| bohemianrhap84 02.11.2005 23:58 |
It's now time to review the 1980 splash The Game. I'll rate the songs and explain why I rated them what I did. Then I'll rate the album as a whole. 1. Play The Game - I was somewhat shocked to hear a non rocker open up the album. Many were also shocked to hear synths on this song and album. This song's great though and worked very well live also. 9/10 2. Dragon Attack - I love how each member has their own section of this song. The base at the beginning, Brian's guitar part, Roger's mini drum solo and of course Freddie's vocals. Good song again. 8/10 3. Another One Bites The Dust - Queen's biggest hit and last U.S. number 1. Personally I don't like this song but since it was a hit I'll rate it 7/10 4. Need Your Loving Tonight - This song is the first of the great one two punch with Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Great guitar and vocals as well. 9/10. 5. Crazy Little Thing Called Love - The first US number 1 and a great song reminiscent of rockabilly and Elvis songs. Cool to hear Freddie on guitar. 10/10 6. Rock It (Prime Jive) - Cool little "duet" between Roger and Freddie although I prefer the other duet (Fun It). Still this is a good rocker and was good live as well. 7/10 7. Don't Try Suicide - The only low point on the alubm in my opinion. Though I like the bass line is this song. I can't figure out if they're encouraging suicide or against it. An okay song from Freddie. 6/10 8. Sail Away Sweet Sister - Nice little song with Freddie and Brian trading vocals. I always loved listening to these two sharing vocals. This song is great. 9/10 9. Coming Soon - Not as good as John's other song on The Game (track 4). Still it's good. I love the line "somebody naggin' you when you're out with the boys" Reminds me of my mom,lol. 8/10 10. Save Me - Wonderful ballad. One of my top ten favorite Queen songs of all time. Beautiful lyrics and Freddie's passion on the song is fantastic. 10/10 Although not all songs got a ten, the album does. It flows really well and all songs are worth listening to (at least once anyway). Great album. Their best since A Day At The Races. |
| motbq 03.11.2005 01:36 |
the game-10 dragon attack-10 the dust-10 need your love-10 crazy little -10 prime jive-7 don't try-7 sweet sister-10 comming soon-7 save me-10 |
| Asterik 03.11.2005 11:46 |
"9. Coming Soon - Not as good as John's other song on The Game (track 4). Still it's good. I love the line "somebody naggin' you when you're out with the boys" Reminds me of my mom,lol. 8/10" Roger Taylor wrote Coming Soon. My ratings Play the Game-10/10 Dragon Attack-10/10 Another One Bites the Dust-8/10 Need Your loving Tonight-6/10 Crazy Little Thing Called Love-6/10 Rock It-1/10 Don't Try Suicide-2/10 Sail Away Sweet Sister-9/10 Coming Soon-4/10 Save Me-9/10 |
| bohemianrhap84 03.11.2005 13:32 |
Whoops. My bad. I always think Coming Soon is a Deacon track. |
| Lord Fickle 03.11.2005 15:44 |
I would agree with most of that review, although I always felt that Coming Soon was the weakest track on the album. Rock It was better live, with Freddie singing it all the way through, and AOBTD was never one of my favourite Queen tracks. Overall though, I'd rate it as my third favourite Queen album, next to ADATR and ANATO, and it's even better on DVD-A! It was always the best, and most consistant, sounding Queen album. It's just a shame it was only just over 30 minutes long! |
| gr8kingrat 04.11.2005 15:20 |
I finally had to change to listen to my The Game DVD-A now that i have a 5.1 surround sound system. It was incredible! I loved this album to begin with and I was blown away after listening to each track in 5.1! |
| Fraz 09.01.2006 07:22 |
great album 10/10 Play The Game it's great. |
| Fenderek 09.01.2006 07:48 |
[If I was to rate... Play the Game-5/10- not bad but nothing special Dragon Attack-10/10- brilliant! Another One Bites the Dust-6/10- big hit, but don't dig it that much Need Your loving Tonight-5/10- simple and fun but nothing special Crazy Little Thing Called Love-7/10- I like it Rock It-3/10- had it not been for the intro it'd have been 1/10... Don't Try Suicide-2/10- ridiculous... Sail Away Sweet Sister-10/10- love it to bits! Coming Soon-1/10- chaos... I think the DVD-A version is slightly better Save Me-9/10- classic Queen |
| zaiga 09.01.2006 08:17 |
bohemianrhap84 wrote: 7. Don't Try Suicide - ... I can't figure out if they're encouraging suicide or against it.OK, I'll give you a hint: "Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it babe, don't do it, don't do it, DON'T DO IT!" Now, try again. |
| Rik&Roll 09.01.2006 10:23 |
Can´r figure it out as well. The lyrics say don´t, but listening to the song makes you want to... I very much dislike The Game. When it came out it was a great dissapointment to me, after Jazz and LK. Dragon Attack and Save Me are OK, but not more than that. There is nothing really outstanding on this album, and I´m afraid not very much outstanding in the yeard to follow... |
| Fenderek 09.01.2006 10:31 |
Rik&Roll wrote: Can´r figure it out as well. The lyrics say don´t, but listening to the song makes you want to...LOL- good one! |
| magicalfreddiemercury 09.01.2006 11:52 |
zaiga wrote:ROFL!!bohemianrhap84 wrote: 7. Don't Try Suicide - ... I can't figure out if they're encouraging suicide or against it.OK, I'll give you a hint: "Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it babe, don't do it, don't do it, DON'T DO IT!" Now, try again. |
| flash! 28068 09.01.2006 13:11 |
didn't CLTCL inspire John Lennon to write his next album then? |
| DavidRFuller 09.01.2006 15:43 |
the game-8 dragon attack-7 another one bites the dust-10 need your love-7 crazy little -9 prime jive-7 don't try-5 sweet sister-9 comming soon-10 save me-8 |
| April Lady05 09.01.2006 15:59 |
Play the Game - 10/10 Dragon Attack - 10/10 Another One Bites the Dust - 10/10 (I like "black music" and it's a great rendition of the Nile Rodgers-Bernard Edwards sound) Need Your loving Tonight - 7/10 Crazy Little Thing Called Love - 10/10 Rock It - 8/10 Don't Try Suicide - 6/10 (I like the verse better than the music) Sail Away Sweet Sister - 100/10 - (Yes, not a mistype)! Coming Soon - 3/10 Save Me - 10/10 |
| NJQueenFan 09.01.2006 22:32 |
Play the Game - 8/10, good song, really gets going toward the end Dragon Attack - 9/10, awesome bass/electric guitar work in this one Another One Bites the Dust - 8/10, decent song, too poppy though Need Your Loving Tonight - 10/10, LOVE LOVE LOVE this one Crazy Little Thing Called Love - 9/10, great Elvis-like track Rock It (Prime Jive) - 4/10, cool opening, goes downhill fast Don't Try Suicide - 6/10, catchy, but not their best Sail Away Sweet Sister - 10/10, beautiful work Brian Coming Soon - 6/10, very average Save Me - 9/10, Brain really shined on this album didn't he? 79/100, 79%, decent album, didn't like what it lead to though |
| Asterik 10.01.2006 11:51 |
Rik&Roll wrote: Can´r figure it out as well. The lyrics say don´t, but listening to the song makes you want to... I very much dislike The Game. When it came out it was a great dissapointment to me, after Jazz and LK. Dragon Attack and Save Me are OK, but not more than that. There is nothing really outstanding on this album, and I´m afraid not very much outstanding in the yeard to follow...I agree completely and I think The Game caused a lot of those lean creative years in the eighties. |
| robber 12.05.2020 04:44 |
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - 9/10, great Elvis-like track, basketball legends |
| Dim 17.05.2020 10:39 |
In late 70s there was a rock n roll revive, Elvis death along with the Grease movie have also helped this. Queen were always in rock n roll, they had RnR covers on their sets since their early live years. TCLTCL was like a musical RnR athem and live was heavier. The Game was right at its time, sounded modern with old rnr feel, simple in some songs, having Queen signatures all over the place with songs like Save me, Sail away sweet sister & play the game. Also it had new sounds like the pionner on production Another one bites the dust (reverse piano, great sound effects, superb guitar sound, vocaly great production) The album has a lot guitar and vocal work many times overlooked due to the simplicity of its sound. As a result it was a fresh album, really loved by audience who prefer less complex Queen sound. In my opinion Queen did the reverse of The Beatles, I mean that, they played less timing and complex songs while they were peaking in their popularity. The opposite than The Beatles did. Great album still sound fresh and gives a happy feeling. |
| thomasquinn 32989 17.05.2020 11:37 |
I think you're confusing rock 'n roll and rockabilly (the latter is really a subgenre of the former, even if it *possibly* came first). There was certainly a rockabilly revival as part of the new wave / rock palatable in the age of punk (e.g. Stray Cats), and CLTCL is definitely a rockabilly song! |
| Martin Packer 17.05.2020 14:44 |
One of the things that was interesting to me about The Game was it being recorded in two different batches of sessions, some months apart. (While Jazz might've been slightly like that, I think The Game took that to a new level.) What I can't remember is which songs were recorded in which batch, and whether there is a discernable different between songs in each batch. I don't happen to think this album is any less cohesive than any other, mind. |
| miraclesteinway 17.05.2020 20:03 |
I quite like The Game, the songs are obvious and catchy. What I like is the sound of the album, the sound of the production on Dragon Attack for instance. Freddie's voice is consistently phenomenal throughout. Is it their greatest collection of songs? Certainly not, and it's almost difficult to see how the same band that produced A Night At The Opera and A Day At The Races not five years before came up with something as wildly different and - unashamedly pop - as The Game. There are some great songs between Jazz, The Game, Hot Space, and The Works, but my only criticism would be that they sound like a band who have achieved everything they want to achieve and therefore don't want to put in quite the same effort as before. Hot Space is saved by Under Pressure. Body Language has some incredibly clever harmonies in it but it's a terrible song in my opinion - I'm using that to highlight the fact that the genius was still there between them but it was going in a rather bloated direction. The Works was very pop. Even Hammer To Fall has a pop sheen to it, and actually I really like the songs on The Works apart from Man on the Prowl. Perhaps they would have been better, in retrospect, to use some of the songs that ended up on Roger's album. I could imagine a Queen version of Man On Fire or Strange Frontier, for example. Sorry I just totally derailed the thread. You know for a band that I love I can be a little overly critical of them. It's not as if I could make better music than anything that appears on any of their albums! |
| Dim 18.05.2020 19:36 |
I agree with you the talent, the fire was always there. The Works with more songs it could have been a classic 80s album, it is in away but since most of its songs are on Greatesthits compilations it has lost this opportunity. Back in 2008 I said that it has a theme, people life centered from everyday to love and war. Also it is connected with 1984....both Brian's early band, year and of course book. If it had Love kills, Killing time, I go Crazy and There must be more to life than this. It could have rocked as one of the best 80s album ever. Back to the topic during the early 80s Queen was the only band that had all the music options in their side. From hard rock - metal, prog rock and power ballads to disco - pop and new wave. They could write whatever they wanted, The game, Flash Gordon and under pressure was the proof . They made their artistic and commercial decisions and the rest is history. In retrospect I wish they had done some different turns.... More rock oriented.... |
| miraclesteinway 19.05.2020 03:52 |
I think Brian May and Roger Taylor also wish that! I wish Queen had actually recorded more. By the time The Miracle came to be recorded, and then Innuendo, it was clear that they were once again taking painstaking care over what went on the records in a way that actually, they maybe hadn't since the 70s. Maybe that's unfair of me but I think you probably know what I mean. Of course, I wish that somehow Freddie had lived, and that the album which became Made In Heaven was actually the album that either Roger or Brian had said in mid-91 was probably going to be released in 1992. I'd love to have seen exactly what direction Queen took in the 1990s with a Freddie still alive, going into his middle 50s in the 2000s. The 90s could have been very interesting for Queen as a quartet - I could imagine a Bond movie soundtrack, a Disney film would almost certainly have happened, there'd have probably been a blockbusting rock album, but equally I imagine Freddie wanting to navigate his way though the late 90s dance scene in some way, as a producer or contributing a guest vocal to someone else's track. I speculate there would have been a lull in the early 2000s but there'd definitely be something for Freddie's 60th - a concert at the Royal Albert Hall perhaps, and Queen week on American Idol would have had Freddie himself there. In that case, Adam Lambert would obviously never have sung with Queen but in some way I can imagine Freddie working with Adam Lambert on his own material, somehow. |
| Dim 19.05.2020 11:31 |
I have done similar thoughts, during the miracle Era, they were more in music and in group. Of course they played safe by choosing some more pop oriented and radio songs. Despite the great guitar playing in the album some songs like Party, Rain must fall, the. Invisible man, Scandal and my baby does are the lows in quality. In my observations Queen were in music vein of 70s with Def Leppard orientation with a little spice of Euro pop. The end of Hang on in there (especially the demo a fildly jam) sounds like Pour some sugar on me. Face it alone demo and more complete take 3-4 sound like the power balad of Love bites. Party multilayer vocals and idea also is like the Def leppard style but heavier. You could say Queen influenced Def Leppard but in the late 80s Def Leppard style was at its peak. Queen saved many songs from the miracle for future release, thus the lack of some better tracks instead of the above. Queen seemed to be back in late 80s early 90s as composers, we could have one or two more albums in 90s, one or two solo from each memberand maybe a special live album. In 2000s one or two albums along with some anniversary reissues plus solo. I believe the 90s could have been a good decade. For me the three last albums sound great if you listen them as 3 album collection. To be back in The game I do believe that in 79 - 80 they were a united band with plenty ideas, still wanted the quality but the things started to slip... |
| mike hunt 26.05.2020 17:56 |
The Game was a pretty solid album..Not Sheer Heat Attack level but still good. No complaints here. As far as the other albums mentioned. Hot Space, the songs, Ideas were there, but got a bit lazy..Better lyrics and direction would have made a good record, like Staying Power live with Improved Lryics...The Works Is ok/decent, but better song choices would of made a big difference. Exclude Man On The Prowl, Tear It Up...Include I Go Crazy, Love Kills, Let Me In You're Heart again. A much better album. I never understood the Infatuation with Man On Fire on the site. I listened to it and thought It was a throwaway song. Opinions differ I guess. |
| philip storey 28.05.2020 14:27 |
Freddie himself once said that most of his songs were just throw away,i think Bo Rhap is the exception ;- |
| thomasquinn 32989 29.05.2020 14:30 |
Freddie said a lot of things that were, at best, bullshit. The amount of work he put into his songs (at least in the '70s) shows that he definitely didn't consider them throwaway. |
| miraclesteinway 29.05.2020 23:31 |
I think Freddie used to say things just to get people off his back. Saying a song is "throwaway pop" is easier than saying "this is about the struggles I've had reconciling my culture with my sexuality", or "this is about a few male lovers I've had over the years" or whatever..... It kept people guessing, and stopped them questioning at the time |
| thomasquinn 32989 30.05.2020 10:23 |
I think he also knew very well that feeding an interviewer nice, quotable lines would a) make the interviewer happy b) result in good publicity. I know for a fact that Bowie and Dylan regularly did the same thing, I've seen it with jazz musicians in interviews, and I'm sure there are plenty more professionals who know and use this tactic. |
| The Real Wizard 01.06.2020 01:30 |
Yep - it's all good PR. To make it in that business you have to have that skill mastered. |
| mike hunt 01.06.2020 13:29 |
thomasquinn 32989 wrote: Freddie said a lot of things that were, at best, bullshit. The amount of work he put into his songs (at least in the '70s) shows that he definitely didn't consider them throwaway.Yup, and 87 to 91 With Barcelona to Innuendo..Not exactly throwaway disposable pop as he put It. |