I mean to me it just sounds like a fairly decent song, but a lot of people say that it was a concept that went horribly wrong, and I've read somewhere that Freddie admitted he had a lot to learn from the song. Now I'm not that knowledgable about song structure or music theory (3/4, 6/8, they mean nothing to me), so it this what people are getting at?
The lowering of the voice wasn't done very well, IMHO, and that's a defect in my perception. Also, but this is merely a personal statement, I think the song drags on a little, so perhaps the harmonic rhythm (the rate at which chords change) should've been a little faster. Personally, I love In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited, but I dislike In The Lap Of The Gods.
I like both, I think the original In The Lap Of The Gods is great, I also love the varispeed vocal.
...Revisited is like an arena rock anthem avant la lettre.
There is no song on SHA which I dislike, but there are a few songs which I less than love, and 'In The Lap Of The Gods' is one of them. As ThomasQuinn said, it drags on a bit too much for my liking, and I only ever really listen to it when I want to listen to the album in full. That said, I wouldn't replace it as I think it contributes to the eclecticism of the album. Oh, and I also prefer 'In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited.'
For me, " In the Lap Of The Gods" is the one of the best from Sheer heart attack... I really really like that song... very well done, very well composed, and it belongs to the same level of "my fairy king", "the fairy fellers master stroke" and others songs...
ThomasQuinn wrote:
The lowering of the voice wasn't done very well, IMHO, and that's a defect in my perception. Also, but this is merely a personal statement, I think the song drags on a little, so perhaps the harmonic rhythm (the rate at which chords change) should've been a little faster. Personally, I love In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited, but I dislike In The Lap Of The Gods.
Personally, i think they should have released "In The Lap Of The Gods (revisted)" as the 2nd single off SH. It's classic Queen, with that anthemic quality and sing along chorus.
I like both of them.I think they both fit in with the eclectism of the album.There is all different styles in that album and both those songs lend a certain something to the album
ThomasQuinn wrote:
The lowering of the voice wasn't done very well, IMHO, and that's a defect in my perception. Also, but this is merely a personal statement, I think the song drags on a little, so perhaps the harmonic rhythm (the rate at which chords change) should've been a little faster. Personally, I love In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited, but I dislike In The Lap Of The Gods.
so does Prophet Song
I don't agree. Prophet's Song is mostly a lyrical composition, where the music serves as support for the words. ITLOTG is 'just' a song where the two are more or less equally important. Musically, Prophet's Song is based mostly around the orchestration, and thus the shades of musical colour, while ITLOTG's music functions as a supporting harmony for the vocals. The two are utterly incomparable with each other, IMHO.
I havn't heard many people slating 'in the lap of the gods' the only song on sheer heart attack people attack is 'she makes me' as for 'In the lap of the gods,' I like it a lot. I love the vocals, and the guitar sound. I also like how it flows into the heavy 'stone cold crazy' The only thing I would change is roger's high scream in the beginning of the song. The screaming at the end of the song is fine, but that opening scream irritates me. I also think revisited is the stronger song, and would have made a great single.
I think In the Lap of the Gods is one of the best songs on the Sheer Heart Attack album.
The lyrics are maybe even better than the lyrics on You Take My Breath Away (if possible).
"I live my life for you
Think all my thoughts with you and only you..."
I think the low voice thing is done perfect, and I love the "surround" intro!
...and the transition to Stone Cold Crazy is just great!
One of my friends thinks the guitar solo at the end of In The Lap of The Gods is so cool, and I agree of course : )
When he borrowed the CD from me, he said that In the lap of the Gods, Tenement Funster and Killer Queen was his favorits...
Slating Queen songs in general always struck me as proving the critic is so fucking cool, he can slate such big act. Bonus points are then earned for praising a random part-time Mr T cover band as much better musicians.