News Of The World is one of the best albums ever. I said that it was Queen's second best album, but it is a very close race with A Night At The Opera. If there was no Prophet's Song on A Night At The Opera, then this would be Queen's best.
The year was late 1977. The singles from this album, we all know unless we have been living in a cave. We Will Rock You & We Are The Champions have weaved themselves into American culture. It's almost like they have been around forever, and I am sure that in a few more years they will be considered novelty songs, like Jingle Bells for example. Freddie states that he was writing We Are The Champions as early as 1975, around the same time he was writing Bohemian Rhapsody. We Are The Champions is a huge song, and in the same way as Bohemian Rhapsody, the song has it's quiet ballad like parts and it's heavy rock parts. The song begins with soft piano chords and Freddie's voice, and as the pre-chorus approaches, it builds to a stronger sound, heavier rock with lots of vocals. Freddie's melody line during the chorus is one of the hardest to emulate properly. He is surely at the top of his range, and that's pretty high, (see this amazing website that pays tribute and analyzes Freddie's voice - http://www.f-mercury.com.ar/frames_eng.htm)
The songs that Roger Taylor has contributed to this collection are very heavy and a major contribution to say the least. These songs are in my opinion the best songs that are credited to him so far up until 1977. Sheer Heart Attack is a very fast paced almost punk-heavy metal song that is relentless. Fight From The Inside is heavy again, but very groovy too. I didn't appreciate this song fully, I think, until I recently heard the cover by Jack Blades (Night Ranger/Damn Yankees fame). He did an awesome job with this song, and showed me the true excellence of this tune.
The songs that John Deacon has contributed are classics. First, the concert favorite sing-along Spread Your Wings. This has Freddie in super-human vocals, and it has a nice lyric and an intimate ambience to it. Even when they did this song live, (like on Live Killers, it feels very intimate. The other song is Who Needs You. This song I love, because of the true Spanish feel it has. The acoustic guitars were played by John and Brian, with the Spanish acoustic leads by Brian. Freddie is even playing maracas here. Very beautiful. Who Needs You has such a raw and unpolished feel to it, I love that about this song.
The Brian May compositions are, (besides We Will Rock You), All Dead, All Dead, Sleeping On The Sidewalk & It's Late. All Dead...has Brian at the piano and on lead vocals. It's a ballad with power, but it is not a power ballad. The lyrics are somber and they sound very personal, and it is very catchy. Sleeping On The Sidewalk sounds as if it was done live with one take, and then maybe the guitar lead added later. It's possibly the most bluesy you'll ever hear Queen get. It has an obvious nod to one of Brian's guitar heroes Eric Clapton, but the Queen flavor of pop makes the tune more digestable. It's Late is a favorite of many Queen fans. I guess that it is a favorite because Freddie is singing again with a super-human voice, the lyrics are cool, it is very heavy, a little bit of a drum solo by Roger, and it has a great groove.
Freddie's songs are, (besides Champions), Get Down, Make Love, & My Melancholy Blues. Get Down.. is a very dark, bass booming, heavy song with pseudo-innuendo erotic lyrics. This used to be a favorite live performance. My Melancholy Blues is the CD's closer (most of the time), and it sounds very melancholy like Freddie says. It is a very loose, jazz-blues, piano and vocal. Very quiet yet with that punch. Good bass playing, but no Brian here. The song is perfect, if Brian was added to it...I don't know, it may have ruined it. It has the perfect ambience, and I believe it must have captured the mood and sound that Freddie wanted.
Bonus Track
The reworked We Will Rock You is ok. It took me a bit of getting used to. Flea from The Red Hot Chilli Peppers plays bass on this song.
So as you see, as I went through all of the songs, I love each and every song. It is a perfect album, no fillers. True brilliance. Queen were at their peek as far as I am concerned.
Songs:
1. We Will Rock You
2. We Are The Champions
3. Sheer Heart Attack
4. All Dead, All Dead
5. Spread Your Wings
6. Fight From The Inside
7. Get Down Make Love
8. Sleeping On The Sidewalk
9. Who Needs You
10.It's Late
11.My Meloncholy Blues
12.We Will Rock You (Remix - Bonus Track)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~For more Queen CD Epinions from Scapp70~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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