Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - Queen

I’ve been around the music block four thousand times and never stopped by the house of Queen. Sure, I’ve heard it, but I never bought it. Then, this weekend, my job brought me in contact with the band (both major papers shredded their performance) and I thought maybe I’d go for a copy of A Night At The Opera. I don’t want to hear a greatest hits package as they’ve been FM’d to death and I know ANATO is considered their best work. I see also they’ve got a 5.1 remix version which tickles my techno follicles. I never really liked Queen but I have a rule that when I meet a musician/band I put aside my prejudices and try to listen with fresh ears--hey, it worked with Barry Manilow. I did, however, gayly discharge this mandate when I saw the pretty petunia Neil Sedaka.

Related story: Walking out of a movie theatre after having watched "Wayne's World" (early '90s?) I over-hear a teenaged girl tell her friend, "Have you heard of that cool, new band, Queen?" I felt so old.

I grew up with bands like this. Queen was one of my favorites. Interestingly enough, I think I appreciate them more now than as a kid/teenager. As an adult, I came to reallize how they were always willing to experiment with their music. Like Zepplin, it can be hard to pin them down to just one style/influence.

Good stuff, lots of memories.

-José

Queen was a great band with really wide and eclectic influences. Freddy Mercury, though no role model for the youth of America (or anywhere else) was a tremendous vocal talent and Brian May is a guitar god. Roger Taylor is more than competent on drums and John Deacon an excellent technician on bass. Curiously, Deacon never seemed too interested in fame, fortune, or even making a living as a musician.

If there is any criticism of Queen, it is that they are too heavily produced, too slick, too reliant on studio tricks.

I've been a fan since I first heard "Killer Queen" in high school. I liked their earliest albums best and felt that they had played out about the time they started doing movie soundtracks. A Night at the Opera is a good choice. It has some solid rockers like "Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to....)" and "I'm in Love with My Car", a couple of cute vaudevillesque numbers ("Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" and "Good Company") and three, solid, big songs: the sci-fi time travel ballad "'39", the truly creepy "The Prophets' Song" and the overplayed "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Queen's "Stairway to Heaven"...a great piece worn smooth by repitition).

I always appreciated the classical influences in their presentation and their use of choral style vocal arrangements were unique in popular music.

Since this is bike forums, I read somewhere that Freddy was in a Hotel in France that wasalongside one of the Tour De France routes and that experience influenced his writing of Bicycle.

That Flash Gordon soundtrack rocks!

Go Queen!

Koffee

I'm 18 and queen is one of my favorite bands. Just so happens my mom owned the greatist hit cds. We used to love listening to them when we were 10.

I've been a fan since their first album came out in 1973. If you get a chance, listen to Queen II, I don't think I've heard any of the songs on the radio, though. "Father To Son", "White Queen", "The March Of The Black Queen", and especially "Ogre Battle" rank as some of my favorites.

It started with "Killer Queen" in Jr High. Loved them ever since.
39' has to be my all time favorite.
"A Night at the Opera" definately a great album
And as Koffee mentioned "Flash Gordon soundtrack" rocks!
Their dvds I,II & III are good, I like the songs that had radio play, theres also songs I hadn't heard on them.

"Radio GaGa" classic!

Pick an album, any album and enjoy

I love Queen's music. They are one of my favorite bands. I own their greatest hits cd and I listen to it all the time.

Best band at 'Live Aid' by a mile.

It started with "Killer Queen" in Jr High. Loved them ever since.
39' has to be my all time favorite.
"A Night at the Opera" definately a great album
And as Koffee mentioned "Flash Gordon soundtrack" rocks!
Their dvds I,II & III are good, I like the songs that had radio play, theres also songs I hadn't heard on them.

"Radio GaGa" classic!

Pick an album, any album and enjoy

I did not like Radio GaGa. *barf*

Koffee

I did not like Radio GaGa. *barf*

Koffee

:eek: not like radio gaga:eek: Say it isn't so

I have The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on vhs. When this song is performed.... and the audience..... just looks soooo cool when they do the clapping. The Wembly Stadium packed, the whole audience in total sync. [brings a tear to my eye]
The whole concert is great, of course I ff thru the metalica performance.

Although I like a lot of Queen's songs, my favourite ones are off A Kind of Magic most of which came from the Highlander soundtrack.

:eek: not like radio gaga:eek: Say it isn't so

I have The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on vhs. When this song is performed.... and the audience..... just looks soooo cool when they do the clapping. The Wembly Stadium packed, the whole audience in total sync. [brings a tear to my eye]
The whole concert is great, of course I ff thru the metalica performance.

Well, George Michael did a good rendition of Freddy Mercury. That was a tough song he sang at the tribute concert.

Koffee

I saw Queen several times when they did tour here.
It was a pity (to me) when they stopped hitting America even though they toured the rest of the world.


I remember I exchanged my "Jazz" album several times to get a good pressing (my sounded worn out when brand new, dies were worn out I guess).



Still the best concert I have been to.

My first exposure to Queen was other kids on their BMX bikes singing "Another one Bites the Dust" when one of them crashed on a jump or something.

That, and "We Will Rock You/We are the Champions" was a daily listening requirement during football season.

Then the realization that Vanilla Ice did not, in fact, have a kick ass bass player for Ice Ice Baby. It was Queen's John Deacon, and his bassline for "Pressure"...which is a much better song.

Then, memorizing the opera break of Bohemian Rhapsody with my other idiot friends after watching Wayne's World.

Then hearing Metallica annihilate "Stone Cold Crazy" on their Garage sessions...Once I found out it was Queen, I was floored.

Then, after Freddy died, there was that concert at Wembly Stadium where even Extreme did a great job covering 'Dust'. Axl Rose almost forgot a verse of We Will Rock You. James Hetfield from Metallica did Stone Cold Crazy about a month after he was blown up by a pyrotechnic device in Montreal, and had the bandages still on and everything. But the big kicker was David Bowie and Annie Lennox doing a duet of Pressure.

So, I'm a huge fan of other peoples versions of Queen songs. :)