Queen Appreciation Thread

Motley Crue

Queen, the British band, has signed a record deal with Universal Music Group after being with EMI for almost 40 years. They are also preparing to release remastered versions of their studio albums to hit store shelves next year.

Under the deal with Universal, the band will appear on the Island Records label starting January 1. Brian May, the band’s guitarist, said that they are very excited. After so long, they will be embarking on a new phase of their career with new dreams, new ideas and a new record company.

The band is also set to be featured in a television documentary to be shown on BBC, while a Hollywood film will be made about them. Sacha Baron Cohen, the comedian, will reportedly play Mercury.

For a band I have idolised by entire life, and as we approach the 20th anniversary of the death of lead vocalist Freddie Mercury (It is November 24th), I rarely see that many threads or mentions of them on here.

I was once a Member of the Queen International Fan Club, the only fan club of any band I have ever bothered to join, and wrote an article many years ago about Queen that I still consider the hardest thing I ever had to write - mainly because of the content within.

This band is the single reason why I even started listening to music as a child, regardless of genres or styles or designs or themes, Queen's music and Freddie Mercury's voice was my guide. In fact, considering a lot of my career choices were based around performance and music, I might not have done those kind of things without at least the partial inspiration of this band.

I still consider one of the highlights of my "concert" life seeing Brian May and Roger Taylor performing with the cast of WWRY on the opening night in Edinburgh's historic Playhouse.

If you'd like to read the article I wrote:
http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/338/

PeterIanStaker

They were the first real band I listened to as well. Played greatest hits I to death when I was 11-12 whatever. Just loved the sound of Mays guitar, he I think inspired me to start playing. And as for Freddie, well what can I say that hasn't been said - the voice, the charisma, easily the best frontman ever.

grames_bond

One of the greatest bands of all time!spectacular musicians coupled with undoubtedly the greatest frontman rock music has ever seen!

Seeing Queen (May & taylor) alongside Paul Rogers in the point was a musical highlight for me! just amazing to even get that little bit of queen magic......it's a kind of magic!!

Huge fan! Cannot speak higher about them!

allanb49

Had a tape of the greatest hits 1 when i was in primary school,

Can remember listening to it on breaks, Best memory was everyone talking about Take That breaking up and someone asking me what i thought, and i said who. Yay for non conformity,

I was 7 or 8 at that time, But been a huge fan ever since, also had a video of the greatest hits 2 and a kind of magic the works on tape too, but they got lost years ago

Kess73

Great band whose music will be loved for decades to come.


The first music album I got was Iron Maiden's The Number Of The Beast, an album which led to a heated discussion between the kid version of Kess73 and the shop assistant version of Pete Burns who was working in Probe records at the time:D, but the first 7" single that I got was Queen's Flash.


I got it about a year after the song had actually been released, and Under Pressure was in the charts at the time around Xmas in 1981. Under Pressure soon became my second 7".


Then a few months later, Maiden's masterpiece came out and it was safe to say that this little kid was hooked on rock/metal.

mike65

Easy to forget just how quickly Queen rose to the top of the heap. In formed 1971, peaked commerically in 1975/76 and steady after that until the end by which time they were hardly worth listening to. I think they hold the record for greatest number of albums in the chart at one time (post Live Aid). The early stuff is deffo the best with Sheer Heart Attack (1974) their creative peak.

The bands greatest 8 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAqFlQj0C9A

nyarlothothep

I quite liked their later career for the pure cheese factor. They were a great band, epic in fact.

bubbaloo

Queen are fantastic. I never really thought about them until earlier this year when I went to see We Will Rock You in London. It was a fantastic show, and then I bought the Greatest Hits cd.
My little boy of 19 months is now obsessed with the cd and plays it every day - stomping his feet and clapping along to "We Will Rock You" and "Another One Bites the Dust".

This band is the single reason why I even started listening to music as a child, regardless of genres or styles or designs or themes, Queen's music and Freddie Mercury's voice was my guide.

I hope my little boy has the same inspiration.

Het-Field

Some of the greatest rock/metal bands openly revere Queen. The likes of Metallica and Guns N Roses (the original line-up) cite Queen as a huge influence.

Like many others, Queen were one of the first real bands that I got into. Subsequent to Queen I began enhancing my rocking experience, before settling on Metal.

I can believe it is 19 years since Freddy passed on.

Roanmore

mike65 wrote: »

Easy to forget just how quickly Queen rose to the top of the heap. In formed 1971, peaked commerically in 1975/76 and steady after that until the end by which time they were hardly worth listening to. I think they hold the record for greatest number of albums in the chart at one time (post Live Aid). The early stuff is deffo the best with Sheer Heart Attack (1974) their creative peak.

The bands greatest 8 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAqFlQj0C9A

My favourite Queen album and one of my favourite albums of all time (well top 20). Loved it for it's diversity and the closing song Lap of the Gods (reprise).
I remember as a kid my older brother and his firends playing Jazz when it came out first, Mustapha, Bicycle Race, Fat Bottomed Girls and of course Don't Stop Me Now (yeah it sounds a bit dated now but at the time I thought it was amazing). Queen and Rainbow, what an introduction to Rock Music at the time.

Motley Crue

The biography channel in the US have done a new show on Freddie, and I believe there is a documentary airing on BBC later this month to commemorate his passing - I've heard rumours that Sacha Bara Cohen (i.e. Borat) is performing as him in a pretty straight line and respectful documentary

scudzilla

I'm being totally serious here and am not trolling, i don't really like Queen much and IMO they're way overated.










Please be gentle with me

adox

Yeah, always loved Queen, early 70s was their peak musically, although having said that, they recorded some songs that were gems just before Freddies death.

I did see them live, although an underwhelming experience at Slane. I wished Id seen them indoors somewhere when I had the chance.

Roanmore

scudzilla wrote: »

I'm being totally serious here and am not trolling, i don't really like Queen much and IMO they're way overated.

Hey, we're all entitled to our opinion, no need to be sorry, just a quick question though, have you only ever listened to their hits / singles or have you listened to any of their albums, especially their early albums.

Roanmore

Sky 1 are showing Night at the Opera as part of the Classic Albums series (should have a thread of it's own, Dark Side of the Moon, Disreali Gears, Breaking the Law, The Band). Thanks God for Sky Plus!

scudzilla

Roanmore wrote: »

Hey, we're all entitled to our opinion, no need to be sorry, just a quick question though, have you only ever listened to their hits / singles or have you listened to any of their albums, especially their early albums.

Mainly the singles, from what i heard on the radio, pubs, clubs etc growing up, never actually listened to a single Queen album in it's entirety, never really been arsed to i suppose

Roanmore

scudzilla wrote: »

Mainly the singles, from what i heard on the radio, pubs, clubs etc growing up, never actually listened to a single Queen album in it's entirety, never really been arsed to i suppose

:DThat usually makes most people think they are Queen fans.

I liked the first Queen album but it was described as a poor Zep copy. I love Queen II, maybe it's just me but I think you would have a whole different appreciation of Seven Seas of Rhye whe you hear the full album and that is the last song. Sheer Heart Attack is a classic as well as NATO. Day at the Races, not so keen on but worth it for Tie Your Mother Down.
News of the World and Jazz are underrated albums which are overshadowed by the singles which came from them. Flash is a movie soundtrack, great music but not listenable as an album (does that make sense?). The Game is like NOTW and Jazz, great songs but overshadowed by the singles. Hot Space, mmmm. When I downloaded this to my IPod I only copied 4 songs and one of those wasn't Under Pressure (which I love). Would not matter to me if I never heard it again.
The Works, mixed feelings about this, loved it at the time, not so sure now.
Kind of magic, strange album, soundtrack to The Highlander, Queen's heaviest album in years, actually not so strange, loved it because I saw them at Slane around this time.
Too drunk to remember the next one, bought it and played it once, says it all (for me anyway).
Innuendo, loved the title track and a few more, the rest, meh. Poignant though because it was Freddie's last proper album. He was very sick recording it which makes the song Innuendo even better.

Think I've covered most of the albums there (left out the live ones), hope I didn't annoy anyone with that summary, I've had a few beers and I'm just going on memory.

Motley Crue

scudzilla wrote: »

I'm being totally serious here and am not trolling, i don't really like Queen much and IMO they're way overated.

Out. Now:D

Roanmore wrote: »

Hey, we're all entitled to our opinion, no need to be sorry, just a quick question though, have you only ever listened to their hits / singles or have you listened to any of their albums, especially their early albums.

OK, well I would recommend their debut album, I think that it is a real hard rock album...some songs even contain contain elements of heavy metal....and their material has always been well ranged in different genres, themes and styles

I also recommend 'The Miracle' and 'The Works' and, of course, 'Innuendo' as some of the strongest albums to listen to from start to finish

But, if you ask me, this band NEVER made a bad song

Oh, and download 'I'm In Love With My Car' - three members of the band could sing, and sing well....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9ZAhHDv2Oc

galwayrush

The best rock singer of all time, no contest.

Whiplash

love queen! recently was inspired by freddy for a recent photography exercise!

Riddle101

I f*cking love Queen. I think Freddie Mercury was arguably the best vocalist in the world. He had a voice like an angel, and charisma to boot.

As for the article posted in the OP's post. I hate how they still call themselves Queen, when it's really just Brian May and Roger Taylor, alongside Paul Rogers now. Without Freddie and John, I just don't see them as being Queen anymore.

Motley Crue

Riddle101 wrote: »

As for the article posted in the OP's post. I hate how they still call themselves Queen, when it's really just Brian May and Roger Taylor, alongside Paul Rogers now. Without Freddie and John, I just don't see them as being Queen anymore.

Thank you for reading it, although in fairness, I think when I wrote that article I was under the impression John Deacon was to be involved in the Paul Rodgers collaboration, obviously he was not, and having said that this has now officially ended anyway since Rodgers released a statement about that sometime earlier this year.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/queen-paul-rodgers-split-up-1003972472.story

It's possible something could happen in the future, but personally I doubt it, as positive as it was in the sense that it brought younger fans to the attention of the band.

I think, coupled with the X Factor live show dedicated to them, the musical that just keeps on touring (Sunderland has a huge run next year) and their songs being used in Glee (as well as the Muppet's version of Bohemian Rhapsody) they don't really have any chance of being forgotten any-time soon. Arguably, they are more popular now, then they were in the period after they stopped touring and before Mercury died.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDXvBIQGO_c

Cole

As others mentioned, I also got into Queen through the Greatest Hits album in the 80's and then discovered all the great stuff from the 70's. You can really appreciate just how good Freddies voice was when you hear others covering Queen songs, even a great singer like Paul Rodgers can't quite hit those notes like Freddie could.

Roanmore wrote: »

Day at the Races, not so keen on but worth it for Tie Your Mother Down.

News of the World and Jazz are underrated albums which are overshadowed by the singles which came from them.

Kind of magic, strange album, soundtrack to The Highlander, Queen's heaviest album in years

I love those albums, a Kind of Magic was a welcome return to the heavier stuff.

Roanmore wrote: »

Innuendo, loved the title track and a few more, the rest, meh. Poignant though because it was Freddie's last proper album. He was very sick recording it which makes the song Innuendo even better.

I was living in London when he died and paid my respects outside his home. I remember watching a tribute to him a couple of days later on tv, where they played the video for These Are the Days of Our Lives from the album....very poignant alright, he was so ill at that time.

I posted this clip already in a Freddie Mercury thread but it's worth seeing. For anyone who thinks that Queen were a slightly cheesy band, based on some of the 80's stuff (can kind of understand that) this demonstrates why they were so influential to a lot of rock bands. Metallica covered this and James Hetfield performed it at the Freddie tribute concert in 1992.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

200motels

Never been a fan of theirs, I like a few tracks by them but I never considered them a serious rock group, more glam I would say.

delbertgrady

Motley Crue wrote: »

If you ask me, this band NEVER made a bad song.

You're seriously misguided there. Body Language, Don't Lose Your Head, Delilah... all embarrassing.

allanb49

I like don't lose you're head.....

delbertgrady

I much prefer A Dozen Red Roses for My Darling.
I just think the lyrics - and Joan Armatrading's mumbling - are awful.

Motley Crue

delbertgrady wrote: »

You're seriously misguided there. Body Language, Don't Lose Your Head, Delilah... all embarrassing.

Here's a man dying of AIDS and he writes a love song about his cat, his favourite cat, I think it's hilarious and sweet at the same time - Poppy song

The line "when you pie all over my chip and dale suite" must have made Brian, John and Roger laugh

delbertgrady

Roger hated Delilah - seeing it for the throwaway ditty it was - and didn't want it included on Innuendo. Besides, if you mention Queen to people, two words that probably don't pop into their heads immediately are "hilarious" and "sweet".
I don't dispute that different people will have alternative views on their back catalogue. I'm just saying that it's seriously overstating it to suggest that they never had a bad song. There's filler on most of their albums, even if it's just one or two tracks. They'd admit as much themselves.

Motley Crue

delbertgrady wrote: »

They'd admit as much themselves.

I'm sure they would

OK, how about this

There's not a Queen song I wouldn't listen to, and there's not a note I don't dislike, for me everything the band has ever produced is something I want to listen too and I will enjoy, and as hard as it is to believe, there's nobody else I can think who even comes as close to making me feel that passionate about their music then Freddie Mercury.

delbertgrady

I can't argue with that.

Roanmore

delbertgrady wrote: »

You're seriously misguided there. Body Language, Don't Lose Your Head, Delilah... all embarrassing.

To be fair Don't Lose Your Head was for the Highlander soundtrack where the objective of the main protagonists was ............:)

nyarlothothep

Their crap songs are actually quite enjoyable to listen to, its like musical comedy, for example Invisible Man and most of the material off A Kind of Magic is so cheesy its just fun to listen to. I'd disagree though on their early albums being comprised mostly of filler, Queen 2 had predominantly strong songs, ditto for Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera, not so much for A Day at the Races though that is based on my personal taste seeing as I don't really like 1920s Vaudiville music.

delbertgrady

nyarlothothep wrote: »

Queen II had predominantly strong songs, ditto for Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera.

Probably my favourite three Queen albums, in that order.