The Great Planet Skaro Queen Time Team: Made It to Made In Heaven!

[Jon Masters]

OK, first apologies for this being so, so late (but not too late ? ) – as always, the hassle of the first half term back, but also because The Game is, for me, the first of a very different type of Queen album. One where a lot of thought has clearly gone into the overall ebb and flow of the album as a whole, and a sort of style that seems to run right through it. I found this made it much more difficult for me to rate individual songs as I was somehow more interested in the development of ‘the sound’ as a whole (God, I sound like some pretentious NME twonk)
But here goes

The Game *** - with its odd sound effects this strikes a very different note right from the start. Love the simplicity of the melody line, the strong piano and its overall structure, but we haven’t abandoned the past completely – the multitrack vocals have never sounded better.

Dragon Attack **1/2 - quite like this one, but there are better tracks of a similar mode coming up, so it sounds more like a work in progress. The lyrics aren’t that inspiring either. There are odd flashes – the solo’s OK and the multivoice works quite nicely again, but has a feeling of a long jam session.

Another One Bites the Dust **** A deserved classic; a great bass riff, an interesting guitar style, a great vocal for Freddie, and a very stripped back sound overall. A Queen track that you could perform in your own band.

Need Your Loving Tonight ** It’s not bad, but I’m just not a fan of it. Sorry, John.

Crazy Little Thing called Love ***1/2 A Classic rock ‘n’ roll classic – simplicity distilled into perfect elements, almost just to show that they could do it. Its sharp, with the cool backing vocals, tight drum and bass, and twangy guitar. As Rob says, a whole album of this could have been cooooooooool.

Rock It **1/2 Bless you, Roger. You know what you like, and at last there’s an album where this kind of track might have some legs. If only you’d dropped the twinkly space synths…..

Don’t Try Suicide ** Not a fan – don’t really like the structure, and it seems to stick out on this album as a mistake. Yes , there are rock’n’roll bits but it’s all over the place in a disjointed way.

Sail Away Sweet Sister **** A very out of place track for this album – warm synth sounds, driving rock chorus, sweet ballad, but I like it (I’d swap it for Save Me on the Greatest hits as well). Seems to hark back to several albums ago – maybe its nostalgia already !

Coming Soon ** Whereas this one is about 2 albums too early. It’d be a good dance track.

Save Me ***1/2 Freddie has chance to shine vocally at last; Brian knows how to get the most out of him with the simple piano and acoustic, and then a stonking chorus. They haven’t lost it, have they ? Points are lost for the very twee lyrics though .

So, overall a very enjoyable listen but for me a clear statement of discipline and a pretty thorough exploration of a certain style and sound. Less bad tracks maybe, but then only 10 tracks in total, and for me only 2 that really stand out.

[Rob McCow]

Which album is next?

Now that Mr Hunt is back from the US, shall we try moving on with this?

Or is it Flash Gordon next?

[Stephen Morgan]

The next one chronologically is the Flash soundtrack and then Hot Space, but you've missed out the double live album from '79, Live Killers, their first live album, which was mostly criticised for its very poor sound at the time. The criticism levelled at Hot Space however was something else.

[Jon Masters]

I'm happy to go with everyone else, but I'd prefer maybe to leave the live albums until the end (and maybe do them as a single burst ?) - its difficult to say a lot on each track apart from any minor variations or sound issues.

I'd say the same for the Greatest Hits too.

These days I 'ave mostly been listening to ...... FLASH (Gordon's Alive !)

[Rob McCow]

Ah-ah. So Flash Gordon is the next album for us Hawkmen to Dive into.

[Jon Masters]

Foolish humans !

[Si Hunt]

I'll be back for "Hot Space", possibly Flash if I'm feeling like it. I've never heard it before!

Si.

[Rob McCow]

So, the 'wait for Si Hunt' strategy has turned out to be misguided!

No worries, I will Flash us up tomorrow. It's worth a listen, albeit maybe only one listen. Or on the other hand, it might be their greatest work. You won't know if you've never heard it.

[Si Hunt]

I'm pretty sure I have it. I think I bought it for £1 or something. I'll check.

I couldn't finish "Jazz". It was like writers block. I tried and I tried but I just didn't want to do it.

Si.

[Rob McCow]

I listened to Jazz today and enjoyed it more than I have done before! Still not a great album though.

[Rob McCow]

Flash Gordon (Original Soundtrack Music By Queen)

1."Flash's Theme" May
2."In the Space Capsule (The Love Theme)" Taylor
3."Ming's Theme (In the Court of Ming the Merciless)" Mercury
4."The Ring (Hypnotic Seduction of Dale)" Mercury
5."Football Fight" Mercury
6."In the Death Cell (Love Theme Reprise)" Taylor
7."Execution of Flash" John Deacon
8."The Kiss (Aura Resurrects Flash)" Mercury, Howard Blake


1."Arboria (Planet of the Tree Men)" Deacon
2."Escape from the Swamp" Taylor
3."Flash to the Rescue" May
4."Vultan's Theme (Attack of the Hawk Men)" Mercury
5."Battle Theme" May
6."The Wedding March" ("Bridal Chorus") May
7."Marriage of Dale and Ming (And Flash Approaching)" May, Taylor
8."Crash Dive on Mingo City" May
9."Flash's Theme Reprise (Victory Celebrations)" May
10."The Hero" May, Howard Blake

[Rob McCow]

"We owe everything - to Flash!"

Flash Gordon OST is scarcely likely to be anyone's favourite Queen album. Even fans of the movie must surely be disappointed that it doesn't include the single version of the main theme. The horrendous dialogue excerpts may be funny on a first listen, but they quickly become grating. And there are long periods where the music is clearly underscoring the action, so you get long droning sections with occasional orchestral stabs.

If you think Queen and Synthesizers should be kept in separate decades, you've got even more reason to hate this album. The whole thing is drenched in that typically 80's Action Movie synth sound, that dates films like Terminator, Top Gun and He-Man - Masters of The Universe. Nobody would have produced a soundtrack quite like this at any period apart from the late 70's / early 80's.

There is a redeeming feature however, which is that it is a simply wonderful soundtrack. Queen were paid to do a job and they delivered absolutely, putting their heart and soul into the work. The spirit of Queen infuses every pore of the film, taking what would have been a below-average campy action movie and making it into something special. The band show off the different genres they've dipped into over the years, from rock to opera with flatulent synth thrown in for good measure. I for one adore the 80's synth sound, perhaps it makes me nostalgic for Peter Duncan and Richard O'Brien.

Here's my quick run-down with scores for the score!

Flash's Theme
The arrangement of the single is absolute genius. The thudding, repeating bass/piano note Dun-dun-dun-dun-Dun-dun-dun-dun carries on at various stages throughout the film to build up the tension - then at key moments it's interrupted by the guitar bursts, or the simple cry of 'FLASH!' It's incredible how something so simple can be so exciting.

For god's sake, strap yourselves down! 8/10

In the Space Capsule (The Love Theme)
This could be the first Roger Taylor track that isn't about being a real hard rocker with real AttiTUDE. To be honest, it's not too bad but coming after the Flash theme it sounds incredibly boring. The whole thing builds up nicely to a big orchestral flourish. No - sorry, I love the sound of this, it's got a real adventurous feel to it, a sense of voyaging into the unknown. 5/10

Ming's Theme (In the Court of Ming the Merciless)
With a title like that, this could be straight off Queen II. The synth playing at the start is incredibly cold, with Freddie showing off his prog/experimental side. I bet he tossed this out in ooo... about two minutes and forty seconds? The track then has loads of dialogue over a single wobbly synth note. Probably works well on screen.

Death to Ming! 3/10

The Ring (Hypnotic Seduction of Dale)
Another Mercury track, another minute of electronic squawkery.

Forget it Ming - Dale's with me! 3/10

Football Fight
This one is much more exciting! The whole band is back in play for an entertaining punch up, only partially ruined by the utterly abysmal 'American Football' vibe.

Clytus - Are your men on the right pills? 8/10

In the Death Cell (Love Theme Reprise)
It's a reprise, which means it's kind of like the one before. It's a sign of their weakness. 5/10

Execution of Flash
The guitar stuff at the start is dull and the orchestral stuff is also dull. Sorry Deacon - it's dull. 1/10.

The Kiss (Aura Resurrects Flash)
Yet for some reason, I love this track. I'd like to think that it's just the band singing on this, with Roger taking the high notes and Freddie filling in the rest. The second half is rather pleasant too. 8/10.


Arboria (Planet of the Tree Men)
Ar-BORE-ia. 1/10

Escape from the Swamp
More farting... this time it's Roger's turn to piddle about with the keyboard. 2/10

Flash to the Rescue
Nothing can save me now...
May to the Rescue! The build up starts here. 6/10

Vultan's Theme (Attack of the Hawk Men)
Dive. Another more tuneful piece. Contrary to what I said previously, I reckon the whole band leaped on this project but got bored with it rather quickly... leaving Brian to sort out the actual musical score for the second half. 7/10

Battle Theme
Some nice hard rock here. Brian is really kicking arse now.

Impetuous Boy! 8/10

The Wedding March ("Bridal Chorus")
Yup and Brian is really enjoying himself now. I love the off-key 'mis-step' towards the end.

Marriage of Dale and Ming (And Flash Approaching)
Good stuff, but probably makes far more sense in the movie. 7/10

Crash Dive on Mingo City
Pchew! Pchew! Bang bang! Zap! Zap! Fleeeaaysh? 7/10

Flash's Theme Reprise (Victory Celebrations)
YEAH! It's that song again. Everyone has been saved with a mighty flash. Loses a few marks for the 'New York City girl' line. 6/10

The Hero
The other 'proper' song and everyone's leaving the cinema and treading the last of their popcorn into the carpet. Freddie's not holding back, it's a great vocal performance. Good stuff really. 7/10.

As an album, there's a lot of weak moments. But as a soundtrack it works wonderfully. So there's my inconsistent and nonsensical review done for Flash Gordon. 'Nonsensical and Inconsistent' is exactly how it should be.

[MacNimon]

Flash Gordon is a difficult album to rate, simply by it's very nature. It's certainly not a proper Queen album, but neither is it a proper soundtrack either (and its been a long time since I watched the film, so I may be wrong here, but isn't there other incidental music NOT by Queen on the film as well, an orchestral score of some sort?) I don't know whether it was a marketing decision which led to the snippets of dialogue being included, or an artistic decision...whatever the reason, it was obviously to help market Queen's part of the soundtrack as a rock album rather than just give us a proper soundtrack album...they probably anticipated more profits this way.

I'm going to take the easy way out here...rather than go through the album track by track, I'm just going to say that I broadly agree with Steve's assessment of the album; he's put my feelings down so much better than I possibly could have myself. Some minor quibbles, though...there are a few tracks I'd give a better score...The Execution Of Flash being the first; I agree that it may not be the most exiting track on the album, but I like it all the same. Short and simple, it works best as an intro to one of the album's highlights, The Kiss (Aura Resurrects Flash), which I love. I'd give these tracks 5/10 & 9/10 respectively. Best listened to as a single entity, though. And I'd bump The Hero up by another point to 8/10, I love it.

Football Fight, Vultan's Theme and Battle Theme are all highlights and I'd agree with Steve's assessment with all of these...everything else is just pretty dull though, isn't it? An interesting experiment to listen to, with a few decent tracks worth putting onto a compilation; ceratainly not a classic Queen album by any means though, is it?

[Dino]

Flash Gordon OST is scarcely likely to be anyone's favourite Queen album.

ceratainly not a classic Queen album by any means though, is it?

Actually, this IS one of my favourite Queen albums! Strap yourselves in!!...

1. FLASH'S THEME

All I remember from seeing Flash Gordon the first time I remember crying before I got in to watch the film, before being given a packet of Fruit Pastilles by a female usherette. An experience of Customer Service at a young age!
Now we've got that out of the way first, this is my favourite for the best Queen single. Above Bo Ho and Don't Stop Me Now.
This version without the Movie Samples still creates a massive impression. And I've found out the single edited off the most ambiguous ending.

2. IN THE SPACE CAPSULE

When I first saw this at the pictures, I thought "That's Queen!" when I heard the first chord. Perfect samples and a short climax. If it wasn't for the film though, I'd be thinking of saying to the band "Guys... the ****?..."

3. MING'S THEME

They couldn't print "Nobody played Synthesizer!" again. And as well as that, Queen missed the chance to print "Nobody Molested Synthesizer Apart From Freddie!" With this one. It's a shame he didn't do this through the whole track though.

4. THE RING

It seems like the same tune. But in a way which reminds me of The Grand Vizer's Garden Party from Pink Floyd's "Ummagumma"

5. FOOTBALL FIGHT

This was probably the second track by Queen I'd heard. Another one for Kola Kubes on teeth they would have to one day replace years later.

6. IN THE DEATH CELL

Without the title, this is perhaps where the "Flash album a bit shit" arguments leaking in. Without the samples it's a seriously massive waste of Queen's time. But the final ten seconds reel it back in.

7. EXECUTION OF FLASH

This should have been the follow up single to "Flash". Bob Ezrin went behind Roger Waters back to edit together Another Brick In The Wall, so surely Mack could have looped the beautiful opening bit and for the single version only, had Freddie do some self-backing that only Freddie could. It's still too short. There is a feeling of this album getting off and then landing back down again.

8. THE KISS

It shows how times have changed as in the 70's when Queen began. Pieces like this would become known as Prog movements and labelled on the album sleeve in different parts. There is a lot of Crap Tracks Stacked on this album and the nostalgia is shattered. Beginning to regret saying I really love this album.

9. ABORIA

*STOMPING FEET WE WANT BRIAN MAY! WE WANT BRIAN MAY! *Gets whispered in ear John Deacon wrote this. THIS IS A BRILLIANT TRACK! THIS IS A BRILLIANT TRACK! BUT YEAH, THAT BRIAN MAY YOU STILL HAVE IN THE BAND... The attention drifts off. I can't believe a Queen album would have had a moment of quietness, and in a track composed by John Deacon as well! *This review bought to you from the reality where this album was released sans Movie samples. Yeah, but seriously, that Brian May you still have in the band? The last solo credit from this album. Freddie's been beautiful on keyboards. But you really miss his lyrical mind.

10. ESCAPE FROM THE SWAMP

ROGER TAYLOR! Bit of a wild card thrown. And it works! Aww Roger, I know I still love Drowse. But this is the best thing he's done. I didn't see him live in Liverpool in 1994 (?) but I did see his concert poster. Oh right.

11. FLASH TO THE RESCUE

This is the slap in the face the album needed. And now it becomes clear why the Flash single was edited the way it was. Although it does tail off. But then in enters Brian Blessed! A random thought, would any haters, ok, the disappointeds be any more appreciative if they were forbidden from using dialogue from the film so had the band themselves reading the lines from the script as the characters?

12. VULTAN'S THEME

And this is cheese. And the best Mercury attempt. Brian Blessed never recovers

13. BATTLE THEME

****ing fin-A-ly! ****ing fin-A-ly! Makes you wish the band recorded more of the tunes we've gone through to get to this on guitars.
If it didn't have the script or samples, and if heard on it's own you'd be thinking this was too slight to make up for Queen's Magnum Synth Opus.

14. THE WEDDING MARCH

This will be played on adverts for hundereds of years after Brian May is dead and has no longer the rights to his own music. And the really great thing about this, is everybody who has played an instrument, surely one day learned how to play The Wedding March just for the lols. Nowhere near the lols of Brian himself!

15. MARRIAGE OF DALE AND MING

May AND Taylor! It saves the album for us. The final few tracks are stacked perfectly on this album. You can hear a huge climax building. and how brilliant would it have been for Freddie to sing "I do NOT!" like Jazz's "I'm dead!"

16. CRASH DIVE ON MONGO CITY

Reminds me of Pink Floyd from the UFO Club from 1967. Excellent use of sound effects.

17. FLASH'S THEME (Reprise)

Not as successful as the previous times this track was sequenced. Imagine the mentalness if this track was released as the B-side to "Flash"? Really ends on a great chord to say "THE END" on the screen.

18. THE HERO

Best track to begin with a laugh. It's the same as the only really standout typical Queen track from this album. Great to hear Freddie sing again. He sings at the start with harmonies, but be honest, does anyone really think Freddie would agree to move the spotlight from Queen onto a film, if he never got the chance to be the last vocals the listener hears?
And here's that chorus line again. If only there was more of the clanging guitars that the band end on. It does feel a bit cheapened by the fake explosions.

VERDICT

The only other soundtrack albums I was into growing up was the Monty Python's. It really works well with dialogue from the film on the album. It is completely different to any other Queen album. I can see a strong influence of Jeff Wayne, but with four writers working together for a higher purpose than contractual obligations (The film). They must have known when they were recording it, they could basically be a different type of band. And the best defence I can offer is "It's Queen doing a soundtrack album, we're supposed to not notice it that much without the images. So this means, even though they've made this fun, there are tracks I would have loved to have heard the demos for this album. But then as it was only a Soundtrack they probably only had the time to record the tracks without demoing ideas.
So hopefully then, they've got a shithot collection of songs of Mercury, bass, drums and May stockpiled while they were making this album.
Did any song from this album get performed live? Was it used an Intro tape? Or were the band reported to have played any of the album live around the time of it's release?
Flash is a 10/10 concept and idea that proves to coast around 7/10 and no lower than 4/10 at it's worst. I can only imagine if it was a double album! There would probably be no reason to see the film if the band were stretched to score the whole film from start to finish.
7/10

[MacNimon]

Good to see you provide a decent review, Dino, rather than my cop-out! It gives Jon plenty more scope now to use that magic word we spoke about on Saturday night, the one I beat him to using...

[Rob McCow]

if they were forbidden from using dialogue from the film so had the band themselves reading the lines from the script as the characters?

Best 'What If?' concept of all time!

[Rob McCow]

OK... I think that's all we're going to get out of Mr Gordon.

Hot Space

Side one
1. "Staying Power" Freddie Mercury
2. "Dancer" Brian May
3. "Back Chat" John Deacon
4. "Body Language" Mercury
5. "Action This Day" Roger Taylor
Side two
1. "Put Out the Fire" May
2. "Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)" Mercury
3. "Calling All Girls" Taylor
4. "Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)" May
5. "Cool Cat" Deacon, Mercury
6. "Under Pressure" (with David Bowie) David Bowie, Deacon, May, Mercury, Taylor

[MacNimon]

I've actually been quite looking forward to this, I've listened to it a few times since the PS meet. While overall it's basically a bit too 'poppy' for my taste, there are still a lot of really catchy tunes in there. Take out a couple of dodgy tracks, remix the rest to give it a more rock feel, and I think you could have a cracker of an album. As it is, though...

The album's really nowhere near as bad as its made out to be, although it's still not one of my favourites.

I've always loved that cover, though!

More later.

[Rob McCow]

It's a good cover, but it's no:

[MacNimon]

Can't say I agree, Steve...sometimes it's simply that the original is the best!

That plus the fact that I've owned this Queen album since I was 17 - ie a long time! - and that Blur one comes in a distant second for me, from such a long time later.

[Si Hunt]

Isn't the gist of the Queen cover a different artistic style per panel... so Blur rather missed the point!

Si.

[Rob McCow]

Hot Space

I'm pretty sure that we had this album on vinyl in the house in 'Dad's Record Collection', which I briefly had access to in the mid-90's. Suffice to say, there weren't nearly enough familiar singles from 'Greatest Hits' I or II to keep me interested; and the tracks on the album didn't really grab me at the time. They simply didn't have that...

Staying Power
Oh Queen! You've changed. You should be careful, people might start thinking you were a bit - you know - gay!!!
Why is this track such a dud? There's funky bass, an enthusiastic hook-line in the chorus, the whole thing is energetic and fast paced... and yet it sucks. Maybe it's the crappy 'Trumpet' stabs that punctuate the song. Or it could be the use of a drum machine. Although Freddie's vocals can't be faulted, the song as a whole sounds rather 'plastic'.
3/10

Dancer
Again, another competent and ostensibly 'good' track. There's a lot of stuff in here which should work but doesn't. Brian May's guitar solo is pretty enjoyable, yet it's all a bit of a mess. Nothing shines, everything overlaps. The semi-choral effect of Queen's harmonies sit really poorly with the disco-funk style.
2/10

Back Chat
I'm a sucker for Deacon's efforts, it seems. Back Chat is an upward swing in the album as far as I'm concerned, with Freddie playing the 'Bitchy Betrayed Lover' from as long ago as 'Death On Two Legs'. Perhaps that gives the song a bit more character than the first two. It isn't as over-produced either, there are less layers of guitars, drums and horns. It's still not a favourite though.
5/10

Body Language
Bring on the sleeze! This song is as filthy as they come, and they're coming so hard they've forgotten the guitar solo. If the first two tracks were Gay Disco Music, this is Post-Gay-Disco music for the bedroom. Might have some appeal in the filthier clubs of New York and San Francisco.
4/10

Action This Day
A Queen first. Roger writes the best song on Side One! It's a catchy tune with a reasonably strong chorus. Strangely enough, despite being a Rogered track it features a very lame and lmp drum machine loop. No wonder Roger hates this album so much. And there's a two-piece Saxaphone break that's simply dreadful, it sounds like the two sax players were given no direction and didn't know what they were doing.
6/10

Put Out The Fire
On any other album this could have been a Rock Anthem, but it's tainted by the Hot Space disease.
'People get shot by people - people with guns!' Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
By this point in their career, Queen have produced dozens of songs like this. There's nothing special or exciting about it, though it's very competently done and they perform with passion and energy. Yet it's missing the heart and verve of superior rock tracks such as 'Tie Your Mother Down'.
4/10

Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)
And then hunnies we did a Lennon pastiche!
Despite some clunky lyrics, I think this song is rather lovely. They've matched all the Lennon-style beats throughout the track, Brian provides a rather different guitar solo and Freddie gives a heart-felt vocal performance. They capture the melancholy air of Lennon's solo-work perfectly; given that the man had been shot the year before, it's a fine tribute.
8/10

Calling All Girls
Wikipedia tells me that there were no less than SIX different tracks released as singles around the world from this album. Calling All Girls smashed into the Canadian chart and peaked at #33. That's because it's a track probably best described as OK with a bit of adequate thrown in.
6/10

Las Palabras de Amor
Haven't we had this one already? It's pretty damn good, but feels over-familiar. As it is here, stuffed up the arse-end of Hot Space, I'd describe it as a forgotten gem that's extremely hard to retrieve. The synthy sounds are exciting and it's got the bite that's been lacking from 90% of the rest of this album. Cigarette lighters out!
8/10

Cool Cat
Looking into the background for this song revealed that it could have been Queen's 'Other' collaboration with David Bowie, but Mr Bowie demanded that his vocals were removed. Listening in, I think his deeper tone would have played very well against Freddie's falsetto on this song.
As it is, we have a nicely laid-back track with a genuinely funky tone to it. It benefits from being stripped down and simple.
6/10

Under Pressure
Genius! All of the strengths of David Bowie combined with Queen's pop sensibilities. The clap / click percussion is wonderful, Brian adds pleasant jangly guitar throughout and John Deacon chips in with one of the strongest and most memorable bass lines of Queen's career. The song is about holding on to love in a difficult and trying world, something that just about everyone can relate to. It's got to be a hit!
The only crap thing about it is the accompanying video, which comes from the 'Any old footage to fill 4 minutes' school of pop videos.
9/10

[SiHart]

Isn't the gist of the Queen cover a different artistic style per panel... so Blur rather missed the point!

Si.

Or maybe they just wanted to do something different?

[Stephen Morgan]

The music critics (nor fans come to that) were not kind to Hot Space at all because of it's dance tracks, Queen thought that if Another One Bites The Dust was a popular dance track then maybe they could try a whole album, even going as far as employing Arif Mardin (who'd previusly produced The Bee Gees and Chaka Khan) to provide horns on Staying Power.
The single Body Language only reached 25 despite being a follow up the the Bowie collaberation Under Pressure.
Despite the criticism levelled at it, Hot Space got to number four on the UK charts in a total of 19 weeks.

Mercury's response to the critics "...it's just another bloody album".

[Si Hunt]

Staying Power

The problem with this song is simply that the melody is weak. "Staying (staying) staying (staying) power (power!)" it goes. It's like the sort of song you write when you write a song for the very first time. That said, it's good down the gym. 3/10

Dancer

This is my single least favourite song in Queen's canon. Totally unmemorable and unworthy. Not today thank you. 1/10

Back Chat

Now I like Back Chat. It's clear from the opening tracks that Queen have re-booted. Let's be honest, the music being made here is of a much LOWER standard than what came before. Well, it had to be - Greatest Hits is one of the finest albums of all time. Within that context, this is perfectly catchy and good down the gym to boot. 5/10

Body Language

Or, as I like to call it, "Body Language (whoop whoop whoop!)" Fun and slutty! I imagine hot and sweaty sex in a Berlin nightclub with a person of gender unspecified and uncared about. In fact, you didn't even see their face - you just stuck it through a hole and took a chance. And yes, this really did go on. It's no wonder he caught something. But musically I love Freddie's playful singing here - "You got the cutest eyes (or is it thighs?) I've ever seen!" he yells. Surely a vocal peak? Down and dirty. This is very definately Freddie's album so far. 6/10

Action This Day

The first decent Roger Taylor song, and it only took seven years. Here also begins the revelation that "Hot Space" is not, as thought, a white disco album, it's an ORDINARY QUEEN ALBUM IN DISGUISE. Now we've got Freddie's club experiments out the way, we're back to rock and this nice little song. Roger would blossom in the syth age. 5/10

Put Out The Fire

Another good rock track by May, with a soaring chorus line. One for the air guitar. 6/10

Life Is Real (Song For Lennon)

I like the way that the vocals are treated with the same effect that insecure Lennon insisted on them using on his voice. That aside, it's a perfect pleasant ballad albeit one slightly missing a point. The lyrics almost seem to be taking the mickey/parodying Lennon's nonsense words of e.g I Am The Walrus ("Waking Up In A Minefield/Love Is A Pleasure Dome" what?). Imagine if they'd written a really heartfelt song about what was great about Lennon and why they'd miss him. Imagine. Not great down the gym. 6/10

Calling All Girls

Get on your feet again! This is a lovely breezy track, albeit another lyrically nothing one. Calling All Girls, Calling All Boys... good down the gym, though. 7/10

Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)

Big old contrived Brian May ballad which they mimed to on Top of the Pops. It's officially Quite Nice but, let's be honest, we're not quite hitting the Queen peak here are we? It's not a patch on "Save Me". A lovely Freddie vocal but the melody is a bit clunky, like it has to be dragged up off the floor for the chorus. It's in the Queen B-List league, albeit somewhere near the top. 7/10

Cool Cat

I'm rather fond of Freddie's brave falsetto here, and fell in love with this song when it was used on a documentary about Queen years ago. It's got a lazy, slightly funky vibe that I don't usually like. It reminds me of another time, another era, lyrically again it doesn't mean that much. There's no other Queen song like it though is there? 7/10

Under Pressure

A bona-fide Queen classic. This song evolved out of a jamming session, and it couldn't have been written any other way. It's just a very special, timeless song about not much at all. I'm also rather fond of the 2004 "Rah Mix" which has new material in it and a video which magically sets Freddie and Bowie on the same stage for the first time ever. I think the mystery behind the track (no album or video or anything) probably helped it to Number 1. There's the suspicion that the whole of Hot Space was just Queen scraping together an album to go with this single, really. It's still the best thing on here by a country mile and a true classic. 9/10 (it's not "Breakthru" though is it)

As a whole I find this album easy to love. A mixture of traditional rocky numbers and some brave experimentation, the weakest part is perhaps the beginning. Queen ploughed on playing "Staying Power" in concert in blissful ignorance of the fact that it was a bit of a rotten egg. In fact, perhaps the fairest thing to say is that the usual mix of 40% Amazing Singles, 30% Forgotton Gems and 30% Crud Filler is disrupted here, and everything is about 65% Brilliant. So the singles sank without trace and no-one loves the album. It is, however, good down the gym.

Si.