I think Jazz is probably Queen's best album, but I think this one more purely exemplifies the diversity of their total sound, and that's why I chose it instead. Perhaps I will review Jazz after this in my frenzied quest to supply you with sustenance in the months ahead while suffering from lack of hatter. Funny, you probably won't be reading this until well after it's been written. Therefore, I am speaking to myself presently, but to an unknown audience in the future who may clap or boo me long after I've fallen below the proscenium. How's that for metafiction, sweetums?
"Brighton Rock" is a fucking doozy. A helluva way to start an album: Freddie's in high register, Brian wants to kick your face in with his Red Special; and oh, I love those harmonic group choruses. "Killer Queen" is another great tune naturally from Paris, guaranteed to blow your mind. Brian's guitar is spot-on again -- I mean, but when isn't it? It's especially tasty here, though, in my humblest of humbles. Additionally, no Queen record can do without their signature pomp track -- you know, camp in not so much its highest form, but perhaps in its nascent state; and that song is "Bring Back That Leroy Brown." Vintage, baby! "Tenement Funster" is another great track; if memory serves, it's Brian who's doing some not-too-shabby vocal duties. Most of the album is otherwise pretty solid, although there are a few weaknesses -- "In The Lap Of The Gods," "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper In Stilettos)," "Dear Friends." Oh damn, I almost forgot "Stone Cold Crazy." Is not that proto-metal at its finest? Rubber tommy water guns and overlapping guitar solos like snakes coils. Lovely stuff. B+
3 comments:
I love the early albums (I and II) most, but most Queen albums before the 1980s were great stuff.
Yeah, once they hit the 80s -- like most bands -- they got a bit crappy for my tastes.
I agree with you on the 80's. But 70's Queen is great. Mercury was one of the best front men, ever.
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