Album Review #17 - Queen - "The Game" (1980)

 

Album Review #17

 

Artist:  Queen

Album:  The Game

Year of Release:  1980

Grade:  4.5 / 5

 

Band Members

Freddie Mercury – lead vocals, backing vocals, piano, synthesizer, acoustic guitar

Brian May – lead vocal (Sail Away Sweet Sister), backing vocals, guitars, piano

Roger Taylor – lead vocal (Rock It), drums, backing vocals, synthesizer

John Deacon – bass guitar, guitar, piano, percussion

 

Background

Queen is one of the best selling bands in the world.  This studio album was the follow up to 1978’s album “Jazz”.  Queen had magnificent streak of 4 hit albums before releasing “The Game”.  They were “Night At The Opera”, “A Day At The Races”, “News Of The World”, and then “Jazz”.  But “The Game” hit #1 in the US.

 

Their set at 1985’s Live Aid stole the show and reignited the band.  It is considered to be one of the greatest sets in rock history despite only being only 15 – 20 minutes in length.  They are considered one of the great live bands of all time.

Queen’s lineup remained the same for it’s entire run of 15 studio albums featuring Freddie Mercury (vocals), Brian May (guitar), John Deacon (bass), and Roger Taylor (drums).  That lineup only ceased when Mercury died.  The band continued on with a new vocalist for one album (Paul Rodgers of Free/Bad Company) but John Deacon opted to retire instead of going on.  They currently tour with Adam Lambert.

 

 

Track Listing

1.      “Play The Game” (Freddie Mercury)

2.      “Dragon Attack” (Brian May)

3.      “Another One Bites The Dust” (John Deacon)

4.      “Need Your Loving Tonight” (Deacon)

5.      “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (Mercury)

6.      “Rock It (Prime Jive)” (Roger Taylor)

7.      “Don’t Try Suicide” (Mercury)

8.      “Sail Away Sweet Sister” (May)

9.      “Coming Soon” (Taylor)

10.  “Save Me” (May)

 

 

Review

The album opening track “Play The Game” has the feeling of some of Queen’s previous hits melodically.  It is typical Queen with soaring vocals, piano, great guitars, and deft rhythm section.  As an opening album track, it is just ok.  It is a good Queen song but not a great Queen song.  If it comes on, I don’t skip it.

 

 “Dragon Attack” has a great beat.  It definitely has a disco-ish feel to it.  Although written by guitarist Brian May, it isn’t a typical May song.  It does have some great guitar work.  The bass and drums really stand out on this track.

 

And speaking of being disco influenced, “Another One Bites The Dust” became a monster hit.  There are several takes on the meaning of the lyrics.  Some say that it is about a serial killer while others feel it is about failures in relationships.  I remember this being a huge song in my high school years.  Part of the reason was that the Detroit Lions adopted it as their theme song as they were undefeated after 4 games then after adopting the theme song, proceeded to lose a number of games in a row.  After the years, this song has kind of mellowed for me.  Written by bassist John Deacon, it was dance floor staple at its peak.

 

“Need Your Loving Tonight” is one of my favorite tracks on the album.  This was also written by John Deacon but sounds more like a Brian May composition.  From its opening riff to the lyrics, it is emphasized all of Queen’s best assets – vocals, awesome guitars, pounding bass and drums.  It is more pop friendly song on the album.

 

“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” is one of Queen’s most identifiable songs.  I remember when I first heard this Mercury penned song that it was a lost Elvis song because it had that kind of song.  It really has that rockabilly sound.  My favorite part is Brian May’s guitar solo on it.  The video on the other hand made me just sort of scratch my head like “what are they doing?”.  I included the live video from Live Aid and the staged video below.

 

 

 “Rock It (Prime Jive)” is the lone Roger Taylor track where he sings on the album by sharing verses with Mercury.  I remember originally thinking it was a really cool song when it shifts gears from a ballad to a rocker.  However, Roger’s vocals have never really set well with me.  It isn’t that their bad but just something about the tone of it. 

 

“Don’t Try Suicide” was written by Mercury after the death of a friend.  It starts out with hand claps then adds bass then a little guitar.  It really is an anti-suicide song.  The song really features Mercury’s vocal inflections and range.  Once again features a great guitar solo.  It has never been performed live by the band.

 

“Sail Away Sweet Sister” is probably my favorite track on the album.  It was written and sung primarily by Brian May except by Mercury during the bridge.  It was an ode to a sister from an older brother from an imagination perspective (he didn’t have a sister).  It is a lovely mid tempo ballad.  Despite Mercury being the lead vocalist, some of my favorite Queen songs are ones that are sung by May.

 

  

“Coming Soon” should have been the opening album track rather than the second to last track.  It is a building rocker.  Great harmonies and beat.  I have always felt that this song to be underrated.  It highlights each member of the band.

 

“Save Me” is a fantastic song.  It is a big ballad song in terms of vocals and emotions.  This song was inspired by a failed relationship of a friend (Mercury).  It was a song about the friend’s perspective of looking back at the signs and how to find peace at the end of it.  It goes from ballad to power ballad and back.