The Fairy POLLers Master-Stroke: The ILX Queen Poll Results Thread (#68 in a series)

thanks for the kind words, guys. this poll had a small but truly dedicated following, which i am thankful for.

so here is a list of the results to make things more manageable for those referencing this thread in the future:

39. Spread Your Wings
38. I Want It All
37. Jealousy
36. Flick Of The Wrist
35. Keep Yourself Alive
34. Dragon Attack
33. Back Chat
32. It's A Hard Life
31. We Are The Champions
=29. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
=29. White Queen (As It Began)
28. Mustapha
27. You Take My Breath Away
26. All Dead, All Dead
25. Sheer Heart Attack
24. Now I'm Here
23. Flash's Theme
22. Father To Son
21. We Will Rock You
20. Fat Bottomed Girls
19. Liar
18. Bicycle Race
17. Ogre Battle
16. Play The Game
=14. Brighton Rock
=14. Innuendo
13. Seven Seas Of Rhye
12. Don't Stop Me Now
11. The Show Must Go On
10. Another One Bites The Dust
9. The March Of The Black Queen
8. You're My Best Friend
7. Stone Cold Crazy
6. Bohemian Rhapsody
5. The Prophet's Song
4. Killer Queen
3. Somebody To Love
2. Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To...)
1. Under Pressure

i'm not especially keen on placing emphasis on the songs that didn't make the rollout, but since you're probably curious & we've had a bit of time to celebrate the real winners, here's a list of some of the songs that narrowly missed the cut (and their respective placings).

40. Get Down, Make Love (86 points, 4 votes)
41. '39 (82 points, 5 votes)
=42. Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (80 points, 4 votes)
=42. The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke (80 points, 4 votes) -- did anyone know that this song took its name from a painting?
44. She Makes Me (Stormtrooper In Stilettos) (78 points, 3 votes)
45. Sail Away Sweet Sister (75 points, 4 votes)
=46. Hammer To Fall (69 points, 4 votes)
=46. In The Lap Of The Gods... Revisited (69 points, 3 votes)
48. Radio Ga Ga (67 points, 4 votes)
49. Tie Your Mother Down (64 points, 3 votes)
50. Sweet Lady (63 points, 3 votes)

1. Under Pressure
*2. She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)*
3. You Take My Breath Away
*4. In the Lap of the Gods . . . Revisited* (I wonder if anyone voted for the pitched-down vocal song meaning to vote for the whoa-whoa-la-la-la song. I almost voted for both.)
5. Stone Cold Crazy
*6. Son and Daughter*
7. Brighton Rock
8. Another One Bites the Dust
9. Father to Son
10. Bicycle Race
11. The Prophet's Song
12. Don't Stop Me Now
13. Spread Your Wings
14. White Queen (As It Began)
15. Fat Bottomed Girls
16. The March of the Black Queen
17. All Dead, All Dead
*18. The Millionaire Waltz*
*19. Great King Rat*
20. Mustapha

I voted Under Pressure as number one -- as you can tell by my list, I like the serious earnest side of Queen the most; I also think that Bowie not phoning it in resulted in Queen also not phoning it in when the era of Queen phoning it in had arrived. Also Freddie playing rhythm piano always always resulted in better drumming from Roger. There is also something fascinating about two of the most mannered singers in rock music each doing their thing and sounding absolutely 0% phoney baloney.

Yay! Another voter for 'Son and Daughter'! Definitely one of my highlights of the first Queen album... I love that greasy riff.

I had myself a quick listen to The Miracle earlier this morning, still think the title track, 'Scandal', 'Breakthru' and 'Was It All Worth It' are all incredibly underrated.

Yes, I had never even heard that record until this poll, and the title track from the Miracle is incredible -- would have voted for it had I heard it, like, anytime prior to now.

The thing about the The Miracle is that it undoubtedly begins with not only one of the worst opening tracks on Queen album, but probably one of the worst tracks in their entire discography: 'Party', although I have a soft spot for 'Khashoggi's Ship', the song that it slides into... particularly the bit where Freddie is all like "I SAID KISS MY ASS, HONEY!" ... I'm not really a massive fan of 'My Baby Does Me', either, but 'Rain Must Fall' has grown on me quite a lot... the melody is quite George Michael, I think.

The rest of The Miracle, though, is sublime IMO... it's fitting that about half the album ended up being released as a single.

listening to Innuendo for the first time now. striking me as a bit bland so far other than the title track and "Don't Try so Hard", which is gorgeous. hate the production, but Freddie sounds really good.

feel like May's impact is muted by generic big 80's guitar production

is it my imagination or is Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy a genuinely amazing song that was very unlucky not to place?

No, you're absolutely right. Especially regarding the high placing of You're My Best Friend (in my mind pretty much the ANATO-counterpart of Lover Boy somehow) or Killer Queen.

The 'Dining at the Ritz..." counting segment is genuinely amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsS74PtwW0k

Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy was on my short list, and I've always liked it. And yeah, I think had there been campaigning for it, it might have made the list (certainly I like it better than #39 "Spread Your Wings")

i think it's one of those rare songs that can lighten my spirits and make me smile irrespective of the mood i bring to it. and of course it's impeccably arranged and beautifully poised. the likes of Spread Your Wings does seem rather gravid and humourless in comparison.

14. (tied) Innuendo
Innuendo, 1991
176 points (6 votes, one number one)

Great results. And in particular, ^this is why I heart this board. And yeah, time for a Queen binge on Spotify.

Innuendo
Killer Queen
Under Pressure
The Show Must Go On
Somebody To Love
White Queen (As It Began)
The March of the Black Queen
Fat Bottomed Girls
Fight From The Inside
Another One Bites The Dust
Bohemian Rhapsody
Death on Two Legs
Seven Seas of Rhye
Dragon Attack
Save Me
Now I'm Here
Jesus
Let Me Live
Nevermore
I Want It All

'Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy' is one of those Queen songs that I don't mind listening to when it's on, but has never really been a favourite of mine. It's definitely nowhere near the quality of 'You're My Best Friend' to my mind.

Wow, my #1 "It's Late" didn't even place Top 50. BUMMER.

Like what the f tho

Dang, no "Body Language" or "Princes of the Universe" either.

Have had a busy few days, but here's my ballot:

1. Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Innuendo
3. Seven Seas of Rhye (Queen II version)
4. The Show Must Go On
5. Under Pressure
6. Brighton Rock
7. Father to Son
8. March of the Black Queen
9. Liar
10. Play the Game
11. It’s a Hard Life
12. Mustapha
13. Doing Alright
14. We Will Rock You (BBC session version - but happy for votes to be counted towards the News of the World version)
15. Backchat
16. Radio Ga Ga
17. Flash
18. Dancer
19. Now I’m Here
20. Dragon Attack
Album: Sheer Heart Attack

In hindsight, would probably remove Radio Ga Ga and Dragon Attack, and replace with a couple of tracks from the debut (Great King Rat, My Fairy King, or maybe Jesus). Looks like it wouldn't have made much of a difference to the top 39, though.

Did anyone else vote for Doing Alright? It's always been a favourite of mine. I love its mood swings, through the various gentle/plaintive sections and then the sudden bursting-in of May's guitar. Some might say they did something similar with a little more subtlety and majesty on White Queen (As it Began). But I still prefer the earlier track, perhaps because of its greater rawness.

Anyway, thanks so much to charlie h and everyone else for making this poll a ton of fun! The top 39 is a true fans' list, IMO. Death on Two Legs was the surprise package, but I can see why it did so well. It includes what's probably my favourite intro of any Queen song. And the rest of the track is oh-so-vicious. Love it!

I am also sad Princes didn't place. That said, great results. Probably one of the better ballot poll results I've seen here.

thanks Wordy! glad you enjoyed the poll.

billstevejim, your No. 1 vote for It's Late was almost enough to push it into the Top 50. but it only received one other vote for a total of 55 points.

elsewhere:
Body Language (46 points, two votes)
Princes Of The Universe (26 points, one vote)

glancing over the votes, A Kind Of Magic appears to be the worst performing album by far. top song was One Vision with two votes for 31 points. the well-known title track floundered with one vote for 12 points.

41. '39 (82 points, 5 votes)

so close.

'39 would have made my ballot and likely placed. Poop.

Let's do this Queen thing!. Ow!