Fun on Earth - Just received

I was able to listen to Fun On Earth for the first time last night too.

Just for the previews I knew I would like it, but after listening to every song in full I must say that I absolutely love it. Not a single song I dislike. Even SINT, wich I initially considered unnecessary, is a joy to listen to.

Always been a fan of Roger's solo efforts and I find this album displays a mature, clever and rich delivery from Rog.

Many changes within the songs that I didn't expect. So far, my fave tune is Quality Street. There are some very good things in there that weren't spoiled in the previews!

And "Drummer" is crazy!!! I get goosebumps during the epic climax !

Bravo Roger, thumbs up!!

I actually got my copy on Thursday (7th November) from my local record store in Glasgow. He only got one copy of it in, and didn't care about the embargo. Oddly, the boxset didn't arrive with him. I've not been on QZ for a while, hence I didn't report back.....

that said, I've nothing to report back on it, as I haven't even bothered listening to it yet. I've just split with my fiancee Gayle, and am on a bit of a downer so couldn't be arsed listening to it. I almost never bought it at all.

But hey-ho - onwards and upwards....might give it a listen to tonight :)

on first listen...some observations of where the "inspiration" for some songs came

quality street - julian cope ("autogeddon" era)
i don't care - peter gabriel
i'm the drummer in a rock n roll band - foos
sunny day - robert plant
be with you - moody blues (night sin white satin)
up - pink floyd (run like hell)
smile - various part of beatles abbey rd medley, and a previous RT track

saying that, i do like the album

I heard it a couple of times on Spotify,and I can say that tha's the album Mr Taylor should release at his current age,more relaxed,there are of course the Roger that never grows up(the drummer in a rock n roll band)the man with political views(the unblinking eye)and the mature Roger who has a story to say.I really liked the use of the saxophone in some songs,I didn't liked the new editions of Small and Say its not true,the May Taylor Rodgers project gave us better ones,and the Unblinking Eye version is stripped down a lot compared to the single.The most important thing is that Roger is still around,where is Mr May anyway?
Still it doesnt catch my favourite Roger's solo effort "Happiness",and Fun on Earth...isnt a little stupid title? back to the 80's I guess...

[QUOTE] [b]madprofessorus wrote:[/b]
Still it doesnt catch my favourite Roger's solo effort "Happiness",and Fun on Earth...isnt a little stupid title? back to the 80's I guess...[/QUOTE]
no it;s not a stupid title.
if you think about it
"fun in space" had a distinctly "of it's time" feel...and a little bit of a play on the space race/cold war/and rock n roll drugs theme of the time

whereas
"fun on earth" is the antithesis of that - ie it's saying this is a grounded, mature person happy in his own skin, with nothing left to prove...just kicking back and enjoying his autumn years...perfect title

My take on it...

I gave Fun On Earth a spin on Friday on my way home from work, and while I'll need to give it a few more listens to really let it sink in, my verdict is that it's pleasant but a step back from Electric Fire and even Happiness?.

The rock songs are good – One Night Stand, I Am A Drummer, and Up especially – but Roger is clearly in a more reflective mood. The saxophone doesn't do anything for me on the three songs it's on, and they kind of blend together for me, so I can't recall anything particularly discerning about them. Small and Say It's Not True are both inferior to the QPR versions, as far as I'm concerned; Small is a little TOO laid back here, and I would have liked to have heard a Roger vocal version of the QPR arrangement; Say It's Not True is a song Roger is obviously proud of, but again, the build up of the QPR version works so much better here, and Jeff Beck's participation is wasted. (Still, those are some lovely licks he adds.)

I still dig Sunny Day, even though I prefer Woman You're So Beautiful, and Unblinking Eye is just wasted space. But the standouts for me, apart from the three aforementioned rock songs, are Be With You, My Brightest Spark, and Smile. Just simple love songs for Sarina that are an obvious reflection of Roger's 64-year-old state of mind. He's settling into middle age and is enjoying his jet-setting lifestyle (especially if Sarina's Tweets are anything to go by!) and I think those three songs are perfect reflections of that.

As far as bonus cuts go, I could do without Dear Mr. Murdoch. Whole House Rockin' is a jolly good rock number, still with the stupid lyrics, but I think the title is far more indicative of a good-time rock song than Cosmos Rockin' as a title. And honestly, The Shores of Formentera is a gorgeous little semi-instrumental that I love and should have been on the deluxe edition, if not the final running order (perhaps in place of Unblinking Eye).

Overall, I need to give it a few more listens before I can really decide whether I love it or not, but Electric Fire, to me, is his undoubtedly strongest effort, with Fun On Earth somewhere in the middle. Still, I hope this isn't his last solo album, and that he has at least another album in him.

I have to say, I'm quite impressed with "Fun On Earth." Even more so than I had thought I might be! I think "Sunny Day" is one of the weaker tracks on the record. Initially I really liked it, but I ended up enjoying almost everything a great deal more after hearing the whole shebang. It's good to have Roger the solo artist back!

[QUOTE] [b]Day dop wrote:[/b]

I wish I was more interested in RT's solo stuff, but the problem is I find his music a little dull/boring, and his lyrics are often a tad cringe-worthy. I enjoy Freddie and Brian's solo stuff, but in general I don't when it comes to Rogers. Shove It was alright though. [/QUOTE]

Really? I would say that out of all of Roger's solo output, Shove It is easily the weakest.

It might even be one the weakest offerings from either the band, or any related solo project. Even Another World is more exciting.

[QUOTE] [b]Pingfah wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]Day dop wrote:[/b]

I wish I was more interested in RT's solo stuff, but the problem is I find his music a little dull/boring, and his lyrics are often a tad cringe-worthy. I enjoy Freddie and Brian's solo stuff, but in general I don't when it comes to Rogers. Shove It was alright though. [/QUOTE]

Really? I would say that out of all of Roger's solo output, Shove It is easily the weakest.

It might even be one the weakest offerings from either the band, or any related solo project. Even Another World is more exciting.

[/QUOTE]

Well, Shove it has dated quite badly. I did say it was alright (or at least it was when it came out) - but not exceptional in any way.
I wouldn't argue with the last part - as I said, I prefer May's solo output myself. Another World had a few nice tracks on it - Why Don't We Try Again and the title track spring to mind.

"Up" and "Be With You" are my favourites so far. I also like that he made new versions of the previously released songs - so they are kinda new too. The lyrics to The Unblinking Eye are very good and is relevant and important(!).

I think Fun on Earth has a good album feeling throughout - maybe best to hear it while you're all by yourself (I think so with the most of Queens' music) - and the saxophone in 3 (?) of the songs contributes to the album feeling, I think.

I must admit i've never liked any of the solo albums apart from Freddies, I guess the voice made even the weakest of songs sound better. But in the last few days I've downloaded all of Rogers albums and I think they are way better than Brians

Fun in Space, Strange Frontier and electric Eye are all great, Happiness isn't that good (IMO) but I like Fun on Earth having listened to it a few times.

The Cross albums I can take or leave, I don't think they have aged well.

Glad I gave them another go though.....maybe Back To The Light wasn't as shit as I thought back in '93 lol

I finally gave Fun On Earth a spin on Tuesday night and then again on Wednesday - and I have to say I really liked it. It was much better than I thought it would be, and I'm really impressed with "Be With You", "I Don't Care", "Be My Gal (My Brightest Spark)", "Up" and "Smile". I still think "Sunny Day" is a nice track, whilst "Small" is way better than the Q+PR effort (not that I dislike that). The use of sax and violins in a lot of the tracks is quite refreshing, and I think that the album just gels together beautifully. My only negative point is "I'm A Drummer..." which I thought would have been fun but was just an anti-climax (just my opinion). Overall though, it's a great piece of work and by far the best piece of queen related output for ages.

I like the fact that he did it more than I like the album itself.