“Queen Forever” Album Review

 

Queen-Queen-Forever-CD

I’ve been a Queen fan since high school when I came to the realization that classic rock was better than most modern music and decided to diversify the music in this new app called iTunes. On my third generation iPod, artists like Britney Spears and B*Witched were suddenly accompanied by the likes of David Bowie, Aerosmith, The Beetles, Three Dog Night, Steve Miller Band and one of my all time favorites, Queen. I started with a one disc greatest hits album and almost immediately upgraded to the three disc version, which had every song they ever released to radio. With so many albums in their catalogue (fifteen), I was content with their greatest hits and never pursued further.

A little history on Queen: The band formed in the UK in 1970 and made a name for themselves internationally. They reached the US in 1975 with the song “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but became rock legends in 1977 with the dual release of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” (they are meant to be combined as “Rock You” leads into “Champions”). They continued strong with tons of other hit songs an albums and in 1990, they had a fallout with Capitol Records, to whom they were signed. Disney signed them to Hollywood Records that same year and gained distribution rights to their catalogue of music in the US and Canada. In 1991, lead singer Freddie Mercury passed away. The band has continued performing live since then, collaborating with Paul Rodgers from Bad Company and American Idol star Adam Lambert.

This new album, Queen Forever, is meant to encapsulate what the band feels is some of their best work. It’s not a greatest hits by Billboard charts standards, but this is some material the band is exceptionally proud of. Diehard fans will be pleased to know that it features three previously unreleased recordings. All of these use vocals by Freddie Mercury that were recorded in the 80’s and one is a collaboration with Michael Jackson. It’s hard to believe that these gems went unreleased for so long.

Queen has a unique sound that sets them apart from all other artists. It’s a harmonious mix of vocals, piano, synthesizer and guitars that no other band has dared to replicate. Freddie Mercury’s voice was gold. His range is so immense that few people, male or female, can hit the notes on the extreme ends of his range. He has a fast vibrato that is so uniquely pleasing to the ear. Brian May’s guitar sounds are unlike any other, somehow accomplishing unheard of sounds from the same instrument relied on for most rock music. Throw in a touch of classic music and some incredible songwriting by the band members themselves and you have something truly epic.

Queen Forever is available as a 19-track standard edition or a 36-track deluxe edition. The standard edition is what was offered to us for review. The album opens with the three new songs, the first of which is fittingly titled “Let Me In Your Heart Again.” This song is instantly one of my favorites the band has ever done. It’s so catchy that it’s hard to understand how it got left off any album, let alone didn’t wind up as a single. Next is “Love Kills,” which is incredible as well. There are unexpected melodies in this song that are a delight and this could also have easily been another radio hit. The final new song is “There Must Be More to Life Than This,” a duet with Michael Jackson. It starts a little heavy, with Freddie Mercury practically screaming, and then mellows out as MJ joins the song. Mercury and Jackson have two of the most distinct voices in the history of recorded music and it’s amazing to hear them both harmonize together.

The album proceeds with 16 previously released tracks, all remastered for this release. A few of their big hits are here, including “You’re My Best Friend,” “Who Wants to Live Forever,” “Play the Game,” “Somebody to Love” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” The remastered versions allow some details in the music to finally be heard. There were several times where I had to question if they didn’t go back and rerecord instruments because they sound brand new. Since I never owned any individual Queen albums, the rest of the material was also new to me. I’ve fallen in love with a few of these songs, particularly “It’s a Hard Life,” “Lily of the Valley” and “Too Much Love Will Kill You.” There is one track on the album I’m not a fan of, “Drowse,” which is a departure from Queen’s sound and features Roger Taylor on vocals instead of Mercury. It’s literally the only criticism I have of Queen Forever.

The Deluxe Edition adds 16 more songs from Queen’s illustrious past. The final track is called “Forever,” which is a haunting piano version of “Who Want to Live Forever.” Neither version has their most popular songs (“Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You” or “We Are the Champions”), but you should already have those in your music collection. What this release succeeds at is giving the most devoted Queen fans three new tracks to cherish and hopefully will encourage more casual fans, like myself, to explore more of their music beyond their greatest hits albums. All fifteen albums are now available digitally, recently remastered and in standard and deluxe editions with bonus tracks. It’s a good time to be a Queen fan.