I was curious about how all the albums got their respective titles.
Queen and Queen II are obvious. A Kind Of Magic, The Miracle, Innuendo and Made In Heaven are named after title tracks. A Night At The Opera and A Day At The Races are named after Marx Brothers films. Flash is a soundtrack. The above mentioned albums are pretty obvious, however I'm not as certain about the other albums.
I believe that Hot Space refers to the space between the notes and The Works comes from Roger's comment; "Let's give them the works!" I also read somewhere that The Game was originally intended to be named Play The Game but the group felt it sounded too conformist. The Cosmos Rocks probably would sound better than The Cosmos is Rocking. Sheer Heart Attack, I believe, was originally meant to be named after the track, but the song wasn't completed in time. Jazz, apart from the song 'More of that Jazz,' is a bit of a mystery to me, while I have absolutely no idea about News of the World.
If anyone could tell me how News got its title and whether other albums were named for different reasons to the ones I mentioned, I would be really grateful!
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News of the World is the name of a British tabloid newspaper. That's about all I can add really!
"A Kind Of Magic" is a quote from Higlander.
Pretty much all you have said about the albums is true. The live album titles are obvious too.
Didn't Roger see the words JAZZ and a similar logo on the Berlin Wall?
Didn't Roger see the words JAZZ and a similar logo on the Berlin Wall?
You were wrong about Hot Space. The group had dinner once, all together, and it was very hot. Freddie suggested that they could call album Hot Space. Cheers
Jazz took the name by the ongoing Montreux Jazz festival while the band recorded at Mountain Studios. But I was not yet born to be 100% secure.....
Anyoen know how they came up with the name Queen Greatest Hits Vol. 3?
Am I the only one who thinks there's something fishy about the SHA story? I mean WHY would they name an album after a song that's NOT on the record. Is Sheer Heart Attack really that strong title on its own right? It doesn't sound that special to my ear, but I'm not a native English speaker, so I probably don't get all the nuances and connotations of the title.
Is there actually a demo of the song from 1974 or an interview from 1974/1975 where they tell us that they had a song of the same title but it didn't make it to the album? I'm asking this 'cos to me, the whole story sounds like something they made up after NOTW was released.
Is there actually a demo of the song from 1974 or an interview from 1974/1975 where they tell us that they had a song of the same title but it didn't make it to the album? I'm asking this 'cos to me, the whole story sounds like something they made up after NOTW was released.
claudiox, I'm afraid you're wrong - I read somewhere the same story GT has posted here.
Maybe both of us could be wrong and you could be right, but I'm pretty sure I had read it on a reliable website (I thought it was Queenpedia, but nothing there...).
Maybe both of us could be wrong and you could be right, but I'm pretty sure I had read it on a reliable website (I thought it was Queenpedia, but nothing there...).
Beer + spare time + deadlines = album titles.
Thanks, guys. I really appreciate your replies. I've alaways been quite curious how Queen came about its album titles, but I can't seem to find the explanations for some of the titles anywhere.
[i]The lyrics of [b]Innuendo[/b] were written as a tribute to Led Zeppelin and their song "Kashmir" so then the name of the Album.[/i]
The Miracle was Brian's nod to the 1980 U.S. Men's Hockey team.
John and Roger made him drop the "on Ice" prior to releasing it.
John and Roger made him drop the "on Ice" prior to releasing it.
[QUOTE]
[b]Amazon wrote: [/b]
...The Cosmos Rocks probably would sound better than The Cosmos is Rocking....
[/QUOTE]
Since the term cosmos means an orderly or harmonious system, those who have listened to TCR and decline to bask in the Q+PR love, might find it to be very un-harmonious and annoying to the ear, self included. Of course, Brian might think that Carl Sagan's Cosmos rocked (which it did) and wanted to honor the documentary. I'm quite sure Brian thinks the cosmos rocks, so it's an appropriate title for any aged rocker who is also an astronomer.
Actually, a more accurate title for the album would have been The Cosmos Is Expanding.
[b]Amazon wrote: [/b]
...The Cosmos Rocks probably would sound better than The Cosmos is Rocking....
[/QUOTE]
Since the term cosmos means an orderly or harmonious system, those who have listened to TCR and decline to bask in the Q+PR love, might find it to be very un-harmonious and annoying to the ear, self included. Of course, Brian might think that Carl Sagan's Cosmos rocked (which it did) and wanted to honor the documentary. I'm quite sure Brian thinks the cosmos rocks, so it's an appropriate title for any aged rocker who is also an astronomer.
Actually, a more accurate title for the album would have been The Cosmos Is Expanding.
Hello Amazon, i believe all of the album titles have been pretty well explained in this thread except for Jazz. My understanding is that in 1978 Queen bought Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland which is the home of an annual jazz festival. Jazz was recorded in Mountain Studios and Super Bear Studios in Nice, France. As for the album cover, Roger saw something similar to the white concentric circles on a black background that would be used as the album art painted on the wall that was erected by communist East Germany in 1961 to separate East Berlin from West Berlin.