DreamTheaterForums.org Dream Theater Fan Site
General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: KevShmev on March 06, 2019, 08:22:21 AM
-
To start off, the Beatles are the most popular band ever. I don't think anyone would argue this point.
Moving on, I always thought that after the Beatles, the biggest bands were Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and the Who. The Who kind of tailed off a while back, as it seemed like less younger people were digging them than the others, but I would've still put them in at the bottom of the 2nd tier/top of the 3rd. Queen I always thought of as being a 3rd tier band from a popularity standpoint, but when you consider streaming numbers and the massive popularity of the recent flick about them, I think they have surpassed everyone and moved into 2nd place on list of most popular rock bands. I think younger people (under 25 or so) are listening to Queen far more than the other (non-Beatles) bands listed above, and this has elevated their status.
Thoughts?
-
I think the strong point of Queen, aside from having actual great songs, is that they're kinda the national team of popular music since there's something for everyone. Michael Jackson was a global icon, to make an example, but if you're not into dance-y music, well, there's not much for you there. Queen has songs that appeal basically to everyone, be them pop or rock or prog rock (the '70s) or even metal, so they are able to draw in fans from every area of music.
-
Well, let's be honest; some of the surge in popularity is hipster cool and riding the coattails. It's a running joke between my wife and I when commercials come on and there's a Queen song there. I don't mind that, per se, but the band is striking while the iron is hot, and no mistake.
Elton John's biopic is coming out soon, so while you won't get the same level of surge (Reg isn't dead) it's going to temper things for a while. Two years from now, The Beatles will still be number one, and the number two will return to the swirling soup of Zepp/Floyd/Who/Beach Boys/etc. that it usually is.
-
Even before the movie, Queen was responsible for a whole lot of universally popular songs.
Bohemian Rhapsody
We Will Rock You
We Are the Champions
Fat Bottom Girls
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
etc
Even if you didn't know some of them were queen, a ton of people are familiar with those songs. So it's really not fair to credit the movie for more than just a small bump in younger people.
-
I'm not sure if they are the 2nd most popular ever or anything, it's really hard to judge such a thing, but obviously they are huge and have been for awhile. It does seem the movie might have given the band a bump in popularity for now also the band touring again helps too (well they have been for a bit now) but like playing in the US every year, even with Adam Lambert, is going to help spread the music of Queen.
I watched the movie the other day on my flight and really enjoyed it.
-
Even before the movie, Queen was responsible for a whole lot of universally popular songs.
Bohemian Rhapsody
We Will Rock You
We Are the Champions
Fat Bottom Girls
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
etc
Even if you didn't know some of them were queen, a ton of people are familiar with those songs. So it's really not fair to credit the movie for more than just a small bump in younger people.
Well, "popular" and "second most popular band ever" are not the same. There's no doubt they were popular, but just because Rock And Roll, Part I is played at every sports event ever in the States doesn't mean that Gary Glitter is at the level of the Beatles.
Queen has FIVE iconic songs: BoRhap, WWRY/WATC; Crazy..., and Another One Bites The Dust. The artists that have that are legion.
Zeppelin: Stairway; WLL; Rock and Roll; Black Dog; Kashmir (and you can sub in any of about 5 other songs too)
Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Money, Wish You Were Here, Hey You, Time (or ...Brick)
Skynyrd: Freebird, Sweet Home, Saturday Night Special, What's Your Name, Tuesday's Gone, Simple Man...
The Who: All three CSI tunes (Who Are You, .... Fooled, Baba O'Reilly) plus Pinball Wizard, My Generation...
John: Saturday Night's..., Candle In The Wind, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Daniel, Yuor Song (I can go foreever here)
Stones: Satisfaction, Jumpin' Jack, Brown Sugar, Start Me Up, Sympathy, Ruby Tuesday (I can go forever here too)
Queen is AWESOME. Fred is my favorite singer of all time (and in my view the greatest pure rock singer of all time). I have every CD - even Flash... even HOT SPACE! - and can find something redeeming about all of them. Queen II is a top ten record all time for me. So a lot of love for Queen, but this is a band that couldn't tour here for the last five (plus, minus) years of their career, and not just because of Freddie's illness. They are not at the level of Zeppelin or The Who in the general zeitgeist of America.
-
I still don't understand how The Beatles are so popular. Not a single song has ever caught my ear. The Monkees have better songs. Queen have more enjoyable songs and I really don't like them that much either.
-
Stadler, you are selling Queen short on the iconic songs. Under Pressure has to be on that list, and Fat Bottomed Girls likely as well. That played last week here at work and everyone in the office knew it (even the youngans).
Meanwhile, play Kashmir for most under 30 and they will get that "what is this" look on their face.
-
I think Zeppelin will always be more popular.
-
I still don't understand how The Beatles are so popular. Not a single song has ever caught my ear. The Monkees have better songs. Queen have more enjoyable songs and I really don't like them that much either.
I'm there with you on the Beatles. Nothing from them has ever clicked with me. I also would say I enjoy the Monkees more sadly :lol and definitely enjoy Queen more. My only issue with Queen, and kind of MirrorMasks point on how they are so popular, is that I don't like half their music. The good stuff is great, but the rest is very meh to me. They just hit music styles that are not my taste.
-
Stadler, you are selling Queen short on the iconic songs. Under Pressure has to be on that list, and Fat Bottomed Girls likely as well. That played last week here at work and everyone in the office knew it (even the youngans).
Meanwhile, play Kashmir for most under 30 and they will get that "what is this" look on their face.
I know Kashmir but I'm ashamed to admit how many songs of that list I genuinely don't know, or I don't know that I know them.
-
At one point, they were huuuuuuge in Great Britain. They were THE band over there. Here in the states, they had a fair amount of popularity and then Live Aid happened. That crowd at Wembley was insane, Freddie's showmanship, and the band's music put Queen on a world stage. They shot up in popularity here in the US as a result. Live Aid was what took them over the top.
They had a lot of hits. They had a lot of albums. Have they surpassed everyone to be the 2nd most popular band ever? Not sure. I think it's hard to get past The Beatles, Stones, & Zeppelin as your top 3. Here's a random/not so random list of who I think are the most popular bands ever in rock.
Beatles
Stones
Zep
Who
Floyd
Queen
Eagles
AC/DC
Metallica
How do we gauge popularity? Album sales? Concert ticket sales? Merchandise sales? Hits on a website or social media platform? How often the music is played on rock radio? Use of a band's music in commercials, TV shows, or movies? I'm not sure there's a way to quantify it.
-
Yep, there are too many variables, but I would put U2 on that list now as well. They were still packing stadiums earlier this decade over the course of five (!!) legs, which not many other bands can do.
-
Sorry to come in argumentative, but there is no way "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is an "iconic" song. It, and others people are listing aren't even universally liked, or even recognized for that matter*. I'd give them 3 (BH, WWRY, WATC). 2 of those are because of sporting events, the other because of Wayne's World (they are all tremendous songs, but do not reach the level they do without those factors).
*I use Mrs. Cool Chris as the barometer for this. She knows next to nothing about music from any genre or any era. So if she recognizes a song, and can name it and the artist, I consider that song 'widely known (at least in the rock genre)."
Controversial opinion (for the other thread but relevant), Another One Bites the Dust is a dumb song, and not even that cool of a bass line.
-
Even before the movie, Queen was responsible for a whole lot of universally popular songs.
Bohemian Rhapsody
We Will Rock You
We Are the Champions
Fat Bottom Girls
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
etc
Even if you didn't know some of them were queen, a ton of people are familiar with those songs. So it's really not fair to credit the movie for more than just a small bump in younger people.
Yeah, but the thing is, outside of that relatively small number and maybe a couple of others like Under Pressure, they really don't have that many that the average person would remember as being a huge hit.
I guess I'm in sort of "wait and see" mode. The film obviously gave them a HUGE shot in the arm. But I really cannot tell whether that is something that will bridge the gap to this new generation and really put them over the top, or whether it is just a momentary bump that will fade in a few years.
It's a really interesting question to ponder. But at the end of the day, I just kind of have to throw up my hands and say I dunno.
-
I still don't understand how The Beatles are so popular. Not a single song has ever caught my ear. The Monkees have better songs. Queen have more enjoyable songs and I really don't like them that much either.
:(
-
I think after Wayne's World, they became the 2nd most universally known band, largely because of the crossover appeal.
But I suppose if you consider ALBUMS, their albums/body of work is/are not as bought as Floyd or Zeppelin.
also @Zook and @cramx3 my wife has felt that exact same way about The Beatles (and THE MONKEES) for nearly her whole life. And while I am a fan of The Beatles, I have stopped trying to argue or ask her to justify her feeling of "what's the big deal about The Beatles? There's nothing special about them"... whereas to her The Monkees and especially Mike Nesmith (with the band, and even more on his own) were brilliant.
-
I won't say the Monkees are brilliant, they just had catchy tunes (didn't they also have people write those catchy songs for them?). I really don't know why the Beatles, one of my parents favorite band playing often as a kid, just never stuck with me. I can't explain it other than it's just not my cup of tea.
-
Sorry to come in argumentative, but there is no way "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is an "iconic" song. It, and others people are listing aren't even universally liked, or even recognized for that matter*. I'd give them 3 (BH, WWRY, WATC). 2 of those are because of sporting events, the other because of Wayne's World (they are all tremendous songs, but do not reach the level they do without those factors).
I was thinking the same thing about "Crazy" - and even more so about "Fat Bottom Girls"! FBG is "iconic"? After the three mentioned "iconic" songs (BR, WWRY/WATC), the next two in line are "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Under Pressure" (the latter of which gets a boost because of David Bowie's involvement.
As far as "2nd most popular band ever," it's not possible to measure that directly. Album sales is one measure of popularity, and that list looks like this (according to this 2017 article - https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/10/17/riaa-best-selling-artists-of-all-time/ ):
1. Beatles
2. Garth Brooks
3. Elvis Presley
4. Led Zeppelin
5. Eagles
...
46. Queen
If the list goes beyond album sales, it looks like this (according to Wikipedia):
1. Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. Michael Jackson
4. Madonna
5. Elton John
...
12. Queen
Queen doesn't even show up on lists of highest grossing concert tours (of all time or by decade).
So..."2nd most popular band ever"? Not even close.
-
But I suppose if you consider ALBUMS, their albums/body of work is/are not as bought as Floyd or Zeppelin.
I have the general impression that the vast majority of Queen fans, or better, people who list Queen as one of their favorite bands (and possibly not the very favorite), are more a "greatest hits" kind of fans, rather than owning all the albums and knowing all the songs.
I'd be curious to make a survey about how many people who are not diehard Queen fans but are "oh yeah, I love Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust, I Want it All" even know about The March of the Black Queen, The Prophet's Song (which is actually on the same album Bohemian Rhapsody is) or even a random straight rocker like Let Me Entertain You ("What? the Robbie Williams song? it's a Queen cover?").
-
@Stads. I didn't mean to agree that they are the 2nd most popular band ever. I have no idea how you'd even measure that. I just meant that they are more, and have been more popular than you give them credit for.
@Bosk, when it comes to VERY well known songs, most band don't have that many outside of their fanbase. Even Metallica, it's basically Enter Sandman and maybe Nothing Else Matters. Play MoP for a random person and they don't know what it is. So to have 5+ songs that are pretty universally known is actually really incredible.
-
I'd be curious to make a survey about how many people who are not diehard Queen fans but are "oh yeah, I love Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust, I Want it All" even know about The March of the Black Queen, The Prophet's Song (which is actually on the same album Bohemian Rhapsody is) or even a random straight rocker like Let Me Entertain You ("What? the Robbie Williams song? it's a Queen cover?").
The only Queen albums I own and ever have owned are Live Killers and Greatest Hits II.
-
I won't say the Monkees are brilliant, they just had catchy tunes (didn't they also have people write those catchy songs for them?). I really don't know why the Beatles, one of my parents favorite band playing often as a kid, just never stuck with me. I can't explain it other than it's just not my cup of tea.
There's a thread on this somewhere here.
I still go back to the piece on the bonus disk of Billy Joel's Greatest Hits box set, where he talks about seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan for the first time. We were not much more than two months out from that generations 9/11 (theirs was 11/22) and this was the sort of breath of fresh air that people were yearning for. You add up the number of artists/musicians that saw that performance and decided they wanted to make music for a living, then add up all the artists/musicians that saw ANYONE ELSE and decided they wanted to make music for a living and you probably have six in one hand, half dozen in the other.
Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Jimi Hendrix and the Stones were all waiting with baited breath to see what the lads would come out with next. I don't think that was the case with the next Monkees album, no matter how good it might have been (I'm not a die hard, but more than a casual, fan of the Monkees). The Monkees don't have even one epic, show-closer, event-stopper anthem, and yet the Beatles have at least three, maybe more (Top o' the head: A Day In The Life, Let It Be, Hey Jude). They have the most covered song in rock history - Yesterday, written and performed IN HOUSE by Sir Paul - and they haveHALF of the top ten most covered songs ever in this list (though it's obviously an incomplete list): http://mentalfloss.com/article/20811/most-covered-songs-in-music-history.
-
Sorry to come in argumentative, but there is no way "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is an "iconic" song. It, and others people are listing aren't even universally liked, or even recognized for that matter*. I'd give them 3 (BH, WWRY, WATC). 2 of those are because of sporting events, the other because of Wayne's World (they are all tremendous songs, but do not reach the level they do without those factors).
I was thinking the same thing about "Crazy" - and even more so about "Fat Bottom Girls"! FBG is "iconic"? After the three mentioned "iconic" songs (BR, WWRY/WATC), the next two in line are "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Under Pressure" (the latter of which gets a boost because of David Bowie's involvement.
As far as "2nd most popular band ever," it's not possible to measure that directly. Album sales is one measure of popularity, and that list looks like this (according to this 2017 article - https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/10/17/riaa-best-selling-artists-of-all-time/ ):
1. Beatles
2. Garth Brooks
3. Elvis Presley
4. Led Zeppelin
5. Eagles
...
46. Queen
If the list goes beyond album sales, it looks like this (according to Wikipedia):
1. Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. Michael Jackson
4. Madonna
5. Elton John
...
12. Queen
Queen doesn't even show up on lists of highest grossing concert tours (of all time or by decade).
So..."2nd most popular band ever"? Not even close.
I think you are looking at it completely wrong.
The premise of this is how popular bands seem to be now, not how popular they were 30, 20, or even 10 years ago. Album sales are totally irrelevant in that regard, especially since the vast majority of people do not buy albums anymore. How much their tours grossed is irrelevant as well, especially since Queen (the original lineup, not the 1/2 lineup that tours now with Adam Lambert) has not toured since 1986. I don't think it is unrealistic to say that if Freddie Mercury were still alive and they did a stadium tour in 2019, they'd all sell out...fast.
-
Maybe things are different in the US, but I live in a country where the nation's biggest radio station does this Top 2000 songs thing every year (started off as a one-off thing to celebrate the new millenium, now it's the largest annual radio event) and every year since its inception, except for three times, Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody ended in #1.
The Beatles have always been the band that's represented the most throughout the list, but Queen always came in second. Last year, more Queen songs than ever before were on that list (35 appearances) and every single Queen song that was already on the list gained a ton of places.
Meanwhile:
Led Zeppelin: 8 songs, of which four were in the bottom half
Lynyryd Skynyrd: just 2 songs (Free Bird and Sweet Home)
The Who: 7, of which 5 in the bottom half of the list
Elton John: 11, of which 6 in the bottom half
...
Pretty sure Queen are pretty damn popular over here.
-
We have those too. You can predict the top five almost off the top of your head.
1. Stairway To Heaven
The next four are Freebird, Hotel California, and some combination of BoRhap, Hey Jude, and Won't Get Fooled Again
-
When we cruised the Mediterranean three years ago, as we made our initial way from the airport in an Italian cab, the first song we heard was 'A Kind Of Magic'. Made us feel right at home. ;)
They never made the 'biggest tour list', but they did bring in over 1M people for 26 dates back in '86.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Tour_(Queen)
Their two nights at Wembley sold out in two hours back in the preinternet days.
As someone who saw them warm up for Mott the Hoople....are they the second biggest or most popular? Right now...probably. Top Ten, certainly. Doesn't really matter to me.......
But doesn't everybody have some form of their 'greatest hits' releases? Heck, a 20 year old friend of ours was upset that 'Fat Bottomed Girls' was used in the movie, and not 'Stone Cold Crazy'! Didn't make sense to him (or us as well for the era represented).
Queen did have the most official covers of any band by Dream Theater (and James did 'One Vision' as well)
(and, btw, I still have never put AOBTD on my 'Game' LP version or any GH discs. It wasn't until Wembley when they moved it out of the encores that I began to semi enjoy it live)
-
Here in Seattle when I used to listen to KISW do that list, Purple Haze would be up there, due to the Hendrix local ties. Otherwise it was usually Stairway at #1. I can't recall how it usually shook out from there but your list sounds familiar.
Beatles always had the most songs on the list.
I still hate the moniker "BoRhap" more than socialists hate rich people.
-
Here in Seattle when I used to listen to KISW do that list, Purple Haze would be up there, due to the Hendrix local ties. Otherwise it was usually Stairway at #1. I can't recall how it usually shook out from there but your list sounds familiar.
Beatles always had the most songs on the list.
I still hate the moniker "BoRhap" more than socialists hate rich people.
Haha, I'm sorry; I'm the worst offender at that. :angel:
-
When we cruised the Mediterranean three years ago, as we made our initial way from the airport in an Italian cab, the first song we heard was 'A Kind Of Magic'. Made us feel right at home. ;)
They never made the 'biggest tour list', but they did bring in over 1M people for 26 dates back in '86.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Tour_(Queen)
Their two nights at Wembley sold out in two hours back in the preinternet days.
As someone who saw them warm up for Mott the Hoople....are they the second biggest or most popular? Right now...probably. Top Ten, certainly. Doesn't really matter to me.......
But doesn't everybody have some form of their 'greatest hits' releases? Heck, a 20 year old friend of ours was upset that 'Fat Bottomed Girls' was used in the movie, and not 'Stone Cold Crazy'! Didn't make sense to him (or us as well for the era represented).
Queen did have the most official covers of any band by Dream Theater (and James did 'One Vision' as well)
(and, btw, I still have never put AOBTD on my 'Game' LP version or any GH discs. It wasn't until Wembley when they moved it out of the encores that I began to semi enjoy it live)
And where can I hear that? That sounds AWESOME!
-
I think you are looking at it completely wrong.
The premise of this is how popular bands seem to be now, not how popular they were 30, 20, or even 10 years ago. Album sales are totally irrelevant in that regard, especially since the vast majority of people do not buy albums anymore. How much their tours grossed is irrelevant as well, especially since Queen (the original lineup, not the 1/2 lineup that tours now with Adam Lambert) has not toured since 1986.
I get the notion about popularity now versus overall. I was just looking at some objective way to measure popularity. Without that, how do we rank who's 1st or 2nd or whatever?
I don't think it is unrealistic to say that if Freddie Mercury were still alive and they did a stadium tour in 2019, they'd all sell out...fast.
If Freddie Mercury, a man who's been dead for 27+ years, suddenly came back to life, then yes, I agree. However, "if Freddie Mercury were still alive," that would mean he'd also have been alive for the past 27+ years. What would have happened over those 27+ years, and how would it impact Queen's popularity in the alternate universe 2019? One thing we probably can conclude is that the movie Bohemian Rhapsody probably would not have been made, which means that the significant upturn in Queen's popularity resulting from that movie would not have happened. Moreover, I can't think of a single "classic rock" band/artist who has enhanced its/his reputation by virtue of new material released during the time since 1990(-ish). Maybe Queen would be a nostalgia band like Journey and Styx.
-
When we cruised the Mediterranean three years ago, as we made our initial way from the airport in an Italian cab, the first song we heard was 'A Kind Of Magic'. Made us feel right at home. ;)
They never made the 'biggest tour list', but they did bring in over 1M people for 26 dates back in '86.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Tour_(Queen)
Their two nights at Wembley sold out in two hours back in the preinternet days.
As someone who saw them warm up for Mott the Hoople....are they the second biggest or most popular? Right now...probably. Top Ten, certainly. Doesn't really matter to me.......
But doesn't everybody have some form of their 'greatest hits' releases? Heck, a 20 year old friend of ours was upset that 'Fat Bottomed Girls' was used in the movie, and not 'Stone Cold Crazy'! Didn't make sense to him (or us as well for the era represented).
Queen did have the most official covers of any band by Dream Theater (and James did 'One Vision' as well)
(and, btw, I still have never put AOBTD on my 'Game' LP version or any GH discs. It wasn't until Wembley when they moved it out of the encores that I began to semi enjoy it live)
And where can I hear that? That sounds AWESOME!
YouTube is your friend.
-
When we cruised the Mediterranean three years ago, as we made our initial way from the airport in an Italian cab, the first song we heard was 'A Kind Of Magic'. Made us feel right at home. ;)
They never made the 'biggest tour list', but they did bring in over 1M people for 26 dates back in '86.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Tour_(Queen)
Their two nights at Wembley sold out in two hours back in the preinternet days.
As someone who saw them warm up for Mott the Hoople....are they the second biggest or most popular? Right now...probably. Top Ten, certainly. Doesn't really matter to me.......
But doesn't everybody have some form of their 'greatest hits' releases? Heck, a 20 year old friend of ours was upset that 'Fat Bottomed Girls' was used in the movie, and not 'Stone Cold Crazy'! Didn't make sense to him (or us as well for the era represented).
Queen did have the most official covers of any band by Dream Theater (and James did 'One Vision' as well)
(and, btw, I still have never put AOBTD on my 'Game' LP version or any GH discs. It wasn't until Wembley when they moved it out of the encores that I began to semi enjoy it live)
And where can I hear that? That sounds AWESOME!
YouTube is your friend.
One listening now. James sounds pretty good, but the musicians.......not so much.
Actually as it goes on, James sounds good at times, but seems tired on chorus.
-
I think younger people (under 25 or so) are listening to Queen far more than the other (non-Beatles) bands listed above, and this has elevated their status.
Thoughts?
I think this is exactly right. As someone under 25, from my experience of what my peers are aware of and interested in, I don't think any of those other bands even comes close to Queen.
In terms of American under-25s, in my experience:
For Zep, it's Stairway and that's it.
For the Stones, probably a handful of songs. Sympathy for the Devil and Satisfaction are the only ones I'd be confident in, though.
For The Who, maybe Baba O'Reilly, but even that is pushing it.
For Floyd, Comfortably Numb, Money, and maybe Time or Us and Them.
Queen definitely has Bohemian Rhapsody, which I would say is the single most popular rock song among Americans my age. They definitely have We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions. They very likely have Under Pressure, Somebody to Love, Another One Bites the Dust and Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
In fact, I would go one step further and say that Queen is not that far away from the Beatles for the top spot among people in my demographic. They aren't quite there, but they are a very strong challenger. A way, way stronger one than anyone else.
-
I won't say the Monkees are brilliant, they just had catchy tunes (didn't they also have people write those catchy songs for them?). I really don't know why the Beatles, one of my parents favorite band playing often as a kid, just never stuck with me. I can't explain it other than it's just not my cup of tea.
There's a thread on this somewhere here.
I still go back to the piece on the bonus disk of Billy Joel's Greatest Hits box set, where he talks about seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan for the first time. We were not much more than two months out from that generations 9/11 (theirs was 11/22) and this was the sort of breath of fresh air that people were yearning for. You add up the number of artists/musicians that saw that performance and decided they wanted to make music for a living, then add up all the artists/musicians that saw ANYONE ELSE and decided they wanted to make music for a living and you probably have six in one hand, half dozen in the other.
Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Jimi Hendrix and the Stones were all waiting with baited breath to see what the lads would come out with next. I don't think that was the case with the next Monkees album, no matter how good it might have been (I'm not a die hard, but more than a casual, fan of the Monkees). The Monkees don't have even one epic, show-closer, event-stopper anthem, and yet the Beatles have at least three, maybe more (Top o' the head: A Day In The Life, Let It Be, Hey Jude). They have the most covered song in rock history - Yesterday, written and performed IN HOUSE by Sir Paul - and they haveHALF of the top ten most covered songs ever in this list (though it's obviously an incomplete list): http://mentalfloss.com/article/20811/most-covered-songs-in-music-history.
I'm not denying their influence, but the quality by popularity argument never holds up. The Monkees, regardless of who wrote the songs, produced more enjoyable, catchier tunes to me. Let it Be and Hey Jude are incredibly boring. I like the message of Imagine (I know it's a solo tune) but the song itself does nothing for me. I'm almost 34, but I like plenty of older tunes, so the "you had to be there" argument is weak too. I'm sure that was coming, so I'm addressing it now.
I think after Wayne's World, they became the 2nd most universally known band, largely because of the crossover appeal.
But I suppose if you consider ALBUMS, their albums/body of work is/are not as bought as Floyd or Zeppelin.
also @Zook and @cramx3 my wife has felt that exact same way about The Beatles (and THE MONKEES) for nearly her whole life. And while I am a fan of The Beatles, I have stopped trying to argue or ask her to justify her feeling of "what's the big deal about The Beatles? There's nothing special about them"... whereas to her The Monkees and especially Mike Nesmith (with the band, and even more on his own) were brilliant.
^ Is that a good justification? The Beatles are a cure for insomnia. Hell, I ironically enjoy Pink Floyd's Bike more than I will ever enjoy anything by The Beatles, and Bike is a horrible song. That being said, The Beatles win everytime against Cockroach King.
Could there be a Beatles song I could like? Maybe. I haven't heard their entire catalog, nor will I waste my time trying to find a potential needle in a haystack. They just don't do it for me.
-
I get the notion about popularity now versus overall. I was just looking at some objective way to measure popularity. Without that, how do we rank who's 1st or 2nd or whatever?
There is no objective way to look at this; it's an inexact science.
It just feels like younger people are listening to Queen more than just about any other rock band routinely thrown in that next tier after the Beatles.
I think the Eagles have been elevated in recent years as well, largely because their music appeals to country fans as well, and with the addition of Vince Gill following the death of Glenn Frey, their audience has expanded.
If Freddie Mercury, a man who's been dead for 27+ years, suddenly came back to life, then yes, I agree. However, "if Freddie Mercury were still alive," that would mean he'd also have been alive for the past 27+ years. What would have happened over those 27+ years, and how would it impact Queen's popularity in the alternate universe 2019? One thing we probably can conclude is that the movie Bohemian Rhapsody probably would not have been made, which means that the significant upturn in Queen's popularity resulting from that movie would not have happened. Moreover, I can't think of a single "classic rock" band/artist who has enhanced its/his reputation by virtue of new material released during the time since 1990(-ish). Maybe Queen would be a nostalgia band like Journey and Styx.
See, this is the fun of it all! Speculation galore! There are so many ways of looking at it.
I think younger people (under 25 or so) are listening to Queen far more than the other (non-Beatles) bands listed above, and this has elevated their status.
Thoughts?
I think this is exactly right. As someone under 25, from my experience of what my peers are aware of and interested in, I don't think any of those other bands even comes close to Queen.
In terms of American under-25s, in my experience:
For Zep, it's Stairway and that's it.
For the Stones, probably a handful of songs. Sympathy for the Devil and Satisfaction are the only ones I'd be confident in, though.
For The Who, maybe Baba O'Reilly, but even that is pushing it.
For Floyd, Comfortably Numb, Money, and maybe Time or Us and Them.
Queen definitely has Bohemian Rhapsody, which I would say is the single most popular rock song among Americans my age. They definitely have We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions. They very likely have Under Pressure, Somebody to Love, Another One Bites the Dust and Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
In fact, I would go one step further and say that Queen is not that far away from the Beatles for the top spot among people in my demographic. They aren't quite there, but they are a very strong challenger. A way, way stronger one than anyone else.
Well said. Sure, the majority of people over 40 are probably still gonna think that Floyd, LZ and the Stones are more popular, but as I said in the OP, younger people seem to be favoring Queen big time over those other bands, and I think that is what has elevated Queen to their current status.
-
and once again, compared to the rest of that list, Queen is still touring now. I don't know if Adam Lambert brings any new fans to Queen, but they are playing arenas here and have been for a few years now consistently. That's going to help make new fans in ways that LZ, PF, and the Beatles cannot.
-
and once again, compared to the rest of that list, Queen is still touring now. I don't know if Adam Lambert brings any new fans to Queen, but they are playing arenas here and have been for a few years now consistently. That's going to help make new fans in ways that LZ, PF, and the Beatles cannot.
Assuming this is true, why is that an issue? The Rolling Stones and U2, two other second tier bands, are still both touring as well.
-
and once again, compared to the rest of that list, Queen is still touring now. I don't know if Adam Lambert brings any new fans to Queen, but they are playing arenas here and have been for a few years now consistently. That's going to help make new fans in ways that LZ, PF, and the Beatles cannot.
Assuming this is true, why is that an issue? The Rolling Stones and U2, two other second tier bands, are still both touring as well.
Nothing is an issue. I didn't compare to those bands. And there is nothing to assume, they have and are continuing to tour in arenas in the US. (two nights at MSG locally for me this summer). If the assumption is that touring brings in new fans, I think that's safe to say when you can continue doing it especially without the famous singer.
-
Controversial opinion (for the other thread but relevant), Another One Bites the Dust is a dumb song, and not even that cool of a bass line.
Agreed. I hate that song. And Fat Bottomed Girls, while we are at it.
-
*I use Mrs. Cool Chris as the barometer for this. She knows next to nothing about music from any genre or any era. So if she recognizes a song, and can name it and the artist, I consider that song 'widely known (at least in the rock genre)."
Fool proof! :lol
-
I agree too that the alternate history where Freddie would have lived would have been quite different for Queen.
Let's face it, death makes you immortal and a legend, and prevents you from doing fuckups. What would have happened to Nirvana had Kurt lived? probably they'd have released albums that didn't live up to the classics, they would have split up, Dave Ghrol would have founded Foo Fighters anyway and Kurt, dunno, maybe he'd have a lackluster solo carrer and by now he would be a fat, balding has-been. We'll never know, 'cause Kurt is forever young and tied to the three classic Nirvana albums.
Same with Freddie - I love Queen but come on, the '80s output was not on par with the '70s and it was more stripped down and commercial. They probably would have continued to have acceptable / mostly good album with the occasional great song, like The Miracle was (and if Freddie lives, take away one of their best songs off Innuendo, The Show Must Go On)... depending on the quality of their albums, by now they could have been on the same level of Bruce Springsteen and U2, just "another" big act with their following and the occasional new album no one but the diehards care about and the summer tour when they fill stadiums and that's it.
Freddie's death made him a legend and made Brian May and Roger Taylor the "survivors" in a sense, just like Paul McCartney is a walking musical god and the only living proof (sorry Ringo, I know you're still out there) that once there were the Beatles.
-
The Beatles never happened. It was a government illuminati conspiracy. Because reasons.
-
In an age when music listening shifts towards streaming with focus on playlists and individual songs over "the album experience" as well as songs appearing in media having more of an impact, I think Queen has definitely climbed. While I think a lot of the bands listed and brought up in this thread (whether its Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin or Rolling Stones) deserve their status for a reason and are huge bands, I think Queen has an appeal because of their variety and because their songs are so prominent in movies, games or tv-shows. The new movie definitely helped too.
Unless you're a serious music listener who still cares about the album as an artform I think a band like Pink Floyd will definitely get more niche with time. Queen however lives on and whether it's "We are the champions", "we will rock you" or "bohemian rhapsody", they have made a lot of songs that instantly recognized and played all across the world. I feel like Bohemian Rhapsody is so well known at this point you could use the phrase "Is this the real life?" almost anywhere and someone will fill in "is this just fantasy?".
So yeah I think Queen would be a good bet for #2 behind The Beatles, and I don't even know what a serious contender for #3 would be. A lot of these bands are still relevant but mostly because of fans who have known about them for a long time. As society shifts and young people absorb music differently I think some of these giant bands will drop out of the mainstream consciousness and become legendary cult bands.
-
Beatles
Stones
Zep
Who
Floyd
Queen
Eagles
AC/DC
Metallica
Yeah
Yep, there are too many variables, but I would put U2 on that list now as well. They were still packing stadiums earlier this decade over the course of five (!!) legs, which not many other bands can do.
Completely agreed.
I would put Bee Gees in that list as well.
-
What I find completely astounding is that Don't Stop Me Now hasn't even gotten as much as a mention in this thread. It absolutely belongs in all the lists of 'hit songs' people have posted over these past two pages.
I think this is exactly right. As someone under 25, from my experience of what my peers are aware of and interested in, I don't think any of those other bands even comes close to Queen.
In terms of American under-25s, in my experience:
For Zep, it's Stairway and that's it.
For the Stones, probably a handful of songs. Sympathy for the Devil and Satisfaction are the only ones I'd be confident in, though.
For The Who, maybe Baba O'Reilly, but even that is pushing it.
For Floyd, Comfortably Numb, Money, and maybe Time or Us and Them.
Queen definitely has Bohemian Rhapsody, which I would say is the single most popular rock song among Americans my age. They definitely have We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions. They very likely have Under Pressure, Somebody to Love, Another One Bites the Dust and Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
In fact, I would go one step further and say that Queen is not that far away from the Beatles for the top spot among people in my demographic. They aren't quite there, but they are a very strong challenger. A way, way stronger one than anyone else.
Then to respond to this post: I'm a high school teacher. Every single student knows or has heard of The Beatles. Everyone has heard of Queen and knows at least a couple of songs (the film definitely helped).
Barely anyone (if at all) has even heard of Led Zeppelin and/or Pink Floyd.
Granted, this is a 12-18 demographic, but still. The above 40's in this thread (and I am sorry for dumping you all in the same group) and vastly underestimating Queen and vastly overestimating other classic rock band.
Again, I'm in Europe. Things can be different elsewhere.
-
I remember for the lulz asking some questions about the big names of hard rock to a coworker who's totally not into this kind of music...
I asked him "tell me a Led Zeppelin song" and he said Stairway to Heaven.
I asked him "tell me a Deep Purple song" and he couldn't remember the name but he hummed the guitar riff of Smoke on the Water.
I asked him "tell me a Black Sabbath song" and he couldn't say any.
-
I agree too that the alternate history where Freddie would have lived would have been quite different for Queen.
Let's face it, death makes you immortal and a legend, and prevents you from doing fuckups. What would have happened to Nirvana had Kurt lived? probably they'd have released albums that didn't live up to the classics, they would have split up, Dave Ghrol would have founded Foo Fighters anyway and Kurt, dunno, maybe he'd have a lackluster solo carrer and by now he would be a fat, balding has-been. We'll never know, 'cause Kurt is forever young and tied to the three classic Nirvana albums.
Same with Freddie - I love Queen but come on, the '80s output was not on par with the '70s and it was more stripped down and commercial. They probably would have continued to have acceptable / mostly good album with the occasional great song, like The Miracle was (and if Freddie lives, take away one of their best songs off Innuendo, The Show Must Go On)... depending on the quality of their albums, by now they could have been on the same level of Bruce Springsteen and U2, just "another" big act with their following and the occasional new album no one but the diehards care about and the summer tour when they fill stadiums and that's it.
Freddie's death made him a legend and made Brian May and Roger Taylor the "survivors" in a sense, just like Paul McCartney is a walking musical god and the only living proof (sorry Ringo, I know you're still out there) that once there were the Beatles.
All true, but things happen how they happen. :tup :tup
And it is worth pointing out that while I would agree that Queen's output in the 80's wasn't as strong as it was in the 70's, they got more popular nearly everywhere else but here in the States.
Then to respond to this post: I'm a high school teacher. Every single student knows or has heard of The Beatles. Everyone has heard of Queen and knows at least a couple of songs (the film definitely helped).
Barely anyone (if at all) has even heard of Led Zeppelin and/or Pink Floyd.
Granted, this is a 12-18 demographic, but still. The above 40's in this thread (and I am sorry for dumping you all in the same group) and vastly underestimating Queen and vastly overestimating other classic rock band.
Again, I'm in Europe. Things can be different elsewhere.
Good points. I have a nephew who will be 14 in a month and a niece who is 12 and both know who Queen is and can name songs by them (not just Bohemian Rhapsody). Meanwhile, they have no idea who Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones or The Who are. Or Rush, for that matter. :(
-
I won't say the Monkees are brilliant, they just had catchy tunes (didn't they also have people write those catchy songs for them?). I really don't know why the Beatles, one of my parents favorite band playing often as a kid, just never stuck with me. I can't explain it other than it's just not my cup of tea.
There's a thread on this somewhere here.
I still go back to the piece on the bonus disk of Billy Joel's Greatest Hits box set, where he talks about seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan for the first time. We were not much more than two months out from that generations 9/11 (theirs was 11/22) and this was the sort of breath of fresh air that people were yearning for. You add up the number of artists/musicians that saw that performance and decided they wanted to make music for a living, then add up all the artists/musicians that saw ANYONE ELSE and decided they wanted to make music for a living and you probably have six in one hand, half dozen in the other.
Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Jimi Hendrix and the Stones were all waiting with baited breath to see what the lads would come out with next. I don't think that was the case with the next Monkees album, no matter how good it might have been (I'm not a die hard, but more than a casual, fan of the Monkees). The Monkees don't have even one epic, show-closer, event-stopper anthem, and yet the Beatles have at least three, maybe more (Top o' the head: A Day In The Life, Let It Be, Hey Jude). They have the most covered song in rock history - Yesterday, written and performed IN HOUSE by Sir Paul - and they haveHALF of the top ten most covered songs ever in this list (though it's obviously an incomplete list): http://mentalfloss.com/article/20811/most-covered-songs-in-music-history.
I'm not denying their influence, but the quality by popularity argument never holds up. The Monkees, regardless of who wrote the songs, produced more enjoyable, catchier tunes to me. Let it Be and Hey Jude are incredibly boring. I like the message of Imagine (I know it's a solo tune) but the song itself does nothing for me. I'm almost 34, but I like plenty of older tunes, so the "you had to be there" argument is weak too. I'm sure that was coming, so I'm addressing it now.
Honest question, though: why does it seem so hard to separate "what you like" from a more, if not "objective", then at least "external", standard? I almost always say "The Beatles" when asked what my favorite band is, but the reality is, I rarely get goosebumps on my arm from listening to them, like I do (and did just yesterday) from hearing the "In The Cage Medley" from 3SL. Bob Dylan is largely unlistenable to me - one or two exceptions - but I wouldn't be caught dead trying to argue "why is he even famous?" Okay, so I missed the boat, that's on me, not him.
I would actually argue that the fact that you DON'T get it is sort of testament to their greatness. Certainly there are millions that are touched by them - I've told this before, but I stood on the floor at McCartney and after "Yesterday", I realized I was crying like a baby, and I looked around out of embarrassment, and saw easily five other people in the same state, and we all sort of looked down at our shoes at once - but there are many, many millions more that are touched by bands that owe a significant amount to them and how they broke new ground in almost every way.
And I resisted this, because I don't want to appear like I'm belittling what you like, but let's be honest: there's no Monkees without the Beatles. Even down to the misspelled animal name (beetle, monkey), the Monkees are heavily patterned off the Beatles. Smart, jokey, leader of the group? John and Mike. Cute-sy, heartthrob balladeer? Paul and Davy. Lunatic jokester not taken too seriously? Peter and Ringo. Oddball iconoclast? Mickey and George. If I recall correctly, there were numerous instances of Beatles references in their show; wasn't there one where Mike was throwing darts at a picture of Ringo? Didn't they almost every episode have the montage that was reminiscent of the chase scene in A Hard Day's Night? And what was Mickey's first self-penned song? "Randy Scouse Git", which, for those in the know, translates into "Horny Liverpudlian ass/jerk/clown/douche".
-
Bear in mind, too, that Panic! At The Disco - who played the 20,000 seat (including lawn) amphitheater here in CT not long ago with Fall Out Boy - did a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody for the "Suicide Squad" soundtrack. That's the DC superhero movie with Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie melting the screen as Harley Quinn, and Jared Leto purposefully off-putting as The Joker.
My daughter is a pretty big Queen fan, but that was her introduction, not the band itself.
-
Bear in mind, too, that Panic! At The Disco - who played the 20,000 seat (including lawn) amphitheater here in CT not long ago with Fall Out Boy - did a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody for the "Suicide Squad" soundtrack. That's the DC superhero movie with Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie melting the screen as Harley Quinn, and Jared Leto purposefully off-putting as The Joker.
My daughter is a pretty big Queen fan, but that was her introduction, not the band itself.
I may be a crotchety old man, but I know what the Suicide Squad is.
You've said the same thing before in your last post. I used the Monkees as an example of a band around the same time as the Beatles who I get more enjoyment out of. I haven't listened to The Monkees in many years, but they do have memorable songs.
There's no missing of any boats. People discover bands all the time that have been around for 30 years and fall in love. I think Bob Dylan sounds ridiculous too, and I would have thought so had I lived during his start. You either like something or you don't. I said this last time too, but I'll say it again: it's not my fault if I don't like a certain band while millions of others do.
-
These days Queen is the most streamed classic rock band on Spotify by far (34,448,781 MONTHLY LISTENERS).
Besides mentioned huge Queen songs, I would add Don't Stop Me Now (428 million views on Youtube) and Somebody to Love.
Although they are one of the most significant classic rock bands, I think The Who's popularity today is very overstated. Today they are not among the biggest rock bands at all. They could be very popular with baby-boomers, but millennials barely pay attention to them. I could argue that Black Sabbath, U2, AC/DC and Guns N Roses are much more popular rock bands than The Who today. Also here in Europe, Deep Purple has always been far bigger than The Who.
Even in the US, they haven't sold a huge amount of records. Their highest certified album by RIAA is Who's Next and it went only 3 Platinum.
And I'm saying this as The Who fan.
-
I agree, I don't think The Who are up there with the rest, maybe they were before but you hardly ever hear much talk from anyone under 35 about them. Their music does sound a bit dated to me as well (I've also never really been able to get into them so maybe thats why I feel this way), where as the other bands mentioned still sound legit today.
-
Bear in mind, too, that Panic! At The Disco - who played the 20,000 seat (including lawn) amphitheater here in CT not long ago with Fall Out Boy - did a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody for the "Suicide Squad" soundtrack. That's the DC superhero movie with Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie melting the screen as Harley Quinn, and Jared Leto purposefully off-putting as The Joker.
My daughter is a pretty big Queen fan, but that was her introduction, not the band itself.
I may be a crotchety old man, but I know what the Suicide Squad is.
You've said the same thing before in your last post. I used the Monkees as an example of a band around the same time as the Beatles who I get more enjoyment out of. I haven't listened to The Monkees in many years, but they do have memorable songs.
There's no missing of any boats. People discover bands all the time that have been around for 30 years and fall in love. I think Bob Dylan sounds ridiculous too, and I would have thought so had I lived during his start. You either like something or you don't. I said this last time too, but I'll say it again: it's not my fault if I don't like a certain band while millions of others do.
Haha, I just wanted an opportunity to note how hot Margot Robbie was. :)
Look, I must be misunderstanding you, and for that I'm sorry. I don't mean to imply you're missing a boat in not liking the Beatles. I've got no dog in that hunt. I just keep getting an underlying implication that because YOU don't like them then their popularity is suspect at best. That's all I'm commenting on. If that's not there, then so be it, I'm wrong. I just think someone can not like something but also understand why others could (thus the Bob Dylan reference).
Surely if you love Pleasant Valley Sunday or Last Train To Clarksville (two GREAT songs) then surely you can understand why someone - maybe not you, but someone - would like Paperback Writer or She Said, She Said.
-
I agree, I don't think The Who are up there with the rest, maybe they were before but you hardly ever hear much talk from anyone under 35 about them. Their music does sound a bit dated to me as well (I've also never really been able to get into them so maybe thats why I feel this way), where as the other bands mentioned still sound legit today.
I wrote about this before not long ago. Never been a huge Who fan beyond the hits. And I won an auction on eBay and got like 12 Who disks for maybe $20, including all their studio albums. Other than Tommy, Quadrophenia and Who's Next, it was new to me and I was blown away how influential they were. There were easily 15 moments where I was like "AH! THAT'S where Pearl Jam got that!" or "Oh! That's where that bit from Kiss came from!" Only time that has ever happened with me is with Hendrix.
But I agree, that influence and legacy is fading, slowly. I wonder if that's because Townsend and Daltrey have not been as... graceful in their aging as, say, May and Taylor? May/Taylor are doing high profile gigs with Adam Lambert, Jesse J (that was AMAZING, by the way) and others and Townsend is, well, playing the reclusive old man.
-
It just feels like younger people are listening to Queen more than just about any other rock band routinely thrown in that next tier after the Beatles.
Anecdotally, my 15yo daughter started getting into Queen because she's a huge Panic at the Disco fan. That had already started before the BhoRap movie was released. She's not the only one of her friends for whom this is true. Interestingly, while flipping channels, I came across a Jon Anderson/Trevor Rabin/Rick Wakeman show on AXS TV last night. They were playing "Perpetual Change," so, as I often do, I challenged her to identify the time signatures. Although she didn't fare too well, she commented with some measure of surprise, "I don't hate this!" So there is hope in the world!
In terms of my other kid (almost 17yo son whose primary musical interests are rap) and other bands, my son owns a Zeppelin shirt. Not sure how extensive his knowledge of the band's music is. Both kids know of the bands I like (Rush, Yes, DT, etc.) and have varying degrees of knowledge about their music. Son is very familiar with Moving Pictures but probably not much other Rush. He also regards ACOS as a "classic" and had "Aces High" as his walk-up song one year when he played baseball. I'm fairly sure both kids regard the Beatles as a bit of a joke band (possibly because some of their better known songs sound a bit like "novelty" songs and probably also because the band ceased to exist more than 30 years before either was born). I doubt either has any real knowledge about the Stones, Floyd or the Who (I dislike the Stones and Floyd and like the Who). They both know a little Sabbath (as a result of Guitar Hero and Rock Band). My guess is that, because of me, my kids have somewhat more expanded knowledge of "classic rock" than a lot of their peers.
-
I agree, I don't think The Who are up there with the rest, maybe they were before but you hardly ever hear much talk from anyone under 35 about them. Their music does sound a bit dated to me as well (I've also never really been able to get into them so maybe thats why I feel this way), where as the other bands mentioned still sound legit today.
I wrote about this before not long ago. Never been a huge Who fan beyond the hits. And I won an auction on eBay and got like 12 Who disks for maybe $20, including all their studio albums. Other than Tommy, Quadrophenia and Who's Next, it was new to me and I was blown away how influential they were. There were easily 15 moments where I was like "AH! THAT'S where Pearl Jam got that!" or "Oh! That's where that bit from Kiss came from!" Only time that has ever happened with me is with Hendrix.
But I agree, that influence and legacy is fading, slowly. I wonder if that's because Townsend and Daltrey have not been as... graceful in their aging as, say, May and Taylor? May/Taylor are doing high profile gigs with Adam Lambert, Jesse J (that was AMAZING, by the way) and others and Townsend is, well, playing the reclusive old man.
This is what I've been saying again and again. I grew up with The Who and they were the first band who played this kind of music. The chord changes of Pete Townshend were unheard of before The Who existed. But I never regarded them as widely popular. Yes, they were popular in the inner musician circles and amongst people who got much more into music than casual listening. The Who /Hendrix /Cream broke new grounds and became an inspiration for younger bands during the next many decades.
I realize many here love what Queen did, but comparing them with the Who /Hendrix /Cream class is totally wrong IMO. It's like the apples /oranges thing. I would rather compare them with the Oasis kind of music, or maybe even ABBA.
-
I made CDs of the 15 or 20 songs that I thought my kid should know of the Beatles, Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and Elton John. I also did the setlists of Def Leppard and Kiss before we saw them together. I'll probably do Queen at some point, and maybe Billy Joel, and the Stones. She's a playlist girl and I usually let her pick the music when we drive together. I'm always quietly surprised when one of those songs come on.
-
This is what I've been saying again and again. I grew up with The Who and they were the first band who played this kind of music. The chord changes of Pete Townshend were unheard of before The Who existed. But I never regarded them as widely popular. Yes, they were popular in the inner musician circles and amongst people who got much more into music than casual listening. The Who /Hendrix /Cream broke new grounds and became an inspiration for younger bands during the next many decades.
I realize many here love what Queen did, but comparing them with the Who /Hendrix /Cream class is totally wrong IMO. It's like the apples /oranges thing. I would rather compare them with the Oasis kind of music, or maybe even ABBA.
I get most of that (except the last comment, which is bizarre), but we are talking popularity here, not influence.
-
I wonder if that's because Townsend and Daltrey have not been as... graceful in their aging as, say, May and Taylor? May/Taylor are doing high profile gigs with Adam Lambert, Jesse J (that was AMAZING, by the way) and others and Townsend is, well, playing the reclusive old man.
What? They are aging about as well as any rockers from that era. No drugs, no controversy, no drama. Played the SB halftime show (ok, that shouldn't be a barometer for success), they had (by what I've read) a well-received and attended tour a couple years ago, and are at on the road again, with talk of a new(!) album in the works.
-
As I sit in a bar in Amsterdam that just played Let It Be followed by Hey Jude after Ariana Grande and other modern pop music :lol
And wait as I typed this they cut the music on hey jude and played somecrappy dance music :lol
-
I wonder if that's because Townsend and Daltrey have not been as... graceful in their aging as, say, May and Taylor? May/Taylor are doing high profile gigs with Adam Lambert, Jesse J (that was AMAZING, by the way) and others and Townsend is, well, playing the reclusive old man.
What? They are aging about as well as any rockers from that era. No drugs, no controversy, no drama. Played the SB halftime show (ok, that shouldn't be a barometer for success), they had (by what I've read) a well-received and attended tour a couple years ago, and are at on the road again, with talk of a new(!) album in the works.
That's fair; I was more asking than stating.
-
Can’t speak for the US but over here in the UK, there is no comparison between Led Zeppelin and Queen. Queen have countless hits and iconic songs and Zeppelin have Stairway and plenty of people won’t have even heard of that.
Killer Queen, We Will Rock You, Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Gaga, Under Pressure, I Want To Break Free, A Kind Of Magic, Don’t Stop Me Now, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, You’re My Best Friend to name just a few are all huge songs over here. I would definitely put them second only to The Beatles in terms of popularity.
-
Can’t speak for the US but over here in the UK, there is no comparison between Led Zeppelin and Queen. Queen have countless hits and iconic songs and Zeppelin have Stairway and plenty of people won’t have even heard of that.
Killer Queen, We Will Rock You, Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Gaga, Under Pressure, I Want To Break Free, A Kind Of Magic, Don’t Stop Me Now, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, You’re My Best Friend to name just a few are all huge songs over here. I would definitely put them second only to The Beatles in terms of popularity.
:tup :tup
-
Chalk this up as another evidence of Queen's influence:
https://youtu.be/tgbNymZ7vqY
-
Can’t speak for the US but over here in the UK, there is no comparison between Led Zeppelin and Queen. Queen have countless hits and iconic songs and Zeppelin have Stairway and plenty of people won’t have even heard of that.
Killer Queen, We Will Rock You, Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Gaga, Under Pressure, I Want To Break Free, A Kind Of Magic, Don’t Stop Me Now, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, You’re My Best Friend to name just a few are all huge songs over here. I would definitely put them second only to The Beatles in terms of popularity.
That's true when it comes to hit singles, but when it comes to studio albums it's a different thing.
In Britain the first 6 Led Zeppelin studio albums outsold 70's Queen studio albums by far.
BPI source: Led Zeppelin I - 2XPlatinum, LZ II - 4XPlatinum, LZ III - Platinum, ZOSO - 6XPlatinum, Houses of the Holy - Platinum, Physical Graffiti - 2XPlatinum; Queen I - Gold, Queen II - Gold, Sheer Heart Attack - Platinum, A Night at the Opera - Platinum, A Day at the Races - Gold, News of the World - Gold, Jazz - Gold
-
That may be true but those albums have not stood the test of time in that nobody knows any of the songs off them. People know Queen songs whether or not they are a fan or own an album. My Mum owns zero Queen albums but knows and could sing along to a bunch of their songs, I guarantee she does not know one Led Zeppelin song.
-
I still don't understand how The Beatles are so popular. Not a single song has ever caught my ear. The Monkees have better songs. Queen have more enjoyable songs and I really don't like them that much either.
This is a world mystery for me. Because I even think their music sucks and can't figure it out how they influence the music industry. I guess I have no taste at all.
As for the title question and if we speak about the popularity assuming number is the Beatles... I think saying Queen is the 2nd safe bet, maybe because of the losing tradegy of Freddie Mercury so early but I can say Metallica is quite up to second or even.
-
That may be true but those albums have not stood the test of time in that nobody knows any of the songs off them. People know Queen songs whether or not they are a fan or own an album. My Mum owns zero Queen albums but knows and could sing along to a bunch of their songs, I guarantee she does not know one Led Zeppelin song.
Exactly. Where albums charted decades ago is meaningless in the context of the discussion we are having. What's next, someone argues that Don't Stop Believin' can't be considered an 80's classic because it only went to number 8 on Casey Kasem's top 40? :P
-
As for the title question and if we speak about the popularity assuming number is the Beatles... I think saying Queen is the 2nd safe bet, maybe because of the losing tradegy of Freddie Mercury so early but I can say Metallica is quite up to second or even.
Hmmmm, that is interesting to think about. Metallica probably is up there now, which is amazing considering how metal they are. They are like U2 and The Rolling Stones in that they could announce a stadium tour tomorrow with no new album coming and still pack all or most of them.
-
At the moment, at least here in The Netherlands, Queen is by far the no. 1 classic band. Because of the movie, lots of young folks are listening to their music again.
-
speaking of the movie, there may be another...
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/queen-music-video-director-says-bohemian-rhapsody-sequel-is-being-discussed/?fbclid=IwAR109NV_mJKVg9MGbECxf3BvXQKR-1at8p1ScVPRw1M4EFnptUYPcbBAeBo (http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/queen-music-video-director-says-bohemian-rhapsody-sequel-is-being-discussed/?fbclid=IwAR109NV_mJKVg9MGbECxf3BvXQKR-1at8p1ScVPRw1M4EFnptUYPcbBAeBo)
that article also says this which also just shows how hot Queen is at the moment and how they are capitalizing
At the moment, there are two other QUEEN-related films on the way: "Freddie Mercury: In His Own Words", a collection of Dolezal's interviews with the singer; and "The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story", which will air in April on ABC. Dolezal is also working on a book titled "My Friend, Freddie".
-
Queen are getting more popular but also a lot of bands people assumed would endure forever (like Zep) maybe aren't enduring that much past the lifespan of their original listenership the way people thought they would. Bands like the Beatles and Queen that made common human experiences the core of their music and had a timeless sound will always resonate with future generations more than a band that made albums about weird runes and such.
-
They are making a movie about the Adam Lambert era of Queen? :lol
-
They are making a movie about the Adam Lambert era of Queen? :lol
I only see the title and that it's on ABC but comes off more as a documentary than a movie. I'm guessing if they do another movie that it will be about after Live Aid and Freddies death. Just my guess though.
-
Well documentaries are still movies. I can see an intriguing story spanning post-Live Aid, his death, the tribute concert, and how the other guys moved on. But let's not tap this well too dry folks.
No one is clamoring for the ACDC w/ Axl Rose documentary.
-
How are they going to ret-con the debacle that was the whole "I'm dying of AIDS so I'm going to use the world's biggest audience in 1985 to go out with a bang" with the "we put out three - maybe four - great albums and a major world tour (the "Kind Of Magic" tour) and ended on a critical and commercial success with "Innuendo"" chronology?
-
Well documentaries are still movies. I can see an intriguing story spanning post-Live Aid, his death, the tribute concert, and how the other guys moved on. But let's not tap this well too dry folks.
No one is clamoring for the ACDC w/ Axl Rose documentary.
I'm still waiting on the Van Halen documentary that covers the Gary Cherone years.
-
:lol
-
How are they going to ret-con the debacle that was the whole "I'm dying of AIDS so I'm going to use the world's biggest audience in 1985 to go out with a bang" with the "we put out three - maybe four - great albums and a major world tour (the "Kind Of Magic" tour) and ended on a critical and commercial success with "Innuendo"" chronology?
With reality? Try "we put out three - maybe four - great rock albums, and then we continued to put out great, chart topping, platinum selling albums one-after-another while purists, snobs, and critics picked their noses and pretended we were the ones doing something wrong."
-
I think what made Queen special in comparison to other bands is a) their vast diversity of songs, from stadium rock to operatic indulgence to pop, and b) they never suffered from the "our heyday was album 2 and 3, now we're just putting out meh albums to support our tours". Essentially every album of theirs featured a hit (in order: Keep Yourself Alive, Father to Son, Killer Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, Somebody to Love, WWRY/WATC, Fat Bottomed Girls, Another One Bites The Dust, Under Pressure, Radio Gaga/IWTBF, A Kind of Magic/WWTLF, I Want It All, Innuendo). They managed to stay musically relevant for almost 20 years, very few bands manage that.
-
I think there's also something to be said for that fact that their music and lyrics were always emotionally relatable and came from a place of common humanity, even at their most grandiose and presumptuous. Even during their "rock" phase, they were, fundamentally, a pop band. The kinds of emotional and lyrical hooks have broad appeal across generations. No offense to Led Zeppelin, but their music (with little exception) is about as emotionally relatable as watching paint dry. Queen in many ways were in touch with an emotional and sentimental side that many other 70s classic rock bands only every delivered under several layers of posturing. Queen had a ton of attitude too but it was always secondary to writing highly relatable songs that people would connect with.
-
Speaking of Queen, I stumbled upon this Japanese commercial. If only all school assembles can have their speakers sing We Will Rock You and get the kids pumped up like this commercial does.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deWkfCrq0l4
-
How are they going to ret-con the debacle that was the whole "I'm dying of AIDS so I'm going to use the world's biggest audience in 1985 to go out with a bang" with the "we put out three - maybe four - great albums and a major world tour (the "Kind Of Magic" tour) and ended on a critical and commercial success with "Innuendo"" chronology?
I didn’t read that into it to be honest. The movie made out that this was Queen’s big comeback, not that it was his last show. They could still carry on with showing them doing the remaining albums and not touring them (apart from AKOMM) as Freddie was not well but it would be a fairly depressing movie. Can’t see anyone being interested in anything post Freddie. Think it’s better left alone.
-
How are they going to ret-con the debacle that was the whole "I'm dying of AIDS so I'm going to use the world's biggest audience in 1985 to go out with a bang" with the "we put out three - maybe four - great albums and a major world tour (the "Kind Of Magic" tour) and ended on a critical and commercial success with "Innuendo"" chronology?
I didn’t read that into it to be honest. The movie made out that this was Queen’s big comeback, not that it was his last show. They could still carry on with showing them doing the remaining albums and not touring them (apart from AKOMM) as Freddie was not well but it would be a fairly depressing movie. Can’t see anyone being interested in anything post Freddie. Think it’s better left alone.
Sasha Baron Cohen was on Stern a couple years ago, and he was initially interested in playing Freddie, and decided to step away. One of his beefs was with Brian and Roger, who were hoping to focus on how Queen - the band - persevered after Freddie's death. Sasha was like, "who gives a fuck about that?". Not fair, but not far off, either.
-
Yeah, I think he said that Freddie was going to die midway through the movie and the 2nd half of the film was about how the band has carried on. Brian and Roger have both said that this was bullshit. Depends who you believe I suppose but I agree that no one really cares too much about Queen without Freddie even if they do still sell a shitload of tickets to hear the old songs.
I will admit to going to see them with Paul Rogers but that’s only because they played on my doorstep and I never got to see them with Freddie (I was 10 years old when they finished touring). As it happens I really enjoyed them and they weaved Freddie into the show in a nice way. I thought I wouldn’t be all that excited to see them play a bunch of their hits that I’d heard a million times but, live, those songs still sounded great. I can still remember when the riff to Tie Your Mother Down kicked in and I was, like, I forgot how awesome these songs are!
-
I met someone once who claimed Queen ripped off Sweet, and having not heard Sweet at the time, but later doing so, I can kind of follow his line of thinking.
-
Yeah, I think he said that Freddie was going to die midway through the movie and the 2nd half of the film was about how the band has carried on. Brian and Roger have both said that this was bullshit. Depends who you believe I suppose but I agree that no one really cares too much about Queen without Freddie even if they do still sell a shitload of tickets to hear the old songs.
I will admit to going to see them with Paul Rogers but that’s only because they played on my doorstep and I never got to see them with Freddie (I was 10 years old when they finished touring). As it happens I really enjoyed them and they weaved Freddie into the show in a nice way. I thought I wouldn’t be all that excited to see them play a bunch of their hits that I’d heard a million times but, live, those songs still sounded great. I can still remember when the riff to Tie Your Mother Down kicked in and I was, like, I forgot how awesome these songs are!
I regret not seeing that, but because of Paul Rodgers. He's my second favorite singer (behind Freddie) and I can listen to him sing the Mueller report.
-
I met someone once who claimed Queen ripped off Sweet, and having not heard Sweet at the time, but later doing so, I can kind of follow his line of thinking.
That sounds like a rather sour take on it. At what point does "influenced by" become "ripped off"?
Nobody's truly original, we're all uniquely derivative. The real trick is to be derivative of sources that combine in a fashion that seems to be truly original on the surface.
-
I just want to say that I'm 32 and I've been a Queen fan probably my whole life. I have very early memories of their music. I've felt that their Live Aid performance is the greatest 25 mins in Rock N Roll since I was able to have an opinion on such matters. I'm thankful that the movie has brought it to the attention of so many people that didn't know it, the youtube views prove that. I can't watch it without getting chills and maybe a little tear in my eye. That is all.
-
Until the Elton John biopic gets released (assuming it gets the same critical and fan reception) and pushes his music to the top of the charts...
-
Until the Elton John biopic gets released (assuming it gets the same critical and fan reception) and pushes his music to the top of the charts...
Elton John is not a band. ;)
I just want to say that I'm 32 and I've been a Queen fan probably my whole life. I have very early memories of their music. I've felt that their Live Aid performance is the greatest 25 mins in Rock N Roll since I was able to have an opinion on such matters. I'm thankful that the movie has brought it to the attention of so many people that didn't know it, the youtube views prove that. I can't watch it without getting chills and maybe a little tear in my eye. That is all.
:tup :tup
-
Not a huge fan of Elton John but, similar to Queen and The Beatles, he also has a hell of a lot of hugely popular songs we all know and could sing along to.
-
Until the Elton John biopic gets released (assuming it gets the same critical and fan reception) and pushes his music to the top of the charts...
Pish posh. Wait til The Dirt comes out! Look out Oscars!
-
I didn't care much for the movie. It kind of annoys me that there's all of a sudden this big hype about Queen hitting the album charts again, when there are bands out there that deserve a way more honorable mention in our modern time.
Oh there's this great band called Dream Theater with a really kick-ass new album, anyone ever heard of them??
So typical mainstream America.. 😤
-
I have found it amusing that the media has managed to brainwash so many people into believing they're massive Queen fans. People I've known for decades, who never breathed a single word about Freddie or Queen were posting things on Facebook like "OMG!!! Can't wait for the movie!! I LOVE QUEEN!!!" before the movie came out.
So silly.
-
The "problem" with Queen's popularity and crossover appeal to basically any kind of genre is that they have so many famous songs, that someone knowing only the Greatest Hits albums would feel legitimated in considering himself a Queen fan.
I mean, someone who is not a metalhead and likes Nothing Else Matters wouldn't call himself a Metallica fan. I don't consider myself a Lady Gaga fan because I love the rock cover and the piano version of Bad Romance. But someone who knows not only Bohemian Rhapsody but also the vast majority of the songs of the first Greatest Hits (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Hits_(Queen_album)) would call him or herself a fan, and the setlists of their current shows, give or take, would further sustain that claim. Then you talk to them of stuff like The Prophet's Song, Death on Two Legs, Ogre Battle, Flick of the Wrist, Keep Yourself Alive, The March of the Black Queen, Great King Rat and You Take My Breath Away (just to name some fantastic songs) and you get blank stares.
-
Not sure why that’s a problem. I’m not really into this gatekeeping thing where you’re not allowed to be a fan of something unless you know every single thing about it. People can like Queen without having to own every album. I actually think they are a better singles band than album band. I find a lot of their albums quite patchy but I suppose that could also be down the eclectic nature of their music meaning that I’m not going to enjoy everything they do. I actually found their later albums such as Innuendo and The Miracle more consistent than some of their more classic albums.
-
But of course everyone is allowed to call themselves a Queen fan, or a fan of any other band, without owning every single album. I was just pointing out how, while it's fairly common that the two opposites are present - hardcore fans of bands and casual listeners of a single song, see my Nothing Else Matters example - , with Queen the situation is more complex because they have so many famous songs that everyone knows, that it's easier to find people who are fans of the band (even if they only own the Greatest Hits), while someone would never say "Well, I'm not a Metallica fan, I just like Nothing Else Matters and I heard once or twice Enter Sandman and I guess it's not bad".
-
while someone would never say "Well, I'm not a Metallica fan, I just like Nothing Else Matters and I heard once or twice Enter Sandman and I guess it's not bad".
You think no one would ever say that? You’ve obviously never met my wife.
-
I phrased it poorly. EVERYONE would say that, of course. I meant that no one would call himself a Metallica fan just because they literally know two songs.
-
But this is music today, not just "Queen". I love my kid, and for an 18-year-old girl in 2019, she's remarkably open-minded and likes what she likes. Having said that, she'd tell you that she "likes" Queen, and she doesn't even own Greatest Hits. I'd wager that she has three, four songs TOPS on her "playlist". That whole scene in the movie where Freddie talks about the "album" as an "opera" is an anachronism.
Plus, you can tell there is some traction to this idea of "Queen" being hot, because - and I've noted this before - you hear Queen in every third ad on television.
And as much as I love Queen (legit; Queen II is a top ten album for me, and I'm very very partial to A Kind Of Magic, to the point I have most of the b-sides with the sound scapes from the movie) this is going to fade. I don't know if it will be Sir Elton that does it, or some one else dies, whatever, but it WILL fade. This is not like the Beatles, who are still No. 1 49 years after the release of their last contemporaneous new material.
-
There can be only one.
-
I phrased it poorly. EVERYONE would say that, of course. I meant that no one would call himself a Metallica fan just because they literally know two songs.
True. My wife definitely wouldn’t call herself a Metallica fan! :lol
-
Not sure why that’s a problem. I’m not really into this gatekeeping thing where you’re not allowed to be a fan of something unless you know every single thing about it. People can like Queen without having to own every album. I actually think they are a better singles band than album band. I find a lot of their albums quite patchy but I suppose that could also be down the eclectic nature of their music meaning that I’m not going to enjoy everything they do. I actually found their later albums such as Innuendo and The Miracle more consistent than some of their more classic albums.
I am totally on board with this. If someone likes one song by the band and calls him or herself a fan, it doesn't bother me.
As for the consistency of their albums, they really only have a few albums I can listen to from start to finish and not want to hit the skip button (Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera and Innuendo), so I am with ya on that. Even though A Day at the Races, News of the World and Jazz all have multiple classics, they all have some crap that I will be okay with never hearing again.
-
The only time I have an issue with those fans who only like 1-2 songs is if those songs sound nothing like the rest of the band's stuff.
So if someone only likes Enter Sandman, cool. It's a rockin metal song. Metallica is a rockin metal band. If they only like....Mama Said...which I really love, then I can't say they're Metallica fans since that's not really what Metallica sounds like. You know?
-
Not sure why that’s a problem. I’m not really into this gatekeeping thing where you’re not allowed to be a fan of something unless you know every single thing about it. People can like Queen without having to own every album. I actually think they are a better singles band than album band. I find a lot of their albums quite patchy but I suppose that could also be down the eclectic nature of their music meaning that I’m not going to enjoy everything they do. I actually found their later albums such as Innuendo and The Miracle more consistent than some of their more classic albums.
I never said anything about an obligation to be a total fanatic. I was referring to people who I never heard utter a peep about the band or Freddie. Their posts after seeing the movie were just as ridiculous. "Musical geniuses!! OMG!! My favorite band ever!!!" Best movie I've ever seen!!", etc.
I think a "HUH?!" reaction is reasonable considering the circumstances.
-
Not sure why that’s a problem. I’m not really into this gatekeeping thing where you’re not allowed to be a fan of something unless you know every single thing about it. People can like Queen without having to own every album. I actually think they are a better singles band than album band. I find a lot of their albums quite patchy but I suppose that could also be down the eclectic nature of their music meaning that I’m not going to enjoy everything they do. I actually found their later albums such as Innuendo and The Miracle more consistent than some of their more classic albums.
I never said anything about an obligation to be a total fanatic. I was referring to people who I never heard utter a peep about the band or Freddie. Their posts after seeing the movie were just as ridiculous. "Musical geniuses!! OMG!! My favorite band ever!!!" Best movie I've ever seen!!", etc.
I think a "HUH?!" reaction is reasonable considering the circumstances.
Why? I had never heard anything by Pink Floyd except Learning to Fly before I saw The Wall (the film), and my reaction to film was very much of the "OMG, this band is amazing" variety. Sometimes it is a film, an album, or even just a song, that can be an eye-opening experience to discovering the greatness of a band.
-
Not sure why that’s a problem. I’m not really into this gatekeeping thing where you’re not allowed to be a fan of something unless you know every single thing about it. People can like Queen without having to own every album. I actually think they are a better singles band than album band. I find a lot of their albums quite patchy but I suppose that could also be down the eclectic nature of their music meaning that I’m not going to enjoy everything they do. I actually found their later albums such as Innuendo and The Miracle more consistent than some of their more classic albums.
I never said anything about an obligation to be a total fanatic. I was referring to people who I never heard utter a peep about the band or Freddie. Their posts after seeing the movie were just as ridiculous. "Musical geniuses!! OMG!! My favorite band ever!!!" Best movie I've ever seen!!", etc.
I think a "HUH?!" reaction is reasonable considering the circumstances.
I think Peter's comment was more a response to what MirrorMask wrote than what you wrote.
-
Interesting discussion here. If someone considers themselves a "fan" based on 1-2 songs I suppose I'd base my judgment on if they a) hadn't heard anything else or b) heard a bunch of other stuff they didn't like.
I love Linda Ronstadt's Long Long Time, but couldn't name another song of hers, know nothing about her, or even what her musical styles are. Thus would never consider myself a "Linda Ronstadt fan."
I have always considered myself a huge Floyd fan, but I think Piper is a terrible album, and everything else up until DSotM is dreck (except for the occasional good song like Echoes of Wots... uh the Deal?) That's about half their discography I actively dislike. How huge of a fan can I be?
-
Not sure why that’s a problem. I’m not really into this gatekeeping thing where you’re not allowed to be a fan of something unless you know every single thing about it. People can like Queen without having to own every album. I actually think they are a better singles band than album band. I find a lot of their albums quite patchy but I suppose that could also be down the eclectic nature of their music meaning that I’m not going to enjoy everything they do. I actually found their later albums such as Innuendo and The Miracle more consistent than some of their more classic albums.
I never said anything about an obligation to be a total fanatic. I was referring to people who I never heard utter a peep about the band or Freddie. Their posts after seeing the movie were just as ridiculous. "Musical geniuses!! OMG!! My favorite band ever!!!" Best movie I've ever seen!!", etc.
I think a "HUH?!" reaction is reasonable considering the circumstances.
Why? I had never heard anything by Pink Floyd except Learning to Fly before I saw The Wall (the film), and my reaction to film was very much of the "OMG, this band is amazing" variety. Sometimes it is a film, an album, or even just a song, that can be an eye-opening experience to discovering the greatness of a band.
I can understand that. Interest in a band or artist has to start somewhere, but did you enthusiastically profess to "love" Pink Floyd before seeing the movie? That's the difference here. These people I knew for decades who hadn't a care in the world for Queen were raving like presidents of their fan club when the movie was announced.
-
With regards to gatekeeping and fandoms in generally, it's really easy for fans of music to profess a "love" for [insert band name here] because they really like one or more hit singles. Really, their language should convey they love [insert band name here]'s hit singles, rather than the band, because saying that to a seasoned or diehard fan gives the impression that a more casual fan knows more or enjoys more of the band's work than they do. It's a matter of choosing how to say you appreciate a band and/or their work. As George Carlin once say, words are all we have.
In my younger days, I can admit being a huge gatekeeper of many fandoms but I've grown to see how bad those types of fans can be, because fans start as casuals, and we develop into hardcore fans over time. Rather than gatekeeping, we should nourish new fans with songs they haven't heard yet, give them new albums, share our (sometimes overly obsessive) love for the bands we love, and get them to JOIN US in our love, because it's always a joy to be able to gush about the things we love with new fans.
Just don't go shoving Queen II into the face of someone who has only heard of Queen because of the movie...ease them in a little!
-Marc.
-
How far does it go though? I am a huge Rush fan. But there are an album or two (I think) I haven't heard, or at least don't remember.
Same with Queen. I really like them. Don't like all their songs, don't know all their songs, but i know a considerable amount.
How many songs until you can call yourself a fan?
-
How far does it go though? I am a huge Rush fan. But there are an album or two (I think) I haven't heard, or at least don't remember.
Same with Queen. I really like them. Don't like all their songs, don't know all their songs, but i know a considerable amount.
How many songs until you can call yourself a fan?
IMO, you can call yourself a fan of anything if you enjoy it, but if you're going to announce yourself as such, be specific, especially to hardcore fans who might be prone to irrational gatekeeping. I don't think there should be any measurement of fandom involved since fans can like what they like, but if you know you're not obsessively knowledgeable, you might want to say as such...maybe. Different fans will react differently to new or casual fans, so it would be a case by case basis, I think.
-Marc.
-
I can understand that. Interest in a band or artist has to start somewhere, but did you enthusiastically profess to "love" Pink Floyd before seeing the movie? That's the difference here. These people I knew for decades who hadn't a care in the world for Queen were raving like presidents of their fan club when the movie was announced.
Okay, outside of us knuckleheads on these forums :P, can we ever really know how much a person likes a band, even if we know them for decades? There are a few people I know who still think I listen to nothing but Rush. :lol :lol
-
Funny how since this thread started, I've had a few instances where they've come up in normal talk and it made me think, damn yea Queen really has become something else. Over the weekend, the movie came up in conversation with my family and next thing you know my older sister and my brother's gf are all dancing to Don't Stop Me Now. I can't recall my sister ever talking about Queen ever before, let alone dancing and singing the words.
-
Don't Stop Me Now was released as a single in England but not in the US if my memory serves me correct.
-
Reached #9 in the UK, and a 'whopping' #86 in the States. Even though I had the album at the time, I was one of the few on this side of the pond that purchased it, just for the sleeve.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Stop_Me_Now
A very good version on 'Live Killers', and most concert bootlegs from the 1979-80 European tour.
-
Funny how since this thread started, I've had a few instances where they've come up in normal talk and it made me think, damn yea Queen really has become something else. Over the weekend, the movie came up in conversation with my family and next thing you know my older sister and my brother's gf are all dancing to Don't Stop Me Now. I can't recall my sister ever talking about Queen ever before, let alone dancing and singing the words.
:tup :tup
-
Reached #9 in the UK, and a 'whopping' #86 in the States. Even though I had the album at the time, I was one of the few on this side of the pond that purchased it, just for the sleeve.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Stop_Me_Now
A very good version on 'Live Killers', and most concert bootlegs from the 1979-80 European tour.
Ah, that makes sense. The fuzzy memory.
-
Update:
Queen is still number 2.
Prove me wrong. :P :P
-
Currently Queen has over 32 million monthly listeners on Spotify. None of classic rock bands is even close.
-
Elton John's biopic is coming out soon, so while you won't get the same level of surge (Reg isn't dead) it's going to temper things for a while. Two years from now, The Beatles will still be number one, and the number two will return to the swirling soup of Zepp/Floyd/Who/Beach Boys/etc. that it usually is.
You are wrong about The Who. They are a band who are very big only with boomers, but in general younger generations are not into them. Queen are way bigger than them in the 21st century in every possible way.
See this thread:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/why-isnt-the-who-as-popular-as-other-classic-rock-bands.773770/ (http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/why-isnt-the-who-as-popular-as-other-classic-rock-bands.773770/)
-
I think Brian is now just cashing in. There's been no new music for at least a decade. ** Did nobody like the Paul Rodgers album ? Maybe he doesn't want to make another album...
But it seems that he's milking the brand name for all he can now.
** - 2008.
-
I have the general impression that the vast majority of Queen fans, or better, people who list Queen as one of their favorite bands (and possibly not the very favorite), are more a "greatest hits" kind of fans, rather than owning all the albums and knowing all the songs.
I'd be curious to make a survey about how many people who are not diehard Queen fans but are "oh yeah, I love Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust, I Want it All" even know about The March of the Black Queen, The Prophet's Song (which is actually on the same album Bohemian Rhapsody is) or even a random straight rocker like Let Me Entertain You ("What? the Robbie Williams song? it's a Queen cover?").
Yep. I totally agree. Masses of casual music fans (not people who are into listening albums) like Queen and stream their biggest hits on Spotify(or Apple, Deezer) or listen them on Youtube.
If you know Queen songs as March of the Black Queen, Ogre Battle, Liar, Death on Two Legs, Prophet's Song, Brighton Rock, Now I'm Here etc. then you can't be considered a casual Queen fan.
-
Ok so I checked out " Let Me Entertain You " :biggrin:
First time i've ever heard it...
it's ... not great . :rollin
What a weird song. It sounds like the song you write as a band - that you don't dislike enough to ditch but it pads out the live set so you keep it... for now.
Not one of their best ! ;D
-
Here, in The Netherlands, Queen is the biggest I think. Queen almost always tops our national top 2000, voted for by the people. This radio/tv program is so popular that more than half of the nation follows the list every year, about 10 million people. Last year, Queen had 5 entries in the top 50. The Beatles had none (first was Let it Be at 53).
I am 30 and amongst my age Queen is most definitely more known all around than any of the other bands listed here, before the film and all.
-
Elton John's biopic is coming out soon, so while you won't get the same level of surge (Reg isn't dead) it's going to temper things for a while. Two years from now, The Beatles will still be number one, and the number two will return to the swirling soup of Zepp/Floyd/Who/Beach Boys/etc. that it usually is.
You are wrong about The Who. They are a band who are very big only with boomers, but in general younger generations are not into them. Queen are way bigger than them in the 21st century in every possible way.
See this thread:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/why-isnt-the-who-as-popular-as-other-classic-rock-bands.773770/ (http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/why-isnt-the-who-as-popular-as-other-classic-rock-bands.773770/)
I can't access that thread from work (though I am generally supportive of the ideas over there; that's a good forum in my opinion, especially if you want obscure details). But I have to say: I'm dizzy and need to sit down, because I think I'm agreeing with Wild Ranger. Does that mean I have Corona?
I stand by my essential point, but yeah, The Who prolly don't belong there.
:) :)
-
https://www.loudersound.com/news/queens-brian-may-voted-the-greatest-rock-guitarist-of-all-time#:~:text=Queen's%20Brian%20May%20has,and%20'best%20right%20now'.
"Fans got to have their say in an online poll – and it was May who came out on top of the rock category."
I used to know more than a few die hard (rabid? obsessive?) Queen fans. I wouldn't be surprised if they banded together and did the 'vote early vote often' bit (remember, BoRhap was voted online as the greatest song of the 20th century in the UK).
As much as I loved the band, I'll always put The Beatles and Led Zeppelin above them. Way too many clunkers and such after 1980 (until the last two releases). But, man, when they were 'on'....
Worldwide....yeah, #2 sounds right. And, probably ten years plus down the road as well.
-
Gen Z got into the band in a huge way. The online Queen fandom has never been more active or had more content, thanks to kids (am I allowed to say kids, again, as a younger millennial?) getting into the band via the movie. They understood the purpose and the tone of the movie is meant to entertain more than inform, they binged the discography, the concerts, they dig into photo archives and read bio books and watch documentaries. Youtube is full of their comments, Instagram and Twitter are full of Queen fan accounts. So overall the film has been excellent for Queen's legacy.
-
Queen's music has a bit of a timeless feel to it. I've been exposed to more and more radio since I started my new work and across different channels you hear a few Queen songs every day, whether it's Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust, Radio Ga Ga, I Want to Break Free, We Are the Champions or We Will Rock You. They just seem to have that wide appeal across genres where even non-rock fans latch onto their melodies.
While The Beatles might be a bigger name, I think Queen might have more hits that people would recognize. Though I think perhaps a lot of younger people might be familiar with Queen songs without knowing it's Queen. :p
-
https://www.loudersound.com/news/queens-brian-may-voted-the-greatest-rock-guitarist-of-all-time#:~:text=Queen's%20Brian%20May%20has,and%20'best%20right%20now'.
"Fans got to have their say in an online poll – and it was May who came out on top of the rock category."
I suspect many would push back on May being voted the greatest, but for my money, he is in the conversation. I get why many would put Hendrix and/or Page ahead of him, and those guys were awesome, too, but with Queen's overall popularity still on the rise, hence this thread, it's no surprise that May would be right up there as well.
-
Queen's music has a bit of a timeless feel to it. I've been exposed to more and more radio since I started my new work and across different channels you hear a few Queen songs every day, whether it's Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust, Radio Ga Ga, I Want to Break Free, We Are the Champions or We Will Rock You. They just seem to have that wide appeal across genres where even non-rock fans latch onto their melodies.
While The Beatles might be a bigger name, I think Queen might have more hits that people would recognize. Though I think perhaps a lot of younger people might be familiar with Queen songs without knowing it's Queen. :p
SOME of Queen's music is timeless; they were good/bad like that (depending on your preference). They had a way of tapping into the moment but staying out of it at the same time. That's actually one of the things I love most about them.
-
SOME of Queen's music is timeless; they were good/bad like that (depending on your preference). They had a way of tapping into the moment but staying out of it at the same time. That's actually one of the things I love most about them.
I love how all over the place their albums can be stylistically, yet still manage to totally work. That was the advantage of having four songwriters who usually wrote by themselves, rather than as a band.