Queen

[Pishy]

I am starting this thread so we can share about one of the greatest rock bands of all time, Queen.  

Discuss anything Queen related, their songs, videos, interviews and if you were one of the lucky ones, any shows you attended.

Here  is a great song called "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke".

Freddie Mercury wrote it after seeing the painting below.

The artist's name is Richard Dadd. Dadd signed the back of the painting "The Fairy Feller's Master- Stroke".  This feller was institutionalized at an asylum for the criminally insane for having murdered his father.

Dadd wrote a poem about the painting that specifically details each character, his name and purpose in the scene. 

https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Elimination_of_a_Picture_%26_its_Subject—called_The_Fellers'_Master_Stroke

And please, don't be a dirty laddio, share in good faith. 

Edited October 29, 2017 by Pishy

[ZoSoRose]

One of the best rock bands, ever!

Has anyone seen the Queen + Adam Lambert shows? I know its a controversial project, but I've seen the band with him twice and they put on an incredible show. One of the best arena acts around. I can't imagine what the real deal was like with Freddie!

[soon]

Queens incredible.  Im a casual fan but do own a number of albums.

I was once one-on-one with a woman and Fat Bottom Girls came on.  Given the context, it was one of the most hilariously awkward situations I've ever experienced.

Edited October 29, 2017 by soon

[Dean]

I've been playing a lot of Innuendo recently. I'd probably say it's Queen's best album, considering everything that they had to deal with a long with recording the album. They were on borrowed time.

Lyrically, it's haunting and paints a picture of what Freddie was going through. Musically, it's back to the early days with the heavy guitars. 

The Show Must Go On captures one of the greatest vocal performances ever recorded. Unbelievable that man was able to sing like that when staring death in the face.

Outwith that, what era of Queen does everyone lean towards?

I preferred the 80's. Very big on the synth based tracks too!

[Pishy]

49 minutes ago, ZoSoRose said:

One of the best rock bands, ever!

Has anyone seen the Queen + Adam Lambert shows? I know its a controversial project, but I've seen the band with him twice and they put on an incredible show. One of the best arena acts around. I can't imagine what the real deal was like with Freddie!

I did go see Queen + Adam Lambert in NYC this summer. I went in with the mind set that Brian May and Roger Taylor were playing and I wanted to hear them.

Adam had a well rehearsed performance and set the record straight up front that he was no Freddie.  Queen clearly wanted someone very different from Freddie and an act so far removed from Freddie, to let the tension out. Had they brought in a rock singer who really went for it, all the complaints that he wasn't Freddie or good enough, would dominate . Plus they know they can't replace Freddie or even get close. So to make it more campy and let Adam do his thing, was so different from Freddie that it didn't offend. 

Highlights were when Taylor played and sang "Im in Love with My Car", when May sat on a stool and played "Love of my Life" and the crowd went crazy when video of Freddie played , clips of him singing  live. The cheers and screams during those few episodes , far surpassed what Adam received the entire night put together but everyone was ok with that.

Adam could not sing parts of songs so he would break into a character or they played recordings of Freddie, i appreciated how they were transparent about this, every nod to the greatness of Freddie made it better. 

I got emotional when Freddie came on screen, lol, but it was great and sad at the same time.

 

edit: ok , clearly I'm one of those people that struggled with Adam guest singing but nothing against Adam, he comes across very sincere and sweet and put effort in. He made it fun for a lot of people. And I appreciate he didn't try to impersonate Freddie .  Adam has a well trained voice, very theatrical and would be amazing on broadway, rock songs were difficult for him but back to what i said up top, it was meant to be Queen + Adam not just Queen. 

Edited October 29, 2017 by Pishy

[Pishy]

16 minutes ago, Dean said:

I've been playing a lot of Innuendo recently. I'd probably say it's Queen's best album, considering everything that they had to deal with a long with recording the album. They were on borrowed time.

Lyrically, it's haunting and paints a picture of what Freddie was going through. Musically, it's back to the early days with the heavy guitars. 

The Show Must Go On captures one of the greatest vocal performances ever recorded. Unbelievable that man was able to sing like that when staring death in the face.

Outwith that, what era of Queen does everyone lean towards?

I preferred the 80's. Very big on the synth based tracks too!

I love Inneuendo. Yes, really is incredible what they achieved with that. I like the title track and also I'm going slightly mad, Delilah (he loved his little pishy cats so much), These are the days of our lives and the show must go on.

For a while I've been leaning towards their early work , the 70s. Really into Queen, Queen II and Sheer Heart attack, masterpieces, not a flaw. Also like all that jazz and news of the world, night at the opera . The heavy rock stuff has my attention .

I do love listening to one year of love and who wants to live forever from album a kind of magic .  i meant to say there are some very painful songs regarding what Freddie was going through but who wants to live forever seems quite apt . I know May wrote it but I don't know , seems something was known. Maybe not, it is just very disturbing and sad and beautiful all at the same time 

 

Edited October 29, 2017 by Pishy

[action]

i think Queen does pop/rock better than hard rock, but i know that's an unpopular opinion in Queen circles.

I always prefered the 80's and '90s albums better. Freddie voice on these post '70s albums (when he picked up smoking again)  is what got me into Queen in the first place.

[Dean]

10 hours ago, Pishy said:

I love Inneuendo. Yes, really is incredible what they achieved with that. I like the title track and also I'm going slightly mad, Delilah (he loved his little pishy cats so much), These are the days of our lives and the show must go on.

For a while I've been leaning towards their early work , the 70s. Really into Queen, Queen II and Sheer Heart attack, masterpieces, not a flaw. Also like all that jazz and news of the world, night at the opera . The heavy rock stuff has my attention .

I do love listening to one year of love and who wants to live forever from album a kind of magic .  i meant to say there are some very painful songs regarding what Freddie was going through but who wants to live forever seems quite apt . I know May wrote it but I don't know , seems something was known. Maybe not, it is just very disturbing and sad and beautiful all at the same time 

 

News of the World is incredibly underrated. I'd say It's Late and Spread Your Wings are two of Queen's best songs, especially the BBC Session recordings.

I always preferred the live versions of Who Wants To Live Forever, in particular the two Wembley versions, but I totally get what you mean.

 

[classicrawker]

saw them twice with Freddie including once with Thin Lizzy opening, 1977 at MSG, NYC,  when Gary Moore was subbing for Robbo who cut his hand in a bar fight. 

Amazing show both were........

[Pishy]

21 hours ago, classicrawker said:

saw them twice with Freddie including once with Thin Lizzy opening, 1977 at MSG, NYC,  when Gary Moore was subbing for Robbo who cut his hand in a bar fight. 

Amazing show both were........

That's really great, share more! What did they play?  Which songs did you like most live? Queen is the only band that sounds even better live . I watch these poorly recorded videos on yourube and can't believe my ears . 

[Majestic Beast]

Too pop for my taste after some period they were rock,they went cheesy,pop and soft.

[Pishy]

On 10/29/2017 at 7:51 AM, Dean said:

News of the World is incredibly underrated. I'd say It's Late and Spread Your Wings are two of Queen's best songs, especially the BBC Session recordings.

I always preferred the live versions of Who Wants To Live Forever, in particular the two Wembley versions, but I totally get what you mean.

 

I also like get down make love from the same album. 

 I agree a lot of their songs are even better live which is rare and almost unheard of . I just listened to one of the wembly versions again and yes, fantastic . Also watching Freddie , how he sings , adds to it.

Thanks for the link, love it. 

I can't believe how underrated news of the world is and it's a crime how underrated Queen (I) is. Or Jazz. The Game is great and it garnered quite a bit of attention . I really love Anothet one Bites the dust, Rock It, Save me, Sail away sweet sister and crazy little thing called love 

2 minutes ago, Majestic Beast said:

Too pop for my taste after some period they were rock,they went cheesy,pop and soft.

Which songs did you like ?

[Pishy]

Freddie's cat Delilah

 

the song Delilah

 

[luciusfunk]

 

[Dean]

The Works is one of my favourite Queen albums. Definitely in the top 3. My only criticism is that they never included the single version of I Want to Break Free. The album version is missing the intro and the synth solo in the middle, which makes it the song that it is. Secondly, Let Me Live, Love Kills, Let Me In Your Heart Again and Thank God It's Christmas were all recorded in the same sessions. It's one of the smaller Queen albums, with only 9 songs, you'd think including those would have been a wise move!

What a song

 

[action]

On 2-11-2017 at 8:05 PM, Dean said:

The Works is one of my favourite Queen albums. Definitely in the top 3. My only criticism is that they never included the single version of I Want to Break Free. The album version is missing the intro and the synth solo in the middle, which makes it the song that it is. Secondly, Let Me Live, Love Kills, Let Me In Your Heart Again and Thank God It's Christmas were all recorded in the same sessions. It's one of the smaller Queen albums, with only 9 songs, you'd think including those would have been a wise move!

What a song

 

couldn' agree more! also: i go crazy. check it out if you havent

Edited November 4, 2017 by action

[luciusfunk]

The Works definitely would have been a better album with some of those tracks added. I hate the Love Kills we got on Queen Forever. Let Me In Your Heart Again should have been on the album and a single, not given to Brian's girlfriend. The Let Me Live we got from Made in Heaven wasn't the same song exactly. The original recording had Rod Stewart on it and it's really only rumored to have been considered for The Works. Now for Thank God It's Christmas, all I can say is thank God I only hear it a few times a year. I Go Crazy is good and was included on the 1991 Hollywood remaster as a bonus track, as well as on the bonus EP from the 2011 remasters.

 

So all in all, I'll agree The Works had great singles (especially the single version of I Want to Break Free, how often is a single version longer than the album version?), but the album is mediocre. I'd rather listen to Hot Space or A Kind of Magic.

 

 

 

[luciusfunk]

Here's a popularity analysis of Queen I found online. http://chartmasters.org/2017/10/cspc-queen-popularity-analysis/

The guy basically takes original album sales and converts compilations, videos, and digital sales/streams into album sales.

 

A few fun facts from that article. From original album sales Queen sold more than Queen II (by 50K) and they both sold more than Hot Space. Body Language actually sold nearly 1 million copies. Because of the massive popularity of Under Pressure and its appearance on many compilations and live albums, Hot Space actually is one of their top sellers.

1973 Queen – 2,950,000
1974 Queen II – 2,900,000
1974 Sheer Heart Attack – 4,350,000
1975 A Night at the Opera – 10,375,000
1976 A Day at the Races – 4,775,000
1977 News of the World – 9,450,000
1978 Jazz – 5,325,000
1980 The Game – 9,100,000
1980 Flash Gordon (Soundtrack) – 3,050,000
1982 Hot Space – 2,875,000
1984 The Works – 4,875,000
1986 A Kind of Magic – 6,025,000
1989 The Miracle – 4,525,000
1991 Innuendo – 5,725,000
1995 Made in Heaven – 9,450,000

 

Edited June 7, 2018 by luciusfunk

[Dean]

7 hours ago, luciusfunk said:

The Works definitely would have been a better album with some of those tracks added. I hate the Love Kills we got on Queen Forever. Let Me In Your Heart Again should have been on the album and a single, not given to Brian's girlfriend. The Let Me Live we got from Made in Heaven wasn't the same song exactly. The original recording had Rod Stewart on it and it's really only rumored to have been considered for The Works. Now for Thank God It's Christmas, all I can say is thank God I only hear it a few times a year. I Go Crazy is good and was included on the 1991 Hollywood remaster as a bonus track, as well as on the bonus EP from the 2011 remasters.

 

So all in all, I'll agree The Works had great singles (especially the single version of I Want to Break Free, how often is a single version longer than the album version?), but the album is mediocre. I'd rather listen to Hot Space or A Kind of Magic.

 

 

 

I recall reading an interview with Brian around the time of release, saying that Love Kills was initially meant to be recorded in that form, so thankfully we got the Morodor version!

Let Me In Your Heart again is a great tune. I remember hearing it for the first time and just being taken aback at how great it was. Queen at their finest for me. Agreed that it should've been a single back then. Haha, I've always been keen on a festive ditty, I think the instrumentation is outstanding and probably is in my top 3 Christmas tunes  Each to their own!

I don't think Hot Space is as bad as some make out. Definitely a few good things about it. 

[Pishy]

On 11/2/2017 at 3:05 PM, Dean said:

The Works is one of my favourite Queen albums. Definitely in the top 3. My only criticism is that they never included the single version of I Want to Break Free. The album version is missing the intro and the synth solo in the middle, which makes it the song that it is. Secondly, Let Me Live, Love Kills, Let Me In Your Heart Again and Thank God It's Christmas were all recorded in the same sessions. It's one of the smaller Queen albums, with only 9 songs, you'd think including those would have been a wise move!

What a song

 

The real version of I want to break free and Christmas ,  are included in the 40 year anniversary album . I'm sure you already know but here is a screen shot of those tracks at the end of the 9 songs 

let me live went on to the miracle of course , didn't they always have a lot of material and moved it about, particularly during those harsh days? Love kills was Freddie's solo work so I thInk that's why it didn't make "the works". Maybe I'm wrong though .

 

[Dean]

7 minutes ago, Pishy said:

The real version of I want to break free and Christmas ,  are included in the 40 year anniversary album . I'm sure you already know but here is a screen shot of those tracks at the end of the 9 songs 

let me live went on to the miracle of course , didn't they always have a lot of material and moved it about, particularly during those harsh days? Love kills was Freddie's solo work so I thInk that's why it didn't make "the works". Maybe I'm wrong though .

 

I've got them added onto my iPod , just got rid of the excess like the live versions, but thanks for the heads up!

Love Kills actually started off as a Queen song. They all play on it. However when Morodor was making his remaster of the film Metropolis, Queen wanted to use some of the footage for the Radio Ga Ga video, so they done a sort of trade to make that happen, and released it under Freddie's name.

Let Me Live ended up on Made In Heaven, as did My Life Has Been Saved, which you probably were thinking of, as that was recorded during The Miracle sessions and you're right, the interview they done for the BBC in 1989, they say that there is normally a lot of stuff left over from each album that is of good quality, but by the time they sit down and start a new album, they prefer going with a clean slate. One of their archivists has said that a lot of the stuff isn't complete, Freddie ad-libing etc and Brian over the years has claimed that there is nothing left. Unfortunately, we'll probably never know for sure. Regardless, Made In Heaven was a great album to finish up on!

[Pishy]

27 minutes ago, Dean said:

I've got them added onto my iPod , just got rid of the excess like the live versions, but thanks for the heads up!

Love Kills actually started off as a Queen song. They all play on it. However when Morodor was making his remaster of the film Metropolis, Queen wanted to use some of the footage for the Radio Ga Ga video, so they done a sort of trade to make that happen, and released it under Freddie's name.

Let Me Live ended up on Made In Heaven, as did My Life Has Been Saved, which you probably were thinking of, as that was recorded during The Miracle sessions and you're right, the interview they done for the BBC in 1989, they say that there is normally a lot of stuff left over from each album that is of good quality, but by the time they sit down and start a new album, they prefer going with a clean slate. One of their archivists has said that a lot of the stuff isn't complete, Freddie ad-libing etc and Brian over the years has claimed that there is nothing left. Unfortunately, we'll probably never know for sure. Regardless, Made In Heaven was a great album to finish up on!

I love these full versions . Also , the 40 yr anniversary set was good because you got each album individually with the added tracks and then a separate bonus accompanied each album with vocals only or a great in the lap of the gods live version . I never liked live versions of anything , the crowd noise etc, Queen is the exception , live is like the heavens parted and down came queen , lol! 

I didnt know that about love kills, excellent history lesson. 

Yes I meant made in heaven album. You sorted that out for me. 

I can only imagine how much is left over . I get the clean slate approach becaude that's how they work and there are themes , a completed puzzle , I'm sure a lot more that they need to understand and make happen . But how can there not be a lot of stuff around ? 

Did you get Brian may's recent box set ? I was going to order it right away.  

Did you get the queen forever album?

[Dean]

5 minutes ago, Pishy said:

I love these full versions . Also , the 40 yr anniversary set was good because you got each album individually with the added tracks and then a separate bonus accompanied each album with vocals only or a great in the lap of the gods live version . I never liked live versions of anything , the crowd noise etc, Queen is the exception , live is like the heavens parted and down came queen , lol! 

I didnt know that about love kills, excellent history lesson. 

Yes I meant made in heaven album. You sorted that out for me. 

I can only imagine how much is left over . I get the clean slate approach becaude that's how they work and there are themes , a completed puzzle , I'm sure a lot more that they need to understand and make happen . But how can there not be a lot of stuff around ? 

Did you get Brian may's recent box set ? I was going to order it right away.  

Did you get the queen forever album?

I stayed off Queen forums for years as I didn't want anyone or anything influencing my beliefs what I'd gained throughout my life, mainly being that Queen got better with each album (which with age and maturing into an adult, I realize this is not the case, but I wasn't far off and it at least showcases the naivety of my youth ) but once I bit the bullet and joined, probably around 2011 after the remasters were released, the place was in meltdown over the deluxe editions, slating those behind the scenes in selecting stuff that was already released in other ways or already widely available. I see their point of view, but I think remastered albums should only be mostly focusing on bettering the sound of the album itself and not too much on what needs to be put on a bonus disc. There's been a demand for a deluxe Queen boxset featuring demo's of the songs and different takes etc for years, but the majority think it will never happen. Although they're in the right ball park with this NOTW boxset with the different takes of a few of the tracks.

The stuff leftover from albums as well as recordings from concerts must be amazing to sit and listen to for those archivists! Certainly will keep them occupied during the down periods!

Regarding the boxset, are you meaning his solo records or his new book titled Queen in 3D? I purchased the latter and highly recommend it to anyone on the fence about buying it. An absolute joy to sit and go through!

I was a bit disappointed that Queen has released so many compilation albums in the last 8 years. To me, Queen were one of very few bands who never continuously repackaged old material, considering that Greatest Hits I and II were big sellers worldwide, but that has apparently changed. I originally just downloaded the 3 'unheard' tracks as I didn't want to pay a fortune for the same old songs, but I ended up buying the deluxe boxset on vinyl, which I think I got for £40, a very good price from what it was originally selling for. It's still in it's wrapping, I've not opened it yet, but I've yet to play the remastered vinyl boxset that I got on release in 2015 also, I just play all the original pressings if I stick anything on the turntable! I was a sucker for the incredible packaging and the different coloured vinyl pressings!

[Pishy]

So the Izzy thread posted some social media tidbits because Izzy shared a really great cover band named "20% discount". They played nazareth's love hurts . They're very good , must check out. But what I later found is... the covered I want to break free!  It's always this way, you end up taken by someone's talent only to find out they know good music , haha.

The recording is a bit shaky but love these guys

 

[luciusfunk]

Hold up, Brian released a box set? 

Too Much Love Will Kill You was also recorded during sessions for The Miracle. Yeah, I got the Amazon exclusive Queen 40 box sets a few years ago. 

 

I also got Roger’s The Lot a few years back. He’s always been my favorite regarding their solo careers.