Queen for a Day - Melancholy Blues

Freddie Mercury on piano. A dash of Roger gently swishing his drums. Deacon on a jazzy sounding bass. Imagine a late night bar or strip joint.
In another era, this could have been a standard. If Freddie wasn't so flamboyant chances are Sinatra might have recorded it. Or Tom Waits!
Why it isn't an oft recorded classic is beyond me.
A masterwork of maturity.
A high note, for sure,

Grade: A+


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Queen for a Day - It's Late

And then this comes on and all is right with the world.
It's Late is Brian's attempt to write a three act play. It works on so many levels. It's a killer 70s rock track, complete with heavy, grinding riffage and guttural vocalizing by Freddie.
Brian employs the finger tapping technique that Eddie Van Halen would get the credit for. I'm not saying Brian was the first, just recognizing his forward thinking-ness and mastery.
If Roy Thomas Baker had been retained as producer I'm sure this would be a classic radio staple. As it stands it's a pleasant surprise late in an album that everyone owned for the hits but mint not have stuck around all the way to hear.
Too bad.

Grade: A+


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Queen for a Day - Who Needs You

Man, I'm behind. Sorry about that.

John Deacon is back, this time with a Spanish flair. The lyrics are trite, the song matter is banal. Brian's playing is perfect, however. It's about here that Queen fans might have to wonder: do these guys even care anymore?

Grade: C


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Queen for a Day - Sleeping on the Sidewalk

Brian's blues entry for News is a cautionary tale about a trumpet player who becomes a star in the music world told in first person, with his guitar sitting in for the trumpet.
The character goes from obscurity to fame and...well, you get the story. He eventually falls on hard times trying forma hit and is told he has money to pay back...yawn.
It's cute. Deacon's bass playing is actually the star here. The story is trite, the playing mediocre, the singing weak. It's not a great tune.

Grade: C+


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Queen for a Day - Get Down, Make Love

And now it's Freddie's turn. Listening to parts of NotW I cannot begin to understand the "surprise" of Hot Space. The faux soul of this song predates Another One Bites the Dust even.
Its right here. A salacious bit of hedonism-rock, the song is basically an unholy amalgam of Body Language and The Prophet's Song.
If that makes you wanna listen...okay. But there's no reason to pursue this. The spacey breakdown in the middle is enough to make one scream. I, for one, have not listened to this song in almost 30 years, until this project, and listening again, I get why.
The Oscar Wilde of Mr. Mercury has been abandoned for the Plato's retreat of New York's gay subculture. I'm glad Fred found it, for him (although it could be argued that that experience is what eventually took him from us) but the Queen fan is left wishing he hadn't.

Grade: D+


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Queen for a Day - Fight from the Inside

For some reason Roger fancied himself the keeper of the soul or groove of the band. I guess it's because he was the drummer. Trouble is, he's not that great at it. Until his solo record, that is.
And that's what this is. Save a little help from Brian, Roger is solo on this track. He plays everything and sings.
Consequently he seems to have invented the sound for Hot Space.
Forgettable, with a catchy riff.

Grade: B-


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Queen for a Day - Spread Your Wings

Trivia alert! This is the first Queen song without the use of backing harmonies!
It's also the first Jon Deacon song that I actually like. It's a story song with a narrative about an underdog who wants to do something more with his life than just sweeping up the Emerald Bar.
Catchy hook, great vocals by Freddie. It's a weak tune, but most of this album is, it would have to be downhill after Races' masterwork status.
I never understood why Freddie would sing "Wery" for "Very" at some point of the song. More proof that the band is bored.

Grade: C+


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Queen for a Day - All Dead, All Dead

Rumor has it Brian wrote this song about his dead cat. Talk about excess. Reaching the point where your so insulated from the world that you take influence from your cat.
A pretty song sung by Brian, it's harmless and quickly forgettable.

Grade: C-


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Queen for a Day - Sheer Heart Attack

Yes, Roger wrote a song named for their third album and yes, it's also either an attempt to emulate punk or to prove that they could do it do and yes, it's awful. Hard to listen to, poorly produced. Junk.

Grade: D


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Queen for a Day - We Are the Champions

Timeless. Anthemic. Remarkable. The song that cemented Queen's indelible mark on the world for all time. It will be played at stadiums and sports events forever. And it should be. It is absolutely nothing more than it aspires to be. And what it aspires to be is what it is.
Nothing more really needs be said.

Grade: A+


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Queen for a Day - We Will Rock You

After conquering Japan and Europe what was left? The big one. America.
Is there a rock song from the 70s that sounds more American than We Will Rock You? Hardly. It's big, it's boisterous, it's cocky, it's great.
A virtual rap, sung a Capella over a poundingly effective drum beat/hand clap, the tune isn't a song, really. It's a couple verses, an infectious chorus and a big ass guitar solo at the end.
My problems with this and the forthcoming songs is the prodution. Jettisoning Roy Thomas Baker to self produce, the album is dry. Almost as though it was recorded in a vacuum. It's airless. And one thing I want above all else from Queen is flavor. I don't need them to try to be the Stones. I already have that. I don't have enough of what Queen is and can do.
But it's still tremendous.

Grade: A+


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Queen for a Day - Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together)

Queen was big in Japan before anywhere else. Knowing where their bread was buttered Freddie wrote a love song to his fans. Doubling as a standard issue love song, the chorus is sung alternately in English and Japanese, at once pandering and loving.
On top of that, Teo is a gorgeous mid-tempo work which ends their masterpiece with elegance and aplomb.

Grade: A


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Queen for a Day - Drowse

A loopy, calliope of a tune, Roger avails himself of recent travails. It's still a bit morose, rog ain't the happiest of guys. The "fantastic Drowse" "bores you to rages of tears". See what I mean?
The good news is this song pretty much winds down the album and the playing and production elevates it above a retread of I'm in Love...which it sounds awfully like, to be honest.
Roger's voice fits his song well, I guess, and this precursor to The Wall has a lot of the prog rock elements Floyd would employ.

I would say they should have covered it, but it's not as good as anything Roger Waters could come up with.

Grade: C+

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Queen for a Day - Good Old Fashion Lover Boy

A ditty. Not as cute as, say, Seaside Rendezvous or Lazing, but not disposable, either. And light years from Killer Queen.
It's an overblown, over produced, kitchen sink of a love song with a toe still wading in the 20s striped full body bathing suit era Freddie seems to love. And as close to cabaret as they've ever come.
It's a treat but it's really not about the song. It's the call and answer backups that make it work. And work it does.

Grade: A


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Queen for a Day - White Man

I hate this song. It's the Sweet Lady of this album. An apology ode to Indians the song is basically another in a long line of Brian May blues rockers. Pick a riff, write a song.
There's nothing fun on it, it's the song you fast forward on cassette. A track that made you hate 8 tracks as much as you did when you had to listen to The Prophet's Song. (a lot of these are May contributions...)
I've spent too much time talking about a song that cribs from every cliche in the rock songbook. This is Queen as Jimi Hendrix meets Mick Jagger. Ugly through and through and not very fun to listen to much less write about.

Grade: D-


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Queen for a Day - Somebody to Love

And then there's this. This was my late daughter's favorite Queen song. Took me a while to be able to listen to it again. I'm glad I can.
If Bohemian Rhapsody represented a level of superstardom for the band it also was something of a novelty tune. With it's opera section and bombast and all.
Somebody to Love is like that song in that it's a centerpiece and an epic and a masterpiece replete with guitar solo and equal bombast but it's also a clearly perfect piece of gospel/rock. The band couldn't have done this without the previous hit. They needed the hubris that a song like that takes. And the practice.
The multi-layering vocals of the band as choral group on this song works so well it's astonishing. it's as though all that they've done before prepared them for this.
This song alone might be their crowning achievement.

Grade: A+


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Queen for a Day - You & I

Ugh, this is one of those treacly, obnoxious, John Deacon songs. It's also grammatically incorrect. It smacks of everything that was cheesy in the 70s. All it's missing is Kiki Dee.
We get it. John loves his wife. She's his muse. But the "de-doo-doo"s and the galloping ramp up to the solo are at once ironic and earnest.
This is a Bay City Rollers song elevated by the band's craft and skill.

Grade: C-


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Queen for a Day - The Millionaire Waltz

I've always though of this song as Races' answer to Bohemian Rhapsody. It's not the showstopper that comes a few songs down, but it's different, and better. Starting and stopping semi-fitfully, it's a song made for the broadway stage, not rock and roll. Forget the 3/4 time waltz tempo, which in and of itself could render it "uncool", the song explodes in the mid section because, well, Queen are a rock band.
Make no mistake, though, this is a piece of eclectic glam rock, supported by money and ego and hubris and talent.
When it turns in on itself for it's most baroque section, Brian is right there with a killer solo that bridges the 19th and the 20th centuries.
When it crumbles into itself and Freddie turns into a German accented cabaret mc it only gets weirder and more sublime.
Definitely a tune that would turn off headbangers and leave rockers scratching their heads, but, for the rest of us, it's sublime.

Grade: A+


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Queen for a Day - Long Away

Now we get to the song that I alluded to on an earlier post. The one that galvanized my adoration for the band above all others.
It's not the best song in their catalog. Not by far. But, it was a complete surprise to me at the time I heard it.
I knew of Queen. I wasn't a fan yet. I was into New Wave and punk. My younger brother liked them. He was 9 at the time. I was 14. It was 1980.
He had the 8 track to A Day at the Races and I put it on one day on the downstairs stereo. Then I went up to my room after I cranked it up loud enough for me to her it while I was reading some science fiction magazine.
No one was home and I would often do this, much to the chagrin of my neighbors.
When Long Away came on, I thought I had made a mistake. This wasn't Queen. I knew the song, I had heard it on the radio, but it couldn't be Queen. I always thought it was Fleetwood Mac. Queen were the guys who did that glammy stuff. Bohemian Rhapsody and Killer Queen, right?
But it was and is them.
An acoustic guitar driven song, like the last album's '39, Long Away is obsessed with stars and the universe, etc. But it's prettier; a jaunty 70s acoustic rock epic that gets it's power and success from Roger and John's simple but effective rhythm section. And his reedy, weak voice works on this record where it has failed him so much in the past.
Brian would try this kind of song many more times on future records but never get it quite as right as he did here.

Grade: A



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Queen for a Day - You Take My Breath Away

How lovely is this song? Opening with a flurry of harmonies done by Freddie it features him on piano singing an ode to a great love. One that does what the title says.
As we move to the second verse, he is accompanied briefly by his own backing vox.
The song builds (big surprise) after a "chorus" reminiscent of the multi-layers that were used so well on II.
Then a brief guitar solo, backed by layers of guitars, then Freddie is back. He says what he means, clearly with an "I love you" and we're done.
A few seconds later, a heady swirl of voices eventually reveal themselves to be, once again, the title of the song.
Take My Breath is one of my favorites in the band's catalog and shows quite a bit of maturity. Coming second after the rocking masterstroke it's a sure sign that the guys are secure in their writing, performing and the strength of their music.

Grade: A


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Queen for a Day - Tie Your Mother Down

It opens with a guitar based, quasi japanese theme. It turns into a swirl of sounds that gives way to a massive, Jimmy Page style riff that, according to the liner notes, was labeled "sheer bloody poetry" by The Times.
After the hodgepodge of the last album, and the weak blues rock entry of Sweet Lady, this is most welcome.
The band is more than up for task, especially the writer, Brian, whose solo is the best he's come up with so far. A true 70s arena rocker of a solo.
But Freddie shows his feathers and flair and crushes this tune. It's like the back end of BoRhap set free and made into it's own.
The Times was right. With this song, Queen took it to the next level.

Grade: A+


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Queen for a Day - God Save the Queen

As an homage to Hendrix, as an album coda, as a bit of pomp and circumstance, this song is the perfect album closer. Do we need it? No. Is it offensive in any way? No. Useful? Yes. Using this song in concert allowed the band to soar to new heights of royal theatricality.
It's 1 minute of your time. It's nice. Toothless. But nice.

Grade: B+


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Queen for a Day - Bohemian Rhapsody

I wonder if, really, anything needs to be said here. Has there been a song about which more has been written over the years?
We know about Freddie adding more and more "Galileos". We know about playing it on RTB's glass piano. We know about...everything.
If you aren't familiar with it, you weren't alive during the last quarter century.
My favorite nugget about BoRhap comes from Wayne's World. Before 1992 i still felt as though being a Queen fan was like being Kurt Hummel in Glee. Then, boom. Queen was cool. And then Freddie's song "Barcelona" Became the theme to the Olympics and vindication was at hand. Then Metallica and Axl Rose played Queen songs at The Concert for Life.
And Queen fans in America never needed to hide their heads again.

Grade: A+


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Queen for a Day - Good Company

After the blues breaker, the skiffle and the prog rock, Brian is back, this time with a bit of fluff. His ukelele in tow, Mr. May tosses off a little familial disappointment (sort of a hidden forte, it seems) with Good Company.
It's more than a wee bit loopy, perhaps inspired by the fab four but coming across more like the Mael Brothers.
It's a catchy ditty, sure, and it certainly isn't out of place on this record, but after Seaside Rendezvous and Lazing on a..., it comes across as a bit of envious wannabe-ism.

Grade: B


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Queen for a Day - Love of My Life

Is Love of My Life the most beautiful song Queen ever produced? Arguably. It's definitely up there. It somehow become a stadium anthem, especially in South America.
A pretty piano. An acoustic guitar. A harp. It's treacly and yet it works.
Expanding on the love-abandoned theme of Nevermore, the singer basically begs to have love returned that once was. It probably won't. But Freddie's earnest devotion tugs at your heart and that simple Red Special solo coupled with that crescendoing piano, exploding into a climax of pain, with the requisite multi-Freddie backing vox make this one one of the band's best ever.

Grade: A+


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Queen for a Day - The Prophet's Song

Ugh. I've been not looking forward to this one since I started this project.
When I had a copy of Night on 8-track (lord...) this song was split up between track 2 and 3 which meant listening to the album was always a chore.
TPS starts off as some 70s hippy shit that should have been left on their debut, never to be seen or heard again. But if that's not bad enough, this Jesus Christ Superstar wanna be then devolves into a over produced, multi layered extended vocal solo, then harmony session that lasts a good 2-3 minutes. And you will hate it.
The song is based on a dream that Brian had about Noah's ark.
I haven't heard it in almost 20 years. It's just as pretentious and bad as I recall.

Grade: D


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Queen for a Day - Seaside Rendezvous

Freddie and Roger imitating horns and woodwinds? Count me in. If you forget that the last three tracks exist and just go straight to this one an image begins to emerge of this album.
It's the Freddie Mercury show and everyone else is just along for the ride.
Now, not a rock song by any stretch, it's a turn of the previous century jaunt. Imagine full body, striped bathing suits and umbrellas. A honkey tonk piano.
jollification? Tres charment?!? Spectacular.
Let's ride upon the omnibus and then the casino.

Grade: A+

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Queen for a Day - Sweet Lady

The first song I ever heard by Queen that made me think, "eh, standard 70s fare". This May tune is the kind of mediocre blues breaker that you expect to hear on the soundtrack to Almost Famous.
It's poor latter day Stones.
Unremarkable in almost every way.

Grade: C-


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Location:W 25th St,Los Angeles,United States

Queen for a Day - '39

For a long time this was my favorite song on the record. It's written y and sung by Brian and is a loopy little skiffle ditty about interstellar travelers who leave "in the year of '39" to look for planets to populate and when they come back, everyone they know has died due to the way time works in space.
None of that really matters as this is a track that is at once completely out of place amidst the bombast and fits perfectly in with the kitchen sink mentality of the record.
I think it's important to note that this is the first time a Brian May song has not opened a Queen record and that his first offering comes after everyone else has had their shot. Additionally, it's the sweetest thing the guy has come up with however, I've always felt that the production was a bit muddy. Nonetheless, I always dreamt of just picking up a guitar anywhere (the earliest fantasies was in high school after hours) and playing this tune.
I would finally learn it 20 years later but it wasn't the same...

Grade: A-


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Location:S Congress Ave,Los Angeles,United States