The Queen Thread

[KevShmev]

Queen was such an interesting band in the sense that they were so competitive from a songwriting standpoint (always trying to outdo the others, getting proper credit, etc.), but when it came to the music, it was like they were able to set their egos aside.  I mean, you have songs where John Deacon played all of the guitar (like Misfire), while in other bands, the guitar player would cop the "That is my job, to play electric guitar" attitude.  And then when it came to singing, a guy like Freddie Mercury could have easily taken the "I should do all of the lead vocals" stance, but May and Taylor always got their fair share of lead vocal moments, even getting their own songs to sing lead all by themselves.  That kind of dynamic is why their music was so diverse and all over the map stylistically, which in large part was why they were so awesome.  When you listen to all of Queen's songs, you pretty much get everything thrown at you, including the kitchen sink!

[Orbert]

Very true.  There are songs from each of them which I consider favorites.  Most of them wrote "normal rock" songs; I think Freddie was really the only one to get way out there.  That's cool, though.  I like stuff like "Seaside Rendezvous" and "Millionaire Waltz".  He wasn't afraid to go for it, that's for sure.

[me7]

I like that run more than the entirety of Queen II

I'm actually not a fan of the entirety of Queen II either. The first half drags it down IMO and prevents the album from being in my top three (Sheer Heart Attack, Night at the Opera, Innuendo). I'd rather listen to the second half two times than the full album.

[KevShmev]

Whaaaaat?  Father to Son and White Queen are both all kinds of awesome, and I have a special love for Some Day, One Day (probably because I am a sucker for Brian May singing lead).  The Loser in the End is kind of out there, but is not bad by any means. 

Orbert, Freddie was definitely responsible for most of their schmaltzy stuff, but they pulled it off so well, that is almost always came off just another extension of the Queen sound, rather than a band trying to something different just for the sake of it.

[me7]

Whaaaaat?  Father to Son and White Queen are both all kinds of awesome, and I have a special love for Some Day, One Day (probably because I am a sucker for Brian May singing lead).  The Loser in the End is kind of out there, but is not bad by any means. 

I didn't mean to say that it is really really bad, I just prefer SHA and ANATO over the first half of Queen II. The second half of Queen II however is on the same level as SHA and ANTO in my book.

[Orbert]

Orbert, Freddie was definitely responsible for most of their schmaltzy stuff, but they pulled it off so well, that is almost always came off just another extension of the Queen sound, rather than a band trying to something different just for the sake of it.

Definitely.  Freddie had many sides to his personality, and his music reflected that.  Remember, I got into this stuff in the 70's when it was being made.  Most bands weren't doing different things just to be different; they were doing different things because they were different.  It never occurred to me to do something just to be different, so I never occurred to me that a band would, either.  You are what you is.

[KevShmev]

Whaaaaat?  Father to Son and White Queen are both all kinds of awesome, and I have a special love for Some Day, One Day (probably because I am a sucker for Brian May singing lead).  The Loser in the End is kind of out there, but is not bad by any means. 

I didn't mean to say that it is really really bad, I just prefer SHA and ANATO over the first half of Queen II. The second half of Queen II however is on the same level as SHA and ANTO in my book.

Gotcha. It's all good.  For my money, II, Sheer Heart Attack and ANATO are three of their best, so I will take all of 'em.

Orbert, Freddie was definitely responsible for most of their schmaltzy stuff, but they pulled it off so well, that is almost always came off just another extension of the Queen sound, rather than a band trying to something different just for the sake of it.

Definitely.  Freddie had many sides to his personality, and his music reflected that.  Remember, I got into this stuff in the 70's when it was being made.  Most bands weren't doing different things just to be different; they were doing different things because they were different.  It never occurred to me to do something just to be different, so I never occurred to me that a band would, either.  You are what you is.

Very true.  That worked less for Queen as the 70s went on ( the deeper cuts on News of the World and Jazz are very hit or miss, IMO), but at least they were never a band that played it safe. 

[ytserush]

You don't like The Miracle? Wtf? There's essentially no bad song on that album.

I'll give it another listen and let you know.

[Bertielee]

You don't like The Miracle? Wtf? There's essentially no bad song on that album.

I'll give it another listen and let you know.

Do it as it really is a great album.

B.Lee

[MoraWintersoul]

^ that, basically, it's my third or fourth fave.

[Moonchild]

The Miracle has that 80's pop syndrome. Too much synth. Just like the Flash Gordon soundtrack, I can only imagine if Freddie touched most of those songs with a nice piano. Also.. It probably has the worst openers Party and Kashoggys Ship, My Baby Does Me is Hot Spacey. The rest is Top tier Queen but the sound really suffers from those synthesizers. I rank it at the bottom three but as a kid, watching that Brian May solo at the Invisible Man video was so damn cool at the time.


A Day at the Races
Innuendo
A Night at the Opera
Queen II
News of the World
Sheer heart Attack
The Game
Queen
A kind of Magic
Jazz
The Works
The Miracle




Hot Space

[ytserush]

You don't like The Miracle? Wtf? There's essentially no bad song on that album.

I'll give it another listen and let you know.

Do it as it really is a great album.

B.Lee

About half of it is genius, but the other half is the worst I've ever heard from them.  The 80's technology of the time doesn't do them any favors.

I should be able to pick this CD up for a dollar or two. I'm kind of on the fence with it though.

[Nekov]

Queen was my first favorite band

Mine too 

o/

[Perpetual Change]

Very true.  That worked less for Queen as the 70s went on ( the deeper cuts on News of the World and Jazz are very hit or miss, IMO), but at least they were never a band that played it safe. 

I disagree. I really don't like Sheer Heart Attack, and Spread Your Wings is "Queen by Numbers", but some of those songs are awesome. I really love Who Needs You, and It's Late might be my favorite Queen song.

[KevShmev]

Very true.  That worked less for Queen as the 70s went on ( the deeper cuts on News of the World and Jazz are very hit or miss, IMO), but at least they were never a band that played it safe. 

I disagree. I really don't like Sheer Heart Attack, and Spread Your Wings is "Queen by Numbers", but some of those songs are awesome. I really love Who Needs You, and It's Late might be my favorite Queen song.

You disagree with what?  Those albums being hit or miss (which you then agreed with) or them never playing it safe?  If it's the latter, sure, they had a lot of songs that were always very Queen-ish, but nearly every album had songs that were major departures, ones that on first listen had you thinking, "Okay, I did not see that coming."

[Perpetual Change]

You disagree with what?  Those albums being hit or miss (which you then agreed with) or them never playing it safe?  If it's the latter, sure, they had a lot of songs that were always very Queen-ish, but nearly every album had songs that were major departures, ones that on first listen had you thinking, "Okay, I did not see that coming."

I only actually said one song is a miss (that would be "Sheer Heart Attack"). The rest aren't paradigm-shifting, but they all range from good to great. It might be *slightly* less consistent than the first four albums, but it rivals Sheer Heart Attack and ANATO with its inclusion of stand-out tracks, which the first two albums and ADATR really lack.

[KevShmev]

I can't agree with that either.  Standouts tracks from those three albums:

Queen: Keep Yourself Alive, Great King Rat and Liar (all of which are great)
Queen II: Father to Son, White Queen, Ogre Battle and March of the Black Queen
A Day at the Races: Tie Your Mother Down and Somebody to Love (and you could argue for several more based on your personal preferences...I would argue that Take My Breath Away, Long Away and The Millionaire Waltz are all standouts as well)

[Perpetual Change]

Nothing about the first two albums really stands out to me. That could be the production, though. I don't know. They really do sound horrible.

[KevShmev]

I prefer the word "raw."   And the raw sound of them definitely gives them an extra bit of charm.

[masterthes]

Personally, I think Keep Yourself Alive is one of my favorite opening debut tracks from a group/artist

[Perpetual Change]

I prefer the word "raw."   And the raw sound of them definitely gives them an extra bit of charm.

That's kinda why I wouldn't pass up on 'em if I found them at any of the used LP stores I go to. As of now, I've only heard the 2000 remasters. And those are really freakin' bad, because they're not only poorly produced, but they're also loud and clippy sounding. I've heard a non-remasters Sheer Heart Attack, and while it doesn't sound good, it at least doesn't clip.

[KevShmev]

Fortunately, I bought most of my Queen CDs way back in the 90s, so they are the original good remasters, but I didn't get Sheer Heart Attack until several years ago, so I wonder which one it is.  I took a glance at it and says nothing about 2000 on there; just 1974 as the original date and 1991 as the remaster year, so it must be the original remaster.

[Perpetual Change]

I honestly don't know much about the Queen remasters. I can't follow 'em. I think they just got done doing their third batch of discography remasters on CD. 

[Nel]

I got paid today, and the box sets I talked about last September are now about half the price on Amazon. 

[Orbert]

Yeah, baby!

[Jaq]

Oh that's awesome 

[SoundscapeMN]

seeing the new documentary "Queen: Days of Our Lives" tonight in Minneapolis. Anyone else seen it?

https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/queen-days-of-our-lives/

[Zydar]

Yeah it's a great documentary indeed. Very touching at the end when they talk about Freddie's passing.

[ReaperKK]

seeing the new documentary "Queen: Days of Our Lives" tonight in Minneapolis. Anyone else seen it?

https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/queen-days-of-our-lives/

I've seen it a few times. It's really one of my favorite band documentaries. You'll dig it.

[Azyiu]

Oh, I am late to the party guys... just now realized this thread exists! 

I am a HUGE fan of Queen, and personally my fav Queen albums are (in no particular order):

News Of the World
Queen II
A Day at the Races
Innuendo
A Night at the Opera
A Kind of Magic

[Perpetual Change]

Picked up Queen's debut today.

It's fucking awesome. I'm so glad I found it on vinyl. It sounds so much better than the crappy (clippy) CD remasters.

[me7]

Picked up Queen's debut today.

It's fucking awesome. I'm so glad I found it on vinyl. It sounds so much better than the crappy (clippy) CD remasters.

The 2011 CD remaster doesn't clip at all and isn't ruined by dynamic compression. It is regarded as the best version by many fans. The same goes for Queen II. These two albums were originally badly mastered by the record company because nobody took Queen seriously back then.
For the other albums however, you are better off with with the masters used for the original CD versions or vinyls. Too much dynamic compression on the 2011 remasters (or any other remasters released so far).

[Azyiu]

The 2011 CD remaster doesn't clip at all and isn't ruined by dynamic compression. It is regarded as the best version by many fans. The same goes for Queen II. These two albums were originally badly mastered by the record company because nobody took Queen seriously back then.
For the other albums however, you are better off with with the masters used for the original CD versions or vinyls. Too much dynamic compression on the 2011 remasters (or any other remasters released so far).

Almost all of my early Queen cds were the Hollywood Records 1991 remastered version, except for the album Jazz, which is the original first press version. In most cases those 1991 versions sound good, I am not sure the same can be said for the Jazz album. Some songs' dynamic seems to go everywhere. Like Mustapha, it is either so damn quiet in some places, or it goes way too loud. Is it intended? That's the only version I've heard, however.

[me7]

The loudness in Mustapha doesn't bug out and change mid sentence, it changes according to how the song progresses.  I have no doubt it's intended since it fits the songs wacky nature.
EDIT: I, too, have never heard any other version of Jazz.

[Nefarius]

I didn't care much about music at all for a long time, which seems funny for someone with a grandfather that used to be a professional piano player and other relatives who were very much into some really great music from classical to jazz and singer/songwriter stuff to different kinds of rock.

I was still my 11 year old musically ignorant self in November '91 but I remember that one morning my mother woke me up for school with tears in her eyes. She told me the reason which I didn't understand. I said something like "aha, so what?". It was only years later I could understand and relate.

Then, in the mid nineties, Queen was the catalyst that really grabbed me by the throat and got me interested in seriously listening to music and opened up a whole new world for me. Eventually it was also Queen that got me into making music myself. Considering Brian May to be my first guitar teacher and Freddie Mercury my first singing coach may feel overwhelmingly daunting in retrospect. But that didn't discourage my enthusiasm at all. My simple yet strangely effective self-taught approach was something like "you love those songs so dearly, you just can't play and/or sing them so badly, you'll need to get better at this". Surprisingly enough I did, over the years.

For quite some time I didn't listen to anything but Queen and got all the albums. What a collection of great music. Since they stopped touring when I was 7 and I only got into music and Queen much later anyway I never saw them in their original lineup. I obviously loved the live albums and videos to bits and I finally had my very special and emotional Queen day in 2008 at the Queen + Paul Rodgers concert in Vienna. It should have been the birthday present for my mother's 60th birthday, but she died in 2007. So I went there with two good friends and we were blown away by the pure energy and joy on stage. Those guys who already did this kind of stuff at ages younger than us and still enjoying every minute of if at more than twice our age. The audience ranged from ten year old kids to wheelchair-rocking ninety-year-olds and most of them new pretty much all the lyrics. Judging by Brian's humble and thankful smile he was the only one in an even better spot than me and my friends at the b-stage to enjoy thousands of people singing "Love Of My Life".

I sometimes wonder what great music they would have created over the last twenty years but in a way they did it anyway and still do by influencing so many of my favorite musicians. Queen introduced me to a world of music in infinite diversity in infinite combinations and for that alone they'll always be my favorite.

Greetings...
Nef