Queen for a Day - The Show Must Go On

Well, here we are. The last song (proper) of the Queen catalog. Yes, they released another album, a patchwork of older stuff, re-edits and demo redux, but this was the last album that the four agreed to. Freddie died the day after it was released, I believe. So, I'm not sure that I will touch the next record.

This album's closer is the perfect way to say goodbye. "The Show Must Go On" sounds like a perfectly crafter Mercury song, theatrical and grand. In fact, it was written by Brian, after hearing something Deacon and Taylor were working on. Here's the wikipedia entry:

"The initial chord sequence Taylor and Deacon were working on. The rhythm of the refrain is similar to "I Want it All". May decided to use the sequence and both he and Mercury decided the theme of the lyrics and wrote the first verse together. From then on May finished the lyrics, completed the vocal melody and wrote the bridge, inspired by Pachelbel's Canon. Some keys and ideas were suggested by the producer, too. 
The song chronicles the effort of Mercury continuing to perform despite approaching the end of his life."


So, in effect, it was written by the entire band. And that is entirely apropos.

It starts off haunting and sad, musically and the lyrics match perfectly. It's impossible to listen to this song and not to choke up realizing Freddie is singing about his end and how, despite that impending doom, music, theatre, the band, the craft, it all goes on. And it should.

(On a side note, I am struck by how the first song of the band's is "Keep Yourself Alive" and the last one is so much a closing of the book on a life. Perhaps that one.)

"The Show Must Go On" might be the grandest finales in rock history. Queen got to write it's final chapter and did it was brilliance and grace. Even the song tries as hard as it can to not end, because none of them, nor us, want it to.


His soul is painted like the wings of butterflies, he can fly.....

Indeed.

Grade: A+

Queen for a Day - Bijou

I had a friend who had this album on Vinyl. In the early 90s I didn't know anyone who still listened to, let alone bought, vinyl. And he said that this song was highly truncated on black plastic.

He missed out. It's a pretty nice piece.

The whole point of the song was an exercise to invert the roles of guitar and vocals. The guitar took the verses and the words took the place of an instrumental break.

Truth be told, the lyrics and melody is actually pretty nice. I wouldn't have minded a ballad built around that. And, since Brian is such a brilliant guitarist it's a nice example of his prowess. And surprising that he never did any purely instrumental work prior, save for Flash Gordon.

The song doesn't really need the lyrics. But Freddie's so wonderful that hearing him is always a treat.

That this is the penultimate song on his last proper album is bittersweet. In retrospect, it comes across like a eulogy for a loved one. Freddie's contribution being almost ghostly remembrance. Brian saying goodbye.

Grade: B+

Queen for a Day - The Hitman

After the debacle os singing an ode to his CAT, Freddie started and Brian finished a rousing rocker ala "I Want it All". It's all riffage and muscle and meat. When he died, I figured the song was some descriptor of the disease, but now, 22 years later, I think maybe it's just a song. The lyrics are pretty awful, "Trouble in the east, Trouble in the west, Struggle with the beast, what a thief what a pest. Come back mother, nuke that sucker.".

But, heck it was never going to be played live, right? So, who cared? At this point, the guys are just trying to put stuff out to mark time to the end. And it goes on.....and on....and on....with an unmemorable guitar solo. It's metal sludge at it's 90s-est.

"The Hitman" is easily forgotten.

Grade: C-

Queen for a Day - Delilah

The dying lead singer wrote a song for his cat. The drummer didn't want to include it on the album because it's well, a song about a cat. The singer pleaded. It's on the album.

It's a song about a cat.

It's so much a song about a cat that the lead guitar solo sounds like a crying...cat.

It must have been recorded close to the end of the album because Freddie can barely hit any notes without sounding strained. Especially when he's chiding his...cat....for peeing on Chippendale furniture.

It's not the nadir of Queen but it's pretty damned close.

Grade: D+

Queen for a Day - These Are the Days of Our Lives

Now, he's something astounding. A Roger Taylor song that I really really like. A song that reminisces about the, well, days of their lives, and does so by harkening back to one of Freddie's loveliest tracks, "Love of My Life", with the "I still love you" refrain.
The last video Freddie ever made, and he was far too sick to hide it at that point.

I heard this song pumped through the sound system of a Food4Less in the early, early 90s. I was sort of appalled that my favorite band had become no more than muzak fodder. At the same time I was sort of thrilled because it meant that Queen was once again accepted in the US. Wayne's World sort of did that for Queen fans a few years earlier. But, the fact that this song could make it in America was a vicarious win for me.

Grade: A

Queen for a Day - All God's People

If I am not mistaken, this is the first Queen song since the first record to have a song with a co-writer credit outside of the band. That first musician was Tim Staffel, the original bassist for Smile, the band that became Queen.

This time it's Freddie's "Barcelona" collaborator, Mike Moran. Since the song came out of those sessions, it's not really much of a surprise.

Nor is the subject matter.

There was a song on the first album called "Jesus". Then Night at the Opera had "The Prophet's Song". The band, or some of the members, seem to have always been a wee religious. And, Freddie was dying, after all.

Again, starting with a prepositions is not my favorite. "So, all you people.....".

But I do like "Prime Minisiters" to fit the time sig. On the other hand...."Let us be thankful! He's so incredible!" is bad.

This is an exercise that, indeed, belongs on the more operatic in scope Barcelona. Wafting from faux Opera to even fauxer blue eyed gospel, the weight of the subject matter is no match for the wimpyness of the attack. This is filler of the highest order.

But, you know, Freddie's dying and all.....

Grade: C-

Queen For a Day - Ride the Wild Wind

Roger likes cars. He likes danger. He likes a steady, driving, pulsating beat.
I think we all got that, um...15 years before.

Still and all, it's a lot better than the arpeggiating crap he used to give us. In this case, it's like "Breakthru" Pt. II.

It's a dumb song, but a fun one nonetheless.

Grade: C

Queen for a Day - Don't Try So Hard

Opening with a preset sound on a synthesizer...is that genius or laziness? The Korg that Freddie was using had an opening preset that he used in that way.

Fine. Whatever. If your muse is now someone else's programming startup sound of a machine...whatever. How's the song?

Pretty pedestrian ballad version of the same sentiments from "Keep Passing the Open Windows" by way of Pink Floyd's The Wall. I'm just getting that from the Sgt. Major passage. It's probably not that at all, but if Freddie is going to be that lazy in crafting this tune, I'm not sure I should spend much energy reviewing it.

It's a pretty piece at times, it sure changes it's direction a lot. For a piece of piffle it does reach for the cheap seats. But that's also part and parcel with the BIG DRUM sounds of the era.

Less a song than an exercise.

Grade: C

Queen for a Day - I Can't Live With You

Another Brian May rocker, but this time it sounds like a mid-tempo R&B jam that is fused with a metal approach but deep inside it's really just a middle of the road track.
The lyrics are pretty mediocre, the playing just as much so. I used to think it was a Taylor track because he's so featured on the bridge's vocals. That's how much I never liked this song.

Not a favorite. Kind of latter day crappy. Sounds like something that would have been written for "The Works

Grade: C

Queen for a Day - Headlong

It is a pet peeve of mine when a song starts with the word, "And". As though there was something that was said before but there wasn't so it just sounds...off.

This is a latter day May rocker. In fact, he was supposed to record it for his Back to the Light album but liked the way Freddie sang it.

When the lyric comes, "He used to be a man with a stick in his hand" I can't help think that that man is Freddie, with his bottomless microphone stand.

Taken as a metaphor for his condition it works even better. He IS "rushing headlong out of control" and there really is "nothing you can do about it".

Musically speaking, there's not a lot more going on than an above average crunchy metal blues rocker. It's nice to hear the Red Special in full force, a four on the floor beat behind it. No tricks, maybe a little bit of studio panning here and there, but it's a nice showcase for May's particular talents, which seemed to get lost a bit in recent years. The man can play that damned thing.

Grade: A

Queen for a Day - I'm Going Slightly Mad

Taking a cue from Oscar Wilde and referencing, with great humor and snark, his own debilitating illness, Freddie came up with a haunting and smart single.
The pumping beat, the haunted house echo, "Mad" is a singularly fantastic track. It's all Freddie, all over the place. Samples of asides pepper the track, the colorful descriptors of insanity, the disturbing harmonies...it's all very perfect. Down to the "oo oo ah ah, oo oo ah ah" monkey moment.

One of Freddie's best tracks, once again mining his terminal prognosis. Ever the jester, this one is one of his best.

And there you have it.

Grade: A

Queen for a Day - Innuendo

So, Freddie didn't die. Not yet, anyway. And the swan song that was the aptly named album The Miracle was only the prelude to their final act.

"Innuendo" is the strangest and boldest opening to a Queen album since, perhaps, Sheer Heart Attack.

A 6 minute magnum opus with outsized themes of humanity, a gigantic stadium sound and a delicate but no less powerful breakdown into Flamenco Guitar courtesy Steve Howe, this was the sort of track that would feature deeper into a Queen album.

But, this album wasn't meant to be just a marketer. Not one to just sell off the hits. Instead, this was the last opportunity to give the world QUEEN.

As such, "Innuendo" is a triumph. It's hodgepodgey like so many of the great Queen tracks, and it has the requisite operatic vocals amidst the metal without becoming a Spinal Tap parody.

And it's about something. Obviously Freddie is affected by his disease and his mortality. And he's never sounded more assured or lacerating. He's imbued with his muse.

As a Queen song, it's terrific. As an album opener, it at once harkens back to their glory days and is a harbinger of what's to come on the record.

Grade: A+

Queen for a Day - Was It All Worth It?

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Historically speaking, this should have been the coda. This was Freddie's final statement. The man was dying, basically. 

A somber opening, a vocal wail, a calliopal carousel melody that gives way to a giant metal guitar version of the riff, overlaid and overlaid and then...

A meaty introspection by the singer. 

What is there left for me to do in this life. 
Did I achieve what I had set in my sights. 
Am I a happy man, or is this sinking sand, 
Was it all worth it, was it all worth it. 
Yeah, now hear my story, let me tell you about it, 
We bought a drum kit. blew my own trumpet. 
Played the circuit, thought we were perfect, 
Was it all worth it. giving all my heart and soul and 
Staying up all night, was it all worth it, 
Living breathing rock n'roll, a godforsaken life, 
Was it all worth it, was it all worth it all these years. 
Put down our money without counting the cost, 
It didn't matter if we won - if we lost, 
Yes we were vicious. yes we could kill, 
Yes we were hungry. yes we were brill, 
We served a purpose, like a bloody circus, 
We were so dandy we love you madly, 
Was it all worth it. was it all worth it, 
Living breathing rock n'roll, this godforsaken life, 
Was it all worth it. was it all worth it, 
When the hurly burly's done - 
We went to Bali, saw God and Dali. 
So mystic, surrealistic, 
Was it all worth it, giving all my heart and soul, 
Staying up all night, was it all worth it, 
Living breathing rock n'roll this never ending fight, 
Was it all worth it, was it all worth it, 
Yes, it was a worthwhile experience, 
It was worth it. 

 

I'm not sure the band or Freddie, for that matter, had ever written anything so personal and confessional. This is an overview of the past 17 years and it cuts like a knife. This should have been the band's final statement. And, if it was, it would have been the perfect coda.

This is the most inspired the band had sounded in ages. And the most bombastic production as well. But, not obnoxiously so. Instead, it sounds like they were really putting it all out there. Really giving it their all.

Was it worth it?

Hell yes.

Grade: A+

Queen for a Day - My Baby Does Me

Deep in the bowels of this record is a redux of "Cool Cat". A lazy, obnoxious, bass driven leftover sounding piece of uselessness called "My Baby Does Me".

"My Baby does. My Baby does me. Baby does. My baby does me good."

A lot of that.

I would say, hey, THIS from the band that gave us "Bohemian Rhapsody"? "We Will Rock You"? "Dead on Time"????
But then I recall that Deacon wrote "In Only Seven Days" among other pieces of crap. Of which this is one.
To be fair, he wrote it WITH Freddie. And they bring out the worst in each other.

Don't listen.

It's bad.

Grade: F

Queen for a Day - Scandal

Brian May had been under the scrutiny of the tabloid press in the mid 80s for his relationship with actress Anita Dobson. Freddie was dying of AIDS but no one knew for sure.
Drawing upon these real life events Brian wrote "Scandal".

Kudos for writing what you know, I guess. Like much of the rest of the album the song sounds like it could have been recorded by any band of the era. The production is so clean and the drums are so over produced with "BIG" concert hall reverb, and the synth accents are superfluous and meaningless, the whole affair just comes across as...'meh'.

Grade: D

What does Zack know?

Turns out....a lot.

Zack takes in some reading.

Yes, Zack would rather read in his crib than call for help.

Encroyable.

Queen for a Day - Rain Must Fall

Deacon/Mercury are back! And just as maudlin as ever. The musical cousin to "Who Needs You" and "I Want to Break Free" there is no song in the band's catalog that sounds more "80s" than this one.
In fact, it could be a third rate Culture Club song. And I don't mean that in a good way. This is MOR to the nth degree.

Lazy, uninteresting, this is where the band shows it's true age. Everyone is very good on the song. But, the all, each of them, end up just sounding like session men backing a familiar voice. A Queen cover band, if you will.

But this was happening to all of our heroes in the 80s. McCartney, Jackson. Hell, I can't even name all of them as our cutting edge scions of rock turned themselves into top 40 bands who provided the soundtrack to your cubicle.

Listen if you dare. Calling it "bad" would be an insult to some of the band's worst tracks.

It's worse than "bad". It's uninspired, by the numbers, songcrafting.

Grade: D+

Queen for a Day - Breakthru

So, it's pretty obvious that this is two different songs pasted together. But, I really don't mind, because I dig this song a lot. It's my favorite on the album and has been since the day I ripped into that oversized CD package and listened in the car in the parking lot of that bowling alley where I stage managed a show for an elderly theater company.

There's no reason for it to be two different songs, except that Freddie didn't finish "A New Life is Born". The opening of which is all harmony save for some simple piano. After that it crashes into a driving, supertrain of a rocker. Could it be written by anyone other than Roger? The difference between this and all of Roger's other tripe is that the band seems energized. Excited. Hopeful.

Wait. Hopeful? On a Roger Taylor song? Freddie must have reworked something. Part of it. Most of it. Or something.

In any case. It's a showcase for the band and a nice breath of life on a band that is facing death. John's bassline is on fire. The "Star Fleet Project" modulations are in full effect. Brian is having a blast. The band is finding new ways to incorporate their trademark harmonies.

Stellar.

Grade: A

Queen for a Day - The Invisible Man

One of the strangest tracks on the record for me. It's so obviously recorded in a studio. It's cold and it's electronic and produced and well, it's written by Roger.
But then it's got the call outs.
"Freddie Mercury!" Roger shouts before the vocals.
"John Deacon!" to highlight the bassline.
"Brian May Brian May!" "Rrrrrrrrrrroger Taylor!"

Now, I used to do this in my band. I would call out members' names during a song and we would highlight them. This way, however, it come across...as an affectation.

But, Allen, how is the song?

Um....fine? It's kind of dumb. But, it's got a hook. The lyrics are idiotic. But not offensive.

Really, this song is a Hot Space track, updated, less funky, on a wee bit more cocaine and buried so deep in the album that it doesn't bother me.

In reality, it's fine. Probably one of the better tracks on this hodgepodge of an album.

Grade: B+

Queen for a Day - I Want it All

Who doesn't?

One of the biggest metal tracks in the canon, "I Want it All" is a post-apocalyptic dust bowl, get in the ring, shred-tastic track.

In many ways it's the anthem they hadn't really written in years. Certainly not, "Friends will be Friends". Sadly, while this song should have been a crowd pleaser, it was never played live by Freddie. He would be too sick to bring it to life.

A shame. It really fits the bombast that the was the band's wheelhouse. The bridge, sublime with it's give and take between Freddie and Brian's vocals, crashes into one of Brian's best solos which itself turns dark metal and then, at once, speed metal.

It's a hodgepodge, sure, but a rollicking ride.

Grade: A

Queen for a Day - The Miracle

I'm on the fence about this one. Queen has always had a penchant for schmaltz but with Freddie in the throes of full blown AIDS they really seemed to step up the maudlin.

I think the nadir of this song (Besides lyrics like "the one thing we're all waiting for is peace on Earth and end to war") is Freddie's spoken word call and response that comes in the second half.

For latter day Queen this is also the apex, however, because by the late 80s nearly every bloated ROCK BAND had been infected with Live Aid, Farm Aid, Kampuchea-itis. It was everywhere. Rock was so socially conscious that it was inescapable. This was your father's rock. It had to die.

A shame, really. But, not unexpected. You can only re-invent the wheel once. Mayyyybe twice. But, eventually you get comfortable. Like in a marriage or a friendship.

I think the thing I like the LEAST about this song is how it starts to rock nera the end and, just when you have hope, the uptempo rocker portion of the song is overtaken by more schmaltz, a hand holdy chant of "A time will come, one day, you'll see, when we can all be friends..."

Yuck. And, surprise, surprise, it was written by Deacon and Mercury.

I guess I wasn't really on the fence after all.

Grade: D+

Queen for a Day - Khashoggi's Ship

Queen is rarely topical, but in the late 80s, Adnan Khashoggi and his ship were all over the news.

It's a big blues number that serves as an "I'm Still Here" anthem for Freddie. It's all sleaze and adventure. Perhaps it's a fever dream but, at some point, for me at least, it comes across as a stand off between Freddie and his disease. When he sings "No one stops my party", I'm pretty certain he's singing from the bowels of denial.

The song is a cavalcade of ideas and themes. It's a kitchen sink in less than 3 minutes.

So, like a good party it knows when it's over.

Grade: B+

Queen for a Day - Party

"Party" sounds like it fell off the Mr. Bad Guy sessions. Maybe it did. I don't know. Sure sounds like it.

Then again, it probably is what the lyrics say, what much of the lyrics on The Miracle are about: Freddie's dying.

Diagnosed with AIDS, it was thought that The Miracle would be the band's last album. Their last Party.

It's an invitation to play, to party, to rip and roar and have a good time.

The band sure sounds more vibrant than in recent, darker years. Brian's guitar work is spot on and reminds me of what the band could have been doing the whole decade.

The overproduction, at first listen, makes me realize just how sorely it's been missed. Except for "One Vision" (Which, like this one, came out of a jam session), there hasn't been much QUEEN in Queen.

"Party" rectifies that. And like great parties, it doesn't end. It just stops.

Grade: B+

Queen for a Day - Princes of the Universe

The ONLY other song on this record that sounds remotely like a QUEEN song (Aside from "One Vision") is the sole Mercury offering.

Weird that, isn't it? Freddie used to account for most of the songs or the lion's share and here he is, down to one solo track.

And it's a big one. A "Tear it Up", gothic metal, soaring vocals, multi layered harmony, barn burner.

Shifting tempos during what could only be considered the chorus, it abruptly stops and goes back to the original tempo before it reminds us, briefly of "The Prophet's Song" and then dredges it's own energy back up to Mark III Queen sound giving Brian REAL time to shred. And shred he does. The only thing that can stop him is the big layered vocals that restart the entire song.

It's breathless, confused, odd, huge and may as well be the "Seven Seas of Rhye" of Latter Day Queen.

It's not great, but in comparison to the rest of the record it's brilliant. It's more of a pastiche of ideas than a real song, per se, but it'll do. In a way, it's as though Freddie listened to the crapola like "Gimme the Prize" and "Don't Lose Your Head" and said, "Hey. Lemme show you how it's done, girls."

So, that makes it a real treat.

Grade: B+

Queen for a Day - Don't Lose Your Head

Roger Taylor, fresh from two, count em, TWO big hits for the band ("Radio Gaga" & "A Kind of Magic") has another offering, one that references, tongue in cheek (sort of) the fact from the movie that the only way to kill an immortal is to behead them.
It's "Don't Lose Your Head". Get it? Actually, it's a line in the movie. But that doesn't make it any less stupid.

Sigh. Okay, let's listen.

Electro-drums. Synths. More synths. So, Roger's obsession with cold, distancing techno-gadgets is intact.

The bridge....the bridge...is just awful. I don't have the energy to make it through this review.

It's a bag ful of "why?"
Why is Joan Armtrading on this? Did she lose a bet?
Why the frenetic drums? Programming isn't playing.
Why did anyone say yes to this mess?
What is Brian playing during his solo? Is he just noodling in the studio? Did anyone listen to what he laid down????

This is awful.


Grade: F