why did rock critics hate Queen so much in the 1970s/80s?

Anxiety about pop fascism seems to have largely faded, but if one were to dredge it up again, wouldn't the obsessive "nation"-building attempts that seem so ubiquitous now (from reverb to live to e-street to ford) seem to be yearnings toward that hegemonic "glory" of mid-70s arena rock?

For ppl my age and I guess thereabouts (I'm 35) the Wayne's World thing ws MASSIVE, me and loads of guys I knew at school bought (or got copied) Queen's Greatest Hits 1 and 2 and got into Queen overall cos of it

Freddie's voice when he does that "scat" thing that sounds like he has a hairball in his throat is literally the most unpleasant sound in all of nature

Bizarrely, I saw a clip of the famous live aid footage (I think?) and it was just him doing that for like 5 minutes

queen shite

& for dicks

There are still some Queen records I think are great (Don't Stop Me Now, Under Pressure, Another One Bits The Dust) and more that I find teeth-grindingly impossible to listen to (Bo Rap, We Are The Champions, We Will Rock You, Radio Ga Ga, anything involving girls with large bottoms), but they've become the epitome of something really quite horrible in British culture that has nothing to do with why critics hated them in the 70s and 80s. I've met people who still say that Queen are their favourite band and they all seem to be the worst kind of reactionary Middle England types.

I accept that this stigma probably doesn't exist in the US (or at least you have your own version of them, although I'm not sure who that would be).

The stomping beat of "we vill rock you" sounded like jackboots to boomer rockcritics who also saw the arena concert scene as Nazi rallies revisited. "we will rock you" quickly became crowd-pumping music at sports events in the 70s which further explains some of the Fascist association. Truth be told, even Queen's best work could wear pretty thin when you heard it on the radio all day every day. Like their contemporaries Steely Dan & Hall/Oates I think Queen are best appreciated at a distance in measured doses. Constant involuntary exposure to elaborately produced OTT rock bombast such as Queen could make it sound oppressive

This is certainly how i've always understood the criticism. Stadium rock's emphasis on slickness, power and manipulative theatricality was seen to be an echo of Nuremberg. As the slickest and most theatrical, and as a band that played with some martial themes, Queen were the most obvious target for this. Laibach's Geburt Einer Nation is an excellent parody.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwdOX19_ETI

No idea what big queen fans are like over here. Guitar mag dudes, obviously. We hosted a German exchange student in high school and the only CDs she brought with her were the first two greatest hits volumes, but she was mostly just quiet and studious.

are mustaches an echo of Hitler?

Queen was invisible in the US between "I Want To Break Free" and Wayne's World. You wouldn't even hear their older stuff on "classic rock" radio (though "Rock You" and "Champions" were still heard at sporting events). Their records during that time always tanked here, although I do remember "One Vision" getting a little airplay.

Their fans here now seem to be largely casual "classic rock" listeners who also dig Zeppelin and maybe Sabbath and a little Floyd. I've never met a single hard-core Queen fan, or anyone who's even heard their post-1983 records, much less owns any of them.

If I were to meet someone today who claimed that Queen were their favourite band I would automatically make a load of other assumptions about things they like (The Rocky Horror Show, The Great Escape, Jeremy Clarkson). I'm aware this doesn't reflect particularly well on me but I basically associate them with Alan Partridge.

The strange thing about Queen animus is that at least on paper the band wasn't up to too much that Bowie wasn't doing and/or had done, and critics loved Bowie. So maybe with Queen is was a matter of too much, too late? That is, just when everyone (incl. Bowie) was stripping things down or going New Wave, Queen was getting bigger (in every sense).

(I read an interesting interview with Roy Thomas Baker about the Cars, where he notes that as austere as that early stuff is, he still enlists the same massed vocals that marked Queen, it's just the backdrop is not as bombastic.)

And yeah, Queen fandom in the US is I'd argue as casual or culty as ABBA fandom in the US. Everyone loves "Dancing Queen," but in the US you'd never gather ABBA was the biggest pop act of all time or whatever.

One Vision was on the Iron Eagle soundtrack.

Bowie was dogged by allegations of fascist sympathies for years.

That is, just when everyone (incl. Bowie) was stripping things down or going New Wave, Queen was getting bigger (in every sense).

I dunno...Queen's biggest US hits were "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
-- not exactly "new wave," but pretty stripped-down compared to "Bohemian Rhapsody" or "We Are The Champions."

the early 80s US rock audience probably was discomfited by Freddie. Like "Another one…" did not work on rock radio, and heaven knows "Hot space" would be regarded by a 38 special fan as disco those fags and blacks listen to. mainstream "rock" fans were more or less openly racist and loudly homophobic in the early 80s.

Whereas in the UK and the rest of the world, they were consistently amongst the biggest bands extant in the 1980s. I think maybe for an NME reader/ Smiths fan / RiP Rig and Panic partisan in the 80s, their fans in the UK must have been like the lumpen proles who had bad hair, were embarrassing from a quasi-class perspective, etc etc…like imagine Boston/Styx/Foreigner/Journey/Asia (all of whom meant nothing in the UK) rolled into one band, then imagine the people who would go to their concerts…

I've never met a single hard-core Queen fan, or anyone who's even heard their post-1983 records, much less owns any of them.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat)

If I were to meet someone today who claimed that Queen were their favourite band I would automatically make a load of other assumptions about things they like (The Rocky Horror Show, The Great Escape, Jeremy Clarkson).

― Matt DC

mainstream "rock" fans were more or less openly racist and loudly homophobic in the early 80s.

I think that's painting the audience with far too broad a brush, though those elements were certainly there (and vocal). I always assumed that the "I Want To Break Free" video was what killed their career in the US. Boy George could get away with it, but an established stadium rock hero like Mercury appearing in drag -- and I believe a large portion of Queen's audience at that time didn't know Freddie was gay and/or assumed he wasn't -- was unacceptable.

That ws a v srs video and the other three guys're gay now too?

Tho tbf I guess there's not the same popular/comedic drag tradition in the US and it's a little baffling they used the same video there

I raised myself on Marsh/Xgau/Marcus lists so the Queen hate is something I take for granted but it is interesting. like, those guys weren't only about "true", authentic and socially conscious r'n'r and r'n'b. they supported the more pop styles of soul in particular (Doo Wop, Motown, philly, disco, boogie, english postpunk soul, all types of hip hop, new jack...) as opposed to more widely accepted "quality" soul (Xgau's distaste for 70's blaxploitation was particularly refreshing) which I always found useful but it's far from "common sense" music criticism. there was a promotional (Heart of Rock and Soul) radio interview with Marsh where his love for Nolan Strong is treated as weird which I think is a good example of this schism.

That ws a v srs video and the other three guys're gay now too?

It was enough that Mercury was perceived as being gay to an audience that, for the most part, hadn't given it much thought one way or the other up to that point. A similar fate befell Billy Squier, whose career was over after the "Rock Me Tonite" video. The mere suggestion that a mainstream hard-rock artist might be gay was enough to kill a career in the early 80s in the US.

Tho tbf I guess there's not the same popular/comedic drag tradition in the US and it's a little baffling they used the same video there

There's some tradition of it here, from Milton Berle in the 50s to "Bosom Buddies" in the 80s, but I don't know enough about it to understand where/how/why certain lines were drawn vis-a-vis audience acceptance/perceptions.

like, those guys weren't only about "true", authentic and socially conscious r'n'r and r'n'b. they supported the more pop styles of soul in particular (Doo Wop, Motown, philly, disco, boogie, english postpunk soul, all types of hip hop, new jack...)

Yeah, it always bugs me when Marsh gets pegged as someone for whom anything other than REAL ROOTS-ROCKIN' GUITAR is anathema. ffs, he loves Metal Box.

I'll take yr word for it re: PiL, but I've tried listening to his Sirius show, not the one devoted to the guy his wife co-manages, and it's excruciating. The only new shit he plays are singer-songwriters; he once went on a lengthy Gordon Lightfoot tangent; goes on and on about Doc Pomus and Frank Zappa (whom I would think he wouldn't like until PMRC time)…

was super amused when RRHoF announcement came down, and re: Kiss, he said "maybe I don't know what rock and roll is anymore." yeah, maybe you are not the final authority of what is correct in American music.

I'm not sure I've read anything by him; I think maybe I've dismissed him because his name is "dave marsh"

His stuff was printed extensively in the Baltimore Sun when I was growing up, trying to find my way through the Arts section or whatever. I just presumed he was THE rock critic.

Whereas the parody was acclaimed in the UK, it was considered controversial in the US and banned by MTV[1] and other stations.

I just don't hear many impressive tunes on the four albums I've heard.

this aggression must not stand. "Ogre Battle"? "Father to Son"? "You're My Best Friend?" for crying out loud? The longer I love Queen, the more incredible the early albums sound to me.

Am v hoping Ogre Battle is indeed a good song bc many worlds of things open if so

Queen was invisible in the US between "I Want To Break Free" and Wayne's World. You wouldn't even hear their older stuff on "classic rock" radio (though "Rock You" and "Champions" were still heard at sporting events).

Wait, is this true? Even as a kid, I think I was fairly familiar with "Bohemian Rhapsody" from (Cdn) classic rock radio pre-92?

'Ogre Battle' fucking rules.

Personally, I couldn't live without their run of albums between Queen and Jazz, and I find plenty to enjoy on the albums that came after also.

'we will rock you'/'we are the champions' never left and 'radio gaga', 'a kind of magic', and 'i want it all' were minor hits plus there was highlander (all the queen fans i knew pre-waynes world were highlander dorks). they had a big commercial peak and crashed w/ the next release and then kinda lingered neither gone nor really here, it happens. axl talking them up constantly helped and metallica covering 'stone cold crazy' helped (and personally 'terminator x to the edge of panic' helped) and then waynes world and the concert w/ freddies death sorta cemented the rehabilitation in america. rush seems like a real good comparison point - 70s success turning into very early 80s commercial peak prompted by adapting to some sound of the day, followed by quick predictable fall from fashion, an exile period w/ a core of nerdy fans keeping the faith, followed by early 90s quasi comeback prompted by new material as well as reissue or renewed focus on old classic material, w/ this last act cementing the band's brand and making rrhof selection inevitable even though at one point just a few years earlier their candidacy would have seemed doomed.

Yep, that sounds more accurate to me.

I've been fostering a love of Queen albums lately after growing up on the hits, there are really some amazing deep cuts (although I prefer the late 70s stuff to the first 4 albums): http://narrowcast.blogspot.com/2014/03/deep-album-cuts-vol-14-queen.html

I think one of the big US/UK divides is that even after post-Wayne's World resurgence, I never even heard of the posthumous album Made In Heaven, which apparently sold a ton in other countries

Interesting list, some choices I definitely wasn't expecting to say the least. My deep cuts list would look very different.

yeah that album was huge in europe. 'you don't fool me' was all over the radio in italy, i swear you could play that, articolo 31's 'domani', and jamiroquai's 'cosmic girl' back to back and if i closed my eyes i'd be on a beach in sardinia. still one of my fave posthumous vault scraper hits, nice balearic groove:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZTQhhGTSE8

sheer heart attack is one of the best albums of the 70's. and definitely one of the greatest hard rock albums. it's near perfect. and VERY unique too. not a lot sounds like it. their thing was very definitely their thing. but critics like sparks more. i like sparks! there were so few hard rock bands that could be a legitimate hard rock band and write a song like "you're my best friend". which is kind of a perfect pop song. cheap trick could do it. badfinger. the raspberries. and there were even fewer bands where all four members could write memorable songs. news of the world has GREAT songs by all four members of queen.

Sheer Heart Attack is indeed excellent, and full of great moments: an absolutely killer opener with 'Brighton Rock'... the 'Tenement Funster'/'Flick Of The Wrist'/'Lily Of The Valley' suite... the over-the-top intro to 'In The Lap Of The Gods', the thrashy 'Stone Cold Crazy', the restrained 'She Makes Me'... the way the album ends with the sound of an explosion (caused by tape saturation). Oh, and it has 'Killer Queen' and 'Now I'm Here' on it, too.

Never would have guessed that rock critics vs. Queen would make for such a busy thread in 2014. I've always been puzzled that rock critics don't like Cream as much as I do (at least not anymore), and if I thought it'd get a quarter of the interest found here, I'd probably start a thread.

Queen are an institution in the UK though

Cream only seem to be held in esteem by doom/stoner rockers and Mojo readers. (which i dont understand)

dug out my blue RS Guide and there is a different Queen review, uncredited (I assume John Swenson), that calls Greatest Hits "redundant to the single 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love,' the only listenable rock song in a dismal career."

while trying to find an online transcript I went down this related rabbit hole:

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/schmidtt/rolling_stones_500_worst_reviews_of_all_time__work_in_progress_/4/

I'd imagine some the disinterest in Cream by some critics is being unable to separate their dislike of Clapton.

Queen had a pretty wide range when you go from proto-thrash like Stone Cold Crazy to You're My Best Friend to Another One Bites the Dust to Radio Gaga To Crazy Little Thing Called Love To Bohemian Rhapsody and that really doesn't cover all the odd one shots in their catalog. They definitely were not afraid to try something different.

It's a damn shame it took Freddie getting gravely ill to get them all back on the same page, but I think Innuendo is one of the better late career albums by a 70s rock band.

I learned to love "A Kind of Magic" from a touching bit in the otherwise ghoulish US edition of "Queer as Folk," and AMC had as part of its pre-show in the early '00s a commercial with "I Want to Break Free" featured prominently, the playing of which would cause die-hards in the audience to squeal. balls' neither-here-nor-there account of the post-Hot Space US career sounds otm to me.

the first version I heard of Bohemian Rhapsody was this one by the guys from the Young Ones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wM58YXp2x0&feature=kp

Bad News ruled

love The Comic Strip. They actually did Bad News just before Spinal Tap was made too. Brian May actually played guitar on that single.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6030/5980195685_509916c25f_o.png

LOL.

ok responding to a bunch of stuff:

Marsh otm in original post imo. Queen is def fascist and it creeps me out, even when its of the campy gay variety.
― Οὖτις, Friday, May 16, 2014 9:41 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I cannot think of a reasonable definition of "fascist" that would include Queen. I could imagine someone arguing that they flirted with fascist aesthetics, or something. I happen to think they didn't—indeed, that was stock-in-trade of 3rd-rate punk bands at the time.

a larger context here is the way that critics are almost always, implicitly or explicitly, making moral judgements alongside aesthetic ones. that is, a negative review—especially one as vituperative as Marsh's above—is seldom just a diagnosis of music that doesn't quite work. whether the tone is one of outrage or disappointment, there's a sense that the musicians have failed in some primary responsibility to an audience (or to the critic's ego construed as a figure for the audience). i mean part of this speaks to how important music is for a lot of people in our culture, though it also derives from a milieu (rock criticism and extreme fan-dom) where a narcissism of small differences reigns supreme. and thus distinctions (like, I dunno, Queen vs. New York Dolls) that would seem without a difference from a different cultural position suddenly become hugely portentous.

we're probably all guilty of this—personally, I wish I could wash this aspect of my personality out of my brain—but there are still occasions, especially when I have the benefit of cultural or temporal distance, when I'm like, "seriously guys?" this is one of those occasions.

queen rox and u r all gay
― The Reverend, Friday, May 16, 2014 10:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this thread was predicated on the assumption that Queen are awesome and that most people probably like them! SMH

the early 80s US rock audience probably was discomfited by Freddie. Like "Another one…" did not work on rock radio, and heaven knows "Hot space" would be regarded by a 38 special fan as disco those fags and blacks listen to. mainstream "rock" fans were more or less openly racist and loudly homophobic in the early 80s.

but we're not talking about fans (Queen had tons of those), but critics. critics who were quite comfortable with soul and disco—at least that applies to Dave Marsh, a guy with catholic and unexpected and rich tastes even if he often seems to betray them in favor of explicitly political roots-rock garbage. or what g simmel said (I really hope you're named after georg simmel btw).

if this all broke down into simple binaries, then the thread question wouldn't be very interesting, after all….

can someone speak more to the putatively "fascist" aspects of queen and why they were perceived that way, especially, in the 1970s? there's been some really good stuff on this thread so far (THANKS!) about it but I'd still like to hear more.

maybe it's simply that my experience listening to Queen has been mostly a private one of sitting around and listening to records, rather than doing so in their commercial prime and having to encounter their antics (?) on TV and in the newspapers etc. maybe their ubiquity and bombast would have scared me off, too, once upon a time.