Queen is B-A-C-K in our hearts and ears again
The movie Bohemian Rhapsody has been out since November of 2018 and continues to receive acclaim from fans, movie-goers and critics alike, winning the recent 2019 Golden Globe award for Best Drama. Every person I have talked to and has seen the film has loved it. I have seen it twice – I never see films twice in the theater – for many reasons the film captivated me.
I lived my formative music years of 12-15 in the town of Pittsford, N.Y. just outside Rochester. My friends and I were into some great bands, including Queen. We were into Queen from the beginning and loved their first 3 albums (to this day, my favorite Queen album remains ‘Sheer Heart Attack,’ their 3rd). The release of ‘A Night at the Opera’ brought Queen to the masses via FM Radio and the single ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ When I first heard Bo-Rap on the Radio, my first thought was ‘now everyone will finally know about Queen.’ And they did. Since seeing the movie, I can’t Queen off my CD player and turntable and I have bought several Queen discs to fill in the collection including the Soundtrack to Bohemian Rhapsody – thankfully, NOT a greatest hits package but the songs from the movie including some live versions AND the entire Live Aid section. I highly recommend it. Btw, buying original Queen vinyl can get expensive but worth every penny.
There are so many great moments in the film to mention. Seeing how the band, in fact, came together in 1970 from a struggling 3-piece called Smile to the replacement of then bass player-lead singer Tim Staffell to one Freddie Mercury who brought vision, the name Queen and panache (a Smile version of ‘Doing All Right’ is on the soundtrack). The recording of the song Bohemian Rhapsody and how they got all those harmonies just right, hitting all the high notes. The Mike Myers scene as the unbelieving record exec about a 6 minute single. Brian May giving it to Roger Taylor for the song title ‘I’m in Love with My Car.’ How ‘We Will Rock You’ came together as a purposeful sing-a-long. The Munich period. The ascent of success followed by Freddie Mercury being led to the abyss only to recover in time for Live Aid in July of 1985. By Live Aid, I was firmly into the 80’s music of the time and had put Queen on hold. Had no idea of the events that led up to their performance – a thrilling one that was easily one the best of the entire Live Aid in London and Philadelphia.
For most Queen fans, they know the band from the hit singles like ‘Another One Bites the Dust,’ ‘Crazy Thing Called Love’ and ‘We are the Champions.’ Great songs, no doubt. In addition the Radio hits there is so much more to the Queen catalog to dive into > Queen 1, Queen 2 and Sheer Heart Attack. At that time, Queen were a Rock/Glam band. Just listen to ‘Now I’m Here’ off Sheer Heart Attack and you will get the idea. Two live reissues are worth a purchase: ‘Live at the Rainbow ’74’ a 2-CD set including two shows in 1974 supporting Queen 2 and Sheer Heart Attack. ‘A Night at the Odeon’ was recorded on Christmas Eve 1975 at the Hammersmith-Odeon in London. Queen were really hitting their stride before their mega-success period.
What the movie Bohemian Rhapsody has done is bring Queen back to relevancy. Queen are touring the U.S. in 2019 with Adam Lambert as lead singer – I have my tickets for the Atlanta show in August. Listening again has reminded me how unique Queen was and still are. Such creativity. No other band could have recorded A Night at the Opera with such confidence. Brian May is often over-looked but should be in the best guitarist category for sure. Each of the 4 band members wrote songs and their harmonies were truly memorable. I still can’t stop listening….
Queen notes: the album ‘News of the World’ (1977) was recorded at the same time and in the same studio as the Sex Pistols were recording ‘Never Mind the Bollocks.’ The album ‘The Game’ was recorded in Munich and the band were frequent visitors to a club called Sugar Shack. The impact of the disco sound system was the impetus for the production and sound of The Game, their only U.S. #1 album. The Game was also the first Queen album to feature a synthesizer – all previous albums had, quite proudly, “and no synthesizers’ on the back vinyl covers. Their final album, ‘Innuendo’ (1991) was the #1 album on the U.K. charts for 37-weeks and produced 5 singles. Sadly, Freddie Mercury died right after its release. Queen were so uplifted after Live Aid they went right into the studio and recorded the song ‘One Vision’ released on ‘A Kind of Magic’ (1986). Oddity: in the movie, they played the song ‘Somebody to Love’ out of sequence during the Sheer Heart Attack period and before the scenes of the making of Opera. Somebody to Love appeared on the album ‘Day at the Races’ released after Opera in 1976.
Essential Queen: A Night at the Opera, Sheer Heart Attack, The Game, A Day at the Races, News of the World
Adventurous Queen: Queen 1, Queen 2, Jazz
Recommended Queen: Live at the Rainbow ’74, A Night at the Odeon, The Game, Innuendo