First Impressions
This was, unfortunately, another mediocre album with singles infinitely better than the average.
I'm going to be honest. This was even worse than Jazz. While that album's median was about a 5/10 without the super famous hits, this one without them barely manages to reach a 2 or 3/10.
This is by far the worst material I've heard from Queen. The worst songs here are pretty mediocre and bordering on terrible. The main problem this album has is how empty it feels. Most songs are super barren. It genuinely feels like they are missing instruments. There's surprisingly a lot of parts where this is a problem and it ends up sounding really awkward.
Queen, the band known for adding 30 layers of vocal harmonies and 30 more effects to the guitar. Out of every single problem I would expect this band to have, it would not be this. It's very baffling.
The main perpetrators of this are Don't Try Suicide and Dragon Attack. Dragon Attack, while having a pretty good and groovy main riff, just does nothing with it. And the way the song is produced sounds so bad. It's almost as if they took a demo and just put it in the record because they ran out of time.
And Don't Try Suicide... Honestly, this was a pretty terrible song. I don't think ANY decision they made here. The playful nature of the song just doesn't fit the lyrical subject. Don't get me wrong, you can make a tongue-in-cheek song about encouragement. But this just sounds almost mocking? I'm not saying that's what they meant, but it's simply what the song portrays. It's not even a fun song with how jolly it is. It's missing Queen's classic touch of playfulness. It's probably the first time I have heard a genuinely bad Queen song.
When the songs don't sound empty, they're just really awkward. Rock it and Play The Game make some really weird decisions with the vocals and some weird synths. It's a little hard to describe. Everything just feels a little off here.
It's really bizarre seeing a bad version of this band, it almost doesn't feel real. I suppose that speaks to how great they were, but everyone has their pitfalls.
There are some nuggets of good songs here. We all know Another One Bites The Dust and Crazy Little Thing Called love. One of the funkiest songs ever recorded and a straight up boogie woogie elvis worship song. They're just great, TOO great to be in this album honestly. But there were two others that did catch my attention.
Save me is a really powerful ballad and a great way to end the album. Freddie's vocals especially shine here. It does leave me feeling like I didn't completely waste my time with the album. Maybe it doesn't cover all the bad taste it leaves, but it's grand and cathartic. Something I'm missing in this period of Queen.
And then we have Sail Away Sweet Sister. Man, what diamond in the rough. I love finding these songs. The best song here even better than the singles if you ask me. It's so melancholic but almost triumphant at the same time. I didn't know Brian May's singing could hit me like that but that it's so good. Everything about it is amazing.
Really bizarre seeing them with a genuinely bad output. But I guess that's why we do deep dives. We expect to find these rough spots in our legends' careers. They weren't gods, just men who made amazing music, but men nonetheless.
Ranking
Sail Away Sweet Sister
Another One Bites The Dust
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Save Me
Need Your Loving Tonight
Play The Game
Rock It (Prime Jive)
Coming Soon
Dragon Attack
Don't Try Suicide
Rating