Why do I like Queen? Do you?

[aabottom]

Queen is definitely a band I should hate, but I truely enjoy their music.

Freddie Mercury was a musical genius. Their songs are orginal, fresh, and very well performed. I don't have any of their LPs, but I have several CDs. I'll be on the look out in the thrift LP bins. A few of my favs.

Bohemian Rhapsody

We Will Rock You

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Tell us why you love or hate Queen. Show us some of your favorite Queen tunes.

 

[LeeVing]

one of the bands I hate to love...but they make great music.

All my Queen records have come from thrifts...even picked up the Flash Gordon soundtrack a while ago.

 

[stereofanboy]

I've enjoyed Queen since the '70s. Not sure why you say you should hate them. Is it one of those, "if it's popular, it can't be cool" things? Did you slouch around wearing all black when you were a teenager?

 

[KrisM]

I know how you feel. I picked up most of their lps from thrifts over the years, but rarely play them. When picking out music to listen to I never pick them. But when I hear a song on the radio it usually gets turned up.

I'd have to say Fat Bottomed Girls is my favorite tune. And I love that solo at the end of We Will Rock You.

 

[Tarl Of Gor]

I've been listening to Queen since they released the single - Killer Queen. One of the great rock bands of all time IMO.

 

[geartech]

My very first record...a 45 of "We are the Champions/We will rock you"...bought at Sears when I was about 8 yrs old. The only band I thought was better back then was Kiss. Still think they are both fantastic!

 

[spideyjack]

they were kinda pushy, it's not "let's Rock together" or "I wanna rock with you" it was "WE WILL ROCK YOU" whether you wanted to or not, not very friendly, made me wanna be a punk where the audience and the band at least seemed to be in the same room.

obviously none of this hurt their career at all

 

[olson_jr]

I never liked them, to me they we just too contrived, exaggerated & over produced, as well as extremely overplayed on FM Radio.

But, the capper was when the University of Michigan football team won the Rose Bowl and they claimed the NCAA title. I was captive at a party and got to hear We Are The Champions played for an hour or two on a Bose Wave Radio at max volume. uke: I cringed whilst all the other folks there cried and hugged and high five'd like they had actually something to do with the outcome of the game.

 

[Hajidub]

Freddie Mercury had one of the best classic rock voices ever! Night at the Opera was soo far ahead of it's time, a complete masterpiece. I wish I could have seen them live while Freddie was alive. Will just have to settle for Marc Martel for now

http://youtu.be/wGcDpnxtqsc

 

[Bigerik]

Still love them. One of my all time favorites bands.i love how over the top they were, but more importantly, they were brilliant songwriters and performers.

 

[poppachubby]

Queen were one the greats as far as rock goes. A truly dynamic group, no matter where they were at stylistically, they always owned the sound. You can never mistake Queen. Just the other day Live In Montreal ' 81 was on TV, I ended up watching the whole thing. True entertainers which is what rock is supposed to be about...a spectacle. And really, who doesn't want Another One Bites The Dust up in their face til their dying day? A classic groove.

 

[Quint]

Not everything they did was great, but when Queen were on their game, they were one of the best rock bands I’ve ever heard. Whimsical, serious, bombastic, textured, and incredibly well played and produced, Queen were, like the best bands, multifaceted; they could play a lot of different styles and play each convincingly. We’ll never see the likes of Freddy and the boys again—though Paul Rodgers did give it an earnest but ultimately mediocre go in the “new” Queen.

 

[131east23]

I was reading the original post and it brought about these thoughts...

Being predisposed to not like them, but liking them anyway, sounds like the kind of thing that might happen to someone who has only heard them through the filtered era of Classic Rock radio. I say this because back in the day, FM radio tended to play the newest, latest songs, occasionally dipping back into the catalogues as the playlist required. What I'm getting at is that the breadth and ingenuity of a band like Queen can not be revealed on current FM formats. It would take a special format, like AOR back in the 70's to properly display the bands genius album side by album side instead of tired overplayed Queen song by tired overplayed Queen song as is done on Classic Rock radio. Classic rock radio has distilled the medium into the schlockiest sh#! these days. I have never really understood how someone like George Thorogood, who in my opinion just made a bunch of silly drinking songs is now considered a mainstay of classic rock. Back in the day this guy did not matter, go figure. This post might have nothing to do with original thoughts of the OP so keep in mind I'm not assuming anything there. But just go out and buy the first four or five Queen albums and you'll see the genius.

 

[KrisM]

I was reading the original post and it brought about these thoughts...

Being predisposed to not like them, but liking them anyway, sounds like the kind of thing that might happen to someone who has only heard them through the filtered era of Classic Rock radio. I say this because back in the day, FM radio tended to play the newest, latest songs, occasionally dipping back into the catalogues as the playlist required. What I'm getting at is that the breadth and ingenuity of a band like Queen can not be revealed on current FM formats. It would take a special format, like AOR back in the 70's to properly display the bands genius album side by album side instead of tired overplayed Queen song by tired overplayed Queen song as is done on Classic Rock radio. Classic rock radio has distilled the medium into the schlockiest sh#! these days. I have never really understood how someone like George Thorogood, who in my opinion just made a bunch of silly drinking songs is now considered a mainstay of classic rock. Back in the day this guy did not matter, go figure. This post might have nothing to do with original thoughts of the OP so keep in mind I'm not assuming anything there. But just go out and buy the first four or five Queen albums and you'll see the genius.

They are more than just We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions. But Thorogood is more than just "silly drinking songs". Classic rock radio showcases a lot of artists in a simplistic way.

 

[131east23]

They are more than just We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions. But Thorogood is more than just "silly drinking songs". Classic rock radio showcases a lot of artists in a simplistic way.

Could it be that he was more of a regional artist and I missed out since I grew up in Texas? Can you recommend a couple of good albums by him? I'm always willing to change my position or discover something I missed out on.

 

[mhardy6647]

any band with a PhD astrophysicist for a lead guitarist is ok by me.
not faves, but I enjoy their hits, and some of their misses too.
'39 may well be my favorite Queen song.

 

[Quint]

Can you recommend a couple of good albums by him? I'm always willing to change my position or discover something I missed out on.

If you've got a library near you, try and see if they have Move It On Over to lend. IMO it's George's best album and one of the better "white blues" LPs of the era.

 

[elcoholic]

any band with a PhD astrophysicist for a lead guitarist is ok by me.
not faves, but I enjoy their hits, and some of their misses too.
'39 may well be my favorite Queen song.

Me too! I couldn't believe that when I first saw Brain May on PBS. That was a holy **** moment if ever there was one. I played Jazz the other night and the wife got into it, meaning she didn't ask me to turn it down Afterwards she said it was kind of like "show tuney". I might have to go with Tie Your Mother Down as my favorite. May's signature guitar is in top form on that one.

 

[guitarman50]

I've been a fan of Queen since 1975. Unfortunately I foolishly sold all of my Queen UK import vinyl that I owned back in the mid 80's in favor or their CD's. In the past couple years I got back in to vinyl and at first picked up Hollywood records reissues. Unsatisfied with them I decided to pick up older Canadian pressings from record stores and record shows. Unsatisfied with the condition of them I've just recently ordere their first 9 albums from an online source. All mint condition Uk imports. Either first pressing, original pressing, audiophile reissues and a couple of good quality digital remasters.
I think pretty much most of what they did good was in the first nine albums so thats what I've collected both on vinyl and CD. I'm not that familiar with their stuff after that. Although I've read some good reviews on a couple of their later albums and I may eventually check those out as well.

 

[Quint]

I'm not that familiar with their stuff after that. Although I've read some good reviews on a couple of their later albums and I may eventually check those out as well.

Innuendo is quite good. I think Freddy's health was seriously failing by the time the album was recorded, and if that's true, then the performances are damn near miraculous, because at times on the record he sounds as strong as he did in the mid- and late '70s. And I think there was minimal tinkering with his vocals. It's almost enough to give you goosebumps. "He went' down swingin'," as Tom petty so eloquently said in song. :yes: :thmbsp: