Hot Space as EP

I don't see it as a mistake, and I do like it, but I think it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay below their classic material.

It's like: a 70-YO man is not young, let alone a baby, but he's not even in the top 1,000 oldest people alive. Actually, he could be the oldest man alive's grandkid. Same here: Hot Space is not bad, let a lone a mistake, but it's not even in the top 10 Queen albums. Actually, its best material (except perhaps Pressure) makes Opera's worst material look like a masterpiece.

Sebastian wrote: "I don't see it as a mistake, and I do like it, but I think it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay below their classic material." There probably aren't any songs on HS which I would rank among Queen's very best songs, but I do think that several of the songs are terrific.


"It's like: a 70-YO man is not young, let alone a baby, but he's not even in the top 1,000 oldest people alive. Actually, he could be the oldest man alive's grandkid. Same here: Hot Space is not bad, let a lone a mistake, but it's not even in the top 10 Queen albums." The problem with the analogy above is that it is completely subjective how good HS is, but it is not subjective how someone's age ranks compared to others. One can carry out an objective and fact-based study on how old someone is compared to others. However, stating that HS is or is not among Queen's ten best album is not objective.

Personally, I'm not sure where HS ranks, however I do think that a case can be made for it's being among Queen's ten best albums. As it happens, there are seven albums which IMO are certainties for Queen's top 10, and up to five others which could make a claim. The only two albums which I don't think are among Queen's ten best albums under any circumstances are The Works and AKOM.

"Actually, its best material (except perhaps Pressure) makes Opera's worst material look like a masterpiece." I don't agree. Puting aside God Save The Queen, which doesn't count, ANATO's worst songs are arguably I'm In Love With My Car and Sweet Lady. To be perfectly honest, I don't think that either song are all much better than much of HS, and there are several songs on HS which IMO are better. I'm not just talking about Under Pressure, an overrated song which I don't think is even the best song on HS. Staying Power, Put Out The Fire and Las Palabras De Amor are IMO all superior to Sweet Lady (which apart from a highly impressive guitar solo and some terrific drumming is quite forgettable IMO) and perhaps I'm In Love With My Car (which, whilst pretty good, is a song I often skip over).

In fact, while the best of HS doesn't compare to the best of Queen's 70's work, nor does the worst of HS IMO compare to the worst of Queen's 70's work. Songs like In the Lap of the Gods, She Makes Me, Fun It, If You Can't Beat Them, More of that Jazz and The Loser in the End are IMO vastly inferior to anything on HS.

OMFG Amazon.  Let me just say that if we were at a party together and I saw you heading for the CDs, if I was anywhere in lunging distance you'd only get there dragging me across the floor clinging to your right leg screaming "Noooooooo!" Virtually without fail when you say "I love that song" I'm like "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz" and when you dislike something I think it's just the best thing.  I'm in Love With My Car is a textbook case for turn it up to 11!  What do you mean you skip it? And I was going to spank you in another thread for calling Save Me and Sweet Sister filler by proxy, but I see now I misread that.  But then you called 'It's Late' boring! That's probably my favourite song from that whole album. You've actually made me wonder many times about how people's musical taste evolves and why people listen to the same thing and hear such different things. :)

They should remix HS like Roger and Brian did with GH3 version of UP, and improve the production a 100 fold.

Queen's Second EP

1. Cool Cat
2. Back Chat
3. Staying Power
4. Under Pressure

I think Hot Space is a nice diversity from the other albums, and some times it make sense to put it on.

When I didn't had a dish washer, I always did my dishes to Hot Space (or the Quentin Tarantino Connection)...

I'm one of those people who really likes Cool Cat, and also My Baby Does Me and Delilah :)

^ That's funny.  Before I had a dishwasher I went on a jag of doing the the dishes to the 'Mr. Bad Guy' CD to see if I could get it to grow on me.  Didn't really work though. Then I decided I didn't have no time for no monkey business, and I got a dishwasher.

Hehe, I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. ...at least now you have a dishwasher : )

I think Mr. Bad Guy is pretty cool, but the beats sounds a bit cheap and easy some places.
Foolin' Around and There Must Be More To Life Than This are my favorites (on the album, by the way)...

...also the "new" re-mix of "My Love Is Dangerous" on the Freddie Mercury - Lover of Life Singer of Songs is great. Funky!

Maybe the whole album would sound better with a 2010 re-mix...? Deeper and not SO much influenced by the '80s...
-At least it could be interesting!

GratefulFan wrote:"OMFG Amazon. Let me just say that if we were at a party together and I saw you heading for the CDs, if I was anywhere in lunging distance you'd only get there dragging me across the floor clinging to your right leg screaming "Noooooooo!" Virtually without fail when you say "I love that song" I'm like "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz" and when you dislike something I think it's just the best thing." That's not very nice. Anyway, puting aside the fact that we are both on a Queen site, :D I think you'll find that my musical taste extends well beyond Hot Space, which I contend is along with The Miracle one of Queen's two most underrated albums. Now if you want a Queenian example of my taste; my favourite album is ANATO followed by SHA, and my favourite song is The Prophet's Song.


"I'm in Love With My Car is a textbook case for turn it up to 11! What do you mean you skip it?" To be honest, I'm not a big fan of Roger's 70's songs. There are a few exceptions (Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll and Fight From The Inside), but generally speaking, they are among my least favourite songs from each album. However, apart from Fun It and More of that Jazz, none of them are all that bad. While I'm not a huge fan of Tenement Funster, IILWMC, Drowse and Sheer Heart Attack, I don't think they are poor songs. But I do think they are among the weakest songs on SHA-NOTW (Fight From The Insider excepted), with the two Jazz songs being among my least favourite Queen songs, and Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll being one of two 70's Roger songs which I think are terrific. I think that Roger is an example of a song-writer who got better as he matured, with most of his best stuff IMO being post-1982.

"And I was going to spank you in another thread for calling Save Me and Sweet Sister filler by proxy, but I see now I misread that." Yes, :D I would never call either Save Me or Sweet Sister filler. I'm quite shocked that Holly would accuse me of doing such a thing!

"But then you called 'It's Late' boring! That's probably my favourite song from that whole album. You've actually made me wonder many times about how people's musical taste evolves and why people listen to the same thing and hear such different things. :)" Interesting. Do you mind expanding on this?

Amazon wrote: Am I really the only person here who not only doesn't regard Hot Space as a mistake, but who loves the album? :D

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Nope. i actually prefer listening to it more than THE WORKS... even though that has great ones like "It's A Hard Life", "Machines (or Back to Humans), "Just Keep Passing the Open Windows"  and ...well.. yeah.. even though it has those three songs and "Is This The World That We Created?"

I think the diversity of Hot Space keeps it interesting in my mind, but i wasn't around when the album was released.. (a year before i was born)... So i can't fathom the collective disappointment that may have come with someone's favorite rock band seemingly (???) going for the charts

who knows what they were thinking, but i DO love Dancer, Back Chat, Action This Day, Calling All Girls, Las Palabras De Amor, Cool Cat is fun....and Under Pressure and parts of Staying Power are interesting...

the Song For Lennon is also unusual... Queen's take on a John Lennonish song... i still think it runs circles around THE WORKS.

Okay guys...I'm one of the old geezers that was there for the initial release...and, yes...I was BITTERLY disappointed!

But even back then, I found these songs to be kinda irresistable(so they make up my EP):

1.) Staying Power
2.)Back Chat
3.)Body Language

Plus I would add 4.) Cool Cat...but ONLY if it was the version w/ David Bowie...Bowies "bum, bum, bum" s Added a wonderful new dimension to this otherwise not-so-great song.

THIS, my Queen friends...would have been the perfect Hot Space EP.

What is it with Hot Space?
Am I the only person on the planet who loves it?
I have to admit, I'd prefer the tracks to be more guitar and less synth, but the only duffer on the album is "Life Is Real".

LOL...i actually LOVE Life Is Real...just goes to show that we Queen Fans are a diverse bunch!

Cheers!

Personally i dont see anything wrong with hot space, i like the fact that Queen were not afraid to do different things and it did get to number 4 in the UK album charts as did NOTW so it cant have been that bad popularity wise

1. Las Palabras de Amor
2. Put Out the Fire
3. Life Is Real
4. Under Pressure

Someone commented on YouTube that if "Hot Space" sounded like the live cuts off the album on "Queen On Fire", it would have been the biggest album they've ever had.

V.

Off-topic but I think the song title "Life is Real" is a reply/counterpoint to John Lennon's song title "Imagine".