Great Rock Albums of 1984: Queen- The Works

 

Here is a perfect example of why I never buy or not buy an album on account of one song. When the first single from Queen's album, "The Works," came on the radio, my response was "What the hell?" I thought "Radio Ga Ga" was several steps down from what I had loved about Queen throughout my teenage years of the 1970s. The conclusion I was starting to draw was that they were departing from the harder rock music I enjoyed and were selling out to the synth pop of the 1980s. Fortunately, I didn't let one bad song close my mind so I didn't miss the rest of this cool album.

I have always had this sneaking feeling that Queen knew exactly what they were doing. "The Works" might open with the mentioned single which might alienate some of their hardcore fans, therefore, they followed up "Radio Ga Ga" with the hard rocking second track, "Tear It Up." After the first ten seconds of rocking out to that song, you are completely thinking, "Radio Who?" Then if the hard rock of "Tear It Up" isn't enough to grab you, Queen hit you with a very Queen sounding "It's a Hard Life." This song is Queen as they have always been as it follows the script of all the great classics. "Man on the Prowl" is a very likable rockabilly song in the vein of the famous, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." I love the little piano bit at the end. "Machines (Back to Humans) is a very progressive sounding tune. While there are elements of hard rock, there are some very quirky sounding keyboard sounds on the song, some of them sounding like a robot. Plus there is the famous harmonizing from the band. This is my favourite track on the album because Queen do hear what they have always done best. Incorporate several different musical genres into one song. On my first listen and the many subsequent listens after, by the time my favourite track was at its conclusion, I had totally forgotten "Radio Ga Ga" was even on the album.

Some may argue that "I Want to Break Free" is on the line of that first single. I have to slap down such fools. True, there is a little disco back beat to it but May's guitar is definitely present, especially when he does that solo. Yes, some people might have discoed down to it but I just listen to it. Saying that, it's not the best track on the album, there are so many better ones. The next one in fact, "Keep Passing the Open Windows." This is on the lines of my favourite track, but not quite to the same level. "Keep Passing the Open Windows" is my third favourite track. There's some good Queen elements on here as well. BTW, "Tear It Up" is my second favourite. "Hammer to Fall" is a good rock out and it follows on very nicely. I do like May's guitar solo on it. "The Works" ends on a interesting note. It's a ballad type song, "Is This the World We Created." It's almost an anti- climax to the album but the band makes it work and end the album on a good note.

Track Listing:

1. Radio Ga Ga
2. Tear It Up
3. It's a Hard Life
4. Man on the Prowl
5. Machines (Back to Humans)
6. I Want to Break Free
7. Keep Passing the Open Windows
8. Hammer to Fall
9. Is This the World We Created

[caption id="attachment_906" align="aligncenter" width="233"] Queen[/caption]

Freddie Mercury- lead and backing vocals, piano

Brian May- guitar, backing vocals

John Deacon- bass, rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals

Roger Taylor- drums, keyboards, backing vocals

Thank God, I never let one song on an album influence my decision to purchase it. If that was the case, I would have completely missed out this great album from Queen.

Next post: Tony Carey- Some Tough City

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Rock Albums of 1983: Brian May- Starfleet Project

 

Here's another album that would have passed m e by hadn't been for MTV. The single from Queen guitarist Brian May's album, (yes I know it's really an EP) "Starfleet Project" was never played on radio, at least not on my local station in New Jersey and this was before it degenerated into a top forty station. I remember the video for "Starfleet." It looked like something out of "The Thunderbirds" with the puppets and stuff. The science fiction theme to the video added to it. To be honest, I couldn't have cared less about the video but I loved the song and thus, had to get the EP.

[caption id="attachment_3311" align="aligncenter" width="395"] From the video to "Starfleet"[/caption]

Now you have probably noticed that the album is from Brian May and Friends and boy did Brian choose the right friends to help him record this. He got Eddie Van Halen to accompany him on the guitar and Alan Gratzer from REO Speedwagon fame to do the honours on the drums. Those names right there should tell you that what you are about to hear is totally going to blow you away and they do.

There might only be three songs on the album but they are three memorable ones, plus the fact that the shortest of these three is still over seven minutes made "Starfleet Project" an album in my book back then. Starting with the title track, it is the more commercial of the three. Brian shows that he knows his way around a keyboard a little bit but he still does some great guitar work on the song. I had always suspected from his Queen days that he could sing and he clearly shows it here.

Track two is the more bluesy "Let Me Out." Here, May and Van Halen really start to go to town with the solos. They are so good that I can never remember what Brian wants to be let out of. However, it's the third track that takes you to Neptune and beyond. Here we have the two mentioned guitar greats paying tribute to another guitar god, Eric Clapton, with "Blues Breaker." When that happens you are guaranteed nothing short of guitar heaven. For nearly thirteen minutes, Brian and Eddie go back and forth trading off guitar solos, each one as good as the last. There is a short break in the action for a bit of ivory tinkling from Fred Mandel but things go back to the blistering solos. This song alone makes the entire album a must have.

Track Listing:

1. Starfleet
2. Let Me Out
3. Blues Breaker

[caption id="attachment_287" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Brian May[/caption]

Brian May- guitar, vocals, keyboards

Eddie Van Halen- guitar, backing vocals

Alan Gratzer- drums

Phil Cohen- bass

Freddie Mandel- keyboards

Roger Taylor- backing vocals on "Starfleet"

Queen might have been taking a hiatus in 1983 but Brian May wasn't. He went well above and beyond and showed his true talents on this album.

Next post: Bob Dylan- Infidels

To buy Rock And Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

The Israeli Top Ten- April 1982

Because I hadn't been able to listen to any albums from 1982 over the past few days I decided to take a trip back in personal nostalgia. In a few of my posts, I mentioned that I was in Israel in April of 1982. While getting rather sloshed in a bar in Tel A Viv, my friends and I were entertained by a television showing music videos. At first, we rocked to what I would later discover to be the video to all of Queen's greatest hits up until 1980 and that was totally cool. Next, however, they showed the videos for the top ten songs in Israel that week or so I have always thought. So, to the best of my knowledge, here it is:

10. An Israeli duet featuring a man who looked like a grown up version of a friend of mine from junior high school and a woman. Don't have a clue what the song was, they sang in Hebrew but the lady was quite pretty and the man had a powerful voice.

9. A Soul band whose name or song I can't remember

8. The Human League- Don't You Want Me

7. A rather hot looking French lady- Upside Down (I assume that was the title)

6. A dark haired woman who had a great voice. She was either Israeli or Italian

[caption id="attachment_1726" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The J Geils Band[/caption]

5. J. Geils Band- Centerfold

[caption id="attachment_2277" align="aligncenter" width="199"] Foreigner[/caption]

4. Foreigner- Waiting For a Girl Like You

[caption id="attachment_2485" align="aligncenter" width="259"] Rod Stewart[/caption]

3. Rod Stewart- Young Turks

2. An English band featuring a short guy as lead singer- Can't remember the song

1. Abba- Head Over Heels

I think the reason I remember this top ten so well is that fact that there were a couple of decent rock tunes in the chart. I have also noted that there are a good number of heavy metal bands from the country. My point here is that I think they can rock in Israel! Thank you for coming along on my trip down memory lane.

Next post: Charlie Daniels Band- Windows

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Merry Maiden Christmas

Like everyone else in the Western world, I too will be taking a short break over the festive season. I was thinking of posting my second top ten Christmas songs and they too would have been Bob Rivers heavy but a better idea has come up. Having visited my younger son and daughter last week and exchanging gifts, (my daughter is spending Christmas in Norway, at least she has a chance at seeing a white Christmas)I was delighted to receive the new Iron Maiden album, "Book of Souls," from them. Naturally, I had to play it for the journey home and the album is fantastic. The songs on it just click and their are some really good guitar solos on it, I'm impressed.

Then last weekend, we made the pre- Christmas trip to visit the mother in law and remaining step children who still live up in Grimsby. Another present exchange went down and what should I get from my eldest step daughter? Well, it was an Iron Maiden t-shirt. That was cool, since my last one I had was over 25 years ago. Since I got these cool gifts, I have decided that this must be an Iron Maiden themed Christmas.

cool t-shirt huh?

Since it's become a tradition, after it became available three and a half years ago, I always buy a couple of bottles of "The Trooper" to enjoy the festivities and have done so. However, this year there has been an added bonus. Last week at my local supermarket, I saw a special featuring The Trooper in a cool looking case, which housed the bottle and a pint glass. Added bonus was it was on sale along with some other themed beers at two for £8, ($12). No, I didn't buy another Trooper, instead, there was a beer celebrating the fortieth year since the release of the Queen classic, "Bohemian Rhapsody." So, I bought a bottle of Bohemian lager.

I'll show you what's inside next post

That's my yule holiday sorted. No matter how you celebrate this year, whether anyone will join me in the Maiden Christmas or celebrate it in the theme of another band, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

p.s. If you're stuck for a present, you could always give someone a copy of "Rock and Roll Children."

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 19890: Queen- The Game

This album first came to my attention back in 1980 when the single "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" was played on a juke box in a bar whose name I can't remember. At first, I thought it was an Elvis Presley song and I wasn't the only one. That whole song radiated The King, especially Brian May's guitar solo. When I discovered it was actually Queen, I was even more impressed and liked the song that much more.

Of course, most people not in metal, those who worship the Top 40 charts especially, identify "The Game" with the number one hit single from the album, "Another One Bites the Dust." That song crossed over into previously uncharted territory for Queen because it also reached number one in the soul charts. I remember many of my African American comrades in arms listening to it extensively and found it a little amusing one day when one such comrade said to another, "These are a bunch of white boys." However, I doubt that many of them actually bought this album. What I always liked about that song is that it showed what a brilliant bassist John Deacon was.

My record buying philosophy has always been not to buy an album on account of one or two songs. The three prominent singles from the album: the two I already mentioned plus "Play the Game" are not indicative of this album. "Play the Game" is a decent opener but the second track, "Dragon Attack" is a total rocker as is the fourth track "I Need Your Loving Tonight," which after many years of not listening to it, is now firmly entrenched in my brain like it had been back then. The last five tracks are all classic Queen and that includes my favourite track on the album, "Don't Try Suicide."

Track Listing:

1. Play The Game

2. Dragon Attack

3. Another One Bites the Dust

 4. I Need Your Loving Tonight

5. Crazy Little Thing Called Love

6. Rock It

7. Don't Try Suicide

8. Sail Away Sweet Sister

9. Come On

10. Save Me

Queen

Freddie Mercury- vocals, synthesiser

Brian May- guitars, vocals, piano, synthesiser

Roger Taylor- drums, percussion, vocals, piano, rhythm guitar

John Deacon- bass, vocals, guitar, synthesiser

"The Game" has been considered more of a pop album and with some of the singles from it, there is scope for that argument. However, I'm not going to argue it here, For me, "The Game" still radiates some classic Queen and is a brilliant album.

Next post: The Beatles- Rarities

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes  & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1979: Queen- Jazz



Coming off the success of the 1978 smash, "News of the World," Queen proved with the follow up album, "Jazz," why they were a force to be reckoned with back in the late 70s. For me, "Jazz" was every bit as good as their last albums and some of the predecessors as well. Track after track on this album is consistently good and has me bobbing my head along each time I listen to it.
I remember when I heard the very first track, "Mustapha," I wondered whether or not they were taking the proverbial. Maybe Freddie Mercury was doing a Frank Zappa bit and I had the paranoid worry that they were going disco. However, down the line of the song, the guitars kicked in and all was well after that. Then came my favourite track on the album, "Fat Bottomed Girls" and the hit "Bicycle Races" as well as some other fine songs climaxing with "Don't Stop Me Now." A very good album indeed and I'm glad I'm paying tribute to it here.

Track Listing:

1. Mustapha

2. Fat Bottomed Girls

3. Jealousy

4. Bicycle Races

5. If You Can't Beat Them

6. Let Me Entertain You

7. Dead On Time

8. In Only Seven Days

9. Dreamer's Ball

10. Fun It

11. Leaving Home Ain't Easy

12. Don't Stop Me Now

13. More of That Jazz

Queen

Freddie Mercury- lead and backing vocals, piano

Brian May- guitars, lead and backing vocals

Roger Taylor- drums, percussion, lead and backing vocals, electric guitar, bass

John Deacon- bass, electric and acoustic guitar

I have to confess, back in 1979, I tried very hard to dislike Queen, due to my homophobic views back then. Something I regret now. However, when I heard the singles from this album, I couldn't help liking them. The music of Queen has the aura that is very hard not to like and today, I am a full fledged fan.

Next post: Dire Straits

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1978: Queen- New of the World

Yes, this is another abum, which was actually released in 1977, but "News of theWorld" by Queen was one of the albums that made my spring in 1978. The hit singles "We Will Rock You" and "We are the Champions" spear headed Queen's push for rock and roll dominance in the early months of that year. Both songs were used as a motivation for my high school basketball team when it want to the South Jersey final. Unfortunately, they lost that game, but those songs still were true rock anthems.

I have always liked the sound of Queen and this album was one of the reasons. The operatic harmonies were groundbreaking at the time and I'm not just talking about "Bohemian Rhapsody." Furthermore, as I said before, Brian May is truly up their with the guitar playing elite. However, the problem I had with Queen back in 78 and 79 was Freddie Mercury and my own homophobic views. The fact that I know I wasn't the only one who had them doesn't justify it at all. My fears of being branded gay kept me from openly saying that I liked Queen's music. I'm just glad I have become much more open minded in my adult years and can truly appreciate what a great band Queen are and what a great album "News of the World" was. In the spring of 1978, Queen surely were the champions of the rock world.

Track Listing:

1. We Will Rock You

2. We Are the Champions

3. Sheer Heart Attack

4. All Dead All Dead

5. Spread Your Wings

6. Fight From the Inside

7. Get Down Make Love

8. Sleeping on the Sidewalk

9 Who Needs You

10. It's Late

11. My Melancholy Blues

Queen

Freddie Mercury- lead vocals, piano, percussion, cowbell

Brian May- electric and accoustic guitars, lead vocals on "All Dead All Dead" and "Sleeping on the Sidewalk," backing vocals

Roger Taylor- durms, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Sheer Heart Attack" and "Fight From the Inside"

John Deacon- bass, accoustic guitar, Spanish guitar

The best thing to say about this album is that it triumphed in spite of homophobia. Not only the hits, but other great tracks like "Get Down, Make Love" and "Sheer Heart Attack" make this album such a great classic. Queen are another act that has stood the test of time and have given us great rock memories.

To prove I'm completely over my homophobia, here's a picture of Freddie Mercury in his body stocking, which in 1978, I thought was very gay.

 Next post: Frank Zappa- Zappa in New York

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes& Noble and Froogle

My Olympics Closing Ceremony Rant

As you can clearly see there are some photos of the Olympics Closing Ceremony which took place in London last Sunday.  There are pictures of some of the acts that played there like George Michael and The Spice Girls and here's a shot of my favourite act on the evening, Eric Idle of Monty Python fame. I thought bringing him into to sing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," was pure genius.

But from all of the act that played on the night, can anyone tell me what was desperately missing from the night? Yes, that's right, the total absence of heavy metal bands. I won't repeat all the things I wrote about the absence of metal at the Jubilee concert, but you can see a common thread here. In spite of the fact that Britain is the birthplace of heavy metal, it seems that the country as a whole is embarrassed to admit it. Would anyone have been offended if Iron Maiden had played on the night? Or do you agree with me in saying it would have improved things 300%?

I don't know why the United Kingdom, which has given the world so much, is ashamed of the fact that it gave the world heavy metal. I can't think that it's because they were afraid of what the American religious right would have said. Most people in Britain think they're a total joke. As I said in that last post, Iron Maiden are great ambassadors of heavy metal and Great Britain. Most of the world would have head banged away to them while they blasted one of their many great songs on stage. Maiden not being there only dampens what could have made a great ceremony and made Great Britain even greater.

So, I'll include them here:

This is how they would have gone down at the Closing Ceremony.

See you all next time.

80smetalman