11. Queen--News of the World
#11: Queen--News of the World (1977)
Top-Notch Tracks: "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions," [HJ200 #4], "Spread Your Wings," [HJ200 #88], "All Dead, All Dead," "It's Late," "Fight From the Inside," "Sheer Heart Attack"
Album Depth: "Who Needs You," "Sleeping On the Sidewalk," "My Melancholy Blues"
The Weakest Link: "Get Down, Make Love"
Stand-Out Lyrics: "Buddy, you're a boy. Make a big noise. Playing in the street, gonna be a big man some day. You got mud on your face. You big disgrace. Kicking your can all over the place."--"We Will Rock You"
"I've taken my bows, and my curtain calls. You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it. I thank you all."--"We Are the Champions"
"Since he was small, had no luck at all. Nothing came easy to him. Now it was time, he made up his mind. 'This could be my last chance.'"--"Spread Your Wings"
"She came without a farthing. A babe without a name. So much ado about nothing, is what she tried to say."--"All Dead, All Dead"
"You say you love me, and I hardly know your name. And if I say I love you in the candlelight, there's no one but myself to blame."--"It's Late"
"You're just another picture on a teenage wall. You're just another sucker ready for a fall."--"Fight From the Inside"
"You're just seventeen, all you wanna do is disappear. You know what I mean, there's a lot of space between your ears."--"Sheer Heart Attack"
"Buddy, you're a young man, hard man. Shouting in the street, gonna take on the world some day. You got blood on your face. You big disgrace. Waving your banner all over the place."--"We Will Rock You"
"But it's been no bed roses. No pleasure cruise. I consider it a challenge before the whole human race, and I never lose."--"We Are the Champions"
"His boss said to him, 'Now listen, boy! You're always dreaming. You've got no real ambition. You won't get very far."--"Spread Your Wings"
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, it was the D.N.A. Hey, hey, hey, hey, that made me this way."--"Sheer Heart Attack"
"They took me to a room without a table. They said blow your trumpet into here. I played around as well as I was able. And soon we had the record of the year."--"Sleepin' On the Sidewalk"
"I'm causing a mild sensation with this new occupation."--"My Melancholy Blues"
"It's late, it's late, it's late, but not too late."--"It's Late"
"I make it half-past six, you come at seven. Always trying to keep me hanging round."--"Who Needs You"
"I feel so inar, inar, inar, inar, inar, inar, inar, inar-ticulate."--"Sheer Heart Attack"
"Buddy, you're an old man, poor man. Pleading with your eyes, gonna get you some peace some day. You got mud on your face. Big disgrace. Somebody better put you back into your place."--"We Will Rock You"
Comments: You may have wondered why I've continued to include the "Weak Link" section for the album information section. There haven't really been many "Weak Link" songs for most of the recent albums on my list. Well, that "Weak Link" section has been there waiting for this album. Because "Get Down, Make Love" is the weakest of the weak link songs of any of the albums on my list.
This album, as an 8-track tape, was one of the first three albums in my brother's music collection. We loved most of it right away, but the song "Get Down, Make Love" made us very uncomfortable. At the tender ages of 11 and 15, we were not prepared to face the onslaught of Freddie Mercury's sexual experiences. Luckily for us, the 8-track format had a very quick answer for how to avoid the song--just skip Program 3 on the tape. (It always confused me. They called it an 8-track tape, yet there were four programs.) Once the tape ka-chunked from Program 2, we simply ka-chunked it again to skip directly to program 4. This was great for skipping "Get Down, Make Love," but didn't bode well for the other two songs on that program, "Who Needs You," and "Sleeping On the Sidewalk." Which is too bad, because they're both pretty good songs. "Who Needs You" is an upbeat little diss track, while "Sleeping On the Sidewalk" is a fun rags to riches to back to rags song in the fine tradition of "Juke Box Hero."
When I digitized my music collection, I disliked "Get Down, Make Love" so much that I totally removed it from my iTunes. It would NOT be playing randomly on my computer, doggone it! I hated, hated, hated that song!
Since that time, I've grown older and I've actually had some sexual experiences of my own, so I thought I'd give the song another listen to see if I've changed my opinion of it. Nope. Still can't stand it. (Maybe I'll finally appreciate the song when I'm as sexually experienced as Freddie.)
It goes to show how great the rest of this album is that it can still make it this high on my list even with the weakest link song on it. "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champion" are two distinct, iconic songs that are instantly recognizable to an incredible percentage of the American population. Heck, when my daughter was two years old she knew the song well enough to sing it at karaoke with me.
When I listen to the album now, it doesn't flow quite right to me. That's because the order of the songs is different on the cassette and album versions than it was on the 8-track I grew up with. Program 1 of the 8-track started with "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions" followed by "Spread Your Wings," then Program 2 was "Sheer Heart Attack," "All Dead, All Dead," and "Fight From the Inside," in that order. The cassette/album versions move "Spread Your Wings" back to in between "All Dead, All Dead" and "Fight From the Inside." And it doesn't sound right to me. "Spread Your Wings" should start up right after "We Are the Champions," and that's all there is to it.
I've always thought that "It's Late" is an underappreciated song. It's a long song, and it feels epic in scope to me. (When I first heard the titular track to the album "Innuendo," it reminded me of "It's Late.") (I consider that a grand compliment.)
My fondness for "All Dead, All Dead" grew exponentially recently. (I'm married to a math teacher; I don't just throw around the word 'exponentially' willy-nilly.) (I fancy myself a writer; I DO, however, throw around the phrase 'willy-nilly' with reckless abandon.) This fall I learned that "All Dead, All Dead" was partly written by Brian May as a tribute to his cat. Also this fall, my wife's cat passed away at the age of 17 after bringing years and years of her special brand of love and insanity to our family. (Rest in peace, Schneebles.) An official video has been made for the song. It didn't make me cry when I first watched it. (Or did it?)
"Fight From the Inside" is a solid rocker, and "Sheer Heart Attack" is sheer, unstoppable adrenaline in the form of a song. "My Melancholy Blues" is my second least favorite song on the album, but it's still a nice little Freddie diversion.
This album is Queen at their absolute best, with each of the four band members writing excellent songs and working together to make them sound phenomenal. (Well, all of them except "Get Down, Make Love.")
Up next: April 23, 1984.
This is an album that I would have loved to have in my teenage record collection, but because of "Get Down, Make Love," it would have been impossible to play it and not have either my mom or my sisters hear that song, raise a stink, and then demand that I throw the album away. Which is really too bad because I really like all of the other songs on the album, especially "Sheer Heart Attack." And I wouldn't have liked "All Dead, All Dead" in my teenage years, but now that I have fallen in love with my sweet poodles in my adultness I think it is a wonderful song. Only people who have bonded with their pets will get what "All Dead, All Dead" is about and appreciate it for what it is--the best song about a pet passing away since "Shannon" by Henry Gross. All of the other songs on the album are top-notch, and I agree this is Queen at their best, both musically and album-coverly. There just aren't enough album covers with killer robots these days.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/dOZuIV2FZTc
The first time I played the album all the way through I chose to listen in the order of songs found on the 8-track. And I must say that I prefer that order. It's a better album when "Spread Your Wings" comes after "We Are The Champions." If they ever do a remastered version of this album, I hope they'll have the sense to order the songs as they did on the 8-track. Also, I hope they add a bonus song in which the band sings "Merry, Merry, CHRISTMAS!" to the tune of "We Will Rock You."
Nardo