As we all wait anxiously for the US pre-sale to begin...here's one man's thoughts on why Queen (w/Freddie) is up there with Zeppelin and the Beatles as the best ever, outside of the obvious things like Freddie's voice and frontmanship (not a word...yet) and May's exquisite guitar work.
I don't post much here, but I'm always reading. And since you all are probably the only ones who wouldn't give me a strange look as I leap into this diatribe...I figured I'd spout a bit.
Their albums are...albums. Not a collection of songs. It's not just the records where one transitions into another without pause. Several of their albums are like books, requiring the listener to listen from beginning to end to get the full impact. It is virtually impossible (in my mind, anyway) to pop in Sheer Heart Attack or Queen II and listen to two songs. Maybe some of the later albums aren't built quite the same, but I love listening to the pre-Game ones cover-to-cover. (By the way, if love this aspect of Queen and hasn't listening to early Moody Blues...I'd highly recommend them.)
Contrast. My college choir director liked to say "the beauty in the contrast". This is not only true for individual Queen songs, but most of their albums in whole.
Many of the greatest songs in rock history change tempos multiple times, starting slow, climaxing, then returning to an intense yet serene finale. Bo Rhap certainly fills the bill, like Stairway, Layla, etc. Layers of emotions within songs set them apart from top 50 ditties.
Again, Queen's early albums present a variety of choices for the listener. Slow songs, fast songs, jovial, mean-spirited...you name it, they made it. Maybe it was "drama rock" because of Freddie, the quinessential drama queen. Having songs written by four distinct personalities (plus collaborations) also led to beautiful disjointedness. I mean...
It's time to run, but I'd be interested to read any thoughts/comments.
_Tatterdemalion_ wrote: THIS IS THE ANNOUNCE SECTION FFS
Tatter, relax. Read the description of this forum:
The Queen Hub, Queen BitTorrents. Also general swapping / trading.
Does it say concert announcements ONLY? No. This is a forum to talk about stuff.
I admit, this post would have been better placed in the Serious Discussion forum, but he doesn't post here often, as he said. There's no need to get delerious about someone posting in the wrong place.
I take it FFS means for fucks sake...
Stormtrooper, I think you're absolutely right. Their pre 80s albums were wonderfully coherent packages, best appreciated by listening from the start to the finish. If you are old enough to have listened to the band on record, there was also the Side 1 / Side 2 dynamic, which was always well thought out and structured.
I find it very satisfying that 30 years on, they are beginning to get their due. There are many web sites out there now, proclaiming Led Zeppelin and Queen to be the best rock bands of the modrn era. It is a source of immense pleasure and more than a little pride that I chose those two bands (as well as Pink Floyd) when I was growing up as my all time favourite bands. I was lucky enough (others were even luckier) to follow their careers from the early seventies. Both bands have given me great joy throughout my life. Queen were indeed a truly awesome act. Freddie was a bloody legend.
no doubt that led zeppelin and queen are by far the best bands of the 1969-current day era.in both bands you had 8 of the best musicians that ever lived,and both bands were never too ego styled to experiment with something new.to me the only american band that can come a distant second to either lz or queen is aerosmith.and they are'nt
afraid to go out on a limb either.the beatles,and the stones opened the door for the rock of the 70s,but led zep and queen,and the who literally blew the door off its hinges.
I can only second your post, ledzeppelinfan1963!
Even though I am way too young to have seen any of them live (except for the current tour with Paul Rodgers), I must say, there are hardly any better bands than Queen and Led Zeppelin!!!
The Beatles do not count as they are on top of them all with Jimi...
djaef wrote: Stormtrooper, I think you're absolutely right. Their pre 80s albums were wonderfully coherent packages, best appreciated by listening from the start to the finish. If you are old enough to have listened to the band on record, there was also the Side 1 / Side 2 dynamic, which was always well thought out and structured.
I find it very satisfying that 30 years on, they are beginning to get their due. There are many web sites out there now, proclaiming Led Zeppelin and Queen to be the best rock bands of the modrn era. It is a source of immense pleasure and more than a little pride that I chose those two bands (as well as Pink Floyd) when I was growing up as my all time favourite bands. I was lucky enough (others were even luckier) to follow their careers from the early seventies. Both bands have given me great joy throughout my life. Queen were indeed a truly awesome act. Freddie was a bloody legend.
Let me rephrase you last 5 words... FREDDIE IS A BLOODY LEGEND!!!
Good post btw :)