Queen: News Of The World

It’s fitting that my first review should also be the first cassette I ever got back in July 1993, on my tenth birthday. (Well, ok … technically, that’s not true. I was also given copies of Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown! and Eric Clapton’s Unplugged, though my first real cassette was New Kids On The Block in 1988. Of course, I don’t have that cassette in my possession anymore – honestly! – so we’re going to go with this one instead. The other two will be reviewed as well.) I hold this album in a special place in my subconscious, because it was the album that got me into Queen, and started a lifelong obsession that resulted in a book. It also introduced me to other bands, and I was able to broaden my horizons and become the music aficionado that I am today.

I could wax lyrical and poetic, or just plain gush, all day about this album, but I’m going to put my obvious appreciation for this album aside and do what I plan to do with all my reviews and place it in context against the band’s other work. Known for their overblown arrangements and exquisite harmonies, while having collective tongues placed firmly in cheek, Queen decided to do away with all that for their sixth studio album. With the musical climate shifting away from prog rock and more toward New Wave, disco, and punk, News Of The World was a conscious attempt to adapt to the changing times. As a result, the album sounds underproduced, with many of the songs coming off as little more than glorified demos, especially drummer Roger Taylor’s two compositions, ‘Fight From The Inside’ and ‘Sheer Heart Attack’. Conventional instruments are stored away for opener ‘We Will Rock You’, a song that has become so ingrained in popular culture that it’s impossible not to like. Same with ‘We Are The Champions’, an anthemic power ballad that is bound to have the listener singing along in no time. Two other ballads – Brian May’s ‘All Dead, All Dead’ and John Deacon’s ‘Spread Your Wings’ – are dominated heavily by piano, though it’s the latter that is the most successful, with a memorable chorus and shimmering guitar solo / outro.

Unfortunately, the album was front-loaded with its two big hits, so anyone with short attention spans will probably glaze over the other nine tracks on the album. The beauty of the album is that no two songs sound alike; the downside is that it sometimes becomes too eclectic for its own good, and many of the experimentations come off as twee. ‘Who Needs You’, a cutesy flamenco bop with Spanish guitar solos, maracas, and vocalist Freddie Mercury obviously relishing in the Latino vocal inflections, is so lightweight that it’s forgotten as soon as it’s over, while the bluesy ‘Sleeping On The Sidewalk’, with a decidedly American-sounding May on lead vocals, comes and goes with no consequence. ‘Get Down Make Love’ is probably the most offensive song here, with Mercury moaning and groaning his way around a proto-funk groove, with the middle section sounding like an overharmonized Led Zeppelin on acid. Unfortunately, it’s not as interesting as it sounds.

The album picks up again toward the end, with the closing one-two punch of ‘It’s Late’, an epic 6 1/2 minute rocker with squealing guitars, block harmonies, and shit-kicking drums, and ‘My Melancholy Blues’, a sublime ballad that conjures up images of a late-night jazz lounge. A tasteful way to end a spotty album; if only the entire thing could have been this honest.

Essential listening: We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, Spread Your Wings, It’s Late, My Melancholy Blues

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