Was Flash bit of a tease album...?

In the same year that Queen entered the 80's with their first album "The Game" an album that DID NOT feature those famous lines.."no synths were ever played on this album".... unless you consider the organ used in Liar and Now I'm Hear as sort of a synth... Would you say that Flash was a tease in regards to how synths would feature in the band...? Or you glad it was all over in that one album...!
Critics would say that The Miracle and Innuendo was Queen harking back to the good old days of hard rocking 70s style songs... But you have to admit.. FLASH or albeit two songs and in particular.. "The Hero" and the epicness of that song, That song would have to be Queen almost in full circle.. A mirror reflection of Seven Seas of Rhy.... a song at full tit with lots going on in the back ground the kitchen sink and all.. But with lashings of synths instead of piano!!
I don't know what you guys think of Flash and where it could have taken Queen... But I recon if Queen had gone along with that sort of sound in their next album.. It could have been something a little more than what we got in that album Hot Space.. Something epic, something like a synth style Queen II but with space replacing the dungeons and dragons good vs evil etc etc (pending on how you interpreted Queen II in concept) as the fantasy..

NO. It was a soundtrack album done to much of the actual film. *prep and final scenes. It was a departure because it was FULLY an IMMERSIVE soundtrack.


It wasn't a set up for a "KISS: THE ELDER"




Also. ... when you've got it full tit.... you gotta suck or squeeze

'News of the World' and 'Jazz' didn't claim to be synth-less either (though they were), and 'Queen II' had a few seconds of synth at the end despite its claim.

Still, I see what OP is getting at - a fully realised Queen album in the style of the Flash Gordon soundtrack would've certainly been interesting.

[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]

'News of the World' and 'Jazz' didn't claim to be synth-less either (though they were), and 'Queen II' had a few seconds of synth at the end despite its claim.[/QUOTE]

Didn't all pre "The Game" albums contain.... in sometimes a well written sentence... such as "absolutely no synths were used......" for the NATO CD....

on Queen II your referring to the little stylophone at the end of SSOR..?

I don't think the OP meant a flash Gordon themed original story teller album. The op meant a follow up to the game perhaps tinged with heavy synths


Maybe like a Rick Wakeman album. ..or Eurythmics.... Gary Numan? ....err a Rock album heavy on synth with composition rather than the pop formula approached on HOT SPACE.



That would've been nice.

I'm probably one of the few who loves the FLASH GORDON score.

If it weren't for my fascination with the camp and the vivacious Ornella Muti, I think I might in fact prefer listening to the album rather than watch the film.

MAX Von SYDOW is also pretty incredible.


SAM JONES has gone on record saying that direction was terrible on the film as was preparation. Nevermind that he's a bad actor. There were even language difficulties. Scenes altered the day OF etc.


I still think Flash OST narrowly defeats the film

[QUOTE] [b]fras444 wrote:[/b]

Didn't all pre "The Game" albums contain.... in sometimes a well written sentence... such as "absolutely no synths were used......"[/QUOTE]

No, they didn't. Five of them did (roughly 71.43%), but not all of them.

[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]

'News of the World' and 'Jazz' didn't claim to be synth-less either (though they were), and 'Queen II' had a few seconds of synth at the end despite its claim.[/QUOTE]

This made me check my vinyls because I thought you were clearly mistaken.

My mistake.

Guess it was something I'd always assumed to have been stated, and would have failed miserably on in a trivia contest.

I love Flash! It might be a soundtrack and often get dismissed, but stuff like the Battle Theme is just fantastic to my ears! I actually think it's a bit proggish, following on from Vultan's Theme, if I remember rightly.

Flash is a curious album, almost short changing us as it only uses brief parts of the orchestral soundtrack (which is amazing). Aside from the sometimes problematic dialogue use I love it and totally agree with the OP. Their best songs in the 80s IMO were those rock songs with synth, most notably Was It All Worth Is, Princes Of The Universe etc.

(primarily because, as said previously they seem to somehow update those brilliant early rock songs)

[QUOTE] [b]*goodco* wrote:[/b]

Guess it was something I'd always assumed to have been stated, and would have failed miserably on in a trivia contest.[/QUOTE]

The whole 'no synths' thing was certainly blown out of proportion by the public and the media. Queen were not against synths the same way they were not against trumpets (still, a significant part of their recorded output has no trumpets whatsoever).

According to Louis Austin (who engineered, but not produced, their 1971 demos), they did try out synths, but those didn't end up in the five finished songs we all know now. Same for piano, regarding those particular sessions.

John Deacon in particular suggested that, rather than having some sort of fundamentalist reason not to incorporate synthesisers at that point, the reason was more of a technical one: they didn't quite know how to work them. Rather than teaching themselves how to do it, which would take up valuable time and possibly money, they just kept doing what they knew best: playing the instruments they'd already mastered, and using the techniques that they were keener on.

That's why, when some test pressings of their début single were heard by some people who mistakenly thought the varisped multi-tracked harmonised guitars were layers of synths, they chose to put the disclaimer on.

It's a valid reason. That's also why they listed their roles, etc., and made sure people knew there were no choirs or orchestras, and no session musicians, as they were understandably proud of having achieved what they did without resorting to any of those.

The problem, however, was that it gradually got shrouded in myth: loads of people assumed they hated synths (they didn't) and that all of those sounds were Brian's guitar (they weren't).

[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]

The problem, however, was that it gradually got shrouded in myth: loads of people assumed they hated synths (they didn't) and that all of those sounds were Brian's guitar (they weren't).[/QUOTE]

Yes, but the overwhelming majority of them were.

In a nutshell, the "no synthesizers" slogan was their way of telling people it's just the four of them, particularly guitars layered upon guitars.

Of course we can dissect it with a fine tooth comb, but this is what it ultimately comes down to.

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]

The problem, however, was that it gradually got shrouded in myth: loads of people assumed they hated synths (they didn't) and that all of those sounds were Brian's guitar (they weren't).[/QUOTE]

Yes, but the overwhelming majority of them were.

In a nutshell, the "no synthesizers" slogan was their way of telling people it's just the four of them, particularly guitars layered upon guitars.

Of course we can dissect it with a fine tooth comb, but this is what it ultimately comes down to.[/QUOTE]


Yes, and i always thought that the "No synths" line was made more for Brian´s benefit than anything else. Brian wanted people to know that those sounds were made with his guitar (he´s a proud man), and when you think of it, it took Brian more time trying to make all those harmonies on guitar (All dead, All dead), than would take them to learn how to use the synths.

I even remember one interview about the begining of TYMD, where Brian was a bit pissed off that people said to him (hey, nice synths!) after all the time he´d spent creating thoses sounds.

In a nutshell, Brian wanted to use the guitar instead of synths, and it has become part of their sound. If they wanted to use synths they would have, because as far as i´m concerned they were all fast learners, specially in the studio, when that meant they could be in a produce-it-yourself kind of situation.

John Deacon answer is the diplomatic answer, and it could be true in 1972/73, but after that it was Brian just trying to create with his guitar all the sounds he used to hear in his head when he was a kid (with the Deacy amp).