Queen and Seven Seas of Rhye. The long fade is sublime. I agree. That song is almost an afterthought on Queen II, but coming on the heels of the epic March of the Black Queen, it kinda works here.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Queen
Oct 9, 2019 13:56:44 GMT
Post by bellbottoms on Oct 9, 2019 13:56:44 GMT
Coming back to the underratedness of Queen II for a sec - it really is underrated considering how influential it has clearly been. Listening to White Queen, it almost sounds as if it alone is responsible for a lot of Metallica’s sound. I’m not a Metallica superfan by any stretch of the imagination (though I do like them) so I don’t know a ton about their history, but it’s impossible not to draw connections between them and early Queen albums (I know we’re not quite talking about Sheer Heart Attack and Stone Cold Crazy just yet).
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