I had almost forgotten until I saw Bohemian Rhapsody how much I just thought Queen were the greatest thing since sliced pan as a young lad. I remember in 4th class, me and my best friends just raving about them. Jt's a kinda magic, I want to break free all, all the gpod stuff, used be all over the TV along with my other pre-metal favourites like Dire Straits and Status Quo. We're talking very young here. I remember watching the Barcelona Olympics with him singing at the opening or closing ceremony, or maybe it was always just the video...foggy foggy stuff, but it was always just glued to the TV stuff. I think Freddie Mercury was my Michael Jackson in many ways. Freddie was a beefy, tough looking lad, who could roar the house down. Jackson seemed limp in comparison.
Then Freddie Mercury died and I remember buying the single and then realising what a gay man was and what aids was and it was all a big wake up call for a 12 year old at the time. Gay lads just didn't really exist in my world at the time..Ireland was a very different place. It was a lot to take in.
I've been watching a tonne of their concerts since watching the movie. What a flippin band, what a singer, just beyond description. Funnily enough, as familiar as I am with all the classics, the hundreds of times I've watched their live concerts, I've only ever owned greatest hits stuff by them. Indeed, by the time I started buying music, I think Queen had become a fading memory.
So, any stuff out there that needs to be heard. I'm flicking through spotify a lot, just wondering what albums, or even, non-regular songs people would recommend. Great to be listening to them again after all these years..refreshing.
Of the underrated later years, Innuendo is a great album, The Miracle also has a lot of great music on it. Every album, maybe with the exception of Hot Space and Jazz, are worth a bit of time. There's do much in there. I love Flash, personally. So weird, on purpose, until the battle theme rocks the fuck out of it.
You never really appreciate how good Freddie was until you hear someone else try to sing his songs.
Edit-> On that note, credit is due to Gary Cherone for Extreme's set at the Wembley tribute concert. They did a fucking great job that day.
Innuendo is excellent, A Night At The Opera unbeatable, A Day At The Races superb...they really come into a whole new entity as an album band.
Solid albums up to Jazz, then it gets patchy.
Quote from: Pedrito on April 07, 2019, 09:44:22 PM
I've been watching a tonne of their concerts since watching the movie. What a flippin band, what a singer, just beyond description. Funnily enough, as familiar as I am with all the classics, the hundreds of times I've watched their live concerts, I've only ever owned greatest hits stuff by them. Indeed, by the time I started buying music, I think Queen had become a fading memory.
Pretty similar to yourself, my parents always had the greatest hits albums going when I was a kid and I absolutely loved it, but then as I got older I had a bit of a "if it's not metal it's shit" attitude and Queen fell by the wayside.
Rediscovered them a few years back when I found a load of their early albums in a secondhand shop, their debut up to News of the World are all pretty much flawless
Literally just went through this phase myself a couple of weeks back of moving beyond their greatest hits and diving into the albums. Listen to Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera back to back as an introduction. So many amazing songs, most of them deep cuts, and surprisingly metal at times! Can see where Metallica got a lot of Kill 'em All influence from.
After that, try A Day at the Races and maybe News of the World for lots of classic songs and solid album tracks. As mentioned Innuendo is good and has that really 'later' Queen sound. I also really liked The Game as it has a little bit of everything, classic tracks, good deep cuts, bad deep cuts, early Queen styles, later Queen styles lol.
Enjoy!
I think they became a kind of song contest, Britain's got talent type band, in the sense that every twat I knew, who had no interest in music, was raving about Queen there maybe 10 years ago. It put me off them in some ways, but of course that's not the band's fault.
Listened to Innuendo on the way to work today. Yeah, just class. A night at the Opera yesterday which was kind of shocking in a way. I'd never seen them in that light before. Really good idea to listen to the albums, really puts a lot of context around the classic songs. :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath:
Lazing on a Sunday afternoon..what a fantastically camp song. Had me frolicking and skipping to work this morning.
Fantastic band, each member really gets their personality across in their playing. Really couldn't recommend checking out the albums enough. The greatest hits are all great compilations but there are so many gems on the albums. I only broke away from the compilations in the couple of years and haven't looked back since.
Personal favorites would be 'Sheer Heart Attack' and 'News of the World'.
Special mention for the 'Live at Wembley' album too, that recording really seemed to get the energy right.
Part of Queen's charm is how incredibly bad most of the solo work has been outside the band. Freddie had a couple of decent efforts but, aside from that, their solo work - and that released under the name of Queen since his death - has been not just poor but properly awful. Put the four of them in the same room, though, and it all seemed to work incredibly well. When you think about the songs each of them wrote as part of Queen, it's not like they don't know how to pen a good tune :laugh:
Deacon
Another One Bites the Dust
I Want to Break Free
You're My Best Friend
May
Fat Bottomed Girls
Hammer to Fall
Save Me
Mercury
Bohemian Rhapsody
Seven Seas of Rhye
Somebody to Love
Taylor
A Kind of Magic
Radio Ga Ga
Sheer Heart Attack
Quote from: Juggz on April 10, 2019, 10:13:35 AM
Part of Queen's charm is how incredibly bad most of the solo work has been outside the band. Freddie had a couple of decent efforts but, aside from that, their solo work - and that released under the name of Queen since his death - has been not just poor but properly awful. Put the four of them in the same room, though, and it all seemed to work incredibly well. When you think about the songs each of them wrote as part of Queen, it's not like they don't know how to pen a good tune :laugh:
Deacon
Another One Bites the Dust
I Want to Break Free
You're My Best Friend
May
Fat Bottomed Girls
Hammer to Fall
Save Me
Mercury
Bohemian Rhapsody
Seven Seas of Rhye
Somebody to Love
Taylor
A Kind of Magic
Radio Ga Ga
Sheer Heart Attack
Got to admire a band full of songwriters where there are no weak links. None of these guys were riding anyone's coat tails. Just great musicians. Going to have to give one of the albums a spin this evening
Stuck on Night at the Opera earlier, 39 is such a great track
I think the only album I wouldn't bother with is Hot Space, but even at that they tacked the epochal Under Pressure onto the end of it.
My personal highlight of the tribute concert was George Michael. I despised his tunes when I was a kid as my older sister was a big Wham! fan, but I remember being all of nine years old watching that gig on TV and being blown away by George.
Shower of bastards in this thread, it's hours past my bedtime time and I'm sat up with the headphones glued to the head on a Queen binge.
Cheers lads :lol:
Quote from: Ducky on April 10, 2019, 09:41:15 PM
I think the only album I wouldn't bother with is Hot Space, but even at that they tacked the epochal Under Pressure onto the end of it.
My personal highlight of the tribute concert was George Michael. I despised his tunes when I was a kid as my older sister was a big Wham! fan, but I remember being all of nine years old watching that gig on TV and being blown away by George.
That George Michael performance was incredible in fairness.
Gave Sheer Heart Attack a spin last night, that album is just perfect. 'Brighton Rock', 'Flick of the wrist' and 'In the lap of the gods (Revisited)' are absolute gems.
As for the tribute concert, agreed, George Micheal really does a great job, possibly the best part of the concert. Other highlights I can remember would be Gary Cherone doing Hammer to Fall, and David Bowie with Annie Lennox doing Under Pressure. Axl Rose was shite.
Was that the concert where Extreme did a hole set of Queen covers? Was just brilliant
Yeah, they fucking nailed it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHlAjWtGFjU
Another piece of Extreme/Queen crossover magic: May being sound as fuck, Nuno being a guitaring legend (in a dumb band, must be said).
I did have a quick gawk at Queen + American Idol guy... Jesus Christ, Taylor and May have no shame. I know it's partially their legacy but fuck me.
Amazingly, Queen + Paul Rogers was even worse again. I love Free but he ain't got the pipes for Queen.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on April 11, 2019, 01:36:18 PM
Another piece of Extreme/Queen crossover magic: May being sound as fuck, Nuno being a guitaring legend (in a dumb band, must be said).
Ha, ye were probably wondering what in good fuck I was going on about :abbath:
Link would have been useful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqkKFhFMaIw
May is the kind of fella, just as he's starring to annoy you for being a ponce, he just starts to come across as a very decent kinda fella. Extreme were of their time but it's not many songs would get a women damp like More then words..that was a stroke of genius. Bettencourt a god aswell on the guitar.
I read that Brian May said they haven't seen a penny from the film.
Must admit the film is shit, full of things that didn't happen and loads of things left out that did happen but may be a tad controversial but getting back to the music. I can find things on all Queen albums that I like (yes even Hot Space), not sure I classify Flash Gordon as a Queen album to be honest.
Sheer Heart Attack, The Works, A Day At The Races, News Of The World and A Kind Of Magic would be my top 5 albums but I'm quite fond of most of them, you can't go wrong with tracks like Brighton Rock, Now I'm Here, Sheer Heart Attack, Ogre Battle, Liar & It's Late.