| Michael Scapp 25.04.2016 21:54 |
If Queen never existed in the 1970's and their debut album was The Game, do you think you would still love the band? Do you believe you would even like the band? |
| stevelondon20 26.04.2016 01:01 |
I know I still would. |
| Chief Mouse 26.04.2016 01:08 |
Yes, probably less though. But would still be my fave band. |
| matt z 26.04.2016 01:45 |
People would've thought ' Wow! What a fantastic band! " Then listened to the mixed results of HOT SPACE Then their record company would be wondering what to do with them. And finally after a mixed bag of mostly filler with THE WORKS... Queen would be dropped from their label. |
| musicland munich 26.04.2016 01:53 |
matt z wrote: . And finally after a mixed bag of mostly filler with THE WORKS... Queen would be dropped from their label.You are from the "United States of Who the fuck cares about for the Rest of the World" Right ? :) To me even more interesting...what would have happened to the Band when they decided to be a more session based Band in the 70's... I can imagine something like this link |
| matt z 26.04.2016 02:42 |
Yes I'm from the states. But I'm clearly citing my feeling that THE WORKS was their weakest album. But then again. This brings up an interesting paradox. If their 70's albums had never BEEN. ... Then IAHL would sound tremendously odd. .... hmm. ... is it possible I could rescind that comment? WOULD I? I don't know. I love AKOM and The Miracle. But u know. I'm a little confounded once I really consider that IAHL would be a NEW sound at that point. What I had meant REALISTICALLY is that the bulk of their legacy is owing to their 70's work. One would have to be ....err...well, let's just say that EVERYBODY knows THAT. INNUENDO was their return to COMPLETE greatness, but largely it was sporadic in the 80's. That doesn't make it purely a simplistic "American" bit of ignorant snobbery |
| master marathon runner 26.04.2016 03:01 |
Matt, ...........are you sure you've got the right 'The Works' ??????!!!!, |
| matt z 26.04.2016 08:23 |
Yes... though I'm not saying HOT SPACE was really better than it. Just saying in conventional terms, unless there's a massive indicator of success, labels will usually drop an artist once their cash in date is "over". And IF they'd hit with a huge album with 4 huge pop singles, they're good success would have been treated unjustly if they hadn't repeated it again and again. The works has GAGA, IWTBF and IAHL... only the first of which would likely be appealing to a general 80's crowd (* which, without the band's INITIAL 70's stardom, would be significantly smaller) Just being impartial. I know it's not the answer people are fond of hearing. But consider that, when introducing someone to the band, you're nite than likely going to play someone one of their incredible 70's masterpieces. Not Flash Gordon, not HOT SPACE, not AKOM (*though WWTLF is about as great as they'd ever done) .... and certainly not THE WORKS. It's got good cuts but it's no 70's opus |
| pittrek 26.04.2016 09:44 |
Probably not. I think their 80's albums are much weaker than the stuff from the previous decade. But still there is more than 1 good song on each album... Maybe I would "like" them anyway, but probably not "love" them. |
| Costa86 26.04.2016 10:11 |
Interesting question. The song which really caught my attention as a kid in the mid-90s was Bohemian Rhapsody - and I also had heard We Are The Champions and We Will Rock You. I think that without these songs, and some of their other 70s hits, Queen wouldn't be half as famous as they are now. To answer your question - I'd probably like them but wouldn't place them in the same category of favourites (with the likes of Led Zep, The Doors, etc.) as I do now. They'd be a much less respectable band without their 70s music. |
| master marathon runner 26.04.2016 10:23 |
....take away any bands magn um opuses and they wouldn't be half as famous as they are now. |
| brENsKi 26.04.2016 10:28 |
there's a trio of albums there - Hot Space, Works & AKOM that ANY other band on the planet, would've ended looking for a new record label no question about it, you kick off with The Game and then for six years you produce those three albums!!! - there's no worse run of albums anywhere else in the band's existence |
| miraclesteinway 26.04.2016 10:55 |
Actually I'd be a little kinder to Hot Space. It was, by the time it was released, a little dated even by those days standards, but there are still some half way decent tunes and stunning vocals on it, although yes it's weak. Part of the reason it failed was because of the departure in sound for Queen, and part of it was that it is a little half-assed in places, but it's not a complete train wreck in my opinion (which is just an opinion....). In fact I think Jazz is a worse album to be honest. The Works is a strange album in that it sounds in places like highly competent drivel. But then, it spawned a couple of legendary hits - Radio Gaga and I want to break free, history has shown us, are two of Queen's most enduring songs. Is this the world we created is a beautiful track, It's a hard life is not my favourite song but it's still good. Machines I could do without, and Man On The Prowl seems like Freddie was scraping the barrel for ideas (sorry Freddie, just my opinion again....). Again I wouldn't say it's a disaster but it does have some odd moments. It does sound like a band who had become a bit too big and couldn't really care less. The A Kind Of Magic album opened with a lot of promise, One Vision is a great song with a great vocal, as is A Kind of Magic. Who wants to live forever is epic, but things like One Year of Love and Pain Is So Close To Pleasure sound quirky but half-hearted. One year of love could come down a tone and have a guitar solo for instance... or just not be there at all. Friends Will Be Friends is a bit 'here we go again' Queen, not really a great song, but it's not unpalatable. Certainly in the 1980s Queen were underproductive as a recording band, and what they did release wasn't close to the quality of what they had released in the 1970s, but that is perhaps easy to say in the light of hindsight. A lot of bands who were relevant in the 70s found the 80s quite difficult. In retrospect I would have preferred for Queen to take Roger's advice and remain a rock band rather than a hits machine, but would they have survived that? Would it have been better? They very nearly broke up several times in the early 80s I believe, and I don't think that the in-fighting really helped the quality of their music in this period. Even by the time we get to The Miracle, Queen are still not back on form. I know that Freddie had his illness to deal with by then, and the rest of the band were in personal turmoil, with Brian in particular having been very candid about his mental health issues at that time. There are a couple of good songs on The Miracle - I want it all, The Miracle, Breakthru, and even Party and Khashoggi's Ship are quite arresting even if they're not the greatest pieces. But listening to the unreleased songs from that time, it just doesn't seem that Queen had the pick of a lot of good songs, it seems that their creative juices had dried up. Which is strange, because Barcelona is in my opinion a masterpiece, and of course it's not a rock album, but it shows what's possible. Perhaps had Queen allowed themselves to work with an external song writer then they might have had higher quality albums in this period. Innuendo on the other hand is a whole different ball game. I think Innuendo is an excellent album, and it's sad that Freddie died during that return to form. We might have had another two or three albums of exceptional quality had Freddie not died. Of course, that changes the game as well, because some of the creativity may have been down to the fact that Freddie was facing death. To answer the original question, would Queen still be my favourite if they'd started at "The Game"? No probably not. I don't listen to a lot of Queen from the 80s. In fact I'm not listening to a lot of Queen at all right now, but when I do, I prefer the mid 70s stuff, and then Innuendo. |
| AlbaNo1 26.04.2016 13:29 |
Have of Queens live aid set were 80 songs My generation was 80s music in general . But it was only discovering Queens 70s albums that elevated them to life long obsession. Without hearing 70s material I'd have probably liked them at the same level I like Inxs. |
| musicland munich 26.04.2016 15:10 |
matt z wrote: .... That doesn't make it purely a simplistic "American" bit of ignorant snobberyMy reply wasn't meant to be an insult...I know that you're not that kind of "Trump-Guy" "The Works" reached No. 2 in the UK(Platin) and No.3 in Germany. Plus the succsess of the Singles...actually I can't see a reason for a Label to drop them. The same counts for "AKOM" No.1 in the UK (Double Platin) No. 4 in Germany ( Triple Gold/ 63 Weeks on the Top 100) |
| Sebastian 26.04.2016 15:13 |
Great question. I wonder what the concerts setlist would be then :) Presumably, I would've loved 'The Game' but loathed the rest of their 80's output, save for a few tracks here and there. Without ''39', 'Good Company', 'Teo Torriatte', 'Dreamers Ball' and 'White Queen', my favourite Queen song would've probably been 'Save Me'. |
| musicland munich 26.04.2016 15:29 |
I like to add some more odd circumstances... A "newbie" British Band with an own Recording Studio in Montreux ? They rent the Musicland Studios including MACK for six weeks...just for fun...to fill a gap ? While the Band ( with almost no money on their hands) are resideing in their Suites at the "Bayrischer Hof"...Sounds a bit rich imo. |
| DepeX 26.04.2016 16:11 |
I think I love Queen especially for their '70s' albums. There are many songs I like from the 80s too, but the main reason why I love them is what they did in the 70s. |
| matt z 26.04.2016 16:36 |
I rushed to judgement before even reading it (4 hours sleep)... would I LIKE the band? Yes. Assuming they still got to record their final albums. I grew up listening to them on the LIVE KILLERS cassette. But also I was greatly impressed as a kid with the IWIA video which I'd seen once or twice on an underground video channel. I would have then heard WWTLF and it would doubtlessly STILL be one of my favorite songs ever |
| Sebastian 26.04.2016 16:45 |
musicland munich wrote: A "newbie" British Band with an own Recording Studio in Montreux ? They rent the Musicland Studios including MACK for six weeks...just for fun...to fill a gap ? While the Band ( with almost no money on their hands) are resideing in their Suites at the "Bayrischer Hof"...Sounds a bit rich imo.To be fair, had they devoted ten years to their other professions, they could've potentially be rather successful, at least enough to make an investment like that. A 32-year-old Brian with a PhD finished in the early 70's rather than 2008 would've probably amassed some money, as would a 30-year-old dentist practising in London (it's quite pricey there!) and a talented 28-year-old engineer with a natural brain for money (perhaps he would've engineered a successful artist and asked for a percentage of the profits). They wouldn't have been as wealthy as they were in the real timeline, but enough to hire Musicland for a few weeks, definitely. Moreover, Mack wasn't as much in demand as other producers were. It's not like they were getting Quincy Jones! As for Fred, I've no idea how monetarily successful he would've been as a designer... but the other three could've easily covered the costs and/or John could've used his connexions to get them to record at a nice place in London. |
| andyb1968 26.04.2016 17:01 |
There's no doubt Boh Rhap and A Night At The Opera shot Queen to mega stardom, so had they not come along and The Game been their first album ? No I wouldn't be as big a fan ! I'd have liked some singles, but never bought an album I think. |
| Doga 27.04.2016 04:03 |
andyb1968 wrote: There's no doubt Boh Rhap and A Night At The Opera shot Queen to mega stardom, so had they not come along and The Game been their first album ? No I wouldn't be as big a fan ! I'd have liked some singles, but never bought an album I think.Some of the best 80's songs aren't singles. The Hero, Dragon Attack, Is this the World we Created, A Kind of Magic (Original), Gimme the Prize, Was it all Worth It... Still, their 70's stuff is unbeatable. but some 80's tracks are really good too. |
| cmsdrums 27.04.2016 06:23 |
I became a fan in the 80s when I was a teenager, and it was their 80s output from The Works onwards that got me hooked just as I was finding music seriously for the first time, and so I would most likely still be a fan to this day based on that output alone. However, having The Works and AKOM prompted me to delve into the 70s catalogue and that is the stuff that sticks with me.....now I consider their 80s output pretty weak in comparison to the earlier gems, and ADATR is my absolute favourite album, and I can easily listen to any album start to finish up to The Game. Countering this though is the fact that they changed to embrace (but not actually slaveishly follow) changing trends in music, and so whilst The Works and AKOM are now probably my two least favourite albums, the band would probably have never reached that point in their career if they had stuck to their early style and had plowed a furrow only producing tracks like Son & Daughter, Father To Son etc.... Even on the albums I'm not as keen on there are some great tracks amongst my favourites...Who Wants to Live Forever, Radio Ga Ga, Staying Power... and The Miracle is possbily my second favourite Queen album. |