Wembley Roadie Cube box set

I've just gotten this thing and it's pretty awesome. I don't think I'll be touching the CDs or DVDs (two-disc sets each) since I already have those. But! The other stuff is pretty neat.

I took this picture mostly to have an excuse to show off my tattoo.

Sadly, there's only a Freddie inflatable. It would have been fun to have all the band members!

A map of the Magic Tour drawn by Brian's dad, Harold.

This is why they're right when other countries say that the USA is stupid

I ordered a copy of The Freddie Mercury Album and the Wembley Roadie Cube box set. I'm very excited to add these to my collection - especially The Freddie Mercury Album because I've wanted it since I was in grade 6 (age 12). And I came across an Amazon review that blew my mind. Everything that's wrong with it can be summed up in the title, but I'll post the whole thing anyway. The title is, " Sacrilege. Not for true Freddy fans." ... Can you see where this is headed?

(I removed the user's info, but I will say they are from the US.)

If you're a Queen fan and you'd like to sample some of Freddy's solo work, then this might be a good buy. But if you're a true Freddy fan, then you'll be appalled at how they butchered his compositions in the re-mixing room.

In a weak attempt to bridge the gap between Queen's heavy rock sound and Freddy's gay style (I say "gay" meaning "happy"), the mixing engineers have slaughtered these pieces. The original versions, as released in Freddy's "Mr. Bad Guy", were just fine the way they were. Sure, some sounded like they could be the background to the Richard Simmons Workout Challenge, but true Freddy fans like it that way. *I* like it that way. If I want to hear something heavy, I'll pop in "Night at the Opera". I don't need some presumptuous mixing engineer adding heavy reverb on the drums, stupid house-techno beats and distorted guitars.

The worst is the absolute murder of the song "Mr. Bad Guy", originally a fully orchestrated piece, now reduced to some stupid "star search" sounding tripe with a whiny guitar soloing overtop everything.

What's next? Will some video engineer edit out all of Freddy's flamboyant concert outfits and digitally superimpose a bunch of tattoos and body piercing?

C'mon Atlantic (or whatever label was responsible for this travesty), give us some credit. Give FREDDY some credit. He liked it the way it was, and WE liked it the way it was.

Now pardon me whilst I throw this rubbish in the can, put on my leotard and listen to "Mr. Bad Guy" the way the artist intended it. Heavy on the gay. Party on.

The response I posted was, "If you were a "true" Freddie Mercury fan, you'd be able to spell his name correctly." If I tried to break it down any further in the comments, I'd probably get a reprimand from Amazon. Good thing I have a blog!

This person is a fucking dipshit. First, they're trying to push the "true" fan bullshit and acting all sanctimonious when they can't even spell Freddie's name. Second, I'm pretty sure it's common knowledge that the tracks on the album are remixes. Since it was released after Freddie died and all... And why the hell are they comparing remixes of Freddie's solo work to any bit of the Queen catalog?! And early Queen at that! Two different entities and different musical directions according to latest trends even before these remixes were made! So NO FUCKING SHIT THEY SOUND DIFFERENT! And the expectation that they should sound almost completely alike is laughable. Every member of Queen made significant contributions. Queen was never Freddie and his backing band! Hence why even Freddie did solo stuff, because why would he need to if he was already totally in charge of Queen? For fuck sake, he wasn't that arrogant!

"I don't like these remixes because they don't sound like the originals or exactly like anything Queen did in the 70's." ... I don't think I've ever wanted to hit another Queen fan with a phone book so badly...

Okay, rant over!

I'm not expecting to like all the tracks on The Freddie Mercury Album, but it will be really nice to cross it off my list of things I still need! And the Wembley box set seems like it would be exciting! So here's hoping!

Gunpowder Gelatine with Bikini Whale and Pretendica

I went to a really fun show at Johnny D's last night. Boston finally got more reasonable with their late-night public transportation, so I was able to stick around for the whole thing instead of having to leave after Gunpowder Gelatine's set.

I put myself in my usual spot right in front of the stage, which is always risky because it's on the dance floor, I can't always balance so well, and drunk people who want to dance are notorious for having zero spacial awareness. I get knocked into at least once every gig. But this time - I don't know if there was some sort of conference or written agreement or something - not only did I not get knocked into, I also got a small personal bubble!

What was also really nice was Gunpowder Gelatine's Queen medley. It was put together really well and kept me on my toes :-) I didn't even try to get pictures of them because I always manage to suck at it, but I'm counting on my acquaintance John (hi, John!) to upload some of the videos he took to make up for that.

I also ran into this dude again! I didn't recognize him without the fake mustache! Maybe someday I'll be able to remember his name!

I asked him if he wanted me to take a better picture, but he said this one was fine.

I also had the pleasure of meeting someone who's sure they're a bigger Queen fan than me and Allison (bass player for Gunpowder Gelatine, for those just tuning in). I showed them that picture of me and Brian May (I downloaded it to my phone) to indicate that I accept their challenge! It's their move now!

Also playing last night was Pretendica - a Pretenders/Elastica tribute - and Bikini Whale - a B-52s tribute. Both were a lot of fun and amazing, but my disdain for the song Love Shack hasn't wavered (retail-related incident involving a broken CD system playing that song over 10 times in my six-hour shift... which was spent at the register directly under one of the ceiling speakers). And it was amusing watching people on the dance floor from a booth in the corner. Some of them were legit dancing, and others... probably should have been cut off about two beers ago...

The only downside to the evening was having to pay $6 for a rum and Coke. I don't tend to drink at bars, so maybe that's a reasonable price, but still! If there was going to be a damper in my evening, I'm glad that was it!

Finally read the 2014 issue of Classic Rock

There are two reasons I procrastinated on reading this article:

1. I was worried I wouldn't learn anything new, and therefore get really bored with it
2. I was worried the author (Jon Hotten) wouldn't do Queen II justice and give it the praise it deserves

The article wasn't terrible, but it wasn't the best thing I'd ever read, either. I was hoping for in-depth breakdowns of the album as best as Brian and Roger could remember, but the author strayed a bit more than I would have liked (why he mentioned Queen getting a lot of shit in Australia back then is a mystery to me). But that's strictly my opinion. Also, there were grammatical and factual errors, but that might have been a copy-editing issue. For instance, there's a note about Brian playing the national anthem on the roof of Buckingham Palace, and then a little later, "Even the queen knows who Queen is!" Like, no shit, right? I would hope that Queen would have been brought to Her Majesty's attention well before June 2002. Also, Axl Rose was never taken on as Queen's vocalist...

What I liked a lot about the article were the extensive quotes from Brian and Roger. The author didn't include microscopic tidbits to make it sound like he was too into his writing and just adding those bits because his boss probably told him to, John's retirement was just briefly mentioned, and Freddie's death didn't suddenly become the focus of the whole article. And, of course, room was made to talk about how influential and important Queen II actually is to fans and other famous musicians, because it seems to ALWAYS get over-shadowed by A Night At The Opera - resulting in me resenting that album a bit.

The magazine also promised never before seen photos! But they've been circulating online for years because Mick Rock took them, so that would likely only hold true for the utmost casual, not-terribly-commited fan.

Classic Rock April 2014 issue

Maybe in mid-March I came across something on my Facebook feed about Classic Rock magazine featuring an article on the making of Queen II. It immediately became my mission to get my own copy because Queen II is my favorite album ever. I decided that I'd go look for it on Monday, since I would be venturing out for an appointment anyway. Out Of Town News was the obvious first place to look since it sells magazines from all over, and that's where I got my copies of Mojo and Guitar Player in December 2010 and February 2012 respectively.

No luck there. So when I got to The Landmark Center in Boston, I decided to stop on the second floor to look through their news stand. It turned out to be a misnomer. They sold candy and gum, but not magazines or newspapers... I'm still actually really baffled by that. My mission was then amended to Personal Challenge status, and - still having time before my appointment - I ducked into the bathroom to Google where else I might possibly find Classic Rock. Google told me to consult Barnes & Noble, and there was a location at the Prudential Center.

I called them to make sure it was available, and I was told to check in again on Friday when they'd be getting new magazines in stock. Then I was told to call again in a few more days, etc. until someone finally told me that they wouldn't actually get it until April. Assuming I first spoke to someone who's worked there long enough, it would have been nice to know that sooner. But! In any case, my apologies to that Barnes & Noble location for constantly calling, and a sincere thank-you to them for not showing any signs of frustration over me!

Anyway, I finally managed to get a copy today! I'm kind of bummed that Slash is on the cover, as I had my eye on the cool-looking one. Maybe that version is UK-specific? Because the USA can't have nice things?

I plan on reading the article later - provided my attention span will actually let me!

The Miracle review

After some poking and prodding by a couple friends of mine, I'm finally getting around to reviewing their album requests. I'm picking The Miracle first because I listened to it more recently, and my thoughts on it are a little more organized.

I really like this album, but I also feel ambivalent about it. On one hand, it has some really great tracks, but it also doesn't hold up as well as other Queen albums, in my mind. This could very well be due to Brian and Roger's solo projects going on at the time, and Freddie having put so much energy into Barcelona the year before (Phoebe's book says that Barcelona took a really significant toll on Freddie's declining health). This is all purely speculation, of course, but it sounds better than my other speculation, "we just said 'fuck it' and rushed through the entire album."

For several years, I'd skip over Party and Khashoggi's Ship when listening. They didn't add anything particularly special for me for years, and I considered them fillers keeping me from getting to the better stuff. But I'm starting to listen to them more, and I'm able to appreciate Brian's guitar work on them. They're still not my favorites, but as far as 'throw-away' tracks go, they're two of the better ones.

The Miracle is a really spectacular track. Not just because of the awesome video - that's just icing on the cake for me. But I love the layers and detail of it. And the message in it is optimistic without being hokey. Around News Of The World, as many of us can tell, the band eased up on the subtle intricacies, and this is sort of going back to that. Although it's a little sad that it's a drum machine and not Roger. I wonder if Freddie had done a demo, and he and Roger agreed that it didn't warrant a do-over on an actual kit?

While this,Innuendo, and Made In Heaven, in a few cases, had all tracks credited to Queen, rather than an individual member, Brian and Roger aren't shy about who wrote what later track. Also, in many cases it's easy to determine the writer based on their writing style (ex: Usually, if the chorus is sung first by only the lead vocalist, and then backing vocals come up when the chorus repeats [Teo Torriate, I Want It All, Save Me, The Show Must Go On etc.], it's a Brian track). I only know for sure that Freddie wrote The Miracle, though, because Brian said so in Days Of Our Lives.

I love both the album and single version of I Want It All, which rarely ever happens (another example being Hammer To Fall). It's very structurally well done and is really fucking hard to play on Rock Band!

Instrumentally, I think my most favorite part is the acoustic guitar. Don't ask me why, because I have no idea.

Depending on my mood, my opinion of The Invisible Man shifts from "This is awesome!" to "Meh." Being three years old in Middle America at the time of The Miracle's release, I didn't have the opportunity to appreciate it at the time, and I think that makes a difference. However, the bass line will always be badass.

The frustrating thing about Breakthru is that the intro (originally intended to be its own thing until someone decided that it would sound great in this super catchy thing Roger was writing) is deceptively difficult to sing along to! Apart from that, there is nothing I dislike about the track. Hell, I don't even mind that science got in the way of making The Miracle Express look like it was busting through a brick wall!

I'm probably going to get shit for this from my counterpart, but I have the same overall mood shift with Rain Must Fall as with The Invisible Man. I'm trying to think of what in particular makes me fall out of like with it sometimes, but I don't know if I can articulate it to myself, much less to anyone reading. Maybe it's the lyrics?

Brian stated on the commentary for Greatest Video Hits 2 that Scandal would wind up being relevant to every member of the band at different points for different reasons. It's really funny how that can happen, isn't it? These days, tabloids and "news" sources have more tools, methods, and outlets to skew and intentionally defame famous people, so if this song were written today, Brian would probably be dismissed as "whiny" before the public goes back to putting celebrities on trial for getting divorced, or going to rehab or whatever. Because these sorts of things are difficult enough for "regular" people, they have to be broadcast nation/worldwide if you're in the public eye! Ask me how I really feel!

*Ahem!* But anyway! It's disappointing that this track didn't at least musically make a significant dent. And as much as I love Freddie's look in the video, the concept and direction are both pretty sloppy. I don't think it could have been helped, but it is nonetheless distracting.

I always giggle a bit over My Baby Does Me. I mean, it couldn't have been more "late 80's/early 90's porn-y" if it tried! I keep picturing big hair and a camera panning to a tacky fireplace that then fades to stock footage of sexual metaphors. Because it would probably really only be appropriate for some softcore thing you can only catch at 02:00 in the morning on a premium cable channel.

(Am I going to Hell for that? Probably!)

Was It All Worth It is bittersweet for me. It's triumphant, but sounds kind of 'final'. Like a precursor to The Show Must Go On. I'm not sure if this was intentional, or if that's something that was kicking around for a bit anyway (Brian had gotten the idea for I Want It All in 1986). I don't want to know anyone who doesn't like this song. I know that's imposing my opinion on people, but the thought of someone saying it's terrible is criminal to me.

On the 1991 CD releases, Hang On In There and Chinese Torture aren't listed as B-sides. I thought they'd been included on the album itself from the beginning, but my 2011 CDs say otherwise. I do love them both, though. The ending of Hang On In There seems like it could go on forever, kind of like Spread Your Wings, and I'd be pretty okay with that. And Chinese Torture doesn't sound too similar to Brighton Rock (which I think had come from the Smile track, Blag). So both of them are pretty big wins in my book!

An explanation for why I don't post all that often

At the risk of putting too much of myself here, I feel like I should explain why I don't post all that much lately. I'm sure those that read this haven't even noticed an absence, but it's my blog and I notice it, and I'd hate for anyone to think I've forgotten about this (I don't think that's in any way possible)!

I have depression*, which both clouds my outlook on everything and drains me of my physical and emotional energy. And as jaded as I can be about many of the decisions of Queen Productions, Ltd and question some of the choices Brian and Roger make with the Queen name - and want to talk about both of those things where relevant, I don't want this to turn into a space where I just whine about shit and post fillers for the sake of posting. I want to write posts that are fun and entertaining, and maybe even make people think once in a great while (even if it's just, "this asshole needs to get a life!"). As much as I'd like to post regularly, I often have to put that energy into self care instead. Which is what I'm currently doing.

So thank you, dear followers, for understanding and continuing to be patient with me! There will be actual blogging soon!

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*Please refrain from sending me unsolicited advice and/or "just think happy thoughts!" kind of stuff. I know your heart is in the right place, but doing any of that will make me want to punch you in the face.