Sheer Heart Attack has been my CD of choice in the car for the past few weeks. I don't really know why Dear Friends is on the album. It's a very average song. Freddie's voice wavers throughout. It's hideously out of place between Stone Cold Crazy and Misfire.... the first example of Queen 'filler'
Isn't the first song John composed? Maybe the others don't want to drop the song.
An ace choice, knowing John latter would have the confindence to write so many hits and good songs. I always tought ''You and I'' is underated.
Wow it's a classic, beautiful song. Filller? Hardly. I love that it's so different from Stone Cold Crazy...the complete opposite type of tune. That's the beauty of Queen. It's one of my favorites. Of many.
'Dear friends' filler????!!!???
NO WAY! :-)
This is an incredibly beautiful and poignant song and a wonderful performance... It's for me one of the (indeed many) highlights on the album.
I can easily listen put it on repeat and listen to it 40 times :-)
I wish Freddie committed Imagine to a studio album. His live performance of that song was best in the cosmos. I wish he sung Dear Friends live, but for whatever reason he refused. I wonder what the story behind the lyrics is, because it is an awesome fucking song that makes you reflect on life.
I'd heard of that cover, but I never actually heard it until I clicked on that link................that was freakin good! Like how they kinda rocked it up...
(edit) Dang tho...........I was gonna buy just that song on amazon, but it is not available..........
Ridiculous. One of Queen's finest moments. Mooghead, I am not sure if you are sincere or a troll. You have some amazing insights, some not so amazing :) Dear Friends is a shining example of what Queen were: a band that wrote songs that pleased them, fuck the fans. This is a beautiful song, almost a lullaby. I love it and think it's supreme.
But that's what you get with queen. They fit such a wide variety of genres. Dear friends - not my cup of tea, but a favorite of someone elses. Queen have a song for everyone.
Love when the harmonies come in on the second verse. Great song and I always thought it was perfectly placed on the album. Don't think this album has any fillers at all.
I went to a Queen tribute concert this summer, and they started the show with Dear Friends, followed up by Tie Your Mother Down. They had a choir, 3 guitarists and lots of other musicians. The concert was in my hometown in Norway, and it's actually the best tribute concert I've been to.
I must admit I've skipped Dear Friends many times on Sheer Heart Attack, because it's usually "too slow," although I think it's a pretty good song.
"Dear Friends" is a beauty. Also, it suited so well at the end of "Five Live" EP. If there was any filler on SHA, the title must go to "Misfire" or "She Makes Me".
I think Misfire was added because it was John's first song to appear on an album.
And to me, She Makes Me its an amazing song, and its nice to hear the rain effect before In the Lap of the Gods.
Dear Friends is a great track.
I never understood why Def Leppard dud that to the song; virtually all the other songs on their cover album were 'straight' covers of the originals, shoring where they got their inspiration.....then they do that to the Queen song and not just rearrange it instrumentation-wise but even add bits that aren't in the original!! Odd decision.
I agree about "Misfire" and they were certainly right to include a JD song, considering what he was to deliver next. "She Makes Me", yes I agree about the mood and sound effects, but it's still a bit of a bore to me. Yet still, it adds even more album-like quality and sounds so much better than some of the crap Queen put on their 80s releases. Like I said, a filler in SHA terms. Cheers.