Who likes this release? I am normally skeptical of such tributes, but this one is one I got and like quite a bit.
The thing that is coolest about this album is that the bands for the most part try and do each song in a unique and different way. Crazy Little Thing and Stone Cold Crazy are excellent examples of a new, cool spin on covering Queen material. Bicycle Race is also quite cool. That having been said, I must admit that the closest to the Queen original cover on this release is the best song on the album. That would be Jason Mraz's version of Good Old Fashioned Loverboy. That guy has a great voice and nailed this song well.
There are two songs I would like to have heard on this:
1. The Def Leppard version of 'Dear Friends' that is coming up on their cover album. I am still shocked that 'Dear Friends' was their choice of songs to cover, but still, I can imagine Joe Elliot singing this song and I'll bet that he did a great job.
2. The Queen cover of covers for me would be a Rufus Wainright version of The Millionare Waltz. The cover by Rufus isn't real, it's merely a recording in my imagination that I would love to see happen. I'm a big Rufus fan and would choose him first as a Freddie replacement. I don't know how he would do with everything else, but I have imagined him doing Millionare and my prediction is that if he covered it and released it, Rufus would have a giant hit on his hands.
Bicycle Race was shite. Funny how opinions differ.
And Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Good-Old Fashioned Lover boy were ok, but a little clean-cut and over produced for my liking. And Fat Bottomed Girls is horrid. And I cannot stand Joss Stone at the best of times, but I wish she had never had touched a single Queen song.
That said, Jason Mraz's version of We Are The Champions is awesome, the best tracks are the ones with the artists own spin on it. Who Wants To Live Forever, with that acoustic touch at the start, is pretty good as well. Although, for me, the best versions are Sleeping On The Sidewalk, which is fucking class, and Stone Cold Crazy, I love how heavy this is, Josh Homme does it so well. Its a shame it is not a Queens Of The Stone Age track, could have been even better.
I just wish they'd got a few more well known artists to do tracks, cause some of these people are nobodies to me.
My favorite was Crazy Little Thing Called Love... very well done. Bicycle Race on this album was a bloody joke... how the hell did they allow it on the CD is what i dont get... That band needs to be shot!