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Post by ganews on Oct 18, 2016 10:18:41 GMT -5
Flash Gordon Soundtrack. I've never seen the movie, have only heard Flash's theme some. I'm not generally much of a soundtrack person. The only two I own are the "X-Files: Fight the Future", which is just a thematic collection of alternative rock, and the real OST for "Cowboy Bebop" written by Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts.
"Flash's Theme" - FLASH! AH AHHHH. So great. I wish it didn't pause in the middle to get lovey-dovey.
"Ming's Theme (In the Court of Ming the Merciless)" - Neither Youtube video has the tracks noted by time, so it's going to be tough to keep track and I'm not going to be comprehensive. But the menace in this bit stands out. I like it.
"Football Fight" - Do soundtrack usually feature this many dialogue clips? This is not sound like something I care for.
...? - I'm totally lost now, but those synths back there kicked ass.
"Execution of Flash" - I got out my calculator, so I think this is right. Now I don't have much to say - rising synths!
"The Kiss (Aura Resurrects Flash)" - This is the sort of evocative sound I think of when I imagine listening to soundtracks. It doesn't mean much to me without the movie. Isn't this all going to be sweet like "Flash's Theme" and whatever those kickass synths were halfway through side A?
"Arboria (Planet Of The Tree Men)" - Think of the treezzzzzz
"Escape From The Swamp" - Now this is cool. First some tin-roof thunder-drums, the synth to bring in the danger.
"Flash to the Rescue" - FLASH! AH AHHHH. *bweep bwaaamp* Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the future: the 80s. I dig it! I wish there was a song here in the reprise instead of just movie dialogue. Get those toms!
"Vultan's Theme (Attack of The Hawk Men)" - Pretty cool. I think I'm ready to play some Zelda games now. More toms!
"Battle Theme" - It's finally guitar time. This is the best-integrated movie dialogue yet. The soundtrack actually pauses for emphasis.
"The Wedding March (Instrumental)" - Not adding a whole lot to this one, are we.
"Marriage of Dale and Ming (And Flash Approaching)" etc. - There's more of the theme, but only for a moment here and there. And so it continues for a few more tracks to the end. In the final reprises we get something more complete, even some more lyrics. And it all ends with one last explosion.
Summary: Well, here's one not to revisit. It wasn't bad, it was just a soundtrack. There's three really good songs in there split up into bits and spread all over. I have higher hopes for Highlander.
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Post by Ben Grimm on Oct 18, 2016 20:28:59 GMT -5
Flash Gordon (1980)
It's not a great film by any stretch of the imagination You, sir, are history's greatest monster.
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Post by Nudeviking on Oct 21, 2016 21:23:03 GMT -5
Hot Space (1982)Some two years have past since Queen last queened at us with the Flash Gordon Soundtrack. I'm not going to check, but I think this might be the longest gap between Queen albums yet since they were doing an album a year for awhile there. Was the synth and movie sample heavy album that was Flash Gordon an outlier or a sign of things to come? Today we'll explore the follow-up to that piece of shit album, Hot Space. Pre-Existing PrejudicesI am going to catch a lot of shit for what I'm about to say, but that's pretty much par for the course at this point. I think that Vanilla Ice made better use of the "Under Pressure" bass line and have always preferred "Ice Ice Baby" to "Under Pressure." "Ice Ice Baby" is exciting; full of action and vitality while "Under Pressure" is slow and has that "boomba bay boomba bay" part that makes me uncomfortable. Songs"Staying Power" Drum machines and a James Brown horn section. This song's totally repetitive and wicked boring. Not an auspicious beginning. "Dancer" Drum machines and synths that sound like farts. Everything feels like it's in slow motion and then there's a Goddamn Brian May Guitar Sound solo. I feel like 100 years have passed while I listened to this. "Back Chat" Drum machines and guitar. I kind of like the guitar riff but the rest of the song is garbage. "Body Language" I have no idea what is going on in the intro. The bass line (which might actual be a synth) is ok, but the rest of the song is Freddie Mercury bellowing "body language" and making fucknoises. Oh and there's a shitty snapping part. I hate this so much. "Action This Day" This was a decent enough jam. The verses were pretty good and weird sci-fi synths and early 80s rock and roll saxophone that show up in the bridge are totally decent. "Put Out The Fire" Such a lifeless song. America is a shitty country with guns. I hate this album so much. "Life is Real (Song For Lennon)" John Lennon seemed like an asshole. This song is for him. It's basically a Queen ballad from the mid-70s in terms of how it sounds. It's all piano and minimal guitar wailing. I never want to hear this song again. "Calling All Girls" The guitars sound hella weird in this song. They're all jangly and REMy. This song's strange. Are those record scratches? I think I might like this song a little. "Las Palabras De Amor" I have a CD of North Korean "pop" music. The keyboard noise in the beginning of this song is exactly the same as the keyboard noise in all those North Korean songs about how great Kim Il Sung was. That's the most interesting thing about this song. Other than that it's all boring acoustic guitar shit and half hearted drumming. Why does the drumming suck so badly on this album? "Cool Cat" This sounds like something from that Free To Be You and Me album I had as a child. It's all gross 70s wah guitar. Slow wah guitar. Everything on this album is so slow and boring. "Under Pressure" Yo, VIP, let's kick it! Ice Ice Baby, Ice Ice Baby All right stop, Collaborate and listen Ice is back with my brand new invention Something grabs a hold of me tightly Flow like a harpoon daily and nightly Will it ever stop? Yo, I don't know Turn off the lights and I'll glow To the extreme I rock a mic like a vandal Light up a stage and wax a chump like a candle. Dance, go rush the speaker that booms I'm killing your brain like a poisonous mushroom Deadly, when I play a dope melody Anything less than the best is a felony Love it or leave it, you better gain way You better hit bull's eye, the kid don't play If there was a problem, yo, I'll solve it Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it Ice Ice Baby Vanilla, Ice Ice Baby Vanilla Ice Ice Baby Vanilla, Ice Ice Baby Vanilla Now that the party is jumping With the bass kicked in, and the Vegas are pumpin' Quick to the point, to the point, no faking Cooking MCs like a pound of bacon Burning them they ain't quick and nimble I go crazy when I hear a cymbal And a hi hat with a souped up tempo I'm on a roll and it's time to go solo Rollin' in my 5.0 With my ragtop down so my hair can blow The girlies on standby, waving just to say, "Hi!" Did you stop? No, I just drove by Kept on pursuing to the next stop I busted a left and I'm heading to the next block That block was dead Yo So I continued to A1A Beachfront Ave. Girls were hot wearing less than bikinis Rockman lovers driving Lamborghinis Jealous 'cause I'm out getting mine Shay with a gauge and Vanilla with a nine Ready for the chumps on the wall The chumps acting ill because they're so full of "Eight Ball" Gunshots ranged out like a bell I grabbed my nine, all I heard was shells Falling on the concrete real fast Jumped in my car, slammed on the gas Bumper to bumper, the avenue's packed I'm trying to get away before the jackers jack Police on the scene, you know what I mean They passed me up, confronted all the dope fiends If there was a problem, yo, I'll solve it Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it Ice Ice Baby Vanilla, Ice Ice Baby Vanilla Ice Ice Baby Vanilla, Ice Ice Baby Vanilla Take heed, 'cause I'm a lyrical poet Miami's on the scene just in case you didn't know it My town, that created all the bass sound Enough to shake and kick holes in the ground 'Cause my style's like a chemical spill Feasible rhymes that you can vision and feel Conducted and formed, this is a hell of a concept We make it hype and you want to step with this Shay plays on the fade, slice like a ninja Cut like a razor blade so fast, other DJs say, "Damn." If my rhyme was a drug, I'd sell it by the gram Keep my composure when it's time to get loose Magnetized by the mic while I kick my juice If there was a problem, Yo, I'll solve it! Check out the hook while D-Shay revolves it. Ice Ice Baby Vanilla, Ice Ice Baby Vanilla Ice Ice Baby Vanilla, Ice Ice Baby Vanilla Yo, man, let's get out of here! Word to your mother! Ice Ice Baby Too cold, Ice Ice Baby Too cold Too cold Ice Ice Baby Too cold Too cold, Ice Ice Baby Too cold Too cold Final Thoughts:
Hot Space? More like Hot Garbage am I right brah or am I right? In close, fuck this album. Fuck Queen. I'm going to listen to Vanilla Ice.
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Dellarigg
AV Clubber
This is a public service announcement - with guitars
Posts: 7,499
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Post by Dellarigg on Oct 22, 2016 10:42:06 GMT -5
You poor bastard.
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Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on Oct 22, 2016 11:54:11 GMT -5
Flash Gordon (1980)
It's not a great film by any stretch of the imagination You, sir, are history's greatest monster. I think the way to describe it is as George describes that éclair—not trash, but floating just above it.
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Post by ganews on Oct 22, 2016 15:32:45 GMT -5
Hot Space (1982)Some two years have past since Queen last queened at us with the Flash Gordon Soundtrack. I'm not going to check, but I think this might be the longest gap between Queen albums yet since they were doing an album a year for awhile there. Was the synth and movie sample heavy album that was Flash Gordon an outlier or a sign of things to come? Today we'll explore the follow-up to that piece of shit album, Hot Space. Pre-Existing PrejudicesI am going to catch a lot of shit for what I'm about to say, but that's pretty much par for the course at this point. I think that Vanilla Ice made better use of the "Under Pressure" bass line and have always preferred "Ice Ice Baby" to "Under Pressure." "Ice Ice Baby" is exciting; full of action and vitality while "Under Pressure" is slow and has that "boomba bay boomba bay" part that makes me uncomfortable. I just want to make it clear that I only "liked" this in anger. That said, I'm not looking forward to this one. And "Under Pressure" certainly isn't a top Queen or Bowie track for me, even if I'm not so crass as to prefer Vanilla Ice.
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Post by ganews on Oct 24, 2016 10:26:44 GMT -5
Hot Space"Staying Power" - Well, this sure is different. It is certainly their most dated sound yet because of the instrumentation, so that's your ironic title right there. I like the bass, but nothing else on this track is doing it for me. I love horns in rock, but this just sounds thrown together. Except for the multitrack vocals, it really doesn't sound like Queen. I'll have to go back to look at Nudeviking's thoughts after this reply window is closed; maybe he misses Brian May's guitar now. "Dancer" - So this is the new reality. The bass sounds like Billy Squire's "The Stroke"; sorry Queen, yours wasn't the most homoerotic song to sound like this. We've got some guitar again, but it's nothing special. Wacky Mercury exclamations punctuate everything. It gets more interesting as it goes on through a couple breakdowns, except for that misplace squawkbox at the end. "Back Chat" - This is a better song, but I'm also really resenting Mercury's non-singing. Did they just learn the wrong lessons from "Another One Bites the Dust"? There's some synthy slither that reminds me of Flash Gordon. The guitar solo is not unwelcome. "Body Language" - Now here's a real oddball. I definitely like it the best so far. Synth bass line, other weirdness synth, Mercury remembered to sing some (if only he would stop talking otherwise) Wikipedia tells me the music video was banned in places, and the song was used in a documentary called "Stripper". "Action This Day" - 2/4 electric drums, and this sounds like J Geils Band "Freeze Frame", which isn't so bad. I think the biggest problem on this album is how minimalist the songs all are, which is just not how Queen ought to be. This one actually has a little more going for it with the sax. "Put Out the Fire" - This song is kinda too little too late for me. I'm not here to rock anymore, I'm here to groove. The last two tracks were an improvement. Queen retained their commitment to mish-mash albums that don't mesh...eh, let me get in a vinyl state of mind: this is side B. Also: "People get shot by people / People wiiiith guns!" "Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)" - We're firmly back in Queen territory on the back half here. Actually this isn't a bad tribute to late Lennon at all; the song grows on me. After the first sentence I originally wrote "not the good kind of Queen territory" but I erased it. "Calling All Girls" - This is OK. I like the subtle faux-sitar buzzes and the staccato picking. It sounds like middle-aged Queen. Ohh, but those record scratches are a bad effect. "Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)" - Oh god, how boring. Even with a ballad, Queen should not be boring. "Cool Cat" - I'm going back and forth between liking this lounge-Queen with cool funk touches and being uninterested in Mercury's crooning. "Under Pressure" - I didn't know this was born of an impromptu jam session. It's the most interesting and well-integrated instrumentation on the album. And I like Mercury's scats for a change. And you know, Vanilla Ice really missed out on the snaps and claps that compliment the bassline so well. The song has an epic progression that was nowhere else on the record, which is just too bad. This should have been some freak single, not tacked onto a lackluster half-experiment album. Summary: Well, I guess I can support that they really tried something different on side A. And that half-worked. I wish they had committed and done the full album that way, because the back half didn't add much for me. I know good Queen tracks that have yet to appear, so I'm keeping my head up. If you combined the best elements from side A of Hot Space, full songs from Flash Gorden, and "Another One Bites the Dust" you'd have a helluva album.
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Post by Nudeviking on Oct 24, 2016 19:43:42 GMT -5
Hot SpaceI think the biggest problem on this album is how minimalist the songs all are, which is just not how Queen ought to be. When I started this entire thing however many months ago, I never thought the day would come when I would hear a Queen album and be like, "You know what? These songs aren't busy enough with random orchestral stings and changing time signatures," and yet here we are. This album is really, really bare bones not just in terms of instrumentation, but also vocals and composition. Half the songs have a single drum beat that carries on unaltered throughout the length of the song. Like you said, this is not how Queen should be.
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repulsionist
TI Forumite
actively disinterested
Posts: 3,557
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Post by repulsionist on Oct 25, 2016 11:43:53 GMT -5
A whittled wit has a "We Will Rock You" reload opinion: "Oh, it's The Damned Queen."
[Slow Clap] [BOOM] [BOOM]
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Post by Nudeviking on Oct 30, 2016 19:49:51 GMT -5
The Works (1984)
Ug...can I be done with this already? I'm already over this entire thing. Getting a hot dog or a pizza with "the works," is usually terrible, so I don't have high hopes for this album, but who knows, maybe Queen will fool me and get shit back on track after a pair of shit awful albums. Pre-Existing Prejudices:I have always thought that "Radio Ga Ga" had one of the stupidest choruses ever, thought I can't for the life of me remember the verses. Other than that I think someone once played "Hammer to Fall," for me to try to get me to not hate Queen: "This song rocks hard and is by and large pretty good, maybe you'll like this." I don't remember anything about it though. Songs:
There are three bonus tracks this time around, so if I have songs after what you think is the last song, that's why. Don't worry about it, they're probably shitty anyway. "Radio Ga Ga" The verses to this are pretty good. I like the fart synths and think they are well implemented, but the choruses are the dumbest fucking thing Queen's written yet. "Tear It Up" Hard Rock Queen Song #236. This is a nondescript hard rock that sounds like a Queen II era b-side. I promptly forgot it the second it ended. "It's a Hard Life" Queen Piano Ballad #894. Pianos and bombastic Freddie Mercury bellow-singing. There's a solo consisting entirely of the Goddamn Brian May Guitar Sound. I'm surprised no Korean life insurance company has used this song in a commercial. "Man on the Prowl" "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," but less well done. I still hate late 70s/early 80s nostalgia for the 50s and this isn't even good 50s nostalgia. Fuck this song. "Machines (Or 'Back to Humans') Vocoders and fart synths and drum machines kick this off, before Freddie Mercury starts wailing some bullshit about how robots are going to put an end to rock n' roll. The non-Freddie Mercury stuff reminds me of "Rockit," by Herbie Hancock. This song is like two minutes too long. "I Want To Break Free" Fuck. It's this song. This was also in some commercial for an insurance company or pharmaceutical company here in Korea (albeit without the fart synth part). I can't remember what the commercial was selling but I don't want to listen to this anymore. Queen, you win. I'm broken. "Keep Passing the Open Windows" This song includes the lyric "love is all you need." Fuck this song. It's all cliche lyrics about "you don't know what it's like when you don't have a friend," and plinky pianos and roto tom fills. There's double tracked Goddamn Brian May Guitar Sound solos. I hate this shit so much. It's like 12 weeks long too because this garbage heap of a song clearly needed the extra time. I think if I had access to a time machine I would use it to go back and set fire to the master tape for this song. "Hammer To Fall" This is slightly cock rocking and sounds like something off their first album. It's not terrible really, but isn't the song I would have picked to try and convince a noted Queen hater that Queen isn't terrible. It's got too much Queen Choir going on. "Is This The World We Created...?" Ug...the 80s and their dunderheaded songs about giving a shit about the world. I hate this fucking bullshit so much. Fuck the world. "I Go Crazy" Straight forward rocking. This is probably better than any of the songs that appeared on the album proper. "I don't want to go to see Queen no more! No more!" Me either guys. Me either. "Radio Ga Ga (Extended Version)" Yay! An early 80s synth pop intro and weird jangly guitars. I like the intro to this better than anything that appeared on the actual album. Other than that it seems like it's the same as the non-extended version. "I Want To Break Free (Extended Mix)" You know what a boring song to sell insurance with needs to really make it a classic? A Casio keyboard bossanova beat and random guitar dickery and random callbacks to early songs on the album like "More of That Jazz," had. Fuck this so much. Final Thoughts:Fuck this album. Fuck Queen. I was right all along. A couple albums might have tricked me for awhile into thinking that maybe I'd been to harsh on Queen all these years, but if anything I now think that I wasn't harsh enough. I've got four albums left and then I never have to listen to Queen again and that knowledge is the only thing that's going to get me through this.
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Post by ganews on Oct 30, 2016 22:53:18 GMT -5
Nudeviking I'm still holding out hope for the Highlander soundtrack. "Princes of the Universe" will redeem everything. But maybe we should have made you stop at 1980. Or never watch Korean TV. What is up with Queen and Korean insurance?
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Post by Nudeviking on Oct 31, 2016 0:01:32 GMT -5
Nudeviking I'm still holding out hope for the Highlander soundtrack. "Princes of the Universe" will redeem everything. But maybe we should have made you stop at 1980. Or never watch Korean TV. What is up with Queen and Korean insurance? I'm not sure what's the deal with Korean insurance companies and Queen, but as I go through these albums it's becoming clear that I know as many songs from those TV commercials as I do from being radio hits.
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Post by ganews on Nov 1, 2016 8:37:04 GMT -5
The Works. We can only improve from last time. "Radio Ga Ga" - This starts with a promising beat, but it slumps once the high synths start. I remember the chorus a bit, but not these verses at all. The transition between the verses is cool, but then it drops back to where it was. The subtle electronic backing vocal makes me think of the Buggles. Once the verse is over, I actually like Nudeviking's farty synths. If those are spread through the album, I will stay optimistic. But we're still far from the Queen we once knew. Is Freddie Mercury now a liability to Queen? That makes me sad. And now an important message from Wikipedia: Well, calling the song ca-ca would have just been too on-the-nose. "Tear It Up" - Hmm, am I ready? This wants to be a return to form, but the verse is to the tune of "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow, and the drum stomp is just boring. "It's a Hard Life" - I like this ballad pretty well, actually. It's sweet, and it sounds like Queen. Rather sad that that's the standard now. "Man On The Prowl" - It's rockabilly ditty time! And I'm fine with that, even if it's a stretch on the past. I always liked these, and it's good to hear again. This one has a particularly good piano breakdown at the end. It's just fun. Makes me think of Little Feat. "Machines (Or 'Back to Humans')" - I guess Queen still likes to experiment, so...good for them? The electronic voice is just bad. It's kind of the opposite of "Radio Ga Ga" for me; interesting vocals and verse, weak instrumental backing. The farty synths are not good this time, but the track improves a little as it goes on and rocks more. "I Want to Break Free" - This is the one with the famous cross-dress video. Famous because the operatic, flamboyant guys in a band called Queen dressed like women? This is a greatest-hits track, but not one of the best. It's not bad. The feeling in the chorus is strong. The synth solo is kinda interesting, but one can't help but feel it would sound better on guitar (as was played live). What this song really needs is cooler bass and drums. Remember that cool bass work from four years ago, John Deacon? Where is it? "Keep Passing the Open Windows" - Well, there's the bass. It's not interesting but it's audible. Nothing here is really exciting, and it drags. I would like to fast-forward here. "Hammer to Fall" - This was a popular song at the time, I suspect because it was the best and almost only rocker they had at the time. I've heard it before, and yeah it's OK. "Is This the World We Created...?" - A mournful closer for the Live Aid set, and such a short little afterthought. No thanks. "Hammer to Fall" would have been pretty cool to end on. Summary: Well, we did improve from last time. I'm vacillating between thinking Queen had become a little embarrassed sounding like Queen in the 80s, or they were just continuing to experiment but with a lower success rate. They went from making forerunner songs to using sounds that were three years old, and that's too bad. What's here that's good is not breaking any new ground. Queen has so many hits. Something I wish I had been doing all along is noting the best song on the album that I haven't heard or don't remember. Maybe I'll compile those at the end. Here I'm going with "Man On The Prowl".
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Post by Nudeviking on Nov 1, 2016 9:57:18 GMT -5
ganews I hope you don't think I am anti-fart synths, because I actually found them to be one of the most enjoyable parts of this album, and speaking of fart synths get ready for some kind of magic because I just listened to A Kind of Magic and will be typing something on the morrow.
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Post by Nudeviking on Nov 1, 2016 19:36:47 GMT -5
A Kind of Magic (1986)Another fucking Queen album. Let's just get this over with. Pre-Existing Prejudices:None. I have never, to my knowledge, heard any of these songs. Looking at the album cover for the first time when I downloaded the album and looked for album art on Google (because I have a problem and have to have all my mp3s sorted and properly labeled and bestowed with album artwork even when I'm 90% certain I'm going to delete the song in a couple weeks) I couldn't help but wonder if Genie from Aladdin's design was based on the cover of this album. While we're on the topic of Aladdin I saw it on TV the other day and think that Robin Williams' riffing on circa 1990 pop culture makes that movie feel really dated (and also doesn't translate well to people who weren't alive and aware of pop culture in circa 1990 America), but whatever, let's listen to another goddamn Queen album... Songs:"One Vision" The beginning of this sounds like Smells Like Children era Marilyn Manson before the song turns into a Brian Johnson era AC/DC b-side. I actually recognized this from the excellent Louis Gossett Jr. film, Iron Eagle, but had no idea it was Queen who performed it. Way to make a liar out of me Queen. "A Kind of Magic" This is a pretty straightforward power pop song so it gets my seal of approval. I kind of like the bassline and the guitar stuff. The guitar solo is pretty good. "One Year of Love" Dentist office "rock." This sounds like it should have been sung by Cece Winans or some other 1980s pop-ballad lady. There's orchestra noises and a goddamn G.E. Smith & The Saturday Night Live Band saxophone riff. I am not keen on this really. "Pain Is So Close To Pleasure" This sounds like a Motown girl group song. I'd probably like it better if it was sung by an actual girl group (and didn't borrow lyrics from the song the directly proceeded it). "Friends Will Be Friends" The lyrics to this song are really stupid, but I like the vocal melody during the choruses and the way they interplay with the guitar part. "Who Wants To Live Forever" Overwrought orchestra shit and wailing Freddie Mercurys give way to 80s action flick soundtrack guitar hard rock guitar riffs and pounding drums which in turn give way to random sustained notes that are probably supposed to be "atmospheric." Dud. "Gimme The Prize" FUCK YES FINGER TAPPING!! I half expected the finger tapping to kick into Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher," but no, it's way better than that. Air raid siren guitars, samples from fucking Highlander, industrial drum noise. There's a wailing guitar solo that makes me want to grow a mullet and wear a jean jacket and Freddie Mercury yells some bullshit. Best song on the album. "Don't Lose Your Head" The music sounds like Pretty Hate Machine Nine Inch Nails only with a random British lady talk-singing some stuff. Like "Friends Will Be Friends," I don't dislike this song, but think the lyrics are really stupid. "Remember, love can walk through walls?" "Don't drink and drive the car. Don't get breathelized?" I think it's safe to say that Queen will never win a Nobel Prize for their contributions to literature. "Princes of the Universe" "I AM IMMORTAL! I HAVE INSIDE ME BLOOD OF KINGS! YEAH! YEAH!" HIGH MOTHERFUCKIN' LANDER UP IN THIS! AW YE YE!! "A Kind of 'A Kind of Magic'" A pretty clever title for an alternate version "A Kind of Magic." This one's a little shorter and more minimalistic. I didn't have any beef with the original version so this one's perfectly cromulent as well. "Friends Will Be Friends Will Be Friends..." Another alternate version of another track on the album. Unessential. "Forever" "Who Wants To Live Forever," but just piano shit. A worse version of the worst song on the entire album, though I think as a coda it serves as a pretty decent album closer. Final Thoughts:I needed this album. To be honest I was about ready to just ignore this thread forever and go back to listening to lady punk bands and 90s mainstream alterna-rock as is my wont, and if this album had been as bad as The Works was, I probably would have. But I decided to stick it out and power through and as a reward was treated with an album, that while not great, is pretty good for an 80s Queen album. A Kind of Magic's lack of suckitude is probably enough to get me through the last three Queen albums.
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Post by ganews on Nov 1, 2016 22:00:23 GMT -5
Jesus Christ, that's the cover of the album I've been waiting for??
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Post by Nudeviking on Nov 1, 2016 22:04:48 GMT -5
Jesus Christ, that's the cover of the album I've been waiting for?? What, you don't like Brian May as the Genie from Disney's Aladdin?
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Dellarigg
AV Clubber
This is a public service announcement - with guitars
Posts: 7,499
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Post by Dellarigg on Nov 2, 2016 2:47:14 GMT -5
(Bit late, but I remember you asking for occasional extraneous material to review. Well, even as a moderate fan, Queen at Live Aid is well worth a watch. It might improve your opinion of Radio Ga Ga, also.)
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Post by ganews on Nov 2, 2016 16:42:44 GMT -5
A Kind of MagicIt's what I've been waiting for: the mostly-soundtrack to Highlander. Which, though a documentary that was filmed in real, is not actually a very good movie. I like it, but the TV series was better, even if it had plenty of cheese. Sorry, it's the truth. "One Vision" - This sounds like quite the reinvention. It's 1986 now, and this (or at least that bit of finger tapping riff) sounds like still more Queen being four years behind the times. Not a bad song, but not a good sign. "A Kind of Magic" - I've heard this one before, because of the movie of course. The lyrics work well for the movie, but the instrumentation doesn't do much for me. Deacon's bass line sounds like a Casio beat. I miss the old Brian May tone. (Yeah, I said it, Nudeviking.) "One Year of Love" - Uggh, that echoing drum tap beat. Yuck. When do we get to the fireworks factory? That sax solo is fitting, though. I guess they needed something for a love scene. (Wait, Wikipedia says it was a bar scene? What kind of bar was that?) "Pain Is So Close to Pleasure" - Sounds like Tears for Fears. It's a pretty good song, though. Is Queen still playing? Guitar doesn't even come in until the end. "Friends Will Be Friends" - This legit sounds like Queen. It's pretty decent. The synth wash, May's guitar, and the piano all blend very nicely. "Who Wants to Live Forever" - A ballad, but quite dark for Queen. It's very mournful with sad strings in the front, whereas the 80s sad guitar and echoing drums in the back make the lyrics sound resentful. Definitely sounds like movie music, but I think it fits pretty well on the album. It finishes with pure Queen going into a synth flourish. I call it their best "experimental" composition yet. "Gimme the Prize (Kurgan's Theme)" - Big-time finger-tapping, and a little vocal sampling. I think this fits the Kurgan better than the Def Leppard lines he actually quotes in the movie (which make their way onto the track here). Unfortunately, the sampling goes too far over the top. Take that away, and it's a decent song. Mercury and Deacon hated this song, apparently, as did Highlander's director who also "hated heavy metal". Well, I guess this is Queen's attempt at metal. Hmmmmm. "Don't Lose Your Head" - Fucking badass opening. This is how sampling ought to be used, not randomly sprinkled like the last track or Flash Gordon. The rest of the song isn't quite as good (I wish Freddy wasn't talking about love), but it's still damn good. Mercury's other vocal effects are good too. They could have just limited it to the Kurgan and Mercury repeating the title with no verse. "Princes of the Universe" - What a great, great song. Every segment of it. One of my favorite Queen songs (YEAH!). *sudden propeller song change-up* Watch this boy fly! Woo! Bring on the girls! Man, just everything about this song. This was the lead-off song for the compilation CD I made for my fencing club in college, naturally. Special mention: "A Kind Of 'A Kind of Magic'" - "Princes" ended the album proper, but this version of "Magic" is just plain superior to the original album version. Could it be leftover exuberance?. SummaryHighlander is really all over the place as a movie. Fighting, history flashbacks, horror, Spanish peacock, humor, rather dangerous effects, and a totally unnecessary love story. (I always liked how McLeod told the girl "I can never die," stabbed himself, and immediately kissed her. I know you don't die fella, but the rest of us take a couple minutes to bleed out; maybe you should give her more than half a second before making your move.) It's fitting that a band as varied/disorganized as Queen did the soundtrack. Anyway, this must be one of the most back-loaded albums ever. I has certainly renewed my faith in Queen, just in time for Freddie Mercury to be diagnosed with AIDS one year later. Event the worst track, "One Year of Love", has something to recommend it. It certainly would have benefited from better album organization, but that's typical. And as my pick for top album track I wasn't previously familiar with: "Don't Lose Your Head" by a damn mile. Even though it's not "Princes" and "Who wants to Live Forever" was much better than I remembered.
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Post by Nudeviking on Nov 2, 2016 19:27:12 GMT -5
(Bit late, but I remember you asking for occasional extraneous material to review. Well, even as a moderate fan, Queen at Live Aid is well worth a watch. It might improve your opinion of Radio Ga Ga, also.) I'll pencil this on in for after the studio albums are done. I miss the old Brian May tone. (Yeah, I said it, Nudeviking .) To be honest, I kind of do to...or at least am a little sad Brian May as a guitarist no longer has a unique sound. A lot of the guitar on this sounds like they got some other guy who's a fine guitar player but no Brian May to play for them.
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Post by Nudeviking on Nov 2, 2016 20:01:32 GMT -5
The Miracle (1989)So Queen had a minor, Highlander induced "return to form," on A Kind of Magic. If I were forced to create a list of my favorite Queen albums, that one would probably be in my top five. But that was A Kind of Magic and this is The Miracle. Will this one build on the surprisingly strong A Kind of Magic, or return to the shittiness that proceeded it? Let's find out! Pre-Existing Prejudices:Musically? None. As far as I know I have never heard a single song off this album. Artistically? Fuck, that is a terrible album cover. Like it's just the worst, and not in a good way. A Kind of Magic had a shit album cover too, but it was at least funny and whimsical. This is an abomination before god and/or goddess. With an album cover like this I wonder how proggy this album's going to be. Shit...it's so bad. Let's stop looking at it okay? Songs:"Party" I don't think this is really that good of a song, but think that it works pretty well as an album opener that harkens back to Queen albums of the 70s. "Khashoggi's Ship" What is going on here? Another 1970s style Queen rocker during which Freddie Mercury threatens to kick someone's ass. The riff's got muscles and there's bellowing. This is pretty good. "The Miracle" "Fuckin' magnets. How do they work?!"
Seriously though I kind of like the keyboards replicating a string section (or possibly an actual string section) and I have a soft spot for over processed 80s sounding drums (like the ones here). "I Want It All" Back when I listened to the first two Queen albums, if you had asked me to chart out Queen's musical metamorphosis and asked me to determine how I thought they would sound in 1989 based entirely on those two albums and what I know of the history of pop music this is exactly what I would have imagined. Hard rocking with a choir of Freddie Mercurys only with more 80s synth flourishes. "The Invisible Man" This might be the stupidest song on this album, but it's the right kind of stupid. Legit Queen fans probably hate this, but I think this is fantastic. I love the bass or the fart synth pretending to be a bass. I love that each member of Queen gets a shout out during the song ("JOHN DEEEEEACON!"). I love that the vocal melody rips off the Ghostbusters song. I love the guitar solo. I love how overprocessed everything is. Let's take a second to talk about Freddie Mercury exclamations. I've been noticing him doing it for awhile now, but this album more than any other was a showcase for Freddie Mercury to randomly interject stuff during songs. Most often it takes the form of impish laughter in which he actually says, "ha ha ha," rather than laugh. It's unnecessary and uncalled for, but utterly hilarious. "Breakthru" Queen totally faked me out here. The song began and I was all like "Aw man another ballad that will probably be in a Korean life insurance commercial soon. This is not what I need," but then it's like, "NOPE! Here's fart synths and driving power pop riffs with hints of 'Boys of Summer.' Enjoy!" "Rain Must Fall" Such 80s drums! It's like the Goddamn Miami Sound Machine or Sheena Easton up in here. Fart synths are prominently featured. Freddie Mercury implores Brian May to "play it nice and cool," which apparently means a more 80s sounding version of the Goddamn Brian May Guitar Sound. There's a possible Thomas Dolby diss in the lyrics which incredible and awful. This isn't a terrible song but I think I would like this better if it was sung by a woman. "Scandal" Shit, I love how 80s hard rock this is. It's cheesy as hell, but I love it. The vocoder that pops up toward the end is pretty boss. "My Baby Does Me" Sade's "No Ordinary Love," made better use of this bassline and didn't include the superfluous 1980s LA cop movie guitar wailing. This doesn't really ever get out of first gear. "Was It All Worth It" This might be the best album closer Queen has ever released. It's like a lot of the over the top Queen epics of the 70s but dressed up in the trappings of the 80s. The synth flourishes that sound like something out of an 80s movie about wizards or something and I love them for that. Knowing what we know now about Freddie Mercury this is clearly a song by a man who knows he's got a limited amount of time left on this Earth and wondering if his was a life well spent. That might sound kind of like a downer but fear not, Freddie himself clears up any and all doubt: "Yes, it was a worthwhile experience! Ha ha ha! It was worth it!" "Hang On In There" Weird 80s synth rock. It's not bad, but can't really hold a candle to "Was It All Worth It." Usually the sequencing of a Queen album doesn't matter since they're always just a random collection of songs, but this time there was a proper closer so the bonus tracks feel extra tacked on. "Chinese Torture" "That Goddamn Brian May Guitar Sound: The Song." "The Invisible Man (12" Version)" Time for a dance remix! This isn't as good as the original unless you are really fond of late 90s Club MTV with Downtown Julie Brown sounding tunes, but it's still okay. Final Thoughts:This was a surprisingly good album. Bonus tracks aside there weren't really any bad songs per say, save perhaps for "My Baby Does Me," which didn't really do it for me, but even that had a decent enough bassline and ridiculous Freddie Mercury vocal ejaculations. This album, like A Kind of Magic before it, will survive any post Nudeviking vs. Queen mp3 purge that takes place. I do have to wonder how much of my enjoyment of these last two albums comes from the fact that Queen more or less stopped sounding like Queen and started sounding more like all the 80s bands/groups that like as a child. Like what do actual fans of Queen think of these last two albums? What did fans think at the time they were released? Am I the only person in the world who would rank "The Invisible Man," higher than "Bohemian Rhapsody?" Things to think about as I go forward.
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Post by ganews on Nov 5, 2016 20:32:50 GMT -5
The Miracle. Now we're in new territory for me. I've either never heard any songs newer than the last album or don't recognize the name. "Party" - Hey guys, it's 1989. Remember Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation"? This guitar solo is curious; it's not the Brian May of the 70s, but not of the 80s either. Really, it continues to sound like Mercury just recruited a new band. "Khashoggi's Ship" - Yep, the 80s. I've never liked echoing "Born in the USA" drums. It sounds pretty generic until the hand-clap breakdown, that's Queen all right. "The Miracle" - Hmm, this is more distinctive. Harp and synth. Also identifiable Brian May, but gosh I really miss John Deacon's bass - wait, there it is a couple minutes in! Just a little rumble and it's inaudible again. Too bad. Listen to these peace-on-earth lyrics. I definitely liked Queen more before Live Aid. Hey, the bass is up again! The outro to this song is the best part of the album so far. "I Want It All" - Oh man, what was I thinking - of course I know this song. It is the American analog to Nudeviking's Korean insurance. This song has been used in so many commercials. It's good though, and it's the best and most effect the Freddie Mercury chorus has sounded in years. It also has a super parts with the late-song breakdown (finger-taps, up tempo, cool synths) and a pause for acapella Freddie chorus. "The Invisible Man" - Whoa, this is really something. I don't know what to make of it. Steady bass rumble. Whisper lyrics to a Billy Squire "The Stroke" rhythm. Nice synth work. The song keeps transitioning around in a really cool way, and Brian May is going nuts with the tapping here. Great one-two punch with "I Want It All". "Breakthru" - Ye olde Queene in the intro, then suddenly a cool bass and farty synth (my new favorite music term)...and an organ. Has Queen ever used an organ before? This is a fun little track. Too bad the lyrics sound like something that would be adapted for a Disney Main Street parade (which sort of sounds like Kidz Bop, if you don't know). Freddie breathing heavily over the end of the track is amusingly creepy. "Rain Must Fall" - 80s adult contemporary. At least the percussion is different. The rest doesn't do much for me. Gosh, Freddie Mercury really does throw it all kinds of between verse ejaculations now, doesn't he? It's still sometimes as much fun as on "Princes of the Universe"...just not here. They try to class it up with more sounds near the end, but I'm ready to move on. "Scandal" - Hm, I wish the song had a more dangerous sound, I guess. But I suppose it was very personal with rumors about the band in the press. Wikipedia says a lot of this was recorded in one take. I do like Mercury's electrified vocal repeats of "scandal" late in the song. Much better than the robot vocals earlier in this decade. "My Baby Does Me" - I like the dark tone and the sexy lyrics, but it's just a Casio beat. They build an OK song around it. You know what, this song is ripe for sampling by 90s hip-hop. I can see it for something like Warren G's "Regulate". "Was It All Worth It" - An apt title for flashing back to the 70s. Mercury's not being subtle in the lyrics, either; this could be a Boston song. I wish this featured fewer Christmas chimes and more Brian May Tone. The dark cello is a nice touch, and the organ makes another appearance. "Hang On in There" - Sneaking in some experimental sound before the album is out. It's a good experiment, too. And as always, I like the change-ups (thanks for pointing that one out, Freddie). "Chinese Torture" - All hail the Brian May Tone! Where you been, Tone? Why you gotta wait until the closing instrumental tomfoolery to come out? You sound good too. Are you embarrassed by your old age, and that's why the title? Summary: I am super impressed how strong this album was. I don't feel like it's something I'll revisit much as an album, but I wouldn't take its tracks out of the shuffle lineup. it's a shame it took Queen until late in their career to learn how to construct an album that flows. How much better would the 70s have sounded? Let's all just pretend the early 80s never happened at all, because now we're going out in style. Best track I was previously unfamiliar with: "The Invisible Man". Honorable mention to the hypothetical 90s rap that sampled "My Baby Does Me". At the end of this, I am going to go back and pick both a favorite new-to-me track and favorite overall track for each album.
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Post by Nudeviking on Nov 7, 2016 19:13:45 GMT -5
Innuendo (1991)
Here it is: the last Queen album recorded in full prior to Freddie Mercury's death. The last two albums were really strong; I might even go so far as to say they were two of Queen's best, but how will this one fare? Pre-Existing Prejudices
None to speak of. I recognize zero of these song titles and don't think the album cover is repulsive. Songs:
"Innuendo" Kind of an old school Queen song with a bunch of disparate song chunks stitched together. I kind of like the grungy, Phrygian mode based verses that remind me of Alice In Chains. The random flamenco guitar seems a bit out of place, and I enjoy it somewhat less than the other part, but overall it's not a terrible song and it serves as a pretty decent album opener. "I'm Going Slightly Mad" This sounds nothing at all like Queen, not that I'm really complaining. This seems more like one of those early 90s British "alternative" bands that rock radio stations would play between "Evenflow" and "Come As You Are" in '92. If someone had told me that song was by James I'd be like, "That sounds about right." "Headlong" Stupid 80s bar band hard rock with dumb lyrics and dumb riffs. It's the sort of song that would play during a bar scene in a USA Up All Night movie. The "woop ditty ditty woop ditty doo" part might be the most annoying vocal thing Queen has ever recorded. I hate it so much. "I Can't Live With You" Why is the music so low in the mix on this song? There are clearly guitars and bass and stuff but it's so much quieter than the singing. It's just kind of there. I thought it might have just been my headphones, but I listened to it on the home stereo and it was still barely there. I don't care for this at all. "Don't Try So Hard" Musical theatre verses! The Goddamn Brian May Guitar Sound! 80s Cop Movie guitar wailing! Garbage. "Ride The Wild Wind" This one kind of feels like a goofier version of Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone." If you don't have an aversion to Top Gun Soundtrack rock, this one's not terrible. I prefer "Danger Zone," but this is a decent enough facsimile. "All God's People" The music to this sounds like something that was cut from The Lion King. The lyrics harken back to Queen I when Queen was a secret Christian hard rock band. This is pretty bad. "These Are the Days of Our Lives" So slow and boring. Garbage lyrics about how great it was to be young. Shitty adult contemporary music consisting of bongo drums, chimes, poorly implemented fart synths and adult contemporary guitar noodling. One of the worst Queen songs of all time. "Delilah" Oh Queen you tricked me! I thought this was about a lady (even with the line about how she pees all over your "chippendale suite") but nope, it's about a cat. I have to hand it to Queen here. They managed something amazing here in that they created something involving a cat that is not interesting in the least. Here's a video of a cat getting brain freeze that is infinitely more enjoyable than this song. "The Hitman" Holy fuck this riff! What is going on here Queen? Where did this come from? I bet this is a Roger Taylor song. He seems to be the only one who consistently gave a fuck about rocking out. "Bijou" 1980s cop movie guitar wailing and swelling synth orchestra. So boring. I wanted this album to be good. The last two were good, but this is just so lifeless and depressing. "The Show Must Go On" Queen retreading old lyrical territory while sounding like a third rate Scorpions knockoff. A shitty end to a by and large shitty album. Final Thoughts:
This album is a bummer of an album and not in the good, "I just broke up with my girlfriend I'm going to sit alone in darkness, drink, and listen to this album for a week," way. It's just a slog of boring, listless songs that were just sort of there. With the previous two albums I thought that Queen had finally gotten their shit together for one last hoorah, but here, in their final album as a full band, we get a grab bag of tunes that are mediocre at best. Perhaps though that's apropos. Queen, in spite their best efforts, were never an album band. Even their most universally beloved albums were loaded with filler and sequenced in a way that it was clear that Queen gave zero fucks about album flow. Freddie Mercury died nine months after this album was released and the World lost one of rock's best vocalists and simultaneously most inconsistent songwriters. Queen would release one more studio album after Mercury passed away which is what we'll examine next time. Though to be honest, I'm doubtful that a vault cleaning posthumous release by a band I'm lukewarm at most about is going to do much to change my opinion of them for the better.
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Post by ganews on Nov 10, 2016 15:59:19 GMT -5
Innuendo. In -your-endo, friendo. "Innuendo" - Hmm. It's slow and soaring. Freddie doesn't sound great. Is this odd echo a YouTube artifact? What a dinosaur this must have been in 1991. Ooh, but I love this flamenco breakdown. Once the Mercury chorus starts this gets much better. Part 3 also sounds pretty cool. 2/3 of a song is not so bad. "I'm Going Slightly Mad" - I suppose I was hoping for " They're Coming to Take Me Away!" I don't know what's going on. It really doesn't sound like Queen or even Mercury save for the bare chorus in the background. The lyrics are pretty fun and would have fit well into the "Killer Queen" era. When was the last time Roger Taylor's drums were interesting? "Headlong" - This is an acceptabley rumbley Queen, if nothing exactly groundbreaking. At least they sound a little more interested. That "hoop ditty doo" is unfortunate, though. "I Can't Live with You" - Mixed feelings at best. This is pretty lighthearted. It's also that post-Queen sound that just doesn't compare to the 70s unless you're knocking out of the park like on A Kind of Magic. "Don't Try So Hard" - This is not a bad ballad, but I wish the instrumentation was from about 15 years earlier. Mercury's voice is still pretty strong. "Ride the Wild Wind" - Dammit, Roger Taylor finally put some energy into the beat for his song. And his song is not great. I do not like the almost-spoken lyrics. It could have sounded like an 80s motor cycle song even without the sound effects. Perhaps for a starring vehicle for Lorenzo Lamas. "We got freaks to the left / we got jerks to the right" "All God's People" - This is never more than OK, six years after Live Aid. It has some sounds I like, some I don't like. The bluesy strut in the middle is just goofy. "These Are the Days of Our Lives" - Adult contemporary conga, no thanks. And oh does it go downhill. This is a low point worthy of Hot Space. "Delilah" - I didn't expect it to get actively worse. I believe this is the worst song they have ever recorded. Roger Taylor had the taste to hate it. MEOW. Is there a gayer song out there? "The Hitman" - You're just going to make me angry by busting out a generic rocker now. It would have been boring filler once upon a time, now it feels like they're sticking it to me. John Deacon's bass (audible about once an album these days) does not cheer me. "Bijou" - Queen didn't sound like this until Flash Gordon. Yuck. "The Show Must Go On" - I just want it to end, though this would have been not such an unfortunate swan song had it come halfway through the album and stopped there. I laughed at the juxtaposition of the song title and the super-long fade-out. Summary: This started off as uninteresting but not wretchedly awful late Queen, and I thought Nudeviking was overstating. Then it got wretchedly awful. The second half steers hard into Hot Space quality levels. I was unfamiliar with all these tracks For best song on the album, I guess I'll go with the title track "Innuendo". I'm looking forward to revisiting the early albums to determine top track for my final wrap-up.
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Post by Nudeviking on Nov 10, 2016 19:43:04 GMT -5
Made In Heaven (1995)So Freddie Mercury died but there was still money to be made using the Queen name so in 1995 this vault clearing posthumous album was released. I do not have high hopes for this, but maybe I'll be surprised. Pre-Existing Prejudices:None. I have never heard of any of these songs. Songs:"It's a Beautiful Day" Boring piano noodling and wailing Freddie Mercury and then it just ends. Nothing really happens here. "Made In Heaven" More wailing Freddie Mercury, but this time with guitars! The Goddamn Brian May Guitar Sound. This is so crappy. God why is everything so fucking awful? "Let Me Live" Fuck this. A gospel choir? Are you fucking kidding me? Fuck this bullshit. Freddie Mercury and another dude (Brian May maybe) trade off singing duties. I hate this song. I think someone just said, "Go for it babe." Fuck this song. It just keeps going and going. "Mother Love" Two cops in LA, one by the books, the other a loose canon, are on the trail on Escobar Mendoza, the biggest cocaine dealer in North America...What is up with this 80s cop music soundtrack shit. This is all fake drums and 80s cop movie guitars. Hold on a second. Freddie Mercury just declared that his woman gives him sweet mother love? What the fuck does that mean? Is this about sexing up his mom? What the fuck? "My Life Has Been Saved" Boring fucking bullshit. I think they're back to being a secret Christian "hard" rock band here. Lyrics about thanking the lord and other garbage like that. "I Was Born To Love You" Great. Another fucking Korean insurance company song. I hate this one the most of all the Korean insurance company commercial Queen songs. Why does it end with snippets of the lyrics from "A Kind of Magic?" "Heaven for Everyone" Boring adult contemporary guitars and lifeless drumming during the verses. The choruses are slightly better but every song on this album is like five minutes long and none of them really go anywhere. More Brian May singing like the surviving Queen dudes took some Freddie Mercury demos and were like "These songs are only three minutes long we need more bullshit to pad them out. Brian why don't you write another shitty verse?" "Too Much Love Will Kill You" This music is so bad. It's such forgettable adult contemporary nonsense which is kind of a shame since lyrically I think this one is pretty decent with genuine emotions behind them. "You Don't Fool Me" This one starts out pretty decently. The riff's pretty decent and the drums propel the song. Freddie's got a quasi New Jack Swing thing going on here as he sings. This one's kind of funky and wouldn't have been out of place on A Kind of Magic. "A Winter's Tale" Boring slow jam. Why is everything on this album so slow and dull. "It's a Beautiful Day (Reprise)" A slightly more rocking version of the first song on the album. Random snippets of the piano part of "Seven Seas of Rhye." This one is slightly better than the non-reprise version. "Yeah" Literally Freddie Mercury just warbling the word "yeah." I didn't realize it was its own song. "(Untitled Hidden Track)" This album was released in the mid-90s so of course there's a secret song. Every mid-90s album was required by law to have a secret song. This one begins with random synth washes and orchestral swells. It wouldn't be out of place on the Flash Gordon Soundtrack. About eight minutes in we get some guitar arpeggios and keyboard melodies. Ten minutes and forty seconds in some asks, "Are you ready?" This is the first human voice to be heard. The music has reverted back to sustained synths. Thirteen minutes in we get some chimes. They scared the shit out of me. At sixteen minutes and twenty seconds there's murder movie synths and random piano chords. 18:40 random sci-fi noises begin loudly. We're coming down the home stretch. 2:30 minutes and I'm done with Queen forever. Freddie Mercury is laughing at me like some sort of trickster god. It's raining now. The music is swelling in triumph. I'm going to do it guys. One minute! The music's fading. Cymbals roll. And it's over. I've done the impossible. I have listened to the entire Queen discography. Final Thoughts:I never thought I'd encounter a Queen album I loathed more than Hot Space but Queen really outdid themselves here. This album was quite simply the goddam drizzling shits. Hot Space was a shit album, yes, but at least there were a couple cool synth things and it begot "Ice Ice Baby." This had no redeeming value to it other than the fact that I can now say I'm done with Queen. The truly final final thoughts while be posted this evening when I have access to the statistical data that itunes can provide.
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Post by ganews on Nov 10, 2016 23:05:03 GMT -5
Made in Heaven. Fun story from 1995: my 5/6th grade class was visited by a guest speaker from England for some reason or other. When asked what kind of music they listen to in England, he said something along the lines of "lite rock". I don't remember which bands he listed, but I know one of them was Phil Collins. Having never been to the UK, I have no reason not to continue to believe him. Innuendo was voted the 94th greatest album of all time in a national 2006 BBC poll. The Brits were obviously clamoring for one more. So let's rip this band-aid off.
"It's a Beautiful Day" - I have no major complaints with this half-song, but yeah it sounds like what you would expect for a song recorded post-mortem of the vocals.
"Made in Heaven" - It moves from a really crummy intro merely not great, but I appreciate hearing snippets of the Brian May Tone. And that's what this is, for people who wanted one last taste. I wish the extended guitar solo weren't extended. What's sad is that Brian May spent 3/5 of Queen's existence without the Tone.
"Let Me Live" - Oh yeah, I reeeeeally don't want this gospel choir or the piano with it. When was the last time we heard Roger Taylor or Brian May sing more than a scattered line or two? Is John Deacon still in this band? This song goes on and on. I guess they wanted to include every bit Mercury recorded.
"Mother Love" - Definitely a decade past this sell-by date. There's some OK synth work here, but I'm pretty burned out. Man all these songs seem to stretch forever except the first one. The whisper lyrics are weird. The outro is even weirder.
"My Life Has Been Saved" - Oh man yuck. This really does sound like church. Make it stop.
"I Was Born to Love You" - I was born to love you / I was born to lick your face / I was born to rub you / But you were born to rub me first. How is this a Korean insurance commercial? Why is Queen tied to the Korean insurance industry? I mean "I was born to take care of you" is finally an apt lyric; I feel like I should have been asking this question all along. Anyway, this had an interesting intro that took a very steep dive into a weak song. The Brian May Tone makes a heartfelt appearance, but it doesn't matter because everything else is poor. Ha ha ha, it's magic how this song keeps going!
"Heaven for Everyone" - More church. I mean, it's reasonable for that to be the headspace when you're close to the end, and I'm sure it meant the world to the fans who stuck around. But no thanks. At least Mercury sounds happy. The laughs and interjections weren't really there on the previous album.
"Too Much Love Will Kill You" - Pretty sick title on an album memorializing someone who died of AIDS. OOOOHHH god this sound is so bad. Electric piano. How was this written between A Kind Of Magic and The Miracle, the only two really strong late Queen albums?
"You Don't Fool Me" - I have been working hard to find redeeming qualities. This is just a little stomp shy of being a smooth disco track I could listen to. It needs more raw Mercury bite and less slick production. It doesn't need a guitar solo to pretend it sounds like Queen, because it's better off not.
"A Winter's Tale" - My review: it's a Christmas song.
"It's a Beautiful Day (Reprise)" - Not bad. At least, better than the first time. A better musical epitaph than the whole rest of the album.
"Yeah" - yeah
Summary: Nice try, Made in Heaven, but how can you be the worst if you didn't include "Delilah"?. I think I miss Hot Space, where they were at least trying new things. But it's over now. Best song (all were new to me): "You Don't Fool Me" edges it out. It's not perfect and coulda been better, but it feels more complete than the Beautiful Day reprise. I'll review my picks in my final summary.
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Post by Nudeviking on Nov 10, 2016 23:19:09 GMT -5
Made in Heaven. Fun story from 1995: my 5/6th grade class was visited by a guest speaker from England for some reason or other. When asked what kind of music they listen to in England, he said something along the lines of "lite rock". I don't remember which bands he listed, but I know one of them was Phil Collins. Having never been to the UK, I have no reason not to continue to believe him. Innuendo was voted the 94th greatest album of all time in a national 2006 BBC poll. The Brits were obviously clamoring for one more. So let's rip this band-aid off. "It's a Beautiful Day" - I have no major complaints with this half-song, but yeah it sounds like what you would expect for a song recorded post-mortem of the vocals. "Made in Heaven" - It moves from a really crummy intro merely not great, but I appreciate hearing snippets of the Brian May Tone. And that's what this is, for people who wanted one last taste. I wish the extended guitar solo weren't extended. What's sad is that Brian May spent 3/5 of Queen's existence without the Tone. "Let Me Live" - Oh yeah, I reeeeeally don't want this gospel choir or the piano with it. When was the last time we heard Roger Taylor or Brian May sing more than a scattered line or two? Is John Deacon still in this band? This song goes on and on. I guess they wanted to include every bit Mercury recorded. "Mother Love" - Definitely a decade past this sell-by date. There's some OK synth work here, but I'm pretty burned out. Man all these songs seem to stretch forever except the first one. The whisper lyrics are weird. The outro is even weirder. "My Life Has Been Saved" - Oh man yuck. This really does sound like church. Make it stop. "I Was Born to Love You" - I was born to love you / I was born to lick your face / I was born to rub you / But you were born to rub me first. How is this a Korean insurance commercial? Why is Queen tied to the Korean insurance industry? I mean "I was born to take care of you" is finally an apt lyric; I feel like I should have been asking this question all along. Anyway, this had an interesting intro that took a very steep dive into a weak song. The Brian May Tone makes a heartfelt appearance, but it doesn't matter because everything else is poor. Ha ha ha, it's magic how this song keeps going! "Heaven for Everyone" - More church. I mean, it's reasonable for that to be the headspace when you're close to the end, and I'm sure it meant the world to the fans who stuck around. But no thanks. At least Mercury sounds happy. The laughs and interjections weren't really there on the previous album. "Too Much Love Will Kill You" - Pretty sick title on an album memorializing someone who died of AIDS. OOOOHHH god this sound is so bad. Electric piano. How was this written between A Kind Of Magic and The Miracle, the only two really strong late Queen albums? "You Don't Fool Me" - I have been working hard to find redeeming qualities. This is just a little stomp shy of being a smooth disco track I could listen to. It needs more raw Mercury bite and less slick production. It doesn't need a guitar solo to pretend it sounds like Queen, because it's better off not. "A Winter's Tale" - My review: it's a Christmas song. "It's a Beautiful Day (Reprise)" - Not bad. At least, better than the first time. A better musical epitaph than the whole rest of the album. "Yeah" - yeah Summary: Nice try, Made in Heaven, but how can you be the worst if you didn't include "Delilah"?. I think I miss Hot Space, where they were at least trying new things. But it's over now. Best song (all were new to me): "You Don't Fool Me" edges it out. It's not perfect and coulda been better, but it feels more complete than the Beautiful Day reprise. I'll review my picks in my final summary. You didn't get the 23 minute synth noise secret song? You really missed out man! Also with those laughs and interjections on "Heaven for Everyone," I think some/all of them might have been samples from earlier albums since they seemed to be doing that on this album.
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monodrone
Prolific Poster
Come To Brazil
Posts: 2,551
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Post by monodrone on Nov 11, 2016 7:38:32 GMT -5
I'm going to write something about me and Queen in response to this because I have Thoughts and Opinions that I keep putting off because I'm bad at articulating them and I'm writing this to make sure that I follow through on it.
Also - are you going to ignore 2008s Queen + Paul Rodgers album The Cosmos Rocks? There is no John Deacon and no Freddie Mercury but it claims to be Queen all the same.
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Post by ganews on Nov 11, 2016 8:07:59 GMT -5
Also - are you going to ignore 2008s Queen + Paul Rodgers album The Cosmos Rocks? There is no John Deacon and no Freddie Mercury but it claims to be Queen all the same. Then it claims a lie!
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Post by Nudeviking on Nov 14, 2016 20:44:49 GMT -5
For Reals Final Thoughts I decided to embark on crazy adventure on September 1 and in the two months that have passed I have listened to 188 Queen songs totaling 12 hours and three minutes. I have listened to most of those songs more than once which means that in the past nine weeks I have spent more than a day of my life listening to this band called Queen, a band that two months ago I would have ranked as one of my least favorite bands from a genre of music that I generally enjoy. Today, that is no longer the case. I still am of the mind that a lot of their songs are garbage (more on that later), but will admit that when they were good, they could be really good. Unfortunately I found them to be a really uneven band because for as high as the highs were the lows were equally as low.
I've had some time to think about it all and let the momentous nature of my accomplishment sink in and thought it would probably behoove me to write something about how this project changed my life or I had some grand epiphany, but nothing like that happened, so instead I'm going to attempt to determine what precisely I liked about Queen using maths and statistics. If we're going strictly by play count "Sheer Heart Attack," "Football Fight," and "More of That Jazz," were the best Queen songs since they were tied at 8 plays a piece, though playcount numbers are skewed more heavily toward the older songs just because they were on my mp3 player longer, so the data is somewhat prejudicial. What I have decided to do instead is rank the albums from 15 to 1 with 15 being the worst and 1 being the best. I will further elaborate on each album by pointing out my favorite and least favorite song of each. Ready? Let's begin!
15. Made In Heaven - It seems sort of like a cop out to rank the band's final album, the only one released after Freddie Mercury's death as the worst album, but it really was. There were not really any good songs and everything just felt boring and kind of depressing. The worst song and best song of this album are both really hard to pick, because I didn't like any songs, but I said I'd pick a best and a worst and that's what I'm going to do. The worst was probably "Let Me Live," with it's shitty gospel choir that no one wanted and adult contemporary bullshit music. The best was probably "You Don't Fool Me," which was one of the few songs on the album to feel lively.
14. Hot Space - This was my least favorite Queen album for awhile. The only reason that Made In Heaven was ranked lower than this is because here they were clearly trying something different while Made In Heaven was all just rehashed shit. I can appreciate that they were experimenting here, even if none of the songs really came together. Worst song of the album would probably be "Dancer." The best I guess is "Action This Day."
13. The Works - Queen was pretty bad in the early 80s. This one, like Hot Space, doesn't really have any songs that I like on it but gets the nod because it had a couple songs that were "kind of okay I guess." I hated "Is This The World We Created..." the most for it's bullshit 80s Mega Concert About Some Fucking Issue feel and overall shittiness. The best I'm kind of cheating with my pick for the best because it was a b-side or something but it was included on the reissue I listened to so it counts. It was called "I Go Crazy," and it was a decent rock jam.
12. Innuendo - The last living Freddie Mercury Queen album. It was kind of a mixed bag. Lots of down tempo garbage songs that didn't do it for me, but "I'm Going Slightly Mad," was really good. Top Twenty Queen songs stuff for me there. The worst track on the album? "Delilah," which might be the worst Queen song of all.
11. Flash Gordon - The album's not really terrible per say it's just really inessential since it's all goofy synths and samples from the Flash Gordon movie. As a movie score it's pretty good I guess, but as a rock album it's pretty bad. The worst thing on the album I guess is the Goddamn Brian May Guitar Sound version of "The Wedding March." "Football Fight," was the best and if I ever become a pro-wrestler or a baseball closing pitcher I'm using that as my entrance music.
10. A Day At The Races - This is probably considered classic Queen by a lot of people, but to me it was just a random collection of songs that gave no thought to the flow of the album. Some of the songs were okay, most were not. Worst Song: "Teo Torriatte" Best Song: "White Man"
9. Queen - Queen's first album is the least like anything else in their discography. Here they're pretty much a heavy metal band. The songs here are pretty okay, but never really rise above being Zepplin-esque 70s cock rock. The worst was probably "My Fairy Queen" which just sort of ends, like everyone in the band got bored of it. The best is probably "Great Rat King," which is the only song on the album that really hints at the greatness of Freddie Mercury.
8. The Game - I feel like this was kind of a transitional album for Queen as they entered the 80s. The songs are poppier and they use a lot of synths. I like 80s synth rock and power pop well enough and thus thought that this one was pretty decent. Of all the songs on this album, I liked, "Sail Away Sweet Sister," the least. It was a dumb ballad with lyrics about Brian May wanting to fuck his sister, which is just gross. The best track on the album was "Coming Soon," which I thought was just really good power pop.
7. A Night At The Opera - Another Queen album that never really did it for me. Some songs were good. Some were terrible. Most were just kind of there. Worst Song: "I'm In Love With My Car" Best Song: - "The Prophet's Song"
6. Sheer Heart Attack - This album could have been the best Queen album of all, but fate intervened and so it is not. There were a couple decent tracks on here. I thought the proto-thrash metal jam, "Stone Cold Crazy," was pretty awesome and thought that "Brighton Rock," and "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)" were also decent enough songs. Worst Song: "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" Best Song: Stone Cold Crazy"
5. Queen II - Like their first album, Queen is still just a 70s hard rock band here, though they do show some signs of what they would become. I was just glad that this album wasn't total shit because a bunch of the song titles are tied to a Super Nintendo RPG series I like. Worst Song: "Funny How Love Is" Best Song: "Ogre Battle"
4. The Miracle - A late entry in Queen's discography that I thought was better than it had any right to be. I liked the way they blended the Queen sound with a more contemporary (for the time) sonic palette. Worst Song: "My Baby Does Me" Best Song: "The Invisible Man"
3. News of the World - Sometimes an album that is just okay with a really kickass album cover can rise above mediocrity by the inclusion of a single song. That song is "Sheer Heart Attack," which oddly enough did not appear on the album with which it shares its title. Sheer Heart Attack's (the album) loss is News of the World's gain because "Sheer Heart Attack," is such a great song I prefer News of the World more just because it's the album that has "Sheer Heart Attack," on it. Maybe it's for the better though. Can you imagine how hard Sheer Heart Attack would have rocked if it had both "Sheer Heart Attack," and "Stone Cold Crazy?" It might have been too much. Worst Song: "All Dead, All Dead" Best Song (of All): "Sheer Heart Attack"
2. A Kind of Magic - The further along in Queen's discography I went the more worried I became. The later albums had to be complete shit didn't they, but when I put A Kind of Magic on and let it wail I was pleasantly surprised. It not only wasn't shit, it was actually kind of good. It was actually really good. Even the weaker songs on the album had interesting things going on so I wasn't loathe to hear them. Worst Song: "One Year of Love" Best Song: "Princes of the Universe"
1. Jazz - Some weird choices in the song order aside this is really a pretty excellent album, and one that feels the most like what I thought a Queen album would be. Stylistically they're all over the place going from vaguely Middle Eastern style chants to hard rock to weird piano ditties and back. Personally this one's weird for me in that it's one of the few Queen albums were I don't actively hate the hits. Worst Song: "In Only Seven Days" Best Song: "More of That Jazz"
And that's my list, and the end of Nudeviking vs. Queen for the foreseeable future. In time I may listen to some live albums, or some of the solo albums the dudes put out, but for now this is it. I should probably close by apologizing to Roger Taylor. In the early going, the one consistent thing about Queen albums was one of the songs I hated most on any given album was undoubtedly penned by him. I wrote early on that I didn't understand why they kept letting him write songs and that he would never pen a song that I, myself, liked. Shortly after I made that claim Roger Taylor went on a tear and had a string of awesome songs. While not all of his songs were fantastic in looking over all the data now it's clear to me that he wrote the greatest number of Queen songs that I enjoyed out of everyone in the band. So, Roger Taylor, if you're reading this, I'm sorry man. I was wrong about you and your song writing prowess. If the day comes that I listen to Queen solo albums, I'll probably start with yours first.
This is not the end of me, however. For as badly as I hated some of this music, I rather thoroughly enjoyed the experience and thought about doing it again with another band or artist with whom I was not as well acquainted with as I should be. There were a couple artists I thought about but ultimately I decided to go through the discography of David Bowie. It's going to be slightly different than it was with Queen for a couple reasons. First, I actually own some David Bowie albums, but huge chunks of his discography are musical blindspots to me. Second, unlike Queen, the vast majority of classic rock radio Bowie doesn't bother me. I worry that having some familiarity with the music and already having a positive baseline opinion of Bowie's music will make this next adventure slightly less fun, but I'll try it out and see what happens when I come back in a couple weeks with Nudeviking vs. David Bowie.
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