Happy Mothers Day with Queen, part 3!

Hello Friends,

We're celebrating another Mum's day like we do every year on Vinyl in the Valley with a little Queen on the turntable.

Queen - "News of the World" (1977) - Elektra Records

This is Queen's sixth LP and captures the band at the height of their powers.  

Opening with the one-two punch of "We Are The Champions" / "We Will Rock You" one quickly realizes that they don't make them like this anymore!  Overused and overplayed? Yes.  A little bit on the overly-dramatic side?  Definitely. Even so, if these two songs don't get you pumped up for the rest of the record, you might need to have your pulse checked!


"Sheer Heart Attack" is a leftover track from the 1974 album of the same name.  Sounds as if its either punk-influenced or the band's reaction to the burgeoning punk movement.

"All Dead, All Dead" is Brian May's gentle ode to his dead cat featuring some great Freddie Mercury piano playing.

And speaking of which, no one could pull off a power ballad quite like Freddie Mercury and the boys could as evidenced on the album's second single, "Spread Your Wings".

Side One concludes with drummer Roger Taylor's funky, "Fight From the Inside".  Its not quite disco, but a definite precursor to their 1980 megahit, "Another One Bites the Dust".

Side Two kicks off with the incredibly sleazy (but not very good) Mercury-penned "Get Down, Make Love".  If you took a quick shower after this song (and we wouldn't blame you) and you returned during Brian May's "Sleeping On the Sidewalk" you might think someone switched records on you and you were now listening to early ZZ Top.  Nope, its Queen doing their best ZZ Top impression on a rags-to-riches rock & roll shuffle! 

Bassist John Deacon composed "Who Needs You" featuring some fine Spanish-guitar picking courtesy of Deacon and May.  Sweet and nostalgic-sounding.

"Its Late" is the band at their best! Grinding Brian May guitars backed by a driving rhythm section; Mercury's sneering operatic vocals and the familiar four part harmony on the chorus.  Although it sounds triumphant as fuck, the lyrics (written by May) seem to be about a recent break-up and are actually quite melancholy.

Which brings us to the last track, "My Melancholy Blues"-- a quiet and jazzy end to another great Queen album!

From arena rock to punk to gospel to disco to to ZZ Top to jazz, News of the World is a fine album but we can't help but noticing that it lacks some of the cohesion that that the band's prior two albums (A Night at the Opera / A Day at the Races) had.  Longtime Queen producer, Roy Thomas Baker, would return to produce their next LP, Jazz.   

Fun Fact: Tiki T. used to be scared of this album cover as a kid!**  What a dope!

RATING: 4 Sheer Heart Attacks out of 5

** The album's artwork was based on a painting ("Please.. .Fix it, Daddy?") by the amazing sci-fi artist, Frank Kelly Freas.

     

 

Happy Mothers Day with Queen!

Hello friends!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!

Once again, we're celebrating Mum's day properly this year: with some flowers, some wine and some Queen!

Queen - Jazz (1978) - Elektra Records

Queen's seventh studio album-- and last of the Seventies-- Jazz is a hard-rockin', arena-rock LP with three of the band's best-loved songs like "Fat Bottomed Girls", "Bicycle" and "Don't Stop Me Now".

In addition to this trio of hits, Jazz opens with the perplexing Jewish-Arabic (?) anthem "Mustapha"*, perhaps Freddie Mercury's ode to his Parsi heritage.  There's also the understated, "Jealousy"; the overtly theatrical "Let Me Entertain You"* & "Dreamer's Ball"; bassist John Deacon's hard rocker, "If You Can't Beat Them" (which sounds vaguely like "Queen Bitch"-era Bowie); and the forgettable disco number, "Fun It" (which is definitely a precursor to Queen's mega-hit, "Another Bites the Dust".) 

(* "Let Me Entertain You" would have made a MUCH better opening track and should have swapped places with "Mustapha".)  

Brian May's two songwriting contributions includes the spazzy, furious rocker, "Dead On Time" and the sublime ballad "Leaving Home Ain't Easy" (which he also takes over lead vocal duties!)

Jazz also reunited the band with their original producer, the great Roy Thomas Baker.  All the trademark Queen sounds are present and accounted for here.  From May's sharp, overdriven guitar solos to the multitracked vocal harmonies to the bicycle bell solo on "Bicycle", this is more late 1970's rock royalty at its finest.   

Happy Mum's Day!  Now get on your bikes and ride!

RATING: 4.5 Mister Farenheits travelling at the speed of Lights out of 5

Happy Mother's Day with the Queen!

Oops... I almost forgot!

Hello friends!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!

We're celebrating Mum's day properly this year: with flowers, wine and a two-fer from Queen!

Queen - A Night at the Opera (1975)

Queen's fourth-- and possibly best-- LP.  There's the acerbic opener, "Death on Two Legs"; Roger Taylor's arena-rocking "I'm in Love with my Car"; the familiar, "Your My Best Friend"; and concluding the LP, the unmatched, seemingly timeless "Bohemian Rhapsody."

RATING: 5 thunderbolts and lightning out of a possible 5

Queen - A Day at the Races (1976)

Queen's fifth record-- and second in a row named after a Marx Bros. movie!-- kicks off with "Tie Your Mother Down".  Nothing says "Love You Mom" like this hard rockin' little ditty!

There's also Brian May's great ballad "Long Away", the hit "Somebody to Love", "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" and the ode to their huge Japanese fan base, "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)". 

Plenty of the kick-ass vocal and guitar overdubbing that Queen became famous for.  However, this one is a bit more "polished"-sounding than "Opera" which isn't necessarily a good thing!

RATING: 4 Zeppos out of a possible 5