QueenZone discussion #1388296
"One year of love" - any love?
| 5150 29.06.2014 23:40 |
First off, I'm not a big fan. just never could imagine queen with saxaphones...not a good fit, and thank goodness there wasn't many attempts. |
| The King Of Rhye 30.06.2014 00:43 |
I can not say I disagree! A lowlight of the more of less good AKOM album..............why a sax solo on a Queen song when you got Dr Brian freaking May in the band??........well he wasn't a Dr then, but that's beside the point.............. Kinda going off on a tangent............(but I am like the king of that...........KingTangentofRhye)................. But that bugs me about Action This Day.........why this cheesy sounding keyboard synth solo thing??? In what is really a pretty good Roger Taylor song.............when they could have had Brian lay down a killer multi tracked solo..............ah, oh well, they were trying new things........... |
| andyb1968 30.06.2014 04:27 |
Not one of my favourite tracks, or indeed albums, one year of love fitted the movie, hence the sax I think, and the synths on Action were very 80's, very of their time. |
| pittrek 30.06.2014 05:03 |
I prefer the extended version : link |
| jondickens1 30.06.2014 07:14 |
The song I feel should be in a slightly lower key. Freddie struggles with the song being to higher pitch I feel. Just my opinion. The sax is fine and in keeping with the mood of the song and film. But should've been in a lower key for Freddie. |
| malicedoom 30.06.2014 09:14 |
I agree. I had no problem with the sax, writing of the song or how it was used in the movie. I just thought Freddie sounded like he nearly killed himself trying to sing it. |
| Day dop 30.06.2014 12:09 |
Aside from the dated sounds, and the way Freddie sings it, it's a fairly decent track. Have a listen to this cover version: link |
| Ale Solan 30.06.2014 12:21 |
AKOM, a very expensive album and musically weak except for a couple of songs, of course. |
| Gregsynth 30.06.2014 14:05 |
Freddie is singing the song in "overdrive" vocal mode with added distortion on the mixed voice belts. I've always thought he was kinda going for a vocal style similar to Michael Bolton. |
| matt z 30.06.2014 19:18 |
I'll defend it a bit. I'll start off by saying that it could EASILY fit on any post 70's ETTA JAMES album. There's a Southern blues element to it. You just merely have to change the production and give it a slightly different tempo To that effect I think it would translate much differently. People would enjoy it more. However, it's not the bread and butter of the album. It's the sprinkle of salt. ..the oddity. MUCH LIKE EVERY OTHER QUEEN ALBUM. Jesus Funny how love is Bring back that Leroy Brown seaside rendezvous/lazing. ../good company who needs you fun it don't try suicide man on the prowl Delilah etc As a thematic song it's simple but beautiful in a melancholy hopeful way. You d just have to listen to the words if you ever felt resignation from a romance. Then thought about the good and the bad. The posters do have a point that it sounds strained at times. PISCTP is another stretch of a song. But all in all the bass and the melody still won me over. Of course. ...I was THREE when the album came out so ....wtf do I know? It WAS the 80's. Picturesque music videos with rising fog and sax solos. Cheesy standard video shoots like that (roger came close with MAN ON FIRE) I think they were emulating an era. It's position in the film is good. However I don't think the levels are... On the soundtrack it comes off bigger than being merely background bar music. The belated music video drew far too much focus to the tragedy of Freddie's passing rather than the thematic parts of the song. (Blame DoRo) All in all I think Kamen's music arrangement score helps it. The cross sticking isn't bad but it's of an era. It's too bad Etta is gone otherwise it'd be fitting. That's the only style I can seem to hear it in. Kinda like I hear Stevie Wonder in "rain must fall" |
| Jimmy Dean 30.06.2014 23:35 |
i thought they did it because it was something they hadn't done before. The song isn't bad considering Pain Is So Close to Pleasure and Don't Lose Your Head were on the album. It's on par, in terms of quality with Friends Will Be Friends & Gimme The Prize. Not bad songs, but not exactly standouts either. Friends Will Be Friends, although on GHII, is an embarrassing Queen song (i'd fit Thank God It's Shitmas, It's a Turd's Life and even Suicide in that category - but that's just my opinion). |
| matt z 01.07.2014 00:27 |
FWBF appealed to me as a young kid. I still feel the moods and seasons of each successive queen album I'd bought. AKOM was winter time in California. Always been enchanted by Brian's melodic TONE on that song. The solo break is fluid and not full of histrionics but it's truly evocative. Some of his most beautiful tone work. Up there with Bijou and You Don't Fool Me. Say what you will but the production on that album doors evoke the kind of magic ;) It's fun, cheeky, serious, heartfelt and well. ... thematically the only one that doesn't fit is one vision. |
| andyb1968 01.07.2014 07:52 |
That's very true matt, I always felt one vision never fitted on that album, later, on the works maybe. |
| andyb1968 01.07.2014 07:54 |
Sorry meant to say " later, or on the works maybe ''. : ( |
| malicedoom 01.07.2014 12:12 |
I'm starting to feel like I'm one of very very very very few who likes Pain Is So Close To Pleasure... |
| princetom 01.07.2014 12:32 |
malicedoom wrote: I'm starting to feel like I'm one of very very very very few who likes Pain Is So Close To Pleasure...no, you aren't. but the single version is preferable imho. |
| malicedoom 02.07.2014 11:57 |
I thought that was a wise choice to release as a single in the USA. Of course, it didn't go anywhere, following pretty much the same course of all Queen singles in the USA in the late 80's. Capitol Records can CHEW me. The one single they actually DID put some promo behind (I Want It All) did well here and got The Miracle noticed and up the Billboard 200 chart. Then, after that, they completely screw the releases of both Breakthru and Scandal - basically they pressed the singles and gave them no promotion whatsoever. Pathetic. Both could easily have been hits here. |
| Doga 02.07.2014 13:14 |
In A Kind of Magic, Gimme the Prize deserve more love, not One Year of Love |
| Supersonic_Man89 02.07.2014 13:31 |
I really like the track, something a little different. Regarding Freddie's vocals, i think he's trying to get across a sense of desperation and despair one feels when a relationship is ending. It's not controlled and sometimes not pretty, and i think his vocals give a good impression of this. I don't know why Queen can't explore other instruments like the sax either. |
| Heavenite 10.07.2014 07:27 |
Doga wrote: In A Kind of Magic, Gimme the Prize deserve more love, not One Year of LoveYep! Love Prize! I actually love the heavy ones on this album! Prize, Head and Princes of the Universe. Pain and Pleasure is not a favourite, OYOL has Freddie's worst vocal IMO and Friends Will Be Friends is very kitsch for a Queen song as far as I'm concerned As I recall they were going to have a break, but went back into the studio to take advantage of the interest that Live Aid engendered. I wonder if that was a mistake! |
| Stelios 11.07.2014 09:48 |
Friends Will Be Friends is a special case to my view. There is something beautiful and something terribly wrong going on simultaneously . The reasault is you hear it once, you may like it, then you are bored to death with the track after 5 listenings. Quite an achievement... |
| Heavenite 12.07.2014 00:39 |
Yes Stelios. I think it's the kitchness and Freddie is also singing again constantly straining. Nothing as bad as OYOL in that respect though. Yeesh! Thank goodness Miracle was a relative vocal return to form for him! Not like the old days, but still great. And I think the vocals on Innuendo are even better again! And I think the vocal on Mother Love is simply superb! |