Queen: Classic Or Dud

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Considering they devoted a double album to a footnote in a biography of a yogi...

Ned Raggett, Sunday, 24 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

i love ^hot space^. queen greatest hits = second albm evah bort

a-33, Monday, 25 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Classic, up until 1980. Terrible dud beyond that, though there are a couple of good songs in there.

dleone, Monday, 25 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Definitely Classic.... their early 70's stuff was amazing. Never victims of doing what other people wanted them to do! Listen to Queen, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack, some of the most original and well put together music. Over the top?? (what does that mean these days??) I think musicians generally are creative.. some more than others. At least Queen did their own thing. No company would sign them so they posted a copy of keep yourself alive to as many radio stations and tv stations. Their persistance paid off and bam they had been heard. But only till sheer heart attack did they make it. But, listen to Queen and Queen II to hear the brilliance of their musical minds. Its not everyones cup of tea.

As for the morons debate well i think your generalising a bit mate. Dont ask me what i think about metalheads... death metal, country and wester, most r&B, I think you will find morons in any category of music in fact i will back up what a previous post mentioned and say that generally people are stupid. (is that generalising?) and to a lot of people I am but who cares!

Queen Rock... one of the timeless classic bands.. never to be seen again as processed pop (or should I say marketed pop) takes over. Its now sadly a teenage girl industry. Makes me sick!

Gladdyator, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

queen rule the world u bunch of donkey raping shit eaters.

fallenhammer, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

At least Queen did their own thing.

Much as I like them, not entirely. Listen to those early Sparks records. ;-)

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

As for the morons debate well i think your generalising a bit mate.

My comments were stupid and I retracted them.

David, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

So, non queen fans like Hot Space, generally considered thier worst album, and yet slag off all the classics?

Kathryn, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Hi there, I can now judge Queen objectively(for many years I thought that EVERYTHING they ever did was great!)Now I feel that the albums from "Queen" to "A Day at the Races" are classics,but by the time of "News of the World" they were starting to get a bit jaded(with the better tracks mostly appearing on the albums,with the odd exception like"Don't Stop Me Now" and "Crazy Little"/"Another One Bites"). After the success of the latter,they went totally down the disco road with "Hot Space",but with weaker songs(with the exception of the interesting Bowie collaboration "Under Pressure":this was recorded in 1981,thus being written before Queen OR Bowie lost it;-)(Bowie only regained it to any degree with "1:Outside",but really "Scary Monsters.." was his last great album))"The Works" was also recorded for the wrong reasons:"Queen-by-numbers"to please the fans(but "Radio Gaga" and "I Want to Break Free" are OK).Also had a few more good songs in the 80's,but the increasing scale of their live performances and more solo projects were more in keeping with that decade("Was It All Worth It?"is brilliant,though).1991's "Innuendo" was largely a return to form(Freddie was dying at this stage,and strangely that seemed to focus the band on creating an epic),but 1995's"Made In Heaven" was ill-advised.Still have a soft spot for Roger's"Fun In Space"LP from 81;-)

Harry Hussey, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Hey, I saw Brian May playing 'Now I'm Here' with the fucking Foo Fighters a couple of years ago, and he hadn't changed a bit. Roger Taylor had tho'. He was so fat the roadies lowered him onto the drumstool just so he could play the big roll at the end. Never could stand Queen myself, the band saved by Live Aid who wrote a song about that (horrible) day and donated zero pence of the profits to charidee. But compared to their natural peers (Elton John, George Michael, Robbie Williams) they had a certain amount of style.

Snotty Moore, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Surely the logical conclusion of Brit-glam and interesting how they ascended as the Sweet declined - the ghost of Brian Connolly lurks behind the ghost of Mercury!

Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Kathryn's email address is like the definitive fanboy/girl address, ever.

Marcello: Britglam? Absolutely. "You're My Best Friend" RoXoR. But I still can't think of a worse example of 80s fascism of size. Apart from Opus, maybe. Ah, enter Laibach :).

Robin Carmody, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

one year passes...
by the power of eris i cast REVIVE!

undoubtedly classique, especially period between long hair silver jump suit freddie and suspicious moustache de-closeted freddie aka sheer heart attack => a night at the opera => a day at the races => news of the world => jazz best run of consecutive albums EVAH?

schnellschnell, Friday, 28 March 2003 16:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

prog rock with sweet bombast and a smile

schnellschnell, Friday, 28 March 2003 16:27 (twenty-one years ago) link

CLASSIC!!!!!

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 28 March 2003 18:41 (twenty-one years ago) link

Classic for the sole reason that Freddy Mercury is, to hillbillies, the one exception they have to make when it comes to homosexuals.

"I don't care much for them fairies... but Freddy Mercury did fuckin rock."

They occasionally make the same comment about the guy from Judas Preist.

David Allen, Friday, 28 March 2003 20:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

Wasn't Queen the model for Spinal Tap?

Burr (Burr), Friday, 28 March 2003 20:46 (twenty-one years ago) link

Wasn't Queen the model for Spinal Tap?
-- Burr (dburr...), March 28th, 2003.


It was a mix of bands, but mostly Iron Maiden.

David Allen, Friday, 28 March 2003 21:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

Classic. DUH.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 28 March 2003 23:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

Biggest model for Spinal Tap = Saxon.

Anyone who dares deem Queen a dud has lost control of his/her senses, and ought to be dunked in a barrel of rancid milk until reason reclaims its rightful iron fist on the steering wheel of their brain bus.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 28 March 2003 23:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

HONOUR THE BICYCLE!

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 29 March 2003 15:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

I refuse. Frankly, I hate the Bicycle Race/Fat Bottomed Girls single. There's a reason after Jazz Freddie cut his hair and they brought the synths in.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 29 March 2003 17:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'm not anti-gay or homophobic or anything but I hate the 'extreme faggot' kind who want to show their gayness of in all ways possible. Mercury was one of those. I simply can't stand the character. It's way too over the top, as is the music. Which is simply overrated. I hate Bohemian Rhapsody, never understood why it always tops the 'best ever' charts.

Tijn, Saturday, 29 March 2003 17:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

Oh man, I say it with total respect and admiration when I say Freddie Mercury was one EXTREME FAGGOT!

Buy "Hot Space". I'm curious what Tijn would make of that album.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 29 March 2003 17:40 (twenty-one years ago) link

I used to totally agree with Tijn's above statement, and I'm gay! I'm really starting to warm up to them now, which is promising for my own self-awareness as well. "Over the top" is and always was their reason for being.

The Bicycle Race/Fat Bottomed Girls is lucicrous, preposterous, beyond words. Also catchy, funny, and genius (or at least crafty).

Sean (Sean), Saturday, 29 March 2003 17:46 (twenty-one years ago) link

that was meant to be "ludicrous"... Also, there's no question Mercury was an extreme faggot! I'm particularly amused by his transition from eyebrow-plucked lame wearing fairy to mustachioed leather-bar queen... considering their enormous popularity I wonder how many people really saw the humor in the music AND the image.

Sean (Sean), Saturday, 29 March 2003 17:49 (twenty-one years ago) link

and, natch, you're supposed to see the accent over the 'e' in lame above; that's in 'gold lame' darlings...

Sean (Sean), Saturday, 29 March 2003 17:50 (twenty-one years ago) link

Ha! I mean their very name was Queen! Geddit??

Sean (Sean), Saturday, 29 March 2003 17:51 (twenty-one years ago) link

Who cares about Freddy's "extreme gayness" (that makes it sound like a sexual orientation that requires a safety helmet at all times). Q U E E N R O C K E D, and if you can't appreciate that -- you lead a bland, colorless, and humorless life.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 29 March 2003 20:29 (twenty-one years ago) link

but, Alex. I'd argue that Freddie's extremeness (which may well have been inspired by cock frenzy - who am I to say?), is a major reason that the band rocked!

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 29 March 2003 20:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

cock frenzy

Hahahahahahaaha


Could very well be, Anthony.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 29 March 2003 20:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

i bought "a kind of magic" the other week. people who say 80s queen sucked are mistaken. that album is full of great songs. one vision, who wants to live forever, princes of the universe, pain is so close to pleasure, a kind of magic, friends will be friends. wow. when freddie died, me and my mum were really upset. and my mum HATES homos. their first greatest hits album is also very great.

di smith (lucylurex), Sunday, 30 March 2003 04:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

CLASSIC - when I was four I used to stare at my mother's copy of News of the World. Veeeeeeerrrryy disappointed to see Miccio's disbelief in the greatness of Bicycle Race/Fat Bottomed Girls.

James Blount (James Blount), Sunday, 30 March 2003 05:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

Pretty much the worst group of all time.

Andrew L (Andrew L), Sunday, 30 March 2003 06:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

v annoying.

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 30 March 2003 09:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Tie Your Mother Down" = classik!

Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Sunday, 30 March 2003 10:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

andrew L OTM. d.

don't wish to dignify them further.

kieron, Sunday, 30 March 2003 18:47 (twenty-one years ago) link

QUEEN ROXX U R ALL ... um.

Wintermute (Wintermute), Sunday, 30 March 2003 19:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

...extreme faggots?

schne;;schne;;, Monday, 31 March 2003 13:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

Oh no! COCK FRENZY Oh no!

Arthur (Arthur), Monday, 31 March 2003 13:43 (twenty-one years ago) link

three weeks pass...
a band of rare magnificence. bombastic and pompous, willing to delve into the absurd wihtout irony.
whenever i go home for christmas dinner, we always listen to queen. we can't agree on anything else, so every year it's greatest hits.

matthew james (matthew james), Thursday, 24 April 2003 21:46 (twenty years ago) link

The fact that this thread bore the phrase "Meat Loaf was so better than Queen!" made it worth my time to reread. God, the good old contrarian days when me and Otis hated everything.

Ally (mlescaut), Thursday, 24 April 2003 22:42 (twenty years ago) link

So, you've come to your senses?

Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 24 April 2003 22:48 (twenty years ago) link

Well, no, I still think Queen are ridiculous in a so-ridiculous-it's-good type of way, so I guess I need to be slathered with bad milk.

Ally (mlescaut), Thursday, 24 April 2003 22:58 (twenty years ago) link

They seem pretty classic going by the hits and decade-old memories of Night At the Opera. Meat Loaf was awesome too.

sundar subramanian (sundar), Thursday, 24 April 2003 23:36 (twenty years ago) link

Bombast is a positive thing, mainly. And Queen does bombast particularly well. Classic, without any doubt at all.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 24 April 2003 23:41 (twenty years ago) link

One of the things about "'39" I always wondered: when I first listened to it, and wasn't paying attention to the lyrics too much, I assumed it was a song about WWII, one of those "letter from the front lines" kind of songs. Anybody else have that experience?

Also, the second "In the year of '39" is a nice, subtle touch...I had always assumed it meant the same year from the perspective of the travellers, but actually I think it means 100 years later from the perspective of the people on the planet (hence the "'" before 39)...

Joe (Joe), Friday, 25 April 2003 00:45 (twenty years ago) link

My brother recently managed to persuade me after we'd been out drinking that Brian May was some sort of guitar genius. By singing several of his best guitar lines while we were walking down the road. He does have a hugely individual guitar voice, and he'd probably get more recognition for it if he didn't have such crap hair (Brian May, not my brother).

James Ball (James Ball), Friday, 25 April 2003 01:19 (twenty years ago) link

six months pass...
Well, no, I still think Queen are ridiculous in a so-ridiculous-it's-good type of way, so I guess I need to be slathered with bad milk.

so, queen is to music what scarface is to film?

Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 3 November 2003 11:22 (twenty years ago) link

one year passes...
I revive to note that Kelly Freas, creator of that utterly great News of the World cover, has passed on.

http://www.dailyvault.com/queen_news.jpg

Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 04:42 (nineteen years ago) link

hm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y7X6le5qmE

piscesx, Tuesday, 15 May 2018 13:52 (five years ago) link

I mean, I've seen worse?

https://i.imgur.com/rMHrPim.jpg

pplains, Tuesday, 15 May 2018 15:51 (five years ago) link

The Freddie in this BBC production isn't terrible, though his moustache is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xipkQboBAE

dinnerboat, Tuesday, 15 May 2018 17:19 (five years ago) link

looks pretty hacky tbh, can't imagine the one-two of a decent mid-length doc and a concert film wouldn't be 10x better

Simon H., Tuesday, 15 May 2018 17:24 (five years ago) link

I thought the Days of Our Lives doc was decent, but could have been better. I think the definitive Queen doc is yet to be made and I think the quality of it would be down to how much the band members feel comfortable about revealing and John Deacon's involvement.

Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Tuesday, 15 May 2018 19:26 (five years ago) link

As long as the movie's second half covers 'Nazis 1994' and music May wrote for Timothy Spall's 'Frank Stubbs Promotes' then I'll be satisfied

PaulTMA, Tuesday, 15 May 2018 22:08 (five years ago) link

five months pass...

so? I haven't seen it, haven't decided whether I want to, but surely someone here has…

veronica moser, Monday, 5 November 2018 22:40 (five years ago) link

There’s a thread on ILE; I can’t link from Zing.

Sing The Mighty Beat (sic), Monday, 5 November 2018 22:45 (five years ago) link

I wonder how many times I'm going to have to explain to people that Queen didn't actually split up and were actually in full touring mode by the time of Live Aid...

Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Monday, 12 November 2018 20:57 (five years ago) link

Haven't seen the film yet but I just know the coverage of that pre-Live Aid period is going to extremely irritating

PaulTMA, Monday, 12 November 2018 21:07 (five years ago) link

BE

day-oh

PaulTMA, Monday, 12 November 2018 21:07 (five years ago) link

The movie does have some good things about it - the actors playing Brian May and John Deacon are really dead-on, and I was blown away by how they recreated the Live Aid gig at insane levels of forensic detail... that must have taken some serious fucking rehearsing.

However, the script/dialogue is woeful in places, and a lot of the fucking about with the timeline and historical facts is really irritating to me. I'm really supposed to believe that they performed 'Fat Bottomed Girls' on an American tour in 1974? (This is just one example of... well, far too many)

Yeah, I understand that it was supposed to be relatively "family friendly", and that there's so much that would have impossible to explore with any degree of depth over 90 minutes, but this would have been easier to live with if they hadn't fucked about with the facts too much.

Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Thursday, 22 November 2018 19:20 (five years ago) link

one month passes...
two years pass...

Listening to the Flash Gordon soundtrack this morning...wow is that a wacky record. Parts of it would not sound out of place on some of Trans Am's later records with the synth parts.

earlnash, Tuesday, 28 September 2021 14:17 (two years ago) link

My favourite Queen songs not written by Freddie:
Keep Yourself Alive (Brian)
Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll (Roger)
White Queen (Brian)
Brighton Rock (Brian)
Tenement Funster (Roger)
Now I'm Here (Brian)
I'm in Love with My Car (Roger)
'39 (Brian)
The Prophet's Song (Brian)
Long Away (Brian)
Sheer Heart Attack (Roger)
Plus various bits of the Flash soundtrack not written by Fred

Not much John there I guess, sorry John.

a down-on-his-luck gastromancer enters (Matt #2), Tuesday, 28 September 2021 14:32 (two years ago) link

No love for "Another one Bites the Dust"? That's an all time groove all genres.

earlnash, Tuesday, 28 September 2021 14:39 (two years ago) link

He also wrote You're My Best Friend.

Are You Still in Love With Me, Klas-Göran? (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 September 2021 14:40 (two years ago) link

Here's ten of fifteen:

[1. “Back Chat” (John Deacon)
2. “A Kind of Magic” (Roger Taylor)
3. “Under Pressure” (Queen/David Bowie)
4. “The Invisible Man” (Roger Taylor)
5. “Hammer to Fall” (Brian May)
6. “Dragon Attack” (Brian May)
7. “You’re My Best Friend” (John Deacon)
8. “Calling All Girls” (Roger Taylor)
9. “39” (Brian May)
10. “I Want to Break Free” (John Deacon)

So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 28 September 2021 14:45 (two years ago) link

I'd prefer Another One Bites the Dust if it was actually played by Chic, rather than Roger "Not Funky" Taylor trying to sound like them.

a down-on-his-luck gastromancer enters (Matt #2), Tuesday, 28 September 2021 15:21 (two years ago) link

You're My Best Friend is endlessly charming.

Dragon Attack features a brief but monstrously thrilling drum spotlight.

You're My Best Friend my go-to song when I want to demonstrate to someone how a Wurlitzer electric piano sounds different than a Fender Rhodes

Lee626, Tuesday, 28 September 2021 15:53 (two years ago) link

Is YMBF Wurlitzer or Fender Rhodes?

Wurlitzer

Vast Halo, Tuesday, 28 September 2021 16:17 (two years ago) link

the Wurlitzer has a gritter "bark" or "growl" (at least when played loud), whereas the Fender Rhodes is more mellow and chiming.

Lee626, Tuesday, 28 September 2021 17:31 (two years ago) link

eight months pass...

good lord A Day At The Races is great and I don't think I've ever heard any of these songs before? was there a hit?

thinkmanship (sleeve), Sunday, 26 June 2022 04:10 (one year ago) link

Somebody To Love was the big single, #2 in the UK (and a totally sublime bit of faux gospel). Tie Yr Mother Down went #31, and Good Old Fashioned Loverboy - which I never liked as a kid but is now the excelsis of Queen's joyous whimsy to these ears - hit #17. It's my favourite LP of theirs after Sheer Heart Attack, and a lot less bitty and uneven than A Night At The Opera. You Take My Breath Away and Long Away are both crazy beautiful, and White Man is like a heavier and more focused Prophet's Song, and Teo Torriate is just wonderful, a big, blousy, over-the-top emotional anthem.

politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Sunday, 26 June 2022 14:34 (one year ago) link

thanks!

thinkmanship (sleeve), Sunday, 26 June 2022 15:02 (one year ago) link

i think nowadays Good Old Fashioned Loverboy is maybe my fave queen single

Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Sunday, 26 June 2022 15:07 (one year ago) link

"Drowse" might be Roger Taylor's best song, more considered than his earlier contributions.

Halfway there but for you, Sunday, 26 June 2022 22:17 (one year ago) link


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