Hello everyone and welcome to the Misty Music Podcast.After a wee hiatus.
Aye, quite a wee while.Four months.
Yeah, yeah.Aye, March the last episode came out, yeah.
That's my fault, really, because I've been in the wilderness doing studying things.
I think we're both to blame, to be honest.
Well, I certainly haven't been able to fit you into my busy schedule the last few days.
Aye, aye, you've not had much time for me.
I've not had much time.No, but we're back.
We should have made something cooler up, like we had this massive fallout.
Oh, right, well, we'll talk about the fallout.
No, I think my lies will just get ridiculous.Fucking bullshit.Yeah, so after a wee break we're back and we had done My Choice the last time, which was the fabulous X-Ray Specs.
And it was fabulous.Still a great album.Still huge for me.
Yeah, good.I like that.And you, at the end of it, you I was going to say challenged me, but suggested Queen's The Game, which is your bag.
Yeah, I mean this is like the old term, the busman's holiday thing.But I'm sure we'll get to that shortly.
Yeah, so it's good to see you again.
Ah, you too.And that was the last time I saw you when we recorded the actual podcast last time.
It was, and we're back again to Nice and Slazy's. So yeah, back for Queen.
Well, as Lucy says, we're sitting here in nice and sleazy and we've had a little feed and something to eat and that's courtesy of Kevin.Kevin's given us a couple of donations and actually my brother Brian gave us a little donation as well.
Thank you Brian.Thanks Brian, thanks Kevin.
Well, I'm full of haggis and thank you very much.
Yeah, I'm full of chickpea burger as well.Fake burger.Yeah, yeah.Fake burger, yeah, exactly.
But no, thank you very much Kevin and I know he's probably our number one fan, supporter, etc, you know, so we really appreciate it and hopefully you'll like this episode because I know Kevin is a massive Queen fan and he's actually his own Queen podcast.
So we have got a bit to live up to, do we?
No, because I did a Queen podcast before he did one, so I am still like the god of Queen podcasts.Kevin's just like, you know, what's below a god?Like an angel or something?
Yeah, I'll go angel.Angel's a good one, eh?Like a cool angel, though, eh?
Aye, aye, absolutely.No, not at all.I mean, Kevin does the Seaside Pod Review podcast, which is a really bizarre title, but it kind of works.It's kind of awful. But it kind of works because I've got a song called Seaside Rendezvous.
And that's why it's called Seaside Pod Review.
So it's kind of, it's kind of shite, but I kind of like it at the same time.Oh, I like it.So sorry, Kevin.But no, it's really good that he's supporting us on this one.
Hopefully he's listening and being a big, massive Queen fan, he'll get something out of this. Yeah this is for me, I talked about this album four years ago on a podcast when I was doing the Lap of the Pods podcast along with Joe and Paul.
We did that for three and a half years so this is kind of like me just retreading old ground and I was quite happy not to talk about Queen for a long time, but I do appreciate it's only been about six months and I'm wanting to talk about them again.
And if we had actually done the podcast roughly when we thought we were going to do it, it would have been about three, four months.
So I'm kind of... That's interesting.
Yeah, so, to be fair, I haven't wrote all that much about the jargon at the start because I thought you'll know all this back, eh?
But no, I want to hear you say it, though.
Well, the game released June 1980.I feel like I want to look at you for approval.Is that right?Am I right?
I know it was 1980, but I don't know the month, so... The eighth studio album.
I think I read, when I was looking into this, was it recorded in Germany?
Munich, I was going to say Berlin, it was recorded in Munich.Quite a short album, only about 35 minutes, 30 something like that minutes.
It's actually the shortest studio album that Queen ever made.Is it?Yeah, yeah.
They did do, one year later, the Flash Gordon soundtrack, which is lots of just, you know, instrumental stuff and all that, which was shorter, but it wasn't a kind of fully blown studio album, so this is definitely their shortest, you know.
I mean, Fair Play as well, I was thinking, if this is their eighth studio album, when was their first studio album?Was it 70?I was going to guess 72.Yeah, 73.And this is 1980, and it's their eighth studio album.Yes.Wow.
Aye.I mean, they weren't unique for that point of view.I think a lot of bands in the 70s really churned out, you know, record after record, year after year, year after year.Their two albums came out in the same year, in 1974.
So Queen 2 and Sheer Heart Attack, they both came out in 1974.So yeah, they were pretty prolific, you know, in the 70s, you know.
So ten tracks on this album, so we've got Play The Game, Dragon Attack, another one Bites The Dust, Need Your Lovin' Tonight, Crazy Lethal Thing Called Love, Rocket, Prime Jive, Don't Try Suicide, Sail Away Sweet, I was going to say Street Sister, that's a whole different song.
I want to hear that. Sail away sweet sister, come in soon and save me.So yeah, why did you choose this album out of the whole back catalogue that you could have chose?
The reason I chose this one, I could have probably chose another.It would either have been this or News of the World, would have been the two albums that I chose for you.
The reason I probably chose this one is probably because I think it's probably the easiest one to digest.But still, for me, a really fucking good album.It's an excellent album, but we'll get into that.
Yeah, I could have pointed you to a few different ones which would have probably challenged you more.To the point where you might be like, I don't know if I like this or whatever.
So it might have been a more interesting discussion if I'd given you another album. But I just wanted to give you something you might like.It was one of the ones, you know.So I've went pretty safe, I have to say.I've went pretty safe with this one.
Where does this album sit with you then?Where does it sit with you in their back catalogue?Is it up there?
Yeah, top five.Yeah, yeah, for me.I mean, they released 14 studio albums, right?
Some people would argue 15 but that's bollocks because there was an album that came out after Freddie died in 1995 which is just the three of them coming in taking Freddie's solo songs and turning them into Queen songs and just you know and there was like
three bits of Freddie vocal that was recorded before he died.So they're, I suppose you could say they're legit, but the rest of it is all re-recordings and remakes of solo songs.
So it's... What, just morphed and mashed into a Queen album?
I imagine it's going to be totally inauthentic.
Oh, it's shit. But there is one song on it called Mother Love, and it was the last thing that Freddie ever sang, and he didn't finish it.So he sang it.
So you hear that song to a certain point, and then he was going to come back and finish it, but he died before he could finish the song.So you're thinking, yo, that's interesting.That's obviously worth hearing.
And the vocal performance for a guy that was months away from dying is spine chillingly good, you know? But the last verse that Freddie would have sang Brian May sings, so the difference, you know. But yeah, top five for me, definitely.
I don't know, people always ask what my favourite Queen album is, I don't really know, it moves around quite a lot.I get that.You're probably the same, Lucy, with your favourite artists and all that.
I'm just trying to pick a PJ Harvey album.
It depends what you're feeling on a particular day, month, year, week, whatever, you know.But yeah, it's definitely top five for me, but it's...
It's an interesting one because it is very much the start of Queen turning into a very streamlined band, a kind of hit machine, things like that, so it's kind of interesting.
It's the first album they ever made where there's not a lot of complexity in it. The album before that, Jazz, which divides a lot of Queen fans.A lot of Queen fans just don't want to have any time for it.Some defend it to the hilt.
It's one of these albums I kind of fall more on the negative side.I don't think it's an amazing album.I think it's got too many songs on it.It doesn't sound good.It's mixed really badly.
But this is an album you're talking about that's got Don't Stop Me Now on it, Fatbottom Girls, Bicycle Race, all these big singles, you know. and I'm, you know, I'm saying that, you know, but with this album it felt like something needed to change.
I think they were burnt out.They got a new producer in called Mack, who's a German guy and that's, as you said, Lucy, it's recorded in Munich, Musicland Studios in Munich, so yeah, so they had to change something.I think Mack was a real
Although I do have my issues with Mac as a producer as well.I think they needed him at that time.They needed him to come in and just... They only stayed with him for this album?No, no.They stayed with him for... up till 86.
So they stayed with him for a few albums after that.So, yeah, yeah, but... Yeah, I hold it really high in the Queen canon, yeah.
You know, it's interesting, not that I've listened to the whole back catalogue of Queen or anything, but I actually can feel probably what you're saying about this being a wee transition album, or a move from, because I obviously know it was a lot more raw in the 70s, and then I know it gets more epic and kind of odd.
vocals and all that kind of stuff later in the 80s and I can hear that in this album probably.I'm not saying it's not one or the other but you can feel it as being a wee A different movement.
Yeah, absolutely.I mean, as silly as it sounds, and this is going to sound really silly, you've got an album as well where Freddie's going through the pre-tash and post-tash period.
So he was recording some of this album without a tash and some of it with a tash.
No, no, that makes sense to me.
Do you know what I mean?Absolutely.So even that.
Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely.I get that.
Yeah, because that is, I get that is the kind of the difference between probably that hosts this album.
It's almost like the 70s moving into the 80s and stuff you know so it's kind of it's weird yeah so so like the video for Crazy Little Thing called Love and Save Me he's not got a moustache he's just got short dark hair and then the video for like Play the Game he's got a tash and you know so anyway it's just for me this is just my own week and it's this it almost all seems to like just have aligned in terms of like you know Queen moving from the 70s into the 80s you know you know get that 80s tash on the go you know
So I've been sitting with this album for quite a wee while now because of our break.So I've been sitting with this for a few months now.My first kind of initial thoughts on it
I've seen the album tracklist and so there's two I know that's oh yeah I'm thinking there's two I know there's the another one bites the dust and a crazy little thing called love and of course uh when you were doing your when you were doing your podcast lap of the pods you'd given me rocket prime jive to
That's right, this is the episode where we got two people who had nothing to do with Queen, hadn't listened to them properly, but gave you some songs to react to and that was one of them, yeah.
That was one of them, so three I knew on the album and one I was quite surprised that these singles were as early as that.I thought they were later in the 80s eh?But I don't know if that's just because I associate all the kind of more well,
The more polished hits with the 80s stuff.But the first thought and the first playing and the listen to it is, it's a solid album isn't it?It's quite, not contained but, maybe contained is the right word, it's quite I don't know, it's solid.
There's not much wildness in it, there's nothing too controversial or whatever you're saying.Maybe one song, if people think that's controversial.
Yeah, I think I know what you're talking about.
But it's not, like sonically and everything like that, it's not wild.So it was nice to, it was pretty easy, I quite enjoyed just digesting it for what it was. Sometimes an easy listen's a good listen.
Yeah, totally.The other one was, when I said the other one was News of the World.So News of the World is 1977.So that was two albums back.That was the other one I thought about maybe giving to you.
But that's, although it does have We Are The Champions on it, which is grandiose and Freddie's version of My Way almost.The whole album's really stripped down and there's not a lot of harmonies on it, vocal harmonies.It's really bare.
I think it's almost a kind of, I don't want to say a reaction to punk, but it was very much a kind of, I think that was definitely in their psyche when they were like, let's do something stripped back and a bit more.
So that was the other one that was on my mind.
But this is similar in terms of it's stripped back, there's not a lot of layering and instrumentation, you know, there's not a lot of, right, let's put everything in it, everything, then another track, and another track, and another track.
There's not that in this album, you know.
So, see, even you saying that, like, that, although it's not, maybe the album itself's not hugely challenging me, but it's definitely challenged me and my perception of what I think Queen are.
Right, okay, that's good, I like that.Even if it's for good or bad, you know, I think that's good.
Because I've just got this, and I don't know where it's founded, because I don't have anything to base this on, but I always just think Brian May's going to come in and ruin everything with a huge, ridiculous solo.And I don't even know why, I think.
No, no, funnily enough, I think, even when I was writing my own notes for this, I mean, like I say, I recorded a podcast on this album, four years ago.I can't remember what I said about it at the time.
I imagine it's going to be fairly similar, but that's the thing I will say about, and I will come on to this, because I want to, again, sorry Lucy, you'll just have to rein me in, because I will just go off and off and off and off.
That's going to be a three hour podcast, and I'm aware you need to get your work tomorrow.But that's the thing about Brian May. is he's so easy to criticise.He's very easy to criticise.
He's not, you know, some people say he's a rock star but he doesn't have the rock star mentality or the coolness of a rock star or this pressure.He's not like Jimmy Page and all that with the fag hanging out and all that.
He was never like that and that's one of the reasons why I love him.I did love him.I've got lots of problems with him in the last
20 years, 30 years, but we might come to that, we might not, but in terms of his playing and who he is, the thing that Brian May always did was he always served the song, he never ever overplayed, he always thought everything methodically and went right I'm gonna do this here and I'm gonna come in and I'm gonna come out and I'll come back in again, so he never
Other than maybe somebody's own compositions where they'll just go full on and there'll be loads of guitars, yeah fair enough.
But when he was certainly playing on other people's compositions, I mean the second song on the album he wrote that and there's almost no guitars in it.
And it's quite funky.And I get why you think that.The thing about Queen is, there's two Queens for me.There's Queen the band and Queen the brand.I know that sounds really naff, but that's how I look at it.
The brand is something that was created after Freddie's death. The brand of Queen.I'm not saying that Queen weren't commercial when Freddie was alive.They were.They were.And they were capitalists.They loved money.
They did.And I'm not going to say that just happened after Freddie died because it didn't.Freddie loved money.Freddie fucking loved to make money.You know, he did.He did, you know, so.But... What's happened after it is it's this big brand now.
I mean, even more recently, they're selling their entire back catalogue, all the rights to their entire back catalogue for £1 billion to Universal Records.
Including their likenesses.So that means they can use their likeness for, you know, so somebody... For holograms and all that sort of stuff.Holograms or whatever the fuck, you know.
So that's now... Because probably Brian and Roger now realise they're nearly dead and... It doesn't matter to them now, they just take the money and pass it on to their families.
Yeah, and I suppose that means they'll know where it ends.
They won't know where it ends.
That's the problem with them too, they don't know when to fucking end it.
Maybe that is the thing, I know where it ends, it fucking doesn't end, it could be anything and it'll be gone in a wee possibly.
You're right Lucy, it could live on after, they're all dead. Yeah, holograms, you'll have Freddie holograms and stuff and they'll be coming to Glasgow and all the rest of it and touring the world and all that.
And they are one of these bands you see t-shirts getting sold in Tesco, like not music stores or what it is.
People probably wearing it have never owned a Queen album or something like that.
And I think that's the thing about Queen, they are.I get why, especially in the British Isles, I get why if you don't like Queen, I get why you would just feel that they're getting rammed down your throat 24-7 because they're everywhere.
The Queen brand is everywhere and the music's on adverts, it's everywhere, everywhere you go you see Queen.So I get that, I get that, but for me that isn't Queen.
I almost separate that, that's something else, that's just something else that's going on that's actually
For me it's tarnishing the legacy of some absolutely fantastic music and yeah, it's just everything that's happened after Freddie died is just... There's not been many decisions, I don't think there's been a single decision I can think of that they've made since Freddie died that I've been like, oh that was actually well done.
Really?Is it that bad?Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, I've never seen the movie, I've never... Oh, yeah, I mean, I don't want to go into that, but, you know, if you are interested and you are a Queen fan, you can check out my old podcast that, you know, I say Mike, because I know Joe and Paula might be listening to this, so it was my podcast, right, so...
But no, you can check out our thoughts on the film, which was a piece of shit, in fairness.But yeah, it's all that kind of stuff.
And going back to the point about Brian May, I know it's in your head, because you're seeing Brian May and Toppy Buckingham Palace.
And I look at that probably exactly the same way as you look at it, and go, my God, that's fucking awful.
Yeah and he's just, I know you're saying he's no cool and stuff like that, but I'd rather see a Keith Richards with a fag hanging out and kinda disgracefully and whatever eh?
Well listen, listen, he would just be like, it would always be funny though, it would always be like, you know, what?
It's never him.Whereas Brian being talked about working on Palace these days just seems to be alright, it makes sense.It does make sense.It makes sense that it'd be him, you know, Sir Brian May, you know.
And so, aye, so I've got a lot of baggage with Queen as the brand.Queen as the band, I think, are actually massively misunderstood.
I think because of, you know, because they were a hit machine, you know, I mean, Greatest Hits is still the biggest selling album in the UK.You know, Queen's Greatest Hits.
Because they could release these really snappy singles and really catchy music, but I think it's, I think they're both, it's almost like they are understood.
I get the reasons why people would rebel against Queen, I say oh fuck that, I'm not interested, I get that, I do understand that. My one gripe is there's a lot of snobbery around Queen.There's a lot of, that's for people that don't like music.
Now I find that really offensive because I fucking love music, the music is my app.When I wake up in the morning to go to bed, music's been in my day at some point, somewhere.
Whether I've been thinking about it, whether I've been listening to it, whether I've been reading about it, whether I've been, you know, and that's all strands of music and even this podcast has allowed me to even expand further.
So I find that really kind of, I find it quite narrow-minded as well.I get that.
I feel like I've got a wee bit snobbery around it.Not so much the, that's for non-music fans, I don't think that, but I definitely have the thing where I think
My perception is, I know a lot of the big singles and stuff like that, but they're a bit naff as a band.I'm not counting Freddie in that because I've always thought Freddie was as cool as fuck.
I said this to you on your podcast day, on Lap of the Pods, that that, you know, I first saw Freddie with the hoover and that, and I want to be free, and it was like, what is this?
You know, with the moustache, and it almost seems quite tame and funny now, eh?
But I remember growing up thinking, what?Like, I'd never seen anything like that, eh?And it's pretty incredible.So I've always loved that kind of flamboyant. On paper, he probably shouldn't have been a rock star or anything like that.You're spot on.
He's upbringing who he was.It didn't fit a rock star.
It didn't fit being a rock star. I always marvel, it always blows my mind when I think about it.You think about Live Aid, the Live Aid set, so Freddie walks on with a white vest, tucked into jeans with a studded belt.
Really bleached jeans.His hair slicked back and a big moustache.And you're thinking, It should almost look ridiculous.But I look at it and go, that looks fucking amazing.
And he comes on and he absolutely, before, and we're again talking about this in the podcast, he comes on and he's got them in the palm of his hand before he even plays a note.He comes on stage and the crowd are like, this guy's amazing.
You can feel the magnetism and all the rest of it.And that's the thing, you're right, it shouldn't have worked.
Aye, but it does.But it does, you know.Yeah, absolutely.And I always think there's something, I mean, there's some songs, there's one song on this album, on the game as well, that we're going to talk about, instantly recognisable.
Absolutely, like, just the music, the riff, whatever it is, the intro or something, and you're like, and that's incredible, eh?Yeah.
So everybody's got probably some sort of experience with, and that always blows my mind that there's some people out there that are just that huge, And it's strange for me to think you is liking such a mainstream big popular band.
I mean it'd be very easy for me to say you know with all the music I do like you know and a lot of it is maybe because they're cool or underground or you know and avant-garde or you know there was like five people there and you know now they're massive you know.
Yeah I was there at the beginning. There's plenty of that, you know, and I could almost be a bit sheepish about Queen and say, you know, nah, they're alright.Honestly, with pride I will say they are my favourite band.
Another thing about them as well is a lot of the bands and even really, I mean there's hardcore punk bands that I'm into that are like, fucking adore Queen, love Queen and this is the point when you actually look back in Queen's catalogue, a song called Stone Cold Crazy
is almost hardcore punk before hardcore punk existed you know and it's almost thrash before thrash existed so they actually a lot of people think they're kind of flamboyant and soft and kind of like but they were ferocious at times you know I mean they were pushing actually musical boundaries that people just don't think they were realized they were actually doing because these songs aren't weren't singles they weren't hits they weren't famous you know but these songs have been covered by you know these big macho metal bands and you know and
So I always kind of compare your love of Queen and my love of the Carpenters eh?Where it's like, it's like naff and I don't know if it was ever cool at the time.
But actually that's a really good, sorry I'm talking all the time here Lucy, but I think that's actually really interesting.
Because what's in my head, when you see Karen Carpenter, right, okay, you've got the Carpenters, which seems like it's twee and kind of like, you know, Christian and safe and all that, and all that kind of stuff.
And then you see Karen Carpenter playing the drums, and fuck me.Or you hear her singing Superstar, or something like that, and it's like... Exactly, but that's what I like.
I sort of like about music and bands where it's like, don't assume you know it all.
I think I compared it a couple of times when I was doing the wee bit for the podcast because it was the same similar thing for every superstar or rainy days and Mondays with the carpenters or what, there's a top of the world looking down on creation.
calling occupants of interplanetary craft a shite.They're utter shite, you know?
But it doesnae take away from the fact that some of them are just out of this world incredible and totally otherworldly, far out, all this sort of stuff where it's worth it.And then you accept the shite.You know it, eh?
Absolutely.I mean even on, I think one of the songs we gave you was Death on Two Legs, which is on A Night at the Opera.It's an opening track.It's a Freddie song, it's about his previous management.
So it's really visceral, he's raging, he's angry and he's talking about what he wants to do to these people.It's angry and you can hear the aggression in his voice.And on the same album you've got You're My Best Friend. You know what I mean?
And it's that thing, and that's what I like, that's what I love about it.Because when, ultimately, I mean, yeah, you know, if you were to ask me, you know, what's your number one music?
Well, I don't know if I've really got a number one style of music, but it will be heavy, abrasive stuff, whether it's in the metal field or the punk field or the hardcore field.
That's probably where my heart lies, but ultimately I just like a good song.
And that's what Queen gave me.They gave me a full palette.
I think if I hadn't liked Queen as a kid, growing up, because they were the first band I ever got into, if I didn't like it, that actually made me shoot off into different directions and explore different... Because there's a bit funk in it, or there's a bit rock, a bit like you were talking about, the kind of visceral stuff with Death on Two Legs, wasn't it?
Yeah, to branch out into different things.Yeah, I respect that.
And I think that was the Beatles for a lot of people, obviously people growing up in the 60s and now the Beatles, I mean because I think they're another potentially misunderstood band in some ways because some people have in their head Love Me Do and things like that but then like three years later it was like Revolver and like you know and you know and
So yeah, I always think of Queen as almost being the extension of the Beatles.I think without the Beatles, there was no Queen, no chance.Saying that, without the Beatles, there wasn't a lot of bands that I would hold dear.
So they're very much a follow-on from the Beatles, I think, in that sense, because the Beatles were very diverse as well.Lots of different styles and were very successful at it, but they didn't have Freddie Mercury.
They didn't have the moustache or anything, eh?He is cool as fuck, isn't he?Even looking at some of the old stuff.Even when he's not cool, it's still cool.
What is that about?Do you talk about the naff thing?Even Freddie's been naff a lot of times.A lot of times. geez man that's cringy you know but he does get away with it most of the time.
Yeah but it takes a special person to be able to do that even if you're looking back on it from now there is a don't give a fuckness about it and there's some kind of swagger and the awful style or whatever it is, eh?
And even, like, what was your 80s album that you love?What was the... The Miracle?Are you ever going to look back fondly on that?You must love that that's there in comparison to the rest of the... Could that not have existed to you?
Oh, that's, wow, wow, that's an interesting question.Wow, see, you should be used to being on the podcast as a kind of outsider.
It might take me ten minutes to ask the question, but I'll get there with it.
Oh, fuck, em, wow.Would I wish it didn't, you're basically asking me if I wish it didn't exist, can I pretty much, yeah, yeah.
Is it that bad that you wish it didn't exist?
No, I'll take it existing. So I've got something to be angry about.No, but I mean it's not all terrible.The one thing about that album is it's as bad as it is.And it is a bad album.For me it is the worst Queen album.That's my own opinion.
The thing, going back to Brian May, the thing about it is, and I said this on the podcast, I think, Brian May's playing through it is actually, even on the songs that are really bad, he's working really hard to sell with some really shit material, you know, so he's, for me, he's the, you know, the star of that album.
Although it's a really shit album.That's a wee aside on my part, but yeah.Yeah, really, really bad, bad 80s music.
Like, bad 80s music, you know, where they kind of almost forgot that they were actually good songwriters themselves and tried to almost ape other styles that they were hearing.They should never do that, eh?It was shit.
It's just an interesting perspective, I try and think of that, because we take albums at a time obviously for this podcast and look at it, but when you take that step back and look at that whole kind of catalogue, you need, like every track on the album's not going to be a belter, so every album's not going to be a belter or what, it's just, and where it all fits into their kind of timeline with things, but then they came back and did, the next album was... Annuendo, yeah, which is, it's quite a,
a dark album in some places.I mean this is when Freddie was, you know, face and death, right in the face, you know, face and death in the face.Aye, aye, he was face and death in the face.But he was, his time was running out and it was obvious.
I mean it's not a perfect album by any means, there's songs on it that aren't good, but That being the last Queen album, you go, yeah, I'm satisfied with that.If it'd been Miracle, if he died after The Miracle, I'd be like, man, shit.
What a shit album to go on.
Yeah, yeah.Oh, what was I going to say there? This might be a total cliché or like a really newbie thing to say about this but it's incredible how to think that that would have affected his writing and affected everything.
You know, like for a miracle going in and you end or what.That's a huge thing.No way is that not.Oh yeah, absolutely.And a lot of the album that I know of is a bit on the nose with... Oh yeah and it is and it's...
Again... Maybe not on the nose is maybe not fair, but... No, no, I think it is fair.
Right, fair enough.Certainly She'll Must Go On, I think that is on the nose.And it was written by Brian May, and Brian May presented Freddie with lyrics talking about him dying.And he said, sing these, Fred.
And he does, and he does it amazingly, and his voice is incredible.
But songs like, you know, my makeup may be flaking, but my smile still stays on, I'm turning the corner and all this kind of stuff, and part of me thinks, you sick bastard, but the other part of me thinks, fucking nice one, what a tune we got out of that, you know?
But he would have been processing that as well, knowing that.Yeah, of course, of course.Knowing that as well, eh?
I never knew he wrote that.
Aye, Brian May wrote it.Yeah, yeah, it was nae Freddy.But there's a line in this, line in the song, towards the end of the song, I'll face it with a grin, I'll never give it in on with the show.
And I think the story was Brian was telling about it and Freddy's like, Do you want me to sing this in falsetto?Or, do you know what?He went, no, can you do it in full voice?And the guy, he's like, oh, you bastard, man.
So he went for it, and fucking, it's incredible.Incredible vocals.And I liked that about Freddie.It was like, you know, I think his chat with the band when he was dying was, look, you know what I'm dealing with?
Let's not talk about it again and just keep making music until I can't anymore, you know?And so, and that was that.
and I think he accepted his fate you know and that was that you know and then the band pulled in and protected him and lied right to the day he died you know that he he was dying you know so yeah that's a strange one isn't it yeah just something really off the time and that as well eh if it would be now because I know I've told you this before my
A friend of our family's moved down from Scotland down to London at the time in the 80s and it was an open secret.He always said he was gay himself and it was always an open secret within the community.
Yeah.I mean it was obvious but he never ever said it.
He was asked it, he was asked it but he never, he was like what's it got to do with anything?It doesn't got anything to do with anything.
I think it was, I think it was, I think he was criticised for it as well because he never, I think a lot of the gay community thought if you'd come out and say it it would give us such a
It's not a role model, but it would give us a push that somebody in that spotlight would... No, it's not their decision.It's not their decision and it's not easy to do that either.
I get people saying that because of course it would, you know, and you see what we know now and looking back, the kind of moments that made big differences, but it's nobody's... You could be hugely private, you could be... It's nothing to do with anyone else, see?
I don't think Freddie was in a private way, his social life and all that, he would go to all the main clubs in New York, he would go to the main clubs in London, you know the gay clubs in
You know, so anybody who was anybody going to those clubs was a Seafreddy and so it wasn't like he was like trying to do it, like just have parties at his own house and all that and try to keep it all.
So it's like you're saying Lucy, it was known, it just wasn't confirmed by him ever, you know.
I like that, respect for that.While we've went off track, not off track,
Ah, quite a wee bit.I think I've certainly went all over the place.I think I've tried to condense my entire previous podcast into this episode, you know.
Yeah, it's something that took like three and a half years to try and condense it down.
But again, that's what I like about it because I'm always finding new perspectives on the band.I'm always reconsidering certain
positions in the band and I think that was good when we did the podcast because all three of us took different perspectives on albums because when you listen to an album for a podcast, as you know, as we've talked about, you listen to it differently.
Absolutely.You listen to it differently and it sometimes throws up different things, you know.
One thing that this album challenged me on, and I knew Freddie didn't sing everything, because you gave me one to listen to before, where it was Roger, wasn't it?Yeah, yeah.
So I knew that, but I was surprised on this album, and I had read that some of them were written by different kind of members of the band.I don't know what I thought.I don't know if I thought, Freddie wrote all the lyrics.
And, like, well, I know, obviously, he did the piano and stuff, so they all kind of contributed with the music or what, but I don't know what my thoughts were on... I think it was just that Freddie wrote the lyrics.
So, when I was looking into this album, I was quite surprised to see there was a lot of chopping and changing in this album, where he was playing what, and he was playing guitars and synthesizers and this one, obviously, so that was a surprise to me.
Yeah, I think that's what I like about them as well, is because in Queen there's two main egos, and those egos are Brian May and Freddie Mercury.Roger and John... John's not an ego at all.John's a guy that's just... I mean, I'll talk about this.
I mean, we interviewed one of Queen's roadies twice.We actually went down to his book launch in London as well.It's a wee story I want to talk about regarding that.
when we get to the songs, but he said with John, John was like, said to him, was like, you know what's great, you know, you release all this music and then all of a sudden all this money appears.
So he was just happy with his lot, you know, it was just like, write a couple of songs and get some money. And he was like, good on you mate.But I mean, we'll get into that as well.With John, John's the unsung hero or queen.
He's the guy, the quiet guy, the family guy.He married his high school sweetheart and was still with her to this day. Lives a private life, doesn't want anything to do with the limelight.Even the song, You're My Best Friend's about his wife.
All his songs are in that... He loved Motown, he loved Stax, he loved funk and all that.That was his bag.So his songs are a bit more like that.But they're all love songs all the time.
But that's what Freddie says, I love singing John's songs because it's just got that kind of Motown vibe and it's got a smoothness to it.And Freddie always really finds a way, he always sings John's songs really well, he really pulls his voice.
But again, the songs that Freddie didn't like, there's a song, A Kind of Magic Album, which is a poor album, it's not great.But it's called Gimme the Prize, it was for Highlander Song.Now, it's a bit of a meathead metal song, right? But I love it.
And Freddie sings it.I mean, there's no metal singer in the world that can match that.I don't care how aggressive you think you are.The way Freddie sings that song, nobody's matching the power, the aggression.Nobody.Right?
Freddie couldn't stand that song.
Big A bit of everything. Do you know what I mean?I'm maybe over-egging it by saying he couldn't stand it, but he was just like, right, okay.
Yeah, I find aggression a funny one because I don't associate aggression with Freddie.
When you hear his vocals in certain songs, you're just like... That's what I love about Freddie because he was...
Even on stage, when he was doing the macho thing with the vests and all that, but then when you hear him talking, he's very understated and quiet and gentle and all that, but that's the dichotomy that I love about him.He still makes me smile.
Yeah, I get that. Right, we're back.So, a wee comfort break and we're actually going to talk about the album now.I'm actually going to get into the album now after a lot of me talking over you.Not at all.
Like I do all the time.Not at all.
This is your bag.This is your bag.So, yeah, first track on the album, Play The Game.
So, this one was a single as well, wasn't it?
And this is the one that, when I started playing it, I was like, oh, I know this.Right.I know this, I know this tune.Yeah, yeah.I know they play the game, that's about as much as I know, so that was quite good.
What, I'm going to start negative on this straight away.
What are the synthesizers about on this fucking, on this track?
They're pretty fucking mental, aren't they?
Just like, it starts off with the synths, the kind of opening, isn't it?Like, what is this?Yeah. Yeah, and then there's a bit in the middle where it's a bit... What the fuck is that?It's the same thing.
I think I'm fairly certain I talked about this again on the podcast because it did remind me again when you analyse an album or a song without just listening to it.
I'm fairly sure I said it sounds like... Because this is the first album that ever used synthesizers.
Right, that makes sense.You get what I'm about to say next then, because it's almost like they're like, oh that's a cool sound.
So it's a bit of that, yes.
It's a wee bit naff, the synthesizers, on this track.It gets better on other tracks.But it made me laugh and smile.
Not in a... Yeah, I know what you mean.
I know I'm saying, like, what the fuck is this?But it was more... Oh, that kind of caught me off guard.I was like, what is this?This is... It's funny, it's good.It made me laugh and smile, which can only be a good thing, I suppose. But pretty gentle.
Pretty gentle, the song.I love the bit.I love the vocals.See when it goes into the bit where it's... I think they sing it this earlier on in the song, but it goes to a second, but when the bit about... The game of love has just begun.
From my head down to my toes, pumping through my veins.See the way he sings that? That is as close to, that kind of hit me right.
See the way he sings that, I'm like, oh there's only a few, a few kind of artists that I listen to that can kind of hit me and there is a bit of Betty that does hit me.And it's just a wee, just,
I don't know if it's his inflections or what it is, but there's certain bits that definitely kind of hit me in that bit.
Well that bit, I mean he sings that in that falsetto.It's a wee bit of that kind of register, you know.Which he does a lot more in the 1980s than he did in the 70s, from memory anyway.But yeah, did you watch the video?
I haven't seen the video for it.
The video's pretty funny.But it's essentially a bad performance with a backdrop of it that looks like flames. But that bit, Freddie's all top off and he's all drenched in sweat.It's not really sweating, it's just his face.
Just for yous listening, David's doing the pose with the sweat.
I cannae be a Freddie, but you know.So the sweat's all dripping off him.
And he does that with his fist.
So what I'm doing here is he's actually clenching his fist in and out.Like a pumping hat?Pumping the blood.Right.And he does that in the video.And if you're a Queen fan, you'll know the video.But that's what he does.
I'm pumping through my veins and he does that.And it shows you the close up and all that.And he's all sweaty and all that.So it's kind of weird.
No, it's cool.I like it but it's weird.
I always want to pause this and go and watch it.I'm that excited.You've just described Shreddy like sweating and top off and fighting his fists.
He just grew his tash as well, so the tash is there, the hair's all slicked back, he's in the top off.It's very homoerotic but I like it.That's my favourite kind of erotic. But yeah, yeah.But not like that.
It's interesting because now you're talking about that vocal getting to you, because with Freddie, for me, it's always been the more powerful vocals, the more cursory vocals that get me, or the really smooth vocals that get me.With Freddie,
But that's kind of, he's full settled, I think it's great, but it's never necessarily been the bit.So that's really cool, that's really different.
I get that, because there's a track later on where it's like that big powerhouse and it gets me just as much, eh?Sure.
But yeah, definitely, that was for putting this album on and then playing that, I'm like, oh, I like that, that just hits a wee bit different, I'm no kind of used to that.Maybe it's because I am a wee bit more familiar with the big... Sure, sure.
To hear something a bit different.
To hear that was a wee bit different.Yeah, I liked that.Yeah, that was the... Yeah, I've got that bit.I've told you that it made me laugh, that synthesiser as it went on.Yeah, so what are yours?
Well, I mean, I suppose talking about the synthesiser, see when they actually did the Flash Gordon soundtrack a year later.That was all sounds... I mean, I know the song Flash.You know, the big campy kind of song. But see that's your soundtrack.
The use of synths is absolutely amazing.When I did the podcast, in fact, Michael was on it, Michael Legge was on our Glass Gordon podcast, because that's his favourite Queen album.Is it?The Glass Gordon soundtrack, yeah.
I mean, he always says, like, it's really sheer heart attack, but I just love the fact that he always says, for me, it was the last thing Queen were properly experimental.And I do agree with him.But when you talk about the side to a low,
That's what the Flask On soundtrack's like.It's all these really dark and eerie synths and things like that.There's not a lot of guitars or anything else.But it was weird because it went from like, what does this button do?
To really knowing what they were doing a year later on the soundtrack.It sounds like they've been using synths forever.So it's so weird that it went from that. Properly creating soundscapes and things like that.And it being good.
And it being good, exactly.But, well, it's a weird song for me.I think this is quite a bizarre Queen song because it's not quite a piano ballad.
It's got a kind of pensive thing about it, but it's got quite a lot of heavier bits in it, you know, the da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, and then it's back to the doo-doo-doo, you know, with the synth things going on, but then Freddie, when he's back to his piano, it's kind of quite soft.
So it seems to kind of straddle, it's almost like a song that's not sure what it is.
I get that, because I said about it being genteel and stuff like that, but like when I'm listening to it with my headphones on or anything, it's like that, like the synthesizers are jarring in it.
I get what you're saying about it kind of not knowing what it is.
Yeah, and again we talked about Brian, I think
He's restrained on this as well, he comes in with really wee lead bits or it'll just be a bit of power chords and he'll come back out again and in and out and I think he's quite economical when he's playing on it.
I think it's one of these ones, you talk about this a lot with albums, Is it the opener you'd have picked?Who knows?I don't know.Is it the opener to the album?
You know, that's just what I was going to go on to, about the kind of track listing of this.I don't know what other way you would have had it.
Well, I'm looking down the track list and I'm thinking, I don't know, I would have opened with otherwise, you know?Yeah.So maybe it is the best opener, you know, but it's a different opener.
Because it's almost immediate as well, you know, you're in that big sudden sweat.Yeah.And then Freddie comes in right away with the piano.Open up your mind.You know, so it's not,
like an intro and then it builds up and then the vocals come in it's just straight away.
Yeah absolutely and then yeah but looking at the rest of the tracks there isn't an obvious one for you at all that should have been a bit in the middle of the album or anything like that and then
I mean it jumps as well like if you're good to go into the next one that's some jump on a dragon attack yeah and I mean that kind of funky bass starting you know totally totally different and of course it's no did you it wasn't Freddy that wrote this one was it you said it was Brian that wrote this one yeah so Brian wrote this one which is bizarre
Because it's the most un-Brian song you can think of.Brian writes two types of songs.Yep.Really kind of feeling sorry for himself or maudlin or Later on, kind of naff rock songs are kind of naff metal songs.Right.
And I say naff, and I don't mean that as in that I don't dislike them all, but I mean things like Fat Bottom, I'm talking about things like Fat Bottom Girls and there's a few other ones that just don't hit for me.
But when he actually properly wrote more metallic songs, they were better.But when he straddled that grim between with hard rock, it was never good. Anyway, I digress.
Do you know what it's almost like, and I've written this down, you could almost reverse the writers.I almost see the first song's almost more of a Brian song, and actually the second one's probably more of a Freddie song.
Not lyrically the first song, because lyrically it's very Freddie, but musically it's probably more Brian, because Brian plays piano a lot.Every song where Brian writes there's a piano on it, Brian's playing the piano.
So it feels very much like a Freddie song.
I don't think I realised they played more than...
They play more instruments, rather than what... They all do, they all do.
They all kind of play various instruments.But Dragon Attack, I love it.In Munich, they always went to a place called The Shack.
Right, and that's referenced in the song. take me back to the shack.When talking to Peter Hintz, when we were interviewing him, he was talking about, you know, dragon attacks.Everyone's been saying it's about heroin, it's about this and that.
It's about the shack.We just went there and the whole dragon thing, and he, you know, maybe a slight bit of misogyny on his part, but he was talking about, yeah, we chased a few dragons, you know, a few dragons chased us.
I only thought it was about women.
Yeah, so that's that. You know, so people are sort of chasing the dragon and all this kind of stuff.And it's like, no, so it's just about being in the shack and having women.Ladies.The ladies chasing, basically.
I never even crossed my mind it was about drugs or anything.
And what's odd about a lot of Brian's writing, a lot of Brian's writing, lyric writing is quite misogynistic.Is it?Yes.Even his solo albums, which are fucking terrible.Really misogynistic writing.
Me thinking about Fat Bottom Girls, that's misogynistic.This is.Back to the song.I fucking think it's great.
It's good, eh?I mean, that funky bass, it's a whole different sound on this one, eh?And for me, I love the drums on it, eh?There's like that hollow-y sound, or I don't know what the best can be.
Yeah, when he does that wee drum beat.Yeah, it's like a proper cool, eh?
And then that bit where it... where it, like about three minutes into the song, where it goes down to that low down, where it starts the clicking.Don't take no prisoners, low down.
Yeah, there's like loads and loads of... Yeah, I thought, oh, that's cool, and it was cool with the headphones on listening to it, eh?
Yeah, a lot of... The only bit... I mean, obviously, there's a bit of the dragging on the back and all this sort of stuff, but there's a lot of oohs and yeahs. Hey!
I always like that, it's quite funny.
But yeah, yeah, I mean it's... I mean it's got a swagger to it and I like that, you know, it's got a swagger.
I mean Brian getting a bit funkier is cool and what I like about it is Brian's wrote it but stepped back to the guitar, you know, he's kind of really held back and restrained himself again, you know, despite it being
you know, let John do his thing, you know, cos he's in a wee bass solo and in the middle of it, you know, well, John plays a wee bit.
There's a couple bits where bass solos, isn't there, wee funky?There is, aye.
I mean, needless to say, this is John Deacon's favourite Queen album, you know, because I think it's... Is it?Aye, aye.
Cos there's a lot of basses really up here on this album.
And I've wrote a few times, bass is cool and this, this, you know, so yeah, I'm not surprised with it.
No, I think Dragon Attack's great, I love it.And they did play it live on the tour and I think it stayed on their set for the tour afterwards as well, which is really cool.
And then it jumps onto another one, Bites the Dust, so much, much, much more popular.Much more well-known.
It's huge.Number one in America. Massive song.I mean, does it rip off Sheik's Good Time?Aye, it does.It does.
I mean, I was thinking to myself when I was, you know, this and obviously a crazy little thing called Love's on this one, and I'm thinking to myself, what are the biggest Queen songs?I'm going Bohemian Rhapsody's first day.
Well, in terms of popularity, this is, well, this sold more than Beeman Rapsody in America.Another One Bites the Dust.Another One Bites the Dust is the biggest Queen song in America.
Not that America is the world or anything.
No, no, but I'm thinking like probably Show Must Go On.
No, Show Must Go On, I mean that, talking about when that was released as a single, I think it went to about number 22 or something, you know.I did.Because it was like the fourth single off the album and things like that, you know, at the time.
So, yeah, another one, Bites of Dust, is probably, I would say, after Beeman Rhapsody, arguably their most famous song after Beeman Rhapsody. Well, probably more so Don't Stop Me Now these days, because that's just played non-stop, you know.
Yeah, Football With Anything, that's like an anthem song, innit?There's a few of them, a few anthem songs.But yeah, this was the one where I was starting to think and going, this is a huge song.
But I definitely did not know any of the lyrics apart from, another one bites the dust, that's all I know.
Honestly and I think, it's funny because I was thinking this is a huge song, you know the intro, you know the riff straight away as it comes on, you just have to play a couple bars, like not even that, a bar of intro and you're going, you know exactly what song it is.
But I did not know what the lyrics were apart from the tune.You know, it's kind of interesting, eh?I mean, The vocals build.It's quite tame and everything.Not tame, that's not fair.It's canned, it's contained or something.
And then it gets more and more sharp and not angry, but angry I suppose, yeah, but like in your face a bit.But it always comes back to that beat and riff. just like constant throughout it.Because the music doesn't get all that more building.
It's more Freddie's vocals that get building and get kind of more up in your face.But then it just comes back to that like really level beat.
Yeah, I mean there's not a lot in the song, instrumentally.
Obviously I'm saying it's a rip-off of Good Times by Sheik, but the story goes that John Deacon was in the studio with Sheik, so Nile Rodgers was in there and he was laying that down and I think he was friends with Nile Rodgers.
So I don't know what's happened, but he's kind of... So the riff in Good Times is... And he's went... You know, so it's kind of... The top of it is exactly the same as Sheek's Good Times, and within about a year of the song being out.
So it is a bit suspect, right?
Did they ever comment on it?Apart from them being in the studio?
I think Neil's been cool about it.I think he's never... I think I looked it up, but there's nothing that comes into my head right away.I did think I looked at what he was saying about it, but I think he was cool about it.
I don't think there's been any controversy around it anyway, certainly.But the guitars in it, the funky guitars, the... That's John.That's John who plays the guitars.It's not Brian.
Because Brian actually said, he said to be fair, that was John that played that, and see when I tried to play it live, I did struggle with it, because it's just not his world. So he struggled with it.
I wrestled with it because I tried to get that vibe, that funky.When it's to John it was natural because that was his world, that was what he liked, that was what he was into.
The drums sound slightly different so it's really rigid and tight sounding because John taped up all Roger's drums to get them to sound really tight. And Roger apparently hated it.He was like, fuck it.Because he wanted a big kind of sound, you know.
He said this funk kind of really tight sound.But Roger's a bit of a contradiction because Roger He kind of criticised the song.There was a song on the previous album called Fun It, which is basically a fucking disco song that he wrote.
But it wasn't anywhere near as good as Another One Bites The Dust, so I think there was a bit of jealousy.Okay.
He's tried to be a bit out there and win respect.
John's done it successfully and done it really well and achieved a multi-million selling hit, you know, in the back of it. But this was never going to be a single.
It was Michael Jackson that said to them.
Oh, I think I came across that.
It's quite interesting, eh, for it being their biggest single.
Yeah, yeah, so... Michael knew what he was talking about.
You know, cos at that point, you know, Freddie and Michael Jackson were friends and things like that, and they was in the studio, and they were, you know, just the usual musicians hanging about, and they said, oh, you need to release that, that as a single, and, like, are you fucking mental, you know?
So they did, and aye, so... As much as I don't like to give Michael Jackson credit for anything, but maybe he deserves a wee bit of credit for this one.He certainly made John Deacon a lot of money on that one.
Is it synthesizers making that noise like traffic?
And the kind of stuff?I don't know.That's a good question.I'm not actually sure. It's almost like a traffic moving across the... You have got the kind of... Sounds like something crashing and stuff, you know.
It's like one of these things goes from one end to the other.
A lot of the time in these situations, you find out when you watch these classic album documentaries, oh, we recorded a car on the street and we put it through a filter and reversed it.You know, it can be something like that.
That was just me guessing because I know the word used in that.
That's a good question but I've no idea.
And then it jumps totally different again, to me anyway.For Need Your Lovin' Tonight.
Another John Deakins, though.
See, I think this is what blew my mind.
I've probably read this when I've been... I knew that they were all jumping all over the place, and I wasn't even going to try and attempt to remember who did what and comment on it, because I know you would know.
But this one was another single, wasn't it, as well, eh?
Definitely a lot smoother.
upbeat.It wasn't one of my favourites when I first put it on, but it definitely became one of my favourites this song.
I've got a lot of it, I love it.I think it's so catchy, it's naive as well, you know, and a lot of John's writing, that lyric writing is naive.
I think the smoothness you're talking about as well is because you've got an acoustic guitar over an electric guitar, so you've got both, you know, so it gives it that kind of more rounded edge to it, you know.
Probably different to the rest of the album so far as well, where it definitely sounds... It's got that kind of almost... I don't want to say rockabilly, but it's not quite that, but it's got that kind of rock and roll feel, that kind of almost 50s kind of style rock and roll kind of vibe to it.
Do you know what?There's a tiny bit of this song, or there's a wee bit that every time it plays it reminds me of this old heart of mine.There's just a wee sound on it that's a wee tiny bit.
I can't remember exactly what bit it's at.
Well that would, again, talking about John's world, it makes a lot of sense.It's just a tiny bit.
And I'm like, oh it just sounds like, and I can hear it.
Right, I can't think of the exact bit, but yeah.
Next time you listen to it.It's a weird mix, this being totally different on the album, and certainly different to what I thought Queen were.I mean, this sounds nothing like what I think and what I'm thinking Queen sounds like.
But it still sounds a bit familiar.I don't know if it's because it's so catchy. Like that, I Need Your Lovin' is an earworm, eh?
Absolutely, and then I was catching myself kind of, you know, it kind of going round in my head.So yeah, this one kind of definitely surprised me and definitely grew on me, eh?
I mean, the next one, which crazy little thing called Love, that is the last one on the first side, isn't it?
And it has got that... That acoustic opening, it's again instantly recognisable, that same bit as well.It's kind of got that swing to it.
I mean the bass, this is one hour, it's groovy in this isn't it?
Just that kind of walking bass on that.
Yeah and I'd wrote kind of rockabilly sounding on this as well.Nothing's overdone on it, it's pretty, to be fair I would say that about the whole album.
There's nothing overblown about certain bits of it, like the guitars are no overblown, the singing's no overblown, like nothing's, it's pretty well contained.
And certainly I think that's a good example of it, eh?And, you know, I'd written down as well about what I was saying before is,
I've just got, even though I know this song, I've still got this unfounded kind of prejudice with Brian May where I think he's just going to come in and fucking do a mental solo, eh?
And this is a good example where I don't know if in my head a lot of the Queen songs have it, and it's just not true.
But yeah, possibly.I think in some cases it will.But I think that's what it is.I think that helps with a lot of bands.You're prejudiced.I've been caught out with bands before as well.
Oh, I thought this band were this and I actually realised they're that.And that's, I think that's cool.
I like that.I honestly think I blame the, like you were saying, it's Brian May on top of Buckingham Palace.
Yeah, it's that kind of shit that just makes you think.
Aye.Aye, absolutely. Yeah, so Crazy Little Thing Called Love.This must have been like a favourite growing up as a youngster.
No.I don't know.Don't know.It's not one that I can remember sticking out.I liked it.
I mean, I'm taking it as like... When you're saying about the greatest hits and everything like that, this will have been all on it, I would imagine.It would have been one of the catchier ones.Maybe not, you'll know me.
Yeah, no, definitely.Listen, it's a very catchy song.I've got a lot of time for it.I really like it.And this is a Freddie one.
It's a Freddie one, yeah.
Even I can tell.I mean, it's him impersonating Elvis, indeed.
Even does the ho-ho crazy.
Yeah, exactly.Absolutely.But this is the one, so... I was interviewing Peter Hintz, well myself, Paul and Joel were in the podcast and we talked to him about this song because he was there when he started writing it.So what happened is
So he was Freddie's roadie, basically.Every live concert you see a Queen, and when Freddie's going back to the piano, Freddie will hand his mic to somebody and it's always Peter Hintz.
So I said to him, yeah, you were there when Freddie wrote this, weren't you?
Oh yeah, yeah, so he says, so because of tax reasons, Freddie had to get out, he was back in London, he had to get out of London and go back to, and then it was a strike of Heathrow, and of course that was my fault, Freddie's blaming me, you know, I've just been a diva, you know, a lot of years.
Anyway, we get to Munich, and he's in the bath, and he says, I'm like through in the kind of main, it was a big suite and stuff, so I'm sitting with another guy having a smoke and whatever, and He says, Ratty, Ratty, Ratty.That's his nickname, Ratty.
Get in here.He's like, look, Fred, man, I'm... You know, that's the way he puts his... No, no, get me a guitar, get me... And then he gets out the bar, get my guitar in. They found one of it somewhere.
As the story goes, he had it in his head and he started writing it.And then he was like, get these fuckers down to the studio tomorrow, I want to get this recorded, you know, about the other band members.
So I think it was conceived in about, the story goes it was conceived in about 20 minutes. Wow.But you know all these rock and roll stories, I mean they're probably embellished to hell.
The good thing about it, there's three chords in the song.
There's three chords in the song, I think from memory it's, I think it's D, D, C and F, I think that's right anyway, the chords.But what was cool, when Freddie introduced it, I think it was in the 1982 tour, when he introduced the song, he's like,
Ten years ago, I knew three chords of the guitar.I knew ten years later, I only know three chords of the guitar, you know.So, and then he would play it, you know.
I don't think I've seen any clips of him playing guitar.
Aye, so when they play that song, he plays guitar.He plays it, so.And it says guitar on the song.Is it?That's Freddie.Aye, aye, so.
So that's Freddie.But again, number one in America as well.The album was huge.This was at one point in time in America where Queen were the biggest band in America.For that fleeting moment.
So, yeah, this was their biggest album in America then?
Yes, it was.Totally, that's what you were saying.Before that was News of the World was their biggest album.That was when they probably properly really broke America, you know. But yeah, crazy little thing, yeah.
And when I play it live it gets extended and at the end it gets quite more rocky and there's a bit of a jam at the end.Oh, I love to watch it.It gets on for a bit longer.But yeah, I probably prefer it live than I do on the album.
Yeah, because it makes it sound, if it's a bit more extended, a bit more drip. So yeah then it flips over to the other side which would be Rocket Prime Jive.It's a bit of a belter compared to the rest of them.
Dragon Attack is probably the last one of this kind of ilk.But yeah, so I think when I was on Lap of the Pods, it was... I don't think my thoughts have changed all that much since I recorded it.First off, the opening is unreal.
And this is the bit I was talking about earlier, when I was saying there's wee bits that hit you.That hit, how can it not? I'm so glad you're saying that.It is that proper emotion.This is what I think the good bits of Queen are.
This is what I think that kind of just wild, wild voice.And there's like nothing much else.I mean, to me, I'm not listening to anything else other than that vocal at the start. the song as a whole it's a bit bizarre eh?
I mean I want to hear Freddie sing the rest of it but then I suppose that's what I like about it is that it does start with this like massive opening where it's like and then it goes into that you know and then it changes vibe totally and then is it it's not is it Roger that sings on this one yes it's Roger that sings on this one and it's like the different styles of vocal I mean it's
There's a naffness to it, but I like it.
You know, where it's like, it's certainly not all the negative things I think about, which is maybe more revolved around Brian May or what, there's a comfortableness in this song that makes it sound, that just works somehow.
I shouldn't like it because it goes from that incredible vocal at the start, you know, which is, it's only like, what, four lines, isn't it? But it just gets pulled out longer than what it maybe could be, considering the rest of the song.
And then... I should hate it!I should hate it, you know what I'm saying?But it's the right side in half, and it's catchy, and it's...
I have to remind myself sometimes, you know, this may be a really shit comparison, but you know when you start watching an episode of something and you think, I was watching an episode of The Simpsons, right, and then see at the end of The Simpsons, I'm like, how did this start?
And it's probably like the Homer in a hot air balloon or something like that.And you're like, how did we get here?
The story kind of splits off.
This is what it feels like with this song, where it's like, I have to remind myself when I'm listening to this song that that's how it started.That's a good point.
And then when I was playing it back again, I'm like, oh yeah, this is a song where it's just, it starts off with that and then goes, well, I blethered about that enough.I mean, yeah, such emotion in the opening. The synthesizers are better in this.
I cannot listen, I can't hear them in my head as they're synthesizers in this.
The wee, dee, dee, dee, dee, wee bits.Yeah, yeah.
I couldn't hear that.I've wrote that I like them or they're better in this one.And it's just constant the whole time.Apart from that bit, Freddie's bit at the start. It's just, the song is that pressure.
It's the same pressure, Faye, when Roger starts singing at the end.It doesn't peak and trough or anything like that.It's just tightly wound that whole way.
Yeah, no, I think it's, well, my best friend Joe, this is his favourite Queen song.Is it?Aye. Which is kind of bizarre in a lot of ways, but I get it.I completely get it.I mean, the lyrics arenae great.
No, no, they're not amazing, but I think it's just... It's not hard hitting.And it's weird, it's such an uplifting song, and to know Joe, he's a miserable bastard as well, you know?So, it's kind of weird.But I like that.
I like the fact that he's such a miserable bastard, it's his favourite Queen song, you know?But it is, that intro, when Freddie sings, it's the hairs on the back of your neck, you know, stuff, you know, incredible vocal opening.
and the arpeggios playing the guitar in the background that's Roger playing them so he's playing on the guitar you know he's accompanying Freddie on the guitar but yeah it's just so it's
I don't get this song, David.I don't get why I like it.I mean, I don't know if it's that first bit, but can it just be that first bit?
No, it's not.The song, when Roger sings it, I love it.See, I love Roger's voice.I love it.I mean, I saw him.In fact, me and Joe went to see Roger three years ago in Liverpool.Didn't come up to Glasgow, so we drove down to see it.
And they did this song, but he didn't sing it.It was the drummer that sang it.
So it was this young guy called Tyler Warren.And I have to say, he sang it brilliantly.He sang it superb.Obviously, the point where you're like, it'd be cool to hear Roger sing it, but I'm fine with this.This was still excellent.
He left the stage, actually, and just left him doing the vocal.But yeah, I just think it's uplifting. What Roger gives you, I mean, it's like you say, the lyrics are on the grey.Roger doesn't like good lyrics, he never really has done.
On occasion, he'll get away with it, but he's not a good lyricist.
It's a bit Elton John, innit?Do you think so?There is a wee bit to it.That's interesting.Not the sound. But the kind of, it's like Saturday night's alright for fit.It's like that kind of... That might be right.
Okay, I'm with you now.Or it's just when you say that, I'm just thinking, oh, he's crap.
No, no, no, no.Rugged man.
Exactly.I cannae barry this up.No, no, I get what you're saying, in fairness.
That's why I'm thinking, I don't know what it is.I can't say... that the lyrics are great or the music's great or anything, but it's just as a whole, it's a tune or something like that.
There's just something you can't explain, you can't put your finger on almost.
No, I think it's an excellent song, I really, a lot of time for it.But Roger's songs are always, they're always teen angst songs.They're always about going out, having a good time, having a party, but that's the kind of guy he was.
You know, the blondes, kind of like, you know, run with the ladies and all that.He's one of these kind of guys.He's always got a song to represent that.
And this is the first time, am I right? But certainly in this album, where it's got the whole, you know, even when it's like, we got that prime drive, and it's like, prime drive, you know.Where it is just like, it's a sing-along, isn't it?
And it's interesting because, and it happens two songs later.Well, you can almost argue it happens the song after as well. This is an unusual album for Queen in the sense that you've got dual vocals.Right.
So, for example, what happened is Brian makes a song in a particular style, he'll sing the whole thing.Okay.Roger makes a song in a particular style, he'll sing the whole thing.Yep.In fact, I might be right in saying
that Roger sang all of his own compositions up to a certain point.On Jazz, the last album, the song Fun It, he both sang, so Roger sings and Freddie sings.But it was unusual, that was the first time it happened.
But you've got this in two songs later, you've got a Brian May composition where Freddie and Brian sing on it, so it's a bit weird, this album is a bit weird from that point of view.Normally, it's just the one lead vocal.
And maybe the harmonies, with all of them coming in.But it's a bit kind of strange from that point of view, which is cool.Different.
I enjoyed this one, eh?So then it jumps to... Don't Try Suicide.I've been looking forward to talking about this one, actually.
So was this the controversial one?
Some folk might think it is.
I think some people might, aye.
I just, fine.I mean, one that kind of walk-in riff CD-man, innit?
Yeah, it almost sounds like it.
There's a... A musical that I've been to see a couple of times.I have a new cue and it's like puppets.I don't like musicals but I like this, right?And there's a character in it called Lucy the Slut and when she comes on it's like that...
Absolutely.And it's what it sounds like to me.I mean, to me, this is a strange song on the album.This is a strange, it's like, because it sounds happy and it's telling you not to do suicide.
You won't like it.It's telling you you need help.
It's kind of about, for me this song is kind of about, it's kind of saying, here's a hand of help, another hand is punching in the face.
Yeah, I get that.It's a weird one because I always think you need songs like this, right?Even I know, maybe it's outdated, maybe the lyrics would be different or what, even if they were challenging thoughts on this or what at the time.
But I always think you need songs like this because It's the same, I'll listen to some women that write about domestic abuse, right?But it's maybe seen as glamourising it.
But to me, you need kind of different songs with different points, where being the person who's committing suicide or the person that's getting domestic, you know, whatever it is, you need all different kind of sides.
And to me, you need songs like this because it's like, it's not always as clean cut as... That's my opinion anyway.
Well, listen, that's a very interesting take on it because
I don't know that we were that kind to it, you know, from a lyrical point of view, from a perspective of now, looking back on it, but not like the podcast like we did before, but at the same time, It's not the most sensitive song at times, right?
You're getting on my tits.Exactly.
And absolutely, if they released it this year, it would get stick.It would get stick, you know, it absolutely would.But I like it.I like the song.It's crap.
It's kind of, because Freddie, this is a Freddie song, right?
It's weird how he kind of confuses mental health with being a prick teaser and things like that.It's kind of these weird things going on, you just can't be a prick teaser all the time.
Because my opinion is that, of course we're going to say,
there's mental health in there and you went well of course of course that's the truth but you don't know all these things when you're dealing with okay I know he's saying that you would just say don't be a prick even if you did because you don't understand people don't understand of course you're going to say
No, but he's saying don't be a prick-teaser, meaning she or he is a, oh, oh, you know, coming on to people.So when you're prick-teasing, you're kind of... And is that the person who's going to try suicide?
Well, he's saying you just can't be a prick-teaser all the time.That's the lyric.
So he's talking about someone who's coming on to people, male or female, whatever, you know.
I might ask a really dumb question here.Is the don't try suicide rhetorical then, is it like really try it?No.Is that the joke?
I don't think so.That's what I'm saying, to me the lyrics are kinda confusing.
They're sending two messages.
I always think with things like that, and unfortunately, you know, looking at it from eyes from 2024, of course you're going to say mental health and... Exactly.
You should be reaching out a hand, you should be caring for one another, but we don't do that.We're still going to call people pricks or prick teasers, but I'm now going to start calling people prick teasers.
But I'm still going to tell folk they're getting in my tits or something like that and then if they were to do something I'd feel really bad but it doesn't change.
But what the lyric is, what Freddie sings is, when you do that all you do is get in my tits. So what's the line before that?In fact, look, you've got me really analysed this now.Right, so the line before that is... Oh, it's good.I like it.
You just can't be a prick teaser all of the time.A little bit of tension.You need some affection, you gotta... No, no, aye.
I think what he's saying is... When he's saying all you do is get in my tits is when you try suicide, you're getting in my tits.
That's fucking funny.I'm sorry.That is, what an inconvenience.
Without having the lyrics in front of me in the comments, but ah, yeah, I think it's... I don't, that would really inconvenience me. It would, wouldn't it?Well, it would be.No, listen, be honest.
I mean, listen, we're talking about, you're talking as two people who have discussed things in private about other people we know and how serious that subject is.Of course it is.You know I'm not being flippant about it, but you're right.Yeah.
Believe me, I'm not one to be flippant about it.Of course you're not.Everybody's got their own mental health and a lot of people have been to places that they're talking about in this, but I've also been heartbroken what gets talked about in songs.
I've also been, whatever, loads of feelings.This is just another feeling.Yeah, yeah.If we can talk about it.I mean, it's funny.
No, what's interesting about this, right, so there's this song, right, and then there was a song Freddie wrote again in 84.Right.It's on the Works album and it's called Keep Passing Those Open Windows.
Meaning, don't jump out the window.So there's this kind of... I fucking love that.
But it's a much more serious song.It's quite up-tempo, actually.So this is a bit like, you're getting my tits.This one's a bit more like, you know, stay strong, believe in yourself and all that.
That's what people are, eh?One minute folk would be all, she's so caring, or one minute she's a heartless bitch or something like that.I like that.
You know what, Lucy, you're shedding your light on this song for me.I like it. I mean, I've never had a problem with it.
I've never went, oh my god, that song's so offensive or anything like that, you know, but I've thought, I mean, it was 1980, I mean, who the fuck knew?
You don't even say suicide now, do you?No, that's it.
That's it, aye.But what I like about the song, going back to the music, You know what you're talking about when it breaks down?Yeah.It's like suicide, suicide, suicide.
It's always like that.It's like suicide!So it's like sassy kind of like musical.
It's almost like it's a... playful thing.
No but that's what I'm saying I like that eh?I like that kind of contradiction and is it all right to laugh at something like that?
Like a lot of people would probably say no.No no no but like it's As we're saying, it's a huge fucking subject, huge deal.But, come on, we can still say, this is fucking funny.
Do you honestly think that Freddie, if somebody committed suicide, he'd just be like, ah, well.
You know, they got my tits anyway.
Yeah, it's almost like even after somebody's died or something like that, who's going to make the first joke?
When is it going to be alright to laugh?
And then you'll probably get it fucking wrong and say something when you shouldn't, or you'll hit it right or wrong.It's a strange one.It's a strange one, eh?I mean it's not, it's probably not, it's probably
my least favourite song on the album but still I like it because it's funny.But really it's pretty straightforward eh?Then it jumps to Sail Away's Sweet Sister.
Tell me your thoughts on this one.
I do like it.It's Brian that sings this one, isn't it?I don't like his voice.I just don't like it.No, I know.
Is this the one that Freddie comes in?
I like it better, I just don't like Brian's voice.But I like the lyrics.Pretty nice, pretty... It's alright.It's about as much as I'm going to say, I'm so sorry.
This is Brian bringing down the vibe.Because the album to this point is... I say they're stupidly, weirdly funny in the previous song, you know, and up-tempo and everything else, you know, and then he's bringing it.
But Brian's songs tend to be a bit, kind of, serious and, kind of, if they're not rock songs, if they're more ballad-y, they tend to be a bit more like that. But I do like the song, I do like the song and his voice is okay, I think it's fine.
I'm not a fan of his voice, certainly any time after this period, because he ain't a singer. But I don't mind it on this, and he plays the piano on it, and his piano playing's really, really nice.
The difference between, you can always tell between who's playing piano, whether it's Brian or whether it's Freddy, is Brian plays it really soft, and Freddy just bashes it.You know, that's the difference.
But yeah, you've got the breakdown with Freddie saying, hot child, you know, young, you've got your whole life ahead of you, that kind of bit, you know.
But the one thing, I mean, I really like the song, but the bit at the end when John's playing the bass, the do, do-do, do-do-do, and he's doing all his wee lovely notes at the end of it, and it just, you hear the waves kind of crashing and stuff.
And to me, that's beautiful, that's lovely.But yeah, I mean, It's Brian and his songs.There's a lot of this with Brian.
With this kind of... Yeah, so it's that, hey little babe, you're changing.That was a babe.You're feeling sore and then the whole thing is sail across the sea, maybe you'll find somebody to love you half as much as me.
That felt weird, listening to that lyric.Just like, that's weird. It's like, go, you might find somebody half as good, that'll love you half as much.It was a weird one where I'm like, that's a...
I don't think it takes away from the song or what, but it was definitely one that I picked up and I'm like, that's weird.
I know what you mean, because the song for me seems to be about his sister.He never had a sister.That's in the parentheses next to, to the sister I never had.Right, so he never had a sister.
Right, so he's talking about... I never took it as a real sister.
Oh, it's meant to be about a real sister.Is it?Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A real sister.To the sister I never had is what he's... But no, it's interesting because the way I take the lyrics is she's a younger sister and she's growing up too quickly and she's wanting to flee the rest and he's trying to be protective of her.
I feel a bit better than that.
He's a wee bit like you've got to do your thing.Away you go and do it.
I don't want you to go but you have to go.
You have to go and hope you find what you're looking for kind of thing.Yeah.So that's the carer.
I feel a bit better about it now then.
Yeah, but his voice just, it's no... No, I get it, I get it.You're in a band with Freddie, like... I don't know, it's hard, isn't it?It's hard.
Maybe that's a bit... I mean, I like Roger, I actually love Roger's voice, but Ryan is... When he sang in the early days, I mean, he sang on a song on his second album, and his voice is really low and understated, almost like a folky voice.Right.
And I think that works, and that's fine.That's okay.It's when he tries to sing, that's the problem.Right.Do you know what I mean?
But no, in fairness, I do like the song.I do like the song a lot, but yeah.
I would prefer to hear Dreddy's version.I think it would be awesome.
Yes, aye. And then, coming on to the last couple of tracks of the album, coming soon.
Back to Roger, aye.This is, I mean, I've wrote this actually about a couple of them, about them being strange ones.But maybe it is just an album, it's kind of strange to me.Aye.What I'm kind of thinking of them.
I love, I've wrote about the drums coming, feel like they're coming at you.
Aye, it's that flange thing, that doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo
Again, coming away from the brines, kind of like, serious, kind of sad, kind of, you know, reflective stuff, you know, and into just nonsense.Because, like some mother-in-law in her nylon tights, you know, that's one of the lines in it.
You know, Rogers lines are really shite.
So it is.And see, when you say about It was Roger, you said about the teenage yanks kind of thing, was it?I get that now, eh?It almost sounds, not immature, not that, it's the same way. Prime Jive.
It's not an immaturity thing, but it's something like that.
Yeah, I know what you mean.I know what you mean, absolutely.He's like a teenager that's wrote it.Yeah.But what I do like about this is the way Freddie manipulates his voice.
And I like this about this whole album because Freddie is manipulating his voice in a lot of different ways.And I think that's, again, going back to the old Queen And Freddie being misunderstood as well.
I mean, a lot of people say, oh, what a showman, what a, you know, but he was a fantastic musician.He was a genius musician, you know, how he was able to, you know, use his voice, his songwriting, everything, you know.
But what I like about him on this is, you know, he's that kind of weird, almost, Well, how do you call it?Almost slightly whiny.The way he sings it.He just twists it again.I think he doubles up the vocal to sing the same thing.It's a basic song.
There's not a lot to say about it.
Yeah, yeah, I'm just pulling up the lyrics here to have a wee... I mean it is, I mean half the song is just singing coming soon, isn't it?Yeah, always, they're always coming soon.
I mean all about these boys straightens up, Freddy's on the outside, on the tracks, that's when it gets more normal, but yeah.
Not a huge standout track for me.No. But is it up there for you?
I mean, it's not one of the best on the album by any means.I mean, you could probably say it's filler in some way.But I like it.I like it.It's just simple to the point.
And then it jumps to the last one, which is Save Me.
So, I mean, what I've got jotting down about this, this is kind of... I might be totally wrong here, correct me please.This is going into the anthem side again, isn't it?Yes.
That's where it's like, I don't know if this is a bit more of Things to Come or pop, but it's more of a classic sound, certainly more familiar, more of what I recognise, what I think Queen are.I love the wee instrumental bit.
Maybe we can build it up with a different guitar.It starts off a bit acoustic.
I love that, but it's certainly more of what I think Queen sound like. Yeah, it said we'd made a perfect pair.I clothe myself in glory and your love.That's cool.Yeah, one of my favourite bits is about the years.The lie.We lived a lie.
I love you till we die.That's cool, man.But, yeah, what's... Is this a Freddie one?
Yeah, Brian wrote this.So, Brian wrote this.Again, it's that kind of... And it is kind of, you know, you talk about the anthems and all that.
You know, three albums back on A Date to the Races, he ends the album with a song called Tale of Toreatti and it's kind of similar, it's got a piano at the start and it builds. It builds and it's very anthemic.
If you even think about the show Must Go On, that's very anthemic and that closes off the innuendo album.So he seems to write these big epic album closer type songs regularly.So this is... I love Save Me, I think it's alright. It's a fantastic song.
Had he sang it, it would have been a different song.It wouldn't have been even as close to being... Had Brian sang it, you know... Yeah, I get that.
Does he sing any of the big anthem songs?
No, it's always Freddie.It's always Freddie, because he can.And it's good that at least he recognises that, you know.
But I mean, I like the lyrics on this one, eh?Where it's, to start again with somebody new.Was it wasted?All that love.That's certainly much more up my street, eh?
Yeah.Because I think, apparently he wrote it about, it was a friend that was going through a breakup with his wife.And he was kind of looking in on it, and he was kind of just putting himself in their shoes.You know, and he kind of wrote it.
Noted for that point of view.
But certainly that big, oh, I'm not even going to try and do it, the big save me's and all that.Yeah, yeah.Yeah, each night I cry, still believe the lie.Love you till I die.I like it, eh?
Yeah, yeah.No, the lyrics are great.I mean, and Brian was, for the most part, I really, I mean, he's an excellent lyricist, you know, and I think it's a great week.It's a kind of unusual, maybe an unusual week in an album like this.
You're almost ending on an upbeat note, because the album for the most part is quite uplifting.
Yeah, the album is definitely.
Two of Brian's three compositions are quite bring the vibe down.But when I say bring the vibe down, for me that's not negative necessarily.I'm not saying he brings the vibe down and it ruins it or takes me out of it or anything like that.
It's just the way he writes.It's just how he is as a writer.But he gives you that variety again and that's again what I like about Queen, that you've got variety.
Yeah, because my thing when we started talking about this album, I'm saying it's all quite contained, it's not, and even you were saying it's more, it's easier to digest, but it is, even though it's contained in this style, there are variations, which is a strange, that's why I think it's a strange album, because I can't
Although it is easier to listen to than probably some of them that you could have suggested, and there isn't huge differences in how it sounds with guitars or complexity with the music, there is still, it is still an oddball album to me.
Kind of oddball songs, isn't it?
You know there's anthem types, there's the kind of funky wee bits in there like in Dragon Attack and then Crazy Little Think Out Loud sounds a bit strange when I think of the rest of the album compared to that song and then...
So does Sail Away Sweet Sisters, kind of an odd one.But it's a funny wee eclectic that somehow works.
Yeah, absolutely.That is a queen album for me.It's kind of bonkers but it seems to work, you know. And I think that's it, because I think if Queen were only Freddie, and only Freddie wrote the songs, they wouldn't be my favourite band.
Freddie would probably still be my favourite singer, potentially.But they wouldn't be my favourite band.The reason they're my favourite band is because all four write songs, and write songs that I love and appreciate.
So the fact all four were writers was really important to their success.
Yeah, I don't know any other bands that kind of do it that way, unless it's passed me by.
The Beatles are the only other band I can think of, you know.The one that was always thrown up is, all four Queen members have had number one songs in What other country do you want to name?And the Beatles never achieved that apparently.
But listen, that's just all, that's just like comparing dick sizes, you know what I mean?That's just, you know.But what it does show is, it does show that
You know the strength of all four members' songwriting, that they can actually do that and achieve that level of songwriting where they can actually write hit singles.
It's almost like Queen were a collective, even though there was only four of them.A collective is normally a bunch of people, seven, eight, nine, ten people within an environment creating music.
But because they changed instruments, they could play a few different instruments themselves, they all wrote.And some songs, There might not be, there might only be two members on a particular song.
Or the whole band.Yeah.And the other two aren't even on the whole song, you know.Yeah.It's things like that, you know, that happen, so, you know.But yeah, yeah, I mean, but yeah, the game, the game, that is an excellent album.
Yeah, I've enjoyed it and it's definitely kind of made me think a wee bit more about Queen and what I think of them, eh?So I've enjoyed it, I've enjoyed listening to it.Nothing set me on fire.
The biggest thing for me was the couple of bits, certainly, in Rocket Prime Jive and Play the Game, where I was saying about these bits where Freddie's voice kind of blows me away.But no, I've enjoyed it, I've enjoyed it.Thank you.
Yeah.I've kind of been toying all day with where I'm going to go with this. I've got something that I've been listening to recently that I want to give to you at some point.Because I don't know if I've had an album from now.
No, I don't think we have.Certainly not for the last 20 years.
Yeah.Or there's something that I loved when I was like 20. I'm going to go with that one, I think, for now.So, I'm going to go for the New Young Pony Club, The Optimist.
Okay.I've got no idea what that is, so that's good.
So, this was a band I absolutely adored.This is their second album.
So this album came out in 2010, so I'd have been 21 and even still, you know, I've been listening to it recently and it's what made it pop up to think about it for the podcast and from me being 21 to me being 35, I'd still fucking love this album.
Excellent.I would say it's kind of dark pop.Okay.Maybe electronic, folk would say electronic or whatever, but to me it's kind of dark poppy.So New Young Pony Club, The Optimist.
Okay, I'll get that checked out.
Excellent.Yeah, so that's us.That is us.Yeah, so thank you for listening to us talking about Queen's, the game, and join us next time, probably a lot sooner than our last one, for the new Young Pony Club.So I can get my teenage kicks.Yeah.
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