Their Greatest Hits 1 in Tape and I will get round to blogging that eventually. For the moment, I shall concentrate on Greatest Hits II, which I have on CD. This is, basically their hits from about 1981 onwards.
I always have mixed feelings about Queen. Andrew a friend from twenty years ago contended that there were only two geniuses, Beethoven and Freddie Mercury. I would dispute the 'only two'. I'm not even sure that I would include Queen.
They were always strange - some really truly glorious stuff, genuine claims to greatness. And then some indifferent stuff.
I put the CD on random play.
- Headlong - starts off so unpromisingly it is tempting to dismiss this. but listen - as it progresses and moves through tempi and styles and I'm thinking, hey this is seriously under-rated;
- Under Pressure - oh my! A definite contender for my Top Whatever to be defined in February 2008;
- Breakthrough - again, seemingly unpromising, but listen to it;
- Radio Ga-Ga - another great classic, musically and lyrically, evocative twice over of a time and place, another Contender;
- One Vision - too much 70s Glam Rock - and then a fabulous choral excerpt;
- Show Must Go On - beautifully poignant;
- Who Wants To Live For Ever? - a very clever, and poignantly moving, reworking of "Somewhere" from West Side Story;
- I Want to Break Free - fabulously accessible poppy singalong;
- I'm Going Slightly Mad - very strange, and very haunting;
- Innuendo - very ordinary for the first half, but then listen as the mood , style and tempi vary, and again, and again.
Queen are the epitome of the 70s Glam Rock that normally leaves me cold, yet, somehow they transcend the genre. Perhaps Andrew was right about genius. Listening through this afternoon, I'm thinking, someone responsible for writing this is classically trained; a bit of googling reveals that Freddie was.
I will never forget the day Freddie died. I was at home in Streatham on study leave, revising Management Accounting. To this day I can picture where my chair was, picture the gloriously sunny day outside. I was listening to Capital Radio (it was a long time ago) and the news came on. Freddie Mercury has died. For a few moments the world stood still.
Fairly standard packaging with a 24 page booklet containing many pictures - covers and credits for each of the tracks - no lyrics - and some additional pictures.
I also have CD single with Bohemian Rhapsody b/w These are the Days of Our Lives.
