The Cosmos Rocks Review

-Cosmos Rockin'-

A great fun opening to the album. Some will most than likely complain that it's kind of like a Status Quo song, but I disagree. It's a fun tribute to rock n' roll, and if this is not opening song of the tour then I will be very surprised.


-Time To Shine-

Initially when I heard the snippet on the radio I did not like it. After hearing the complete song, easily one of the highlights of the album for me. Very catchy, and it easily gets stuck in your head. Certainly very different sounding than anything they have done before.


-Still Burnin'-

Yes it samples WWRY, but it works in the context of the song. Not the best song on the album, but it does feature a great solo from Brian.


-Small-

I loved this track. For me one of the best tracks on the album.


-Warboys-

I really liked Paul's solo version, but this is much better than that. Some nice guitar and drumming on this track.


-We Believe-

What can I say? 6 minutes of Brian's Soapbox. If it had gone on any longer I was fully expecting to hear lyrics about snails and slugs in the next verse. Easily the poorest song on the album.


-Call Me-

When I first heard the clips of this I thought WTF, and was not sure. After hearing the entire song I love it. It's a simple, fun song that features some very 70s Queen guitar from Brian.


-Voodoo-

Everybody from the QOL listening party seemed to dislike this track. For me it was one of the standout tracks of the album. Some of the best guitar I have heard from Brian in a long time. Very bluesy, but a great great track.


-Some Things That Glitter-

Another very good track. Must go back and listen to it again in a moment.


-C-lebrity-

This track has grown on me since I first heard it on Al Murray. I could live without the samples, but it's a pretty decent track overall.


-Through The Night-

Another great track, very Bad Company'ish.


-Say It's Not True-

Actually skipped over this when listening to the album as I know what it sounds like.


-Surf's Up . . . School's Out !-

This is a Roger track thru and thru. People from the listening party thought it was the best track on the album, but I thinking that they were probably drunk by that point. It's a good track, but by no means is it the best.


-Small reprise-

Some nice guitar from Brian. Good way to close the album.


I was very afraid as to what this album was going to be like. I should not have worried, it has exceeded my expectations by a long shot.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]PieterMC wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Coming in a moment....[/QUOTE]

!!!!!!

I pretty much agree with everything Pieter said. He liked "Small" a lot more than me, though. I need to listen to it again, I think. "We Believe" is so Brian's Soapbox. ;-P "Voodoo" was a pleasant surprise. I thought it would be too bluesy for my liking. I'm still trying to work out what my favorite is. Overall, I love it! :-)

how can i listen to the whole album?

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]turini wrote: [/QUOTENAME]how can i listen to the whole album?[/QUOTE]

You can buy it as a download from HMV Japan. It went on sale today.

I couldn't wait any longer so I picked up the download from Japan too:

Album is FANTASTIC!!

Cosmos Rocks - energetic and fun....nice to hear Brian so prominent as well

Time to Shine - interesting quality track

Still Burning - such a heavy rocker - love the drum intro too - Roger has a great drum sound on this album

Small - better than I expected after the previews

Warboys - love the beginning and at first listen I wasn't sure about the rest....2nd listen much better

We Believe - catchy ballad and not a sappy one

Call Me - very catchy...Bri's guitar sound takes you back to the 70s

Voodoo is fantastic....amazing blues feel guitar from Brian - Paul sounds great too. I could listen to this song if it was 20 minutes long

Some Things That Glitter - another ballad - somewhat similar to Small - some nice piano/guitar. Roger really helps to give the ballads some punch

C-lebrity - verses rock with a slower chorus...hope it gets some good airplay - brings back the edge on the album

Through The Night - starts with cool Bri guitar...then gets into a "Bad Company" feel....a really good track...

Say It's Not True - nice climax at the end

Surf's Up....School's out - pumping beat like headlong but reminds me a bit more of Roger's No More Fun and In Charge Of My Heart...also a little bit of the "it's a beautiful day (heavy part)"....some neat effects

small reprise Nice guitar work - it make you think that Small was original 7+ minutes long and this was originally the natural ending with some nice guitar

Lots of Brian's great guitar work
Paul's voice sounds great
Roger sounds great on every single track.....haven't heard him play like that for a whole album in ages....

Now let's get it on the airwaves

(posted on QOL, repeating it here)

I love the album, and have been enjoying it immensely!

It's just brilliant, and the tracks are so good yet different from each other in their own right(s).

Cosmos Rockin' was a perfect way to open the album, I think. Definitely a good way to set the mood.

I personally think "Time To Shine" is the weakest track out of all the songs, though it's still good mind you. I'm not too huge on the U2 sound though.

Still Burnin' was pretty fun. The slide/wah-wah guitar solo makes me think of David Gilmour's guitar solo in "Take A Breath" cos of its heaviness. The WWRY bit followed by the off-beat drumming was a very nice touch. And here I was thinking they wouldn't use anything from the past! Hehe.

Small is a very infectious one. I have been humming the chorus while biking to work. I just love it.

Warboys indeed is very heavy compared to the earlier acoustic version I heard on that radio interview Paul did quite a while ago. Very heavy drumming here, and deep crisp backing vocals (I suspect mostly Roger here)

We Believe...I'm not much into 'inspirational' ballads, but this one sticks pretty well. I think this was written as a hopeful sort of anthem for the US presidential election campaigns (which, in my mind, would be leaning more towards Mr. Barack Obama, with McCain being "the other guy" :-) )

Call Me sounds like a country-fied mash-up of 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' and 'Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon', and it works very well! I think this is the only possible instance of a Deacy amp usage here...? :-)
The ending was a bit rather unexpected at first listen, hehe. I think that part was possibly what Brian was referring to when he said there were 'conversations happening in the music', so to speak.

Voodoo, not much to say about it. It's very Santana-esque to me :-)

Some Things That Glitter, again not much to say. I like it, and somehow it makes me think it wouldn't be out of place in Elton John's repertoire :-)

C-lebrity, I don't think I could say anything positive that hasn't been said already.
Certainly, it took me a while to get used to in terms of the differences between the live Al Murray version and the studio version very later on, as far as some bits went (particularly in the drumming, since I'm a drummer myself)
But since I've heard this so many times, it feels a bit weird going through this when listening to the album all the way through. Am I the only one who feels that way?

Through The Night is very nice. Definitely some Bad Company sounds here. I think Paul almost definitely plays the piano here.

Say It's Not True...again, can't really add much that hasn't been said before. I like the (then) new heavy arrangement. Shame this is the only track that Brian and Roger have lead parts on, but that's alright. Roger's vocal FX has definitely been toned down here. Maybe this is the 're-mixed' version they meant to put out on the CD-Single? (Remember the press releases from the World Aids Day download version...)

Surf's Up ... School's Out! definitely portrays, for me a very California summer type imagery. I think this would make for a very nice AMV (Anime Music Video), along with "Small" as well. I would like to do one myself, but I don't think I could muster up the courage to do such a project :-P

Small reprise is a very nice, mellow way to end the album. In a way it could be like a short Track 13, but with vocals and way less of a pain to sit through, hehe :-)


Overall, I'd give Cosmos Rocks 4 out of 5.

I could not wait any longer. I pretty much agree with grantcdn.

Most of these tracks are FANTASTIC!!! I really like voodoo, small, some things that glitter, through the night..We Believe is too long and Brians Soapbox. War Boys-I like how it's changed from the Paul solo version, but I still don't care for this song too much

Brian May has really pulled out the guitar tricks-best in years!! Some completely new others the traditional "queen" sound.

Roger Taylor--Drumming, auxillary percussion-backing vocals--all superb.

Best for Last is Paul...OMG- Vocals best ever, harmonica in surf's up, piano, bass, Tambourine and who knows what else.

Can't wait to see them live 3 weeks from today!

Rating 4.5 out of 5

I'm tempted to download but i will resist I WILL RESIST and wait until the cd is in my hands and then give it a blast, but by all accounts it's what i expected a great rock album.

C'mon monday hurry up.

... "Small (reprise)" has tattooed itself on me ...

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]PieterMC wrote: [/QUOTENAME]-We Believe-

What can I say? 6 minutes of Brian's Soapbox. If it had gone on any longer I was fully expecting to hear lyrics about snails and slugs in the next verse.[/QUOTE]ROTFLMAOASTCOOTR...!!!

Wow, you can download it? Thanks for that tip guys!!!...

well, in that case I'll be posting my review within two hours ;-)

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]DAVIDBRENDAM wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I'm tempted to download but i will resist I WILL RESIST and wait until the cd is in my hands and then give it a blast, but by all accounts it's what i expected a great rock album.

C'mon monday hurry up.[/QUOTE]
Me too :-) but I will have to wait one week more, as I will get it for my birthday :-)

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]gnomo wrote: [/QUOTENAME]ROTFLMAOASTCOOTR...!!![/QUOTE]

Whoa! That's a long one there, gnomo! ;-D

I think I MAY have decided what my favorite song is after listening to the album again in the car this morning...Some Things That Glitter...MAYBE.

As Brian May has stated, these QUEEN + Paul Rodgers studio sessions produced a very 'organic' outcome. I agree. This is not the case of someone lightly stepping in Freddie Mercury's (winged) shoes - this is really a joint-venture effort. The end result is a lenghty album (total timing: 58:47) that will appeal to, and even take by surprise, most music critics. Home listeners, however, will have mixed feelings about it.

01. Cosmos Rockin' (4:13)
The album starts with a 'One Vision'-like spacey intro. Then, a familiar guitar riff brings a typical rock 'n' roll - with the classic QUEEN treatment. Brian May fans will recognize his trademarks all through the song ...although this is one of Roger's.

02. Time To Shine (4:21)
Up-tempo ballad showcasing Paul's vocal skills. Late '80s U2-like guitar work.

03. Still Burnin' (4:03)
'Tear It Up' 2008. Guitars, drums and choruses, and even bass and accompanying piano, in typical QUEEN style - auto-sampling included. They will rock you!

04. Small (4:39)
Folk ballad. Starts as its title suggests, just acoustic guitar and vocals, and then grows thicker adding drums and a Brian Eno-like nice syntheziser background.

05. Warboys (3:17)
A bombastic (no pun intended) QUEEN treatment to this Paul Rodgers solo song. Results are reminiscent of 'The Hitman'.

06. We Believe (6:09)
Typical power ballad. Nothing that has not been heard before, but very nicely done.

07. Call Me (2:59)
QUEEN + Paul Rodgers go country! The song has a nice harmonized guitar solo - Deacy amp sound and everything.

08. Voodoo (4:27)
Bluesy jam in the Eric Clapton vein...

09. Some Things That Glitter (4:03)
'Butterfly' (remember Brian's piano number from THE MAGIC YEARS?) revisited! Beautiful ballad.

10. C-lebrity (3:37)
The heaviest track in the album, full of Roger Taylor's influences. Same as the single version (but remastered).

11. Through The Night (4:54)
Another undoubtely Brian-penned piano ballad. It could be in THE MIRACLE. Tasteful.

12. Say It's Not True (3:59)
QUEEN + PR's take on Roger's original song. And too hard they try! Same as the single version (but remastered).

13. Surf's Up . . . School's Out ! (5:51)
QUEEN's 'Headlong' meets Taylor's 'No More Fun' - strange as it sounds, it does work!

14. Small - reprise (2:15)
A perfect way to end the album in an emotional tone.

Release date in Argentina: 2008.09.23