Things I've seen Queen fans complain about since 1998

When the first Bohemian Rhapsody trailer dropped and there was all that mess about Freddie getting straightwashed, etc., it made me think about some stuff I've seen other fans complain about since I first started using the internet, and then I realized that that was about 20 years ago. So I've compiled a list of things - in no specific order because I've never kept strict logs - I've seen Queen fans complain (read: throw a massive tantrum) about since 1998 (most of the older examples are from the Queenzone forums, but also the OIQFC chatroom back in the day) (I swear on my Brian May-autographed copy of his book Diableries that I'm not making any of these up):

- Roger grew a goatee

- Roger shaved off his goatee

- Brian, Roger, and John didn’t want to do anything for a while under the Queen name without Freddie

- Someone suggested it might be cool if Brian, Roger, and John would occasionally tour as Queen, with Brian and Roger taking turns on lead vocals (1998-2000+)

- Someone suggested it might be cool if Brian, Roger, and John would occasionally tour as Queen with a varying lineup of different singers from the tribute concert (1998-2001+)

- Freddie, Brian, and Roger’s solo stuff doesn’t sound enough like Queen

- Brian and Roger would play too many Queen songs at their respective solo shows

- They didn’t sound exactly like previous Queen shows

- Brian and Roger wouldn’t play enough Queen songs at their respective solo shows

- John retired

- Someone said it would be cool if John would come out of retirement

- Manager Jim Beach did his job as band manager and executor of Freddie’s will and should be flensed

- Archivist Greg Brooks did ??? and should be flensed (I honestly have no idea what he did for some Queen fans to wish him dead. Please inform)

- Someone said they didn’t like a Queen song

- Someone said they loved every single Queen song

- Brian and Roger sang lead on some of their songs on the albums, which was apparently unfair to Freddie as HE was the lead vocalist

- Someone expressed an opinion on the Hot Space album

- Someone expressed an opinion on the Jazz album

- Some people said that Bohemian Rhapsody was their favorite song

- Some people said that Bohemian Rhapsody wasn’t their favorite song

- Someone tried to start a discussion on Bohemian Rhapsody’s possible meaning

- Someone tried to speculate who actually wrote which songs on The Miracle and Innuendo before Brian and Roger would eventually casually disclose in interviews, which was apparently grossly disrespectful of their song crediting decisions

- Freddie didn’t hang in there long enough to see advancements in AIDS treatment that would have probably kept him alive up to today, therefore depriving us all of more of his music, which was super inconsiderate of him

- Jim Hutton wrote a book about his life with Freddie and it made him some money

- Peter “Phoebe” Freestone wrote a book about his life with, and another about his life after Freddie and both made him some money

- Mary Austin hasn’t written a book about her life with Freddie

- Mary Austin inherited Freddie’s estate and surely must have been meticulously planning for that since 1970

- Brian and Roger eventually started working under the Queen name again supposedly without considering John’s feelings on the matter

- John had given them his blessing to move forward without him

- Queen have collaborated with musicians that are popular with people under the age of 30 on different occasions throughout the years (although I still agree that 5ive and Robbie Williams were not musically good choices)

- Someone had feelings that were higher than lukewarm about the 1992 version of Greatest Hits

- Someone suggested that members of Queen fucked around with some drugs here and there (just because they didn’t go the “Motley Crue” route doesn’t mean…)

- Newer bands and artists don’t sound anything like Queen (If I had a fucking nickel for every time I’ve heard this…)

- Newer bands and artists who sound a bit like Queen, which is why some Queen fans even noticed them to begin with, cited Queen as a major influence, so that makes them talentless, overrated hacks who are just trying to imitate Queen, and should be flensed

- A famous musician said they didn’t like Queen, or that Queen was just okay, so that makes them a talentless, overrated hack who should be flensed

- A currently popular band covered a Queen song (if it’s even a little bit different, it’s “ruined,” and if it’s close to the original, “it’s too boring”, or they’re “trying to sound exactly like Queen and how dare anyone ever try?”)

- Some people under the age of 18 are only interested in current pop music, and so they should be flensed (I totally used to be in that camp when I was a kid, but then I grew up and got over myself)

- The tribute concert hasn’t been released in its entirety (I understand why it hasn’t, but I do agree that it’s frustrating)

- Queen haven’t released an album with all new material since Made In Heaven or the 1997 track “No-one But You”

- Queen released an album with all new material in 2008

- It didn’t sound exactly the same as any of the albums with Freddie, even though no Queen album sounds exactly the same anyway (It has some good gems in there, though)

- Queen haven’t released more previously unreleased material

- Queen were only able to release more previously unreleased material if it was part of a compilation album because their label wouldn’t let them just release an EP, and people bought it

- Some people buy literally anything Queen puts out there

- Some people don’t buy literally everything Queen puts out there

- Brian stopped dyeing his hair

- Freddie has become recognized as a queer pop culture icon

- Someone did a Queen cover and posted it on Youtube

- Someone whose first language is not English did a Queen cover and posted it on Youtube

- Someone assigned female at birth and presents as femme did a Queen cover and posted it on Youtube

- Someone who was born past a time that they could have theoretically seen Queen in 1986 or earlier expressed a desire to see Queen’s current lineup in concert

- Someone who actually saw Queen in 1986 or earlier expressed a desire to see Queen’s current lineup in concert

- Stories and TV specials about Freddie focus and speculate too much on his personal life and final days because SOME people have the nerve to want to learn who Freddie was as a person

- Stories and TV specials about Freddie don’t have enough factual information about his personal life and final days because “it would just be really great to learn about the man behind all that great music, you know?”

- People taking a minute to be sad about Freddie’s death any time that’s not November 24th are somehow disrespecting Queen’s music (I still don’t understand this logic 20 years on. Please inform)

- The anniversary of Freddie’s death isn’t an internationally observed bereavement holiday giving license to miss work or school for the day

- The We Will Rock You Musical exists and some people like it

- Someone bought Freddie’s NYC apartment and didn’t turn it into a shrine for Freddie

- A tribute band is more focused on sounding like Queen than looking like Queen and should be flensed

- A tribute band is trying to look and/or sound like Queen but falls a bit short because of whatever constraints that are well outside of their control and should be flensed

- A tribute band sounds very shockingly close to Queen and has near-perfect costumes and mannerisms, but isn’t actually Queen, and should be taken down a peg or whatever via flensing

- Mary Austin has had to do stuff to prevent fans from writing on the exterior Garden Lodge wall because it was veering constantly into the territory of public property damage, and it was an ongoing hassle for her and city officials, but she set it up so that fans can still leave Freddie notes on pieces of paper that she’ll collect every so often, and the city will not be inconvenienced or polluted, so fans can still do SOMETHING to pay their respects, and that makes her an asshole who never actually gave a shit about Freddie at all

- Some people voted for someone other than Freddie in a Best Live Entertainer/Singer poll that was made just for fun

- A Queen fan said that their *most* favorite band was not Queen

- Queen worked with Paul Rodgers and some people liked it*

- People said it was awesome how much Marc Martel sounds like Freddie

- Roger agreed with them

- Queen are currently working with Adam Lambert and some people like it

- They made a biopic about Ray Charles, but not about Queen and Freddie (2004) (I too was a bit miffed because it didn’t seem like such a thing would ever happen)

- There were rumors about a planned biopic, and that an actor would be cast as Freddie (just the idea of literally anyone playing Freddie had some people foaming at the mouth)

- There’s now a biopic about Queen and Freddie

- An actor was cast as Freddie (it wouldn’t matter if it was Rami or literally anyone else, there are still people who are determined to foam at the mouth about it)

- The film and trailer acknowledge that Freddie and Mary Austin were involved in the 70’s, and that objective fact somehow counts as straight-washing

- The film not getting up to 1991 clearly means that the script is pretending that AIDS wasn’t a thing at all and that Freddie didn’t die from it, despite what the synopsis says, and confirmation from the cast in interviews

- Brian told Rami Malek that Freddie would be very proud of him for his portrayal

--

What a wild ride it's been!

*One person on the Queenzone forums suggested that all "true" fans go out and buy Queen + Paul Rodgers tickets, and then burn them in a huge bonfire to "send Brian and Roger a message."

RIP Play The Game app

Sigh.

I've been trying to find out what the hell happened with Soshi Games for over(?) a year. I'm really truly heartbroken that this really awesome app won't be completed. I'm also really annoyed that there seems to have been no announcement made anywhere else that I've seen.

Here's hoping we'll someday get another really great app that will actually be completed by a company that won't suddenly dry up!

Not an ideal filler post

Ugh.

Life in general has been really frustrating lately, and my plans for a relaxing late night have been foiled.

You guys.

My Queen wall fucking flooded.

My apartment building is prone to typical and not-so typical issues, but I guess this one was a major plumbing leak on the wall opposite where this side's kitchen sinks are. I didn't notice right away because that wall had been covered in posters. A couple hours after a neighbor asked me if I was having a similar issue and I thought I wasn't because I hadn't heard the distinct sound of water dripping, I noticed a few pictures I'd printed out onto standard printer paper had their colors running. Then I noticed bubbles beneath the paint.

THANKFULLY my posters didn't get destroyed. The back of my 2003 calendar has a stain, but the pages are all otherwise fine and none of the ink has run. The stuff that I printed out can always be printed out again at a later time.

To err on the side of caution, I've removed all my posters and relocated my shelf and box sets. Nothing on the shelf has been damaged or affected, which is excellent because some of those things are irreplaceable (like the rose that Freddie touched, my vintage ADATR sticker, etc.). My posters and calendar are sitting on top of my shelf and it's really stressing me out to have had to rearrange most of my furniture in a way I'm not happy with, and worry over my collection because my landlords are crap and won't take appropriate care of their properties.

In other news, I'm still in the process of reorganizing this blog and stuff.

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!

I'm an asshole

"@QueenWillRock still waiting for GVH 3 [Greatest Video Hits] and Rocks vol. 2. Been waiting 10 years and 16 years, respectively. Starting to get impatient."

From Wikipedia: "Queen Rocks is a compilation album by the English rock band Queen, released in 1997." and "Greatest Video Hits 2 is the second DVD of music videos from the English band, Queen. It was released in November 2003, and included video hits of the band between 1981 to 1989."

I see two scenarios. 1. A goon squad will muscle its way into my apartment and destroy my Queen collection, or 2. My obnoxiousness lights a fire under Queen Productions, Ltd's collective ass. And then they send a goon squad to muscle its way into my apartment and destroy my Queen collection.

...

Please don't break my stuff!

Things that make That Guy sad

Awesome is getting into a band so good that you kind of hate them for having talent where you don't have it. In my case right now, it's Crooked Fingers.

I'll give you a bit to listen to that. You're welcome.

(side note: I'm always in need of new music, don't hesitate to send me recommendations)

What's not so awesome is an awesome band covering a Queen song and turning it into crap.

I'll give you a bit to listen to that. Depending on your opinion, I'm either happy to have made your life better, or I'm sorry for disappointing you.

It took me a week to figure out my opinion on this. I love the voice and - to a huge extent, the music. But there's something about it that makes me cringe. I think changing the lyrics plays a big role. I mean, why would they do that? And maybe more importantly, why was there no signature bass line?

--

I know this is really late, but WHY, Chris Evans??? WHY did you sell your Freddie-inspired Lotus??? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!

For fuck sake! When you need to make room in the garage for a Lotus based on Freddie Mercury's most famous stage outfit, you sell one of your other cars! Good g-d!

--

Queen will be performing on American Idol again - this time with Adam Lambert.

I think it's wonderful that Brian and Roger are trying to appeal to their fans in North America, but American Idol is bullshit, Queen and Adam Lambert have no chemistry, and Steven Tyler is fucking creepy in a should-be-a-registered-sex-offender kind of way (I guess laws of consent have huge loopholes if you're in the rock industry?). And bringing up the rear is my ridiculous hatred for Ryan Seacrest! If it's about the money, I wonder how much is enough to overlook that kind of shit?

--

Right... so now that I'm sufficiently upset, I'm going to watch this video of Delilah being narrated by Peter Freestone to cheer myself up.

Nothing really matters

I always feel a bit guilty when I go long periods of time without posting. Maybe in the near future I'll make a review post to take up space...

Queen Extravaganza, I'm happy to say, will be playing in Boston on June 11th at the House of Blues. I invited my counterpart since they don't seem to be stopping in New York City, but sadly she has something going on that day. At this point it's difficult for me to be excited for too long due to circumstances not totally within my control, but that with the combination of seeing Gunpowder Gelatine on Saturday is pretty awesome. I'll sadly be going by myself, but I'm determined to have a good time. Maybe I'll make new friends and connections!

My girlfriend continues to be awesome. I am steadily turning her into a Queen fan. We watched most of part one of Days Of Our Lives about a week ago, and then on a car trip the next day, she asked me to play some Queen for her. I was like, "Yes! Planting the seed, planting the seed..." I played her News Of The World because I think it's a really awesome starting album if you're going to delve into any of the non-hits. Speaking of...

My cousin pointed out an episode of Family Guy focusing on that album cover. I used to watch the show pretty regularly when I had cable and needed something stupid to distract me from the weight of social justice issues I care about, but with that show it's really difficult to ignore when some of its so-called "humor" (and "you're being overly sensitive/stupid" response to people's valid, negative reactions) hits way too close to home. But apart from the really fucking bad taste in my mouth, the episode called Killer Queen was underwhelming in general. Also Killer Queen isn't even on NOTW so that was also bothering me.

Follow-up

I finished watching the US premiere of the Days Of Our Lives documentary. I'm awfully glad I caught it on Youtube because the BBC Two version seems less censored (for reals. They fuzzed out the single cover for Fat Bottomed Girls. SHE HAD PAINTED-ON PANTIES, FOR FUCK SAKE!). Also, the US Biography channel doesn't seem to have a sensible rhythm for their commercial breaks.

Still, it's a pretty amazing thing to watch. I tried "pre-gaming" and watched my copy of The Making Of A Night At The Opera, and got through less than ten minutes of the special the A&E channel ran on Freddie in 2009 (thank you, Youtube!) and got bored and annoyed. I've always believed that Queen fans should always be consulted on these things. The narrator mentioned Freddie's father and instead of showing that grainy picture of Freddie sitting with his dad in the 70's, they had a picture of Roger Cooke, Freddie's brother-in-law! Christ! It's one thing to get a date wrong, but holy fucking hell!


Jer Bulsara, Freddie, Bomi Bulsara


Roger Cooke, his and Kash's son, Jer Bulsara, Kashmira Cooke

Note how un-Freddie-like Roger looks! Good god...

Jimi Hendrix, he was good

I've been listening to a lot of Jimi Hendrix lately, and it's really fun to think about listening to the hero of my hero. But not in a "OMG FREDDIE AND I ARE LIKE SOULMATES!" sort of way. That's just stupid and creepy.

I'm still reading the book by Mark Blake and I really enjoy reading about when my music heroes were nothing more than enthusiasts gushing over Hendrix. Every time I hear Castles Made Of Sand I can't help but picture Freddie sitting on a floor in front of a record player and annoying his flat mates going, "Listen to this! Just - just listen! Are you hearing this??"

That must have been awesome!

Also, Thomas Crane has talent! I wasn't expecting him to be that good! I mean, wow! In my opinion it's a really high contrast to the Queen medley performed by the judges on the US show The Voice. I love me some judges to various extents when they perform their own shit, but this medley is poorly arranged and sounds like something that would be done on American Idol. And to be very clear: That is not a compliment.

Uh... huh...

Sometimes you browse through the CD section of a store, and you notice things. I took pictures with my cell phone, but they came out crappy, so I had to consult the internet.

This shows how much I pay attention to other band's CDs, but the cover for the Kings Of Leon album, Aha Shake Heartbreak...



Looks an awful lot like...



A Night At The Opera. At the very least, it uses a similar font.

Although the cover for Escape The Fate's self-titled album...



Intentionally looks like...



Queen II.

In this interview, Max Green of ETF says "I wanted something that was bold and made a statement, but didn't want anything too flashy. I didn't want something that said "We are selling out, we signed to a major label," so this is what I came up with."

So... he went with the concept for Queen II (which, by the way... Wikipedia Mick Rock's just sayin'). I guess it was either that or Spinal Tap's Smell The Glove cover...

I tend to look down upon this shit because it, to me, shows a lack of creativity or effort. Not that I'm the most creative person on the planet, but I'd like to think I'm above taking iconic concepts from relatively recent popular culture and making them my own. But really, I guess I shouldn't expect too much from Escape The Fate. I haven't even heard of them until yesterday, but their lyrics are worse than the shit I used to write in school.

I've tried finding out more about the Kings Of Leon cover, but Google failed me.

Is This The Real Life? and Freddie Vs. Michael Jackson

That book by Mark Blake got a fairly decent review. I've still not gotten very far, but I'm loving what I've read so far!

I think my favorite part of the review:

Is This The Real Life is recommended for serious Queen fans, people interested in the machinations of the music industry at the highest level, and anyone discovering the band's music for the first time.If you happen to be one of THOSE daring souls, you're in for an amazing, gripping, rude and sometimes ridiculous journey.

Queen is dead.
Long live Queen.

So which one is it? Do you want Queen to live, or should they officially disband because Freddie died? Well? WELL?!



I'm pretty sure if Brian and Roger did call it quits after the release of No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young), people would be whining that they've not done anything when they very easily could. "They could get a bass player and lead vocalist! I'd love to see them on stage again!" etc.

And yeah, Queen + Paul Rodgers was different. Different, however, doesn't necessarily mean worse.

Speaking of, there's a thread on Queenzone pitting Freddie against Michael Jackson.

As I clarified in my response, I'm not what anyone would consider a Michael Jackson fan, but I appreciate his music and the influence he's had on his fans. I love Freddie dearly, but I don't think Freddie's made a crowd lose their shit just by snapping his fingers.

And as it turns out, the News section of the site where I had replied didn't show that the thread was started with a link so my comment, while I still stand by it, was grossly misdirected.

Ummm...

A search on Youtube made me aware of a Glee version of Fat Bottomed Girls just now and I'm not totally sure how to feel about it.

I used to love the show when it first started, but I've since broken up with it for a multitude of reasons (the one that stands out the most for me is ableism, but there's more of a mess than I can currently list)

But yeah. The cover itself is... I'm not sure. There's some bits of the vocal work that I like, but at the same time it sounds like Puck doesn't really give a shit. "Yeah, okay. Here's where I sing 'get on your bikes and ride!'... did the check for this clear yet?" And if I'm not mistaken, the background vocals are auto-tuned, which is totally my issue, but it doesn't sound right to me.

That said, one of my favorite covers of this song is by a fucking amazing band called Coyote Grace. Check them out. I hope you won't be disappointed.

But to keep perspective, there are worse covers out there (only because I hate Kid Rock).

Dude...

I'd like to think I'm very open-minded about Queen covers, despite being a bit of a snob. I poked around on Brian's Soapbox because, well, yeah. He posted a really interesting link to Secret Sessions where this week(?) people are taking Queen songs and making them their own. I haven't heard them all yet, but I'm listening to I Am A Camera's take on White Queen for the second time because I'm in love.

For real, I am swooning here. And at the same time I'm really sad. No doubt this will hit Queenzone and some of the members will be frothing with rage for no real reason. There are some really awesome cover versions out there (and some that are not so much. ... YMMV) and as long as the singer sounds nothing like Freddie, or the guitar sounds nothing like the Red Special, or - G-d for-fucking-bid - it sounds different in some other way, it's going to get brushed off because it's WRONG! Doesn't matter if it's actually good, it's just fucking WRONG!

I've posted about this before, as it's obviously something that gets under my skin, but I think as long as this whole, "Queen is the only band allowed to do Queen!" bullshit is still going, I'm allowed to complain.

In other news, I'm currently reading Is This The Real Life? The Untold Story Of Queen by Mark Blake, and I'm pretty impressed so far. Kids, support your local, independent book stores!



I also ordered a copy of the second edition of Queen Live: A Concert Documentary by Greg Brooks. At this point I'm not entirely sure why. I have the first edition, which is full of errors, but it's in fairly okay condition (the tears on the cover caused by my brother notwithstanding). Who knows? Maybe some day (one day. DID YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!?!) I'll be glad to have both editions.

And finally, since Japan is in dire need, consider donating any money you can spare. Japan was where Queen got their jump-start in 1974, and it's always been one of Freddie's favorite places in the world. So there!

Knebworth '86

24 years ago today, Queen performed their final concert. While the July shows at Wembley Stadium were fucking amazing, I kind of wish someone in charge had chosen to release Knebworth in its entirety instead of the pile of shit that is Live Magic.



Well, okay. I'm being mean. It isn't necessarily shit, but I feel a little insulted when I remember listening to it. I mean, they not only edited out several tracks, but they cut out the mid-section of Bohemian Rhapsody. I know it was only the recording, but still! Not cool!

That one probably shouldn't have moved beyond the "maybe" pile

Sorry for being absent. Life's been happening. I have nothing better to say at this time so here's a filler about fillers!

Yes, even Queen - musical geniuses that they were/are - wrote crap and still managed to sell it.

Take, for instance, Don't Try Suicide. The bass line is awesome as hell, but lyrically I think this fails hard. Not just because they're stupid, but it's hard to write a catchy song about such a controversial subject - and should probably never be attempted again. It sounds like Freddie had the musical structure down and eventually said, "Fuck it, whatever words I sing on this take are going on the record!"

I think I'd rather he just hummed where the lyrics go. Because they suck so bad.

I was going to save this for another 'review' post, but the whole album is pretty much filler. So here it is: Greatest Hits III



Yeah, I said it. I'll say it again. Greatest Hits III sucked. I mean, hell! They've even added three Freddie solo tracks (one of which being a remix of Living On My Own. I admit that it isn't bad if I'm in the mood for 90's dance music, but my point still stands) and a Brian track. Solo projects are called solo projects for a reason! Unless you're counting where Freddie sang Heaven For Everyone or Too Much Love Will Kill You, or where John played bass on How Can I Go On (which is not on GHIII). But those only just barely count.

And then Wyclef Jean butchered/sampled the hell out of Another One Bites The Dust.

I think Gimme The Prize and Don't Lose Your Head both had a ton of intro potential on A Kind Of Magic. Gimme The Prize has what I think is one of the best guitar introductions ever (click here for an awesome cover by satchrulez on Youtube. He's pretty awesome!) but the lyrics don't grip me, and my short attention span can't really move past the 34645069745096560460498 minutes of guitar solo (sorry, Brian!)
I love the music of Don't Lose Your Head, but - again - the lyrics bore me. But that just makes me glad that A Dozen Red Roses For My Darling exists (a sort-of instrumental version of DLYH that's a B-side).

Entry Numero Uno

So yeah... I like the band Queen. Seriously, you really won't understand just how much I like them until you meet me in person.

I've been a fan since I was a wee child. My favorite member is Freddie Mercury. My favorite songwriter - as I'm writing this, because this fluctuates a lot - is probably John Deacon. I liked the Queen + Paul Rodgers collaboration. I love that Brian May - excuse me, Doctor Brian May is a giant nerd but is still more badass than I could ever hope to be. I love that Roger Taylor is still a fucking incredible musician.

In being a fan for many, many years, some things get a little old. Some of my friends - I love them very much and I get that they're just being supportive - drive me fucking nuts. Again, I get that they have the best of intentions, and they very obviously know one of my main interests which shows that they're paying attention... but there are only so many fucking times I can watch that damn Muppet video before it starts to get on my nerves!

Maybe this is karmic payback for annoying the ever-loving shit out of my family and friends when I listened to Bohemian Rhapsody over and over on my Queen's Greatest Hits cassette tape (in my defense I was learning the words and we didn't have internet in my house at that point)?

Don't get me wrong, I think The Muppets are awesome as fuck and I loved that video the first 50 times I saw it! Just like I loved the first couple or so times when Queen would come on the radio in the car and my parents would turn it up for me. And when my friends text me at random times to tell me they heard Queen on the radio at work, or they saw a guy with a mustache, or I Want It All played on that Chase Bank card commercial, etc. I appreciate the enthusiasm... Really, I do! But enough already! I don't care if Another One Bites The Dust is playing on the radio. It's always on the radio! Now, if a US radio station plays '39 or A Kind Of Magic I guarantee you I will stop what I'm doing and get really giddy and excited - because that's different.

At least where I grew up, it wasn't uncommon for any of the classic rock stations to play the following:

- We Will Rock You with We Are The Champions playing directly after that and being counted as one song

- Bohemian Rhapsody

- Another One Bites The Dust

and every once in a while to really shake things up:

- You're My Best Friend

- Killer Queen

- Somebody To Love

And yeah, back when I was younger and just getting into them it was ridiculously exciting. But it gets to a point where I seriously want to question my friends, "Is this all I am to you?!"

Then again, I did create this blog so I could talk about Queen...