The Great QUEEN debate!!!

[maddox]

My opinion about Queen still stands. 

Maybe it's a chemistry thing, i don't know.
It never grabbed me by the .... (<---insert your guess here) and i actually thought some of the songs were quite boring. 

Even as a child i never thought that Bohemian Rhapsody was the best track ever.
To me it was and probably still is Stairway To Heaven from an rather strange but rocky band from the U.K. 
Deep purple's Child In Time is also great.

Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody however is good, that's true but not out of this world.
Like i said, Innuendo and Who Wants To Live Forever? are better tracks. Way better...

[keyboardistmatt]

My opinion about Queen still stands. 

Maybe it's a chemistry thing, i don't know.
It never grabbed me by the .... (<---insert your guess here) and i actually thought some of the songs were quite boring. 

Even as a child i never thought that Bohemian Rhapsody was the best track ever.
To me it was and probably still is Stairway To Heaven from an rather strange but rocky band from the U.K. 
Deep purple's Child In Time is also great.

Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody however is good, that's true but not out of this world.
Like i said, Innuendo and Who Wants To Live Forever? are better tracks. Way better...

That's perfectly acceptable, as long as the musicianship (and showmanship) of the band is recognised.

Naturally, I wouldn't expect anybody to like anything that I like in particular.  I would however, expect the band's talent to be recognised.

[maddox]

That's perfectly acceptable, as long as the musicianship (and showmanship) of the band is recognised.

Naturally, I wouldn't expect anybody to like anything that I like in particular.  I would however, expect the band's talent to be recognised.

The showmanship is beyond doubt.
Especially Freddy was good in that.
Whether or not you like the leather costumes and other extravaganza clothes is a different question but indeed he was a good performer.
I do have mixed feelings about the other members. In my opinion they weren't as good as Freddy, which is acceptable since he was the singer so thus, the figurehead of the band. And about Roger and John?
Well, maybe i haven't seen enough of Queen to pass a good judgement but they were always standing in the shadow of Brain but certainly of Freddy in particular.

And i've never said that they couldn't play their instruments.
In fact, i also agree that Brain is a very gifted guitarist. Problem is that i don't like his style of playing. And the other two. ...
Like i said, John Deacon is too static on stage and Roger's drumming is below average in my view.

And about talent?

Well, that's a personal thing, don't you think? 
For instance, i think that Mike Portnoy has a huge talent.
Other's find him a lumberjack with two sticks in his hands.

Ps> it just occurred to me that i've forgot to mention Radio GaGa.

That song is brilliant!
You like it, or you don't.

[Bupie]

Ps> it just occurred to me that i've forgot to mention Radio GaGa.

That song is brilliant!
You like it, or you don't.

I don't like it at all ... 

[Nicky007]

I don't find this discussion worthy of proggies. You guys are just discussing the radio hits.

Did anyone at all play the link to Brighton Rock that I had supplied 

One of the best facilities of the internet is that we can share music on the net, but this offer seems to have been wasted on you guys 

Let's discuss some of the best Queen songs, those by Brian May:  Brighton Rock, The Prophet's Song, From Father To Son !

Until you guys draw these songs into the picture, I simply can't take your comments seriously 

Nicky.

[Bupie]

Let's discuss some of the best Queen songs, those by Brian May:  Brighton Rock, The Prophet's Song, From Father To Son !

Fat Bottomed Girls is from Brian May : music and "words" ...

[Nicky007]

That's not the point, Bups:  I don't need Fat Bottomed Girls to make me love Queen (altho literally speaking there could be some logic to it  ), but I believe that if Roomies listened to the three pieces that I listed, they would be impressed 

The question for Roomies is (adapting Shakespeare):  To be or not to be - a kindergarten.

I.e. do we just shout around heedlessly, or do we listen to each other ?

I don't at all mind people having tastes different from mine, but I absolutely do mind people dismissing a great group superficially (like it's also been done here with Ten and Chris Cornell: I provided enuff info and links to give people a proper basis, but they were disregarded ) 

Nicky.

[Bupie]

OK, so if you want a serious discussion about Queen, I would say that you can't resume their whole career to their first three albums.

From what I know and have heard, I would distinguish three periods in their discography :

- the early "hard rock" years, including the three albums that you mentioned ;

- the mid "art rock" period, including albums from A Night At The Opera until The Game ;

- the post 1980 "pop" period, from Hot Space to Made In Haven.

I can tell you that everything I heard from the latter period leaves me cold, at the exception of the Mercury/Bowie duet Under Pressure.

The mid period is way more interesting to my ears, very diverse, adventurous and innovative but I would have to re-listen to all the albums to find out if one of them really grabs me completly.

Form the early period, the only songs I remember are Seven Seas of Rhye (excellent) and Now I'm Here (very good). So if the other songs of that period are of equal or better quality, including the two that you mentioned (Prophet's Song being on ANATO), I should check out for sure !

The only problem being that I don't have a single Queen album on my shelves so far

[maddox]

That's not the point, Bups:  I don't need Fat Bottomed Girls to make me love Queen (altho literally speaking there could be some logic to it  ), but I believe that if Roomies listened to the three pieces that I listed, they would be impressed 

The question for Roomies is (adapting Shakespeare):  To be or not to be - a kindergarten.

I.e. do we just shout around heedlessly, or do we listen to each other ?

I don't at all mind people having tastes different from mine, but I absolutely do mind people dismissing a great group superficially (like it's also been done here with Ten and Chris Cornell: I provided enuff info and links to give people a proper basis, but they were disregarded ) 

Nicky.

No, nicky: They were not disregarded.

Not by me that is.
You can't be disappointed at me because i haven't said anything about either Ten or Chris Cornel.
I do remember that i was quite positive about Chris but sadly i haven't heard anything of his solo-stuff as of yet so i really can't say anything about that. 
Ten, however, i've tried them and i do remember having said that. But the sad thing is that it isn't my thing.

With Queen, well you're partly right.
I don't owe all the albums, only have One Night, Sheer Heart Attack, Day At The Races and two best off albums, so don't consider my opinion as relevant.
I've tried it, and failed to like it.

I can only give my opinion about Queen and not about the albums.

I'm not into hurting people because of their taste.
If i made the wrong jokes about either Ten or CC or Queen then i apologies but my opinion still stands!

[Iggy]

I've just managed to catch up.

Me, I love Queen and managed to see them live with the late great Freddie.

I know many people that don't like them and as usual can respect that. All I know is some of the best times I've experienced (e.g. seeing Liverpool win the title albeit many years ago  ) Queen added to the occasion by creating the anthemic we are the champions.

[Nicky007]

That was better, guys 

Iggy, nice to hear about your good experiences with Queen and their songs.

Obviously Queen is a mixed bag 

The part of their catalog that I generally like best is where Brian May set the order. Those pieces I can listen to again and again. That guy is ingenious 

However, I also like many of Freddie's songs, e.g. Killer Queen and Made In Heaven.


I can recommend Brian's two solo albums Back To The Light and Another World 

OK, so if you want a serious discussion about Queen, I would say that you can't understand their whole career on the basis of their first three albums alone.

Havent tried that: I have a thorough knowledge of Queen I - V (A Day At The Races). These albums I listened to massively at the time of their releases - and enjoyed them enormously.

Some seven years ago I struck onto Made In Heaven, and that one I'v also enjoyed a lot.

The other albums I'v only listened to sporadically, cause shortly after encountering MIH, I got caught in the boundless progmatrix. (Know what I'm talkin about, Greenie ?) 

You can't be disappointed at me because i haven't said anything about either Ten or Chris Cornell.

I do remember that i was quite positive about Chris but sadly i haven't heard anything of his solo-stuff

Here I have to upbraid you tho, Mad. I offered a series of links to some of the best recordings of his Euphoria Morning period (under the NP thread, about ½ year ago). I even posted reminders twice - what more can I do     And these were utterly disregarded 

Thing is that Chris' Euphoria Morning is a fabulous album, and it would fall into many Roomies' tastes, I'm sure -  I just don't know how to bring this across 

Nicky.

[Manatee]

The other albums I'v only listened to sporadically, cause shortly after encountering MIH, I got caught in the boundless progmatrix. (Know what I'm talkin about, Greenie ?) 

Thing is that Chris' Euphoria Morning is a fabulous album, and it would fall into many Roomies' tastes, I'm sure -  I just don't know how to bring this across 
.

I know what you mean more than I usually do, but not entirely.   
No idea what MIH is, but I assume you're referring to my comment that there are so many things out there to try (now that I have a good source of recommendations) that it's hard to keep up with them all.  This is certainly true and, I'd hasten to add, probably part of the reason people don't always jump on your suggestions as much as you'd like.  You've certainly had enough responses in the past that it's clear you are not, in general, disregarded here.  Most likely the times you get few responses are just due to people having busy lives (not me, I'll admit), having a long list of things to try out, or just feeling like they don't have anything significant to add to the discussion.  In short, please don't take these things personally -- you know you're respected here; things just sometimes slip through the cracks, for all of us.  And no, I didn't mean anything naughty by that last idiom.   

As I've said about CC, I haven't listened to much of his solo stuff yet, but I do intend to.  I like what he's done on other projects, and I do have one or two solo songs of his on the Singles soundtrack (mostly good Seattle bands/performers).  Likely he hasn't been higher on my "to try" list because he's not to my mind particularly proggy (although one doesn't have to be proggy to be good), and since I went several years deprived of prog, I'm still soaking in all the good prog I missed when it came out.

Just to pretend to get back on topic:  I should probably give some listens to some full Queen albums as my experience of them is mostly from the radio, where certain songs got overplayed and others got no airtime at all.  I can tell there's some quality there, but I don't feel I have enough personal knowledge of them to offer a more definitive opinion.

[Nicky007]

No idea what MIH is

Manatee's 'inkin hiccups 

or Made In Heaven 

One could of course say that your MIH are made in Guinness Heaven - and thus we can distinguish between MIH and MIGH (altho not audially) 

Nicky.

[Nicky007]

i was quite positive about Chris but sadly i haven't heard anything of his solo-stuff

As I've said about CC, I haven't listened to much of his solo stuff yet, but I do intend to.

OK, I wont reprimand you, Greenie, as I can see that you werent active in the Room at the time 

But if you guys really mean that you'd like to hear some of CC's best solo stuff, then here's your chance (my last reminder):

http://shattered-room.net/index.php?topic=15.9375

Go halfway down the page.

And there's even a "Helen" included in the package 

Nicky.

[Deenfan]

Even as a child i never thought that Bohemian Rhapsody was the best track ever.

*giggles, and leaves this with no further comment*

I don't find this discussion worthy of proggies. You guys are just discussing the radio hits.

Did anyone at all play the link to Brighton Rock that I had supplied 

One of the best facilities of the internet is that we can share music on the net, but this offer seems to have been wasted on you guys 

Let's discuss some of the best Queen songs, those by Brian May:  Brighton Rock, The Prophet's Song, From Father To Son !

Until you guys draw these songs into the picture, I simply can't take your comments seriously 

Nicky.

It's ridiculous, but I'm mostly on a computer with no working speakers on it. The cables and headphones alternative is a PITA. I am ashamed, of course. But I do feel Queen have had a chance at showing what they're made of, that most bands will never get. If they still haven't impressed someone who's paid more than the average amount of attention, I don't know.... You are very thorough, Nicky, and as such you will be casting a lot of pearls before the swine on the electric interweb...

[Nicky007]

Well, admittedly Queen have received more than their due of attention (an inordinate amount of it due to Freddie's antics). But that doesnt change the fact that they have made some of the best rock music on this planet 

Nicky.

[Deenfan]

Hmmm... ok, well how's this for effort: I ran down to the local shop to see if they might, hope against hope, have a pair of headphones or even earplugs for me. But they didn't. So... but I will, because there's some respect thing going on here, (not for Queen - heaven forbid! - but for Nicky) clickety the links provided, as soon as there will be sound.

[Nicky007]

... but for Nicky ...

Well, thanks, Deenie, but I think all of ya will be surprised about Euphoria Morning.

I just listened to it again, and it is 

there's some respect thing going on here

Don't worry about that, Deenie, I have nuff self-confidence. (I think you guys have noticed that.) It's just that I expect a bit more of the Room than just "Well, I listened to this" and "I listened to that" and "Who cares" 

I know that most music chatforums are like that, but maybe we can make somethin special outta the Room, i.e. create some sorta organism 

But it would help if ya showed some respect for Queen 


Btw I'v been wondering where exactly in "northern Norway" you live. Must be a bigger town, since there's an electronics store. My guess is Trondheim, but it could just as well be Rana or Bodø or Narvik 

I promise that I wont come up and shoot you - regardless of what ya say about Queen 

Nicky.

[Deenfan]

Whey... Trondheim is in the south!!!

And all those you mention are south of me. The store wasn't an electronics one. It was, and still today is, a grocery shop, but they do tend to have a lot of assorted wank, maybe including earplugs. -Typical of these countryside shops. I'm quite out of the way when at work, nowadays. I changed workplace(s?) this autumn, for a period of almost a year.

The respect thing was a good thing, not the way you seemed to take it. But it would still make sense, and you've given a good reply to that conception of it, so all's good.

And...I've found a couple of broken earplugs that I have mended by means of GLUE, that I found on a shelf here. They seem to work now, so I'll be linkyclicky!!

[Deenfan]

Brighton rock. It shows some diversity, and does have some fine harmonies. Some of the parts are even pretty cool. But overall I'd say it sounds naïve, old and slightly silly. Just like many things from the sixties, that were cool and rocking at the time. On the backdrop of what I've been listening to the last twenty years, I don't get the "mean and cool" impression that the people got way back then. I mean, it's probably going to continue this way. People are already laughing at what I felt was the pinnacle of wickedness in 1985.

[Nicky007]

And all those you mention are south of me.

OK, you live on the North Pole  

Guess it's Tromsø then  

Or Hammerfest ?  Or Alta ?

You'r really keepin me on the line, Deenie  

And ya teach Norwenglish ? 

It was, and still today is, a grocery shop

Try with two figs at yer ears, Deenie 

But overall I'd say it sounds naïve, old and slightly silly.

Of course I realise that I woudnt be in a swoon if I heard it for the first time today, Deenie. It's a loooooong way (not only to Tipperary, but) from Queen's Brighton Rock to Jeff Loomis' Jato Unit. - And great, that, shows that numerous people have made a big effort 

But as proggies, I think it's also important to see things in a historical perspective. And BR was a bomb in 1973. I can hardly think of a piece that knocked me over like that 

The respect thing was a good thing, not the way you seemed to take it.

I was just kiddin, Deenie     (Do I do anythin else ?)     (I just hope that I don't offend anyone (too much). I try to tune in to who it is I'm talkin to.) 

Nicky.

[Deenfan]

Ok, I'm one hour south of Tromsø, if you have a decent car and no egg between your foot and the pedal to the right. Hammerfest? Alta? Hell, that's in the county of Finnmark, and I've never even crossed that border, in the whole of my life. They're all mental anyway. I don't know how far away that border is, but I think it'd be about three hours, maybe four. And I see no point in going from where I'm at, and head NORTH for half a day, or any other amount of time that exceeds what's needed to take me to Tromsø.



Can't you provide a link to a completely different song? Educate us. And wasn't "Radio gaga" a Freddy solo thing?

[Nicky007]

Can't you provide a link to a completely different song?

Hey, don't overdo it, Deenie. We're thru with Queen. Do me a favor and play the CC links instead. With all the effort I'v put into it, there will then be at least one person who gets the treat. And tellya, you won't regret it 

OK, now I aint gonna mention CC for at least a week. I don't wanna obsess about'm 

Nicky.

[Nicky007]

OK then, Deenie:

Teo Torriate  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSGuMfv24xA  (a gripping performance by Freddie, even John Deacon is visibly touched, Mad)

Teo Torriate - original version  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r451u0NGroo&NR=1&feature=fvwp  (better singing)

39  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAnpGXPYAIQ  (you see the guys really enjoyin themselves)

Long Away  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2U-QXtrimI  (here it's Brian singin, "Lonely as a whisper on a star chase")

Father To Son  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Hmb9gHKbU  (nice to see the guys when they were just a "rock group")

Killer Queen  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMz-wi50ACU  (Freddie already playin on the "bi")

The Prophet's Song  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odGvIh63sOY  (folksy Queen)

Another One Bites The Dust  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNQRfBAzSzo&feature=related  (this one rocks real good)

Made In Heaven  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJCIbgi1M5k  (Fred'nboyant, sure, but also beautiful and gripping, music of the highest order !)

So, if this don't convince ya 

You are very thorough, Nicky, and as such you will be casting a lot of pearls before the swine on the electric interweb...

Yeah, I know, Deenie, but if only one or two people catch a bit of the magic, it's worth the effort - and some people start realising that thoroughness is a virtue, cause thoroughness transforms 

Nicky.

[maddox]

Thanks for the links of both CC and Queen, Nicky. 

I promise i'll watch them this evening.

To be continued....