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