STACK #132 Oct 2016

MUSIC

REVIEWS

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M any years ago a friend worked for a major international record company. At the time, with the downturn in CD sales and the constantly shifting ground of the internet, things were getting tougher. One day over lunch in early November we were talking about this in somewhat glum terms. “But,” I said, “at least they have a license to print money in the run-up to Christmas.” He looked at me puzzled. I said, “Queen.” Even he laughed at that. And it was true. In their Freddie Mercury-lifetime, Queen released 14 studio albums (the posthumous studio construction Made In Heaven was released four years after Mercury's death in November 1991), but they've also released the same number of compilations (many of them in October and November) and of course box sets, live albums and DVDs. Even as late as November last year a “new” Queen album appeared, Queen Rocks , which mostly picked up material recorded in the ‘80s with Mercury's vocals put in new settings by the remaining band members and producer William Orbit. There's no shortage of Queen in the world, but here they come again, this time on remastered 180gm vinyl pressings: all their studio albums (and Made In Heaven ) beautifully re-presented in a massive box or available individually. For those of the CD or download generations just getting into vinyl, this is a formidable catalogue, so let's trip lightly through it, because Queen were often a great deal of melodramatic fun. Few would dare even try something as silly and ambitious as Bohemian Rhapsody , let alone follow it up with retro-rock singles ( You're My Best Friend , Tie Your Mother Down ), or release a song entitled Fat Bottomed Girls (unless you were Spinal Tap, and sometimes they were that too: gloriously full of self-parody). Queen's first two albums ( Queen I and Queen II ) of the early ‘70s are very much influenced by prog-rock so are best not returned to if you really like where they went after that. Sheer Heart Attack (1974) is where they started to get interesting for mainstream listeners; the album included the hit Killer Queen (which won them their first Ivor Novello songwriting award) and marked their move into more concise pop-rock. A Night At The Opera (1975) and A Day At The Races (1976) – both named after Marx Brothers films – are where the story really begins; the former includes Bohemian Rhapsody and You're My Best Friend , the latter Tie Your Mother Down and Somebody To Love . That Marx Brothers reference is important because after their earnest start, Mercury stopped taking himself quite so seriously, and their albums became manifestations of his flamboyancy, melodrama and excesses. Freddie was having fun with his fame. “Boredom is the biggest disease in the world,” he said. “Sometimes I think there must be more to life than rushing around the world like a mad thing… but I'm an entertainer. It's in the blood… I am just a trouper, dear. Give me a stage.” By this time they were commanding huge shows, reflected in the follow-up album News Of The World (1977) which contained two massive crowd-pleasers: We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions , both of which were reviled by Britain's punk- obsessed music press at the time. The patchy Jazz (1978) is the least loved album in Queen's mature career, but they returned to form (and the singles charts) with The Game (1980) and the hits Another One Bites The Dust , written by bassist John Deacon, and Crazy Little Thing Called ...or a lifetime. Graham Reid revisits the catalogue of the world champions of pomp-rock. QUEEN FOR A DAY

Low Ones and Sixes These guys are one of the most unique and

interestingly evolving bands the past 20 years. With each passing release there’s at least two tracks to stop you in your tracks and fall on your knees in tears. This time round it’s No Comprende , the tale of an argument based on simple miscommunications exacerbated by far deeper, unspoken, yet fundamentally ‘broken’

problems between two people in love. That’s what Low seem to do so well amongst the vocal duelling between the hubby and wife team: hit sensitive emotional chords with sledgehammers. Of course, just when you think you’ve got the measure of the track, it pauses, stares at you and aggressively flings minimalistic chords in your general direction like an apocalyptic fable of certain change, of doom. Yes, they are also Mormons; but you already knew that. No matter, for their biblical knowledge and belief has always seeped into the music without preaching, rather offering an authoritative perspective towards Gothic ritual, cruelty, isolation and superstition. Nick Cave does the same. The Innocents is the other ‘wow’ moment I was alluding to, but we’ve run out of room. Oh – there’s another 10 tracks to go... damn! ( Sub Pop/Inertia) Chris Murray

Bring Me The Horizon That's The Spirit Bring Me The Horizon have had one of the most fascinating career progressions the music industry has laid witness to in the past decade. Originally emerging with an absolute assault of overeager, heavily stylised metalcore bands in 2003, they’ve made deliberate and decisive progressions in sound across each album thereafter, and have eventually emerged in 2015 as comfortably one of the biggest heavy bands on the globe. Their integrity remains intact with this solid new venture which is so sonically stylish that they can now add immaculate taste and trendsetting to their list of enviable talents. (Sony) Emily Kelly

EL VY Return To The Moon

This project is as much about Brent Knopf of Menomena fame (who provides the soundscapes) as vocalist Matt Berninger; while it inevitably feels like the latter's band The National in parts, there’s a sonic diversity on offer which places Berninger’s voice and wordplay in challenging new settings. The title track with its fairytale lyric may be a perfect slice of indie pop, but much of what follows is far from predictable. I’m the Man to Be pairs an explicit chorus with a clubby, dubby vibe; Paul Is Alive is all vintage keyboard noises and programmed beats; and Happiness, Missouri swaggers like a real dancefloor filler. If this is the future of concept albums, let’s all get ready to be linked in. ( 4AD) GarethThompson

Love . Flash Gordon (1980) was the soundtrack to the film of the same name and is mostly instrumentals – not quite for the casual Queen listener. Nor is Hot Space (notable for the duet with Bowie on Under Pressure , but not much else). From there on through The Works (1984, with I Want To Break Free , and Radio Gaga written by drummer Roger Taylor), A Kind Of Magic (1986) and The Miracle (1989), they sounded like a good band in a holding pattern. Mercury was in the early stages of AIDS- related illnesses and the band’s final album with him was the uneventful Innuendo (released in early 1991, nine months before Mercury's death). The final song on the album, written largely by Brian May, is The Show Must Go On . And, when it came to Queen reissues and repackaging, it most certainly did. Still is. Graham Reid

OCTOBER 2015

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