Entertainment For Lively Minds
Queen - Masters of Minimalism.
Posted by DougieJ on 18 November 2011 - 10:25pm.
Not a term often associated with Freddie and Co, but think about Another One Bites the Dust, Fat Bottomed Girls, Under Pressure, and, especially, this. 2.02 of utter brilliance. Not a note wasted. And Brian May just be the best rock guitarist of all time. I mean, come on. Guaranteed to put a big silly grin on your face...
[W.W.R.Y.]
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Minimalism
not a term usually associated with them because they are usually associated with terms such as over-blown, pompous, turgid and crap. And they played Sun City.
They certainly did
And they shouldn't have. But I always think that at moments like these you should also mention that The O'Jays, Ray Charles, Tina Turner and Dionne Warwick also took the Sun City coin. It wasn't such an obviously reprehensible thing to do then as it appears now.
I wasn't trying to make
any particular point about Sun City. It does annoy me though how it has all been conveniently forgotten though, particularly with the cricket.
The likes of Gatting and Gooch are seen as elder statesmen now, but at the height of their careers they turned their backs on playing for their country to do their bit for propping up a murderous, evil regime. All for a few pennies more.
I don't agree with this "it wasn't such an obviously reprehensible thing to do" argument. There were enough people telling them they were wrong to do it. Yet they still did it.
If I stopped listening...
to every band that did something vaguely morally questionable then I'd have a nonexistent record collection.
Apartheid
- vaguely morally questionable.
The Holocaust - not very nice was it.
Pol Pot - bit of a rum 'un
And that Wagner
was a bit of a scamp, wasn't he?
par for the course
with X Factor contestants, these days.
They were great
and now Brian May is recording with that Dappy idiot. Way to piss all over Fred's memory you curly headed tool.
"curly headed tool"...
Have an up.
If Freddie was still here
he'd have Dappy walking around in a toga with a tray of cocaine on his head.
And the best
opening credits ever
'And Brian May just be the best rock guitarist of all time'
I know we're only allowed to enjoy rock ironically these days, but I'd still like to think the best rock guitarist of all time was a wee bit cooler than Brian 'mantlefret' May.
We all know that the correct answer is...
Yngwie.
I couldn't
clap along to that.
It don't 'move' me!
Easier to admire than to love! Give me Peter Green any day!
Y'wrongie
sorry.
or to give him his full name
Yngwie Fucking Malmsteen
http://www.theonion.com/articles/yngwie-malmsteen-officially-changes-mid...
Not ironic, Mr. Fade!
It's a genuinely brilliant guitar solo, big daft perm or not.
Five words
"I Want To Break Free". The worst noise ever committed to record along with the worst video ever. I don't have the vocabulary to truly express how I feel about this song but I would rather join Sepp Blatter at an NWA gig than listen to it ever again.
Five words
"I Want To Break Free". The most joyous noise ever committed to record along with the best video ever. I don't have the vocabulary to truly express how I feel about this song but I would rather join Sepp Blatter at an NWA gig than never listen to it ever again.
Beautifully written
have an up ;o) Opinions eh?
You are very kind sir
Although I would agree that the middle bit with Freddie pomping about like Nijinsky (the dancer, not the racehorse) is a bit daft
One for Kate
If you're ever round our way, why not drop in at the Glengarry Tavern and catch "Bohemian Rhapsody"?
And don't forget, you will be eligible for the "Free Hamper Draw" as well.
Let's see: we have Rowan Atkinson on vocals, David Hasselhoff in a fright wig on guitar and, er, two other blokes.
That looks a bit like
a young Gary Glitter (with wig) as Brian May.
My thoughts too
McLongWhiteCloud. Summadayse eh? Can't help feeling more than a touch envious of my relatives in Australia this time of year.
That's right
the festival season is just kicking off here.
Mind you, the one advertised on the poster looks more like purgatory than a enjoyable day out.
Bargain
$14.95 for ten kilos of rice? I'm there.
Parboiled too
What's that mean, half cooked? I've only ever heard it used in relation to potatoes.
I had to look it up
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parboiled_rice
So much involved with cooking rice
Who knew?
It's the 20th Anniversary of Freddie's death today
and amazingly I've just heard the singer of the above pictured Bohemian Rhapsody outfit interviewed on Radio Five Live.
Disconcertingly, the "Freddie" character is Scottish and speaks with quite a strong brogue.
His impromptu solo performance of the opening passage of Bo Rhap was respectable enough, though.
Misused word
Minimalism
.
Agreed, very misused
And I never realised it was a synonym for "shite".
But if you actually listen to the track,
as opposed to the 'image' of it, you might realise that far from it being overblown and bombastic (which I fully accept that much of their other stuff was), it's actually as tight as a gnat's chuff, and 2 minutes long ffs!
It's like another bugbear of mine - the image that most people have of Sgt. Pepper's. Far from it being entirely a proto-prog lysergic splurge, it contains tight, sharp pop tunes like Getting Better, the none-more-kitchen-sink She's Leaving Home, the distinctly downbeat WALHFMF and Good Morning Good Morning, McCartney's song-making middle section on ADITL, references to traffic wardens, Blackburn Lancasheer...
Oh sh-i-i-it ...
The usual defence of Queen (and championing them is always defensive) is that you have to be incapable of rocking out if you don't like them, and a real tight-sphinctered killjoy. As if liking them somehow makes you a refreshingly unselfconscious party bloke who enjoys a damn good fist-pumping (oops) tune and isn't ashamed to flick a Bic or stretch a satin scarf in the name of good old-fashioned Rock n' Roll. ("And that Freddie Mercury! What a character! And quite the hero, dying of aids. Okay, so he didn't make it public while he was alive but he's allowed his privacy. Respect. And Brian May - did you know he made his guitar out of an old bit of wood? The sustain - you can go out for a bite and that thing's still nnnnnnngggg! when you come back. Amazing guitarist, underrated. Really, Queen were the iconic classic rock band of all time.")
They were a preening, posturing bunch of self-advertising popinjays pandering to the lowest common denominator (and not in a good way). Like Dave Lee Travis? Love Queen! And ELO!
Rock and roll - phew!
Well, that's me told.
I've obviously been suffering from false consciousness. Good job there are folk like you around to lead us all back to the correct way of thinking about things.
Good grief Dougie!
Just venting spleen, is all. Wouldn't dream of trying to persuade you out of enjoying Queen, it would be a waste of time for both of us. Some bands just give me the fingernails-on-chalkboard reaction, and Queen is one of them. Revolting bunch of tossers. Your mileage differs. Have an up.
No worries.
;-)
Um.
I think I just like the tunes. I've liked them since I was 8. Nothing po-mo or ironic about it. That's half the problem with the likes of us who talk too much about music - there's all this baggage.
What happened to just liking the tunes?
Erm, no
Some of us just like Queen. That's it. And if if saying, in reponse to someone saying they're rubbish (as plenty do), "actually, I don't think they're rubbish, I think they were bloody good," is being "defensive", then fine, call me defensive.
As always, it's all personal opinion...
Some of us just like The Smiths. That's it. And if if saying, in reponse to someone saying they're rubbish (as plenty do), "actually, I don't think they're rubbish, I think they were bloody good," is being "defensive", then fine, call me defensive.
Some of us just like Girls Aloud. That's it. And if if saying, in reponse to someone saying they're rubbish (as plenty do), "actually, I don't think they're rubbish, I think they were bloody good," is being "defensive", then fine, call me defensive.
Some of us just like The Mahavishnu Orchestra. That's it. And if if saying, in reponse to someone saying they're rubbish (as plenty do), "actually, I don't think they're rubbish, I think they were bloody good," is being "defensive", then fine, call me defensive.
Some of us just like Egg Friday. That's it. And if if saying, in reponse to someone saying they're rubbish (as plenty do), "actually, I don't think they're rubbish, I think they were bloody good," is being "defensive", then fine, call me defensive.
etc etc ad infinitum
I have seen the future of rock & roll...
Old school computers play Bohemian Rhapsody. There's something quite poignant about this.
And finally, a genuinely funny YouTube comment:
'The band needs to practice. "DAMMIT OSCILLOSCOPE YOU CAME IN LATE AGAIN"'
Masters of minimalism?
There's yet another joke about slave dwarves with trays of cocaine on their heads but I can't quite locate it this time.
Anyway, you're saying Queen are the Eric Satie of rock? Hahahahaha!
Even their doppleganger Lizzy Windsor does minimal better than Queen.
The Quietus
The Quietus have an appraisal of the Queen back catalogue written in the style of the King James bible. Read and be merry. It is very funny indeed.
http://thequietus.com/articles/06420-queen-album-reissue-review-king-jam...
Kate Mossman's Word article made me respect the magazine a little more just at the same time that I cottoned onto the mags affection for Crowded House. They give with one hand and take away with the other. Crowded House FFS!!!! What are they thinking?
Lapses of taste and playing countries under the rule of a despicable system aside I love Queen. This year I got re-acquainted with the first 4 albums and realised that what impressed me more than anything was them as an ideas band. Mercury especially demonstrated a fantastic talent for throwing out one gorgeous sounding sound after another. For instance Queen 2 contains metal crossed with wall of sound techniques.
Aside from the lapses in taste and playing countries under the rule of an evil and despicable system they could not have had critical support because much of their work is parody and pastiche. While they may be parody and pastiche of the highest order there is nothing to say about that other than they are a drug for the ears, just as Rococo art/Late Baroque is a drug for the eyes. They are a drug for the ears. And the 1st 4 albums contain some astonishingly beautiful love songs like 'Nevermore', 'Love of My Life' and 'Dear Friends'.
I will concede though that just like an overdose of sugar there is something clearly insubstantial at the bands core. Which makes you want to go back and listen to them all over again. especially since albums 2 & 3 have a number of throwaway bits that make the band seem like they have some kind of music attention deficit.
And finally. Crowded House!!!! Now that is a lapse in taste. Jesus.
Crowded House
One of my favourite bands of the 80s. I love their songs (tunes, chord sequences, dynamics), I love their playing, I love Neil Finn's voice, I loved them live, one of the best live acts I ever saw. Personally I can't figure how anyone with working ears couldn't find something to admire about them.
I think
My ears work but I can't find anything to admire or dislike. A bit like ready salted crisps. Just there.
I'm with you, Chimney...
... to a greater degree, but I genuinely think Private Universe and Distant Sun are two of the best 'dark' pop songs ever written. Good lyrics, great melodies, well-played and with a bit of edge, a bit of depth and some good old songwriter yearn in there.