louvox 04.11.2008 13:52 |
Give Queen -- or Brian May and Roger Taylor, as that's who's left at this point -- and new singer Paul Rodgers this much credit: this awkward marriage of convenience winds up being more convincing on the 2008 studio effort The Cosmos Rocks than it did on the live album. Of course, this is almost entirely due to the fact that the songs here were written by and for Rodgers, a frontman who is a cosmos away from Freddie Mercury and never quite seemed comfortable taming Freddie's flamboyancy. Here, Rodgers effectively rules the roost, helping steer The Cosmos Rocks far, far away from the meticulous, grandiose sonic sculptures of Queen at the height of their reign and toward a humble boogie. At its best, this can sound a bit like a second-rate Bad Company, at its worst it feels like Free -- not quite like Queen, but not necessarily unenjoyable either, thanks in part to a Brian May who seems, frankly, thrilled to play new songs again. Some of these songs are good -- hell, some of them are frankly embarrassing, especially when Rodgers channels his inner David St. Hubbins to sing "The cosmos is rocking with the majestic power of rock" -- is almost beside the point. Time to shine is an alright joke! This is all clichés -- glittering gold, rock & roll and school's out -- but the band seems happy to shuffle the pieces and put them together in a slightly different order, to get whatever meager charge there is by following a 20-degree curve instead of a 15-degree one. There are hints of the old craziness -- thank the stars for "C-Lebrity," a monumentally silly satire of TMZ married to the only outsized arrangement here, but "Call Me" also comes close to capturing the bright pop of The Game -- but this is firmly Rodgers' show; it's all meat and potatoes, not champagne and caviar. It has its own internal logic that keeps it humming along, and that's good enough for a listen and to get the band out on tour again, even it's not good enough for a second spin. Most of the problem is that they called this Queen and there is little to no what most fans have come to know as Queen on it. They would be better off calling them selfs "The Cosmos". 1. Cosmos rockin' - Good rock tune. Would have been spectacular with Freddie singing. 2. Time to shine - A complete joke 3. Still burnin' - Sounds like Brian May solo leftover 4. Small - Boring! 5. Warboys - Snorefest indeed 6. We believe - Lacks direction and sounds like a cliché 7. Call me - Gospel/pop at it's average 8. Voodoo - A re-hashed blues effort 9. Some things that glitter - Spinal tap would be proud! 10.C-lebrity - One of the better efforts and almost works on it's own. 11.Through the night - Will put you sleep faster than a sleeping pill 12.Say it's not true - The closest thing to Queen on this CD. Probably the best song on here. 13.Surf's up...School's out - Fun, but embarrassing at the same time. 14.Small reprise - Small bore! |
masterstroke_84 04.11.2008 14:18 |
"... to the majestic power of rock n roll"?? bla bla bla.. bla bla.. Another jackass. Neeeeeeeext ooooone. |
Rick 04.11.2008 14:31 |
edit |
Marcos Napier 04.11.2008 15:07 |
a frontman who is a cosmos away from Freddie Mercury Where did I read this before? |
mooghead 04.11.2008 15:18 |
masterstroke_84 wrote: "... to the majestic power of rock n roll"?? bla bla bla.. bla bla.. Another jackass. Neeeeeeeext ooooone. Awwww..did the nasty man say he didn't like the Queen album? Diddums. He's right though. Its shit. |
Brangwen Rocker 04.11.2008 19:10 |
Can I come in on this one? Calling someone a jackass for expressing an opinion really smacks of immaturity and does not contribute anything to the discussion. The one thing that unites the majority of people on this site, is Queen. The irony is that whilst we are united as Queen fans, we are all dis-united in our uniform appreciation of their music! Why? Many like myself have been fans of Queen since 1970, and to be a little self-gratuitous could lay some sort of claim to "discovering" the original "Queen sound", raw, heavy, slighlty epic, exciting. Queen I & Queen II are fantastic albums. Also, FM, even though he ponced about with black nail varnish, mascara and white satin trousers, was a million miles from the flamboyant, camp showman he ultimately became! But all that changed when they released "Killer Queen" as a single. I couldn't believe it! What had they done? As a 13/14 year old I utterly hated it, but I still bought SHA, because in "Brighton Rock"& "Now I'm Here", they redeemed themselves, and kicked butt with a couple of grinding rock tracks. However, for me Queen were never the same again, "Killer Queen" re-defined the Queen sound, turning their backs on the heavy rock sound and with FM at the helm, embraced the Glam rock scene, and set out on the journey through the rest of the 70's and 80's, to become the Queen most people know and love. And that for me is the nub of the problem. After performing at Live Aid, where beforehand internal in fighting and other goings on, almost split the band up, Queen attracted a whole new fanbase, FM became this icon of crazy decadence, the complete showman, hiding behind this fantastic facade and creation he became Queen, he defined who and what they were. For many therefore when FM died, Queen died. Now, into my 50th year, (and I still loathe Killer Queen), I can understand the strong feelings that for so many Queen without FM, are not Queen, but as an older, slightly graying around the temples fan, Queen can still be Queen with PR, a different version perhaps, but still Queen nevertheless, and ok, TCR may not light everyones fire, lets also remember that the back catalogue is littered with some questionable offerings! |
Sheer Brass Neck 04.11.2008 19:12 |
Fairly accurate impression by Louvox, and just think, he's a fan! I heard TCR the other night, and as a Queen fan since '75 and a person who believes their best works were the best thing rock music had to offer, I was stunned by the awfulness of the album. Of course you could see it coming a mile away as Paul Rodgers is a great singer of certain types of songs, but a generally bad writer. Roger's writing peaked around Innuendo and Brian is too busy fighting the world to write a good song anymore. Of course their are those who think TCR is "brilliant", but honest fans wouldn't give this a second thought if nopt for the Queen name. No wonder Brian and Roger wanted to use the Queen name, this album wouldn't get a moments notice if it were from an unknown entity. Unspeakably bad, perhaps the best ever Bad Company album, but the worst Quen related album by light years. |
Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira 04.11.2008 19:50 |
[listu]
[li]Sheer Brass Neck wrote:
[li]Unspeakably bad, perhaps the best ever Bad Company album, but the worst Quen related album by light years.
[/listu]
Do you include "Fun in Space" and "Shove It" in there? Hah, I bet I gotcha :) Cheers, Ogre- |
Sheer Brass Neck 04.11.2008 21:11 |
Actually, Arnaldo, I love Fun in Space. For my money, that and Barcelona are the best Queen solo stuff by miles. Laugh or Cry, Let's get crazy, My Country, Good times are now and Magic is loose are all personal favourites. Plus there was an energy that is lacking in the later stuff from Roger where he played keyboard pads and filled in the lyrics. I think it's exponentially better than TCR. |
Sheer Brass Neck 04.11.2008 21:21 |
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masterstroke_84 04.11.2008 21:23 |
I called jackass to the """"""journalist""""""" who wrote that... I'm a pro-Q+PR project since day 0! |
Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira 05.11.2008 05:38 |
Sheer Brass Neck wrote: Actually, Arnaldo, I love Fun in Space. For my money, that and Barcelona are the best Queen solo stuff by miles. Laugh or Cry, Let's get crazy, My Country, Good times are now and Magic is loose are all personal favourites. Plus there was an energy that is lacking in the later stuff from Roger where he played keyboard pads and filled in the lyrics. I think it's exponentially better than TCR. Ok, YOU got me, then. :) I kinda like it, but TCR is better, IMHO. Cheers, Ogre- |
Josh Henson 05.11.2008 08:47 |
mooghead wrote:masterstroke_84 wrote: "... to the majestic power of rock n roll"?? bla bla bla.. bla bla.. Another jackass. Neeeeeeeext ooooone.Awwww..did the nasty man say he didn't like the Queen album? Diddums. He's right though. Its shit. I hate to say it, but true. This album sucks. Regardless of who this album is credited to or what the band is calling themselves. Its boring as shit, very embarrassing and too many cliches that are played over and over again. Pure crap. |
john bodega 05.11.2008 09:46 |
I've no real fondness for this album, but I think the original poster is putting way too much value on their own post. Two cents? Is there some kind of exchange rate for trite amateur reviews that I'm not aware of? Zimbabwe cents, perhaps... |
Marcos Napier 05.11.2008 11:39 |
Ok, I *did* read this before (that "cosmos away" irony was one of the funniest things I had read in any other review): link Your two cents? Do you write for Barnes and Noble? |
tjbarrett96 05.11.2008 16:12 |
louvox wrote: Especially when Rodgers channels his inner David St. Hubbins to sing "The cosmos is rocking with the majestic power of rock" -- is almost beside the point. Goes to show just how smart professional reviewers are - if you're going to quote a lyric, at least refer to the line CORRECTLY. "The cosmos is rocking with the majestic power of rock?" What an idiot.... |
vadenuez 05.11.2008 17:50 |
The correct quote is as idiotic as that one. |
Griffin 05.11.2008 22:00 |
I'll go as far as saying the album is half-great -- mainly side two -- 'The Cosmos Rocks' (good fun, the ghost of Johnny B. Goode appears) and 'Surf's Up' are ok (love the harmonica), but then 'Time to Shine' gets it up and somehow brings to mind 'Funny How Love Is' from QII. 'Still Burnin' doesn't need samples, and maybe that's the only reason the song stands out for me. Maybe a little more tinkling honky-tonk piano. The 'don't say you love me -- I can't go that road' lyric tells me 'Call Me' doesn't fit anywhere, with lyrics that maudlin. I know Brian adores Lonnie Donegan, but even Lawrence Welk would say 'Call Me' is trite. 'Warboys' features some aggressive guitar work, reminds again of QII, more like 'Ogre Battle,' but maybe should've been "WE ARE the warboys...rolling into your town" imho. I'm a sucker for the beautiful bombast of 'Say It's Not True.' 'Through the Night' is some kind of revelation, Brian's best guitar solos in ages, gorgeous keyboards, and 'Voodoo' absolutely sparkles...lyrics like 'the moon on the ocean has a secret to tell' almost redeem the album from filler such as 'We Believe.' I believe the guys wanted to make something like 'Imagine' in their own special way. A couple steps above, 'Some Things that Glitter,' is about all the album needed from the emo genre, and 'Small' would make a great b-side. 'C-lebrity' has the catchy riff, and the crowd noise effect is pretty ironic given the 'Voodoo' epithet "always remember, you got to keep it real." The 'Small' reprise is a nice touch, the only thing other than a few riffs here and there to remind of the Sheer Heart Attack album. Repeat spins: tracks 1,2,8,9,10,11,12. bring us the rock! bring us the ROCK! |
mike hunt 06.11.2008 02:51 |
another thread about the cosmos rock. ok, so it's not the greatest album ever created, but it's decent. I still cringe listening to the first song 'cosmos rockin' but some others are pretty good. This new album won't help, or hurt queen's legacy. I think the original poster is Just a miserable old man. |
louvox 12.11.2008 16:19 |
mike hunt wrote: another thread about the cosmos rock. ok, so it's not the greatest album ever created, but it's decent. I still cringe listening to the first song 'cosmos rockin' but some others are pretty good. This new album won't help, or hurt queen's legacy. I think the original poster is Just a miserable old man. A fitting comment from Mike Cunt |
mike hunt 13.11.2008 03:29 |
louvox wrote:mike hunt wrote: another thread about the cosmos rock. ok, so it's not the greatest album ever created, but it's decent. I still cringe listening to the first song 'cosmos rockin' but some others are pretty good. This new album won't help, or hurt queen's legacy. I think the original poster is Just a miserable old man.A fitting comment from Mike Cunt Funny, But I don't think I ever seen a possitive post from you, it's always negative. Cheer up!,,,it's only music. |
matt z 18.12.2008 17:28 |
I TOTALLY have to agree.....PERRY COMO ROCKS!!!! |