Queen is probably the greatest rock band ever, with a breadth & depth of material unparalleled in popular music. They've already done several Greatest Hits albums. But from such a deep group, some of their songs are bound to fall through the cracks. What are your favorite Queen songs beyond the overexposed standards like "We Will Rock You," "We Are the Champions," "Bohemian Rhapsody," & "Bicycle Race"? For me... There's a lot of gems from their first 2 albums that sometimes seem nearly forgotten. "Great King Rat" & "March of the Black Queen" are my favorites from this era. "Don't Try Suicide" is a very fun song, all the more fun for having such serious subject matter. "A Kind of Magic" is a great album, but whereas much of the focus goes to the title track & "Who Wants to Live Forever," I prefer "Gimme the Prize" & "Princes of the Universe." "Princes of the Universe" also has a kickass music video, complete with Christopher Lambert getting into a swordfight with Freddie Mercury. "The Miracle" is another underrated album filled to the brim with masterpieces like "The Invisible Man" & "Was It All Worth It?" "Mustapha" is a great example of Queen doing something absolutely off the wall. "A Night at the Opera" is typically considered their best album. Even so, "'39," "I'm in Love With My Car," & "The Prophet's Song" don't get nearly enough radio play. What are your favorite underrated Queen gems?
I don't know much Queen beyond the greatest hits, unfortunately. Of those songs, the one that gets no airplay on classic rock radio here that I personally love is "Don't Stop Me Now". I'd never heard it until "Shaun of the Dead" and kind of love it.
'39 is a great song. As I said in the Beatles thread, the last album 'Innuendo' is a stunning tribute and epitaph to their dying singer, especially Innuendo, I'm Going Slightly Mad, and The Show Must Go On. Headlong. The Invisible Man. Too Much Love Will Kill You. Breakthrough. Let Me Entertain You. It's Late. And from Queen + Paul Rodgers, C-lebrity, Say It's Not True, and Warboys. Paul Rodgers, no Freddy, but a great, great singer.
I quite like the Hot Space album, love Dancer and Put out the Fire. Life is Real is really good too. It's Late from News of the World is awesome. I really like Scandal, from The Miracle. Bijou I think is one of the most beautiful pieces of guitar work. Funny How Love Is I always enjoy listening to. Mother Love is just haunting.
I agree, I like Hot Space as well. Very very underrated album. Also It's Late is probably my favourite Queen song, that or March of the Black Queen. The Prophet's Song is oft overlooked, perhaps overshadowed by being on the same album as Bo Rhap, but it contains an absolutely brilliant vocal solo by Freddie Mercury, one of the best bits of harmonised melody Queen has ever come up with. Ogre Battle is another favourite, Queen did some amazing stuff in their mystic/fantasy period in the early 70s, My Fairy King is another great example. Off the later albums I'm Going Slightly Mad is a fantastic, weird and highly original track. Reportedly Freddie Mercury stated that whilst being a fun track inspired by Noel Coward comedies, it also describes the dementia he suffered from in his final years. Also there are some unreleased tracks and b-sides that I really enjoy that don't appear on any albums, Mad the Swine for one (although it turned up as a bonus track on a re-release eventually). Also See What a Fool I've Been is really good.
Nevermore Prophets Song March of the Black Queen Brighton Rock Procession Father to Son Dragon Attack Princes of the Universe
Dragon Attack and A Kind of a Kind of Magic, the latter of which was on the early pressings of the A Kind of Magic album.
Don't Stop Me Now - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58CJih1iYC0 Somebody To Love - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxbFLYa0_bw Killer Queen - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMz-wi50ACU Fat Bottom Girls - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D99n9f3vU4 Under Pressure - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-xVb1qsPCw Flash - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNf9rEPoc8Q
I'm a big fan of Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack, and think those albums often get overshadowed by ANATO and the stuff that followed.
I remember when Queen started to hit big with Opera, my friend and I walked downtown one Saturday morning and he bought the other 3 albums and we listened to them all that afternoon. Amazing stuff, back in 1975. Good times.
Spread your Wings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR1pUIG_IaA Breakthru: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEjU9KVABao
Good calls on "Headlong," "Let Me Entertain You," "Mad the Swine," "Scandal," "The Show Must Go On," & "Too Much Love Will Kill You." Although, honestly my favorite version of "The Show Must Go On" is the one they did with Elton John in 1997 after Freddie's death. You can find it on their "Greatest Hits III" album. I just got that album. I thought most of it was unremarkable but I really enjoyed "Warboys" & "The Cosmos Rocks." You're probably right that it gets overlooked because it's overshadowed by "Bohemian Rhapsody." Plus, it's nearly impossible to put it on the radio. "Bo Rhap" is so long that it's pushing it as it is and "The Prophet's Song" is 3 minutes longer than that. I love that scene. "Kill the Queen!" Every movie is better with Queen music. That's probably why Highlander has lasted as long as it has.
Tenement Funster Death on Two Legs '39 Good Company Let Me Entertain You Dragon Attack (the song's kind of a throwaway, but that guitar solo... )
I don't think it is a bad album, but it's just not what I wanted to hear from Queen save a couple of tracks. I'm a fan of Queen and Paul Rodgers as separate entities, and in fact have been to see Paul Rodgers back when he was a little podgy guy in the 90s The whole Blues Rock thing just doesn't suit them though, their music has always had much more depth than is demonstrated on The Cosmos Rocks. But it's a solid rock album in it's own right IMO. That's over now though, they have parted ways and don't plan on making another album. I'd like to see Brian and Roger continue to make music together though. If they could just get John Deacon to do a song or two with them, that would make my decade. Warboys has absolutely god awful lyrics, have you read them? True, radio stations don't tend to play album tracks over here anyway. I was interested that you called The Miracle an underrated album though, it was a massive hit here, not as big as A Kind of Magic, which (USA aside) was an absolutely monsterous hit and put them pretty much at the top of the rock world globally in '86, but it's a well thought of popular album here that spawned many hit singles.