Roger Taylor about Queen Forever.

He does not seem to think too much of the Queen Forever album.

From an interview with Classic Rock:

Taylor meets us in his home studio, a stone’s throw from the pub and golf club of a sleepy Surrey village. His mansion and the South Downs can both be glimpsed through the trees. Tracksuit-casual, his hair and beard white, Queen’s drummer is the most bluntly forthright about their future in 2015. And he can’t raise much enthusiasm for Queen Forever, for a start.

“I was very pleased we had three new tracks to put on it, which we laboured long and hard over,” he says. “As well as the Michael Jackson track There Must Be More To Life Than This, there is another song Freddie did with him called State of Shock [later recorded with the Jacksons and Mick Jagger], with a massive rock sound. But we could only have one track with Michael, which is a great shame. Let Me In Your Heart Again is absolutely typical mid-period Queen. And it was Brian’s idea to revisit Love Kills, which I feel works. But apart from that it is a rather odd mixture of our slower stuff. I didn’t want the double-album version they’ve put out. It’s an awful lot for people to take in, and it’s bloody miserable! I wouldn’t call it an album, either. It’s a compilation with three new tracks. It’s more of a record company confection. It’s not a full-blooded Queen album.”

Where can I read that interview?

It's a pretty decent interview. If you have a membership, you can read it here: [url=https://www.teamrock.com/features/2014-12-20/queen-adam-lambert-by-royal-appointment]https://www.teamrock.com/features/2014-12-20/queen-adam-lambert-by-royal-appointment[/url]

But there are high quality scans here: [url=https://imgur.com/a/hFBE6#9]https://imgur.com/a/hFBE6#9[/url]

Here's Brian's comment on QF:

[i]“I can understand Roger’s reticence,” May laughs. “He’s not really a ballad writer, so this album’s not really representative of Roger Taylor. [b]It actually wasn’t our idea. If it had been down to me it would have been an EP of these new songs, but we’d already promised the record company some kind of compilation.”[/b][/i]

And both of them on the idea of recording again as Queen+ or with Adam:

[i]But after The Cosmos Rocks Queen’s veteran pair are wary of going down that route again. When I spoke to Paul Rodgers in 2014 he made clear his own unhappiness at the experience. “Politically, Brian and Roger were calling the shots,” he recalled. “We’d done some amazing shows, and Roger had some hip, cool songs, but it could have been better.”

“I guess, yeah,” Taylor considers. “I had a lot to do with that album. It was made in this room, actually. It had some great stuff on it. I just think that Paul’s more blues and soul – one of our favourite singers, ever – but when it boils down to it he wasn’t the perfect frontman for us. I felt the album was badly promoted by EMI, who were falling to bits at the time. We were on tour in Europe, and I went into record stores and we weren’t in them. And I remember being furious, thinking: ‘Why did we make this fucking record?’

[b]“It certainly made us think twice about making a Queen album with another singer,”[/b] he adds. [b]“There’s a resistance among the record-buying public to that idea, because Freddie was so inextricably linked with us.[/b] When you lose the brand, people aren’t interested. That’s why even Freddie’s solo albums, or Mick Jagger’s, or certainly mine, aren’t going to break any sales records. People want the brand. It’s a horrible word, but very apt.”

[b]“I wouldn’t be averse to recording again,” May considers, “but we haven’t discussed it.[/b] And we spent a huge amount of time making that album with Paul Rodgers, going through quite a lot of pain, and I don’t think it made the slightest dent on public consciousness. [b]So I would be cautious about being in a recording group called Queen without Freddie. Maybe we should be doing something else with Adam. Maybe we should be part of his recording future.”[/b][/i]

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There doesn't seem to be a preview here...? Apologies if this post turns out to be a mess or blank or whatever.

[QUOTE] [b]sinsome wrote:[/b]


[b]“I wouldn’t be averse to recording again,” May considers, “but we haven’t discussed it.[/b] And we spent a huge amount of time making that album with Paul Rodgers, going through quite a lot of pain, and I don’t think it made the slightest dent on public consciousness. [b]So I would be cautious about being in a recording group called Queen without Freddie. Maybe we should be doing something else with Adam. Maybe we should be part of his recording future.”[/b][/i]

[/QUOTE]


Thats the interesting part to me! Sounds like The Cosmos Rocks made him wary of making another Queen album.........(though I'd think a Queen + Adam album would generate more interest........I dunno, could be wrong, tho...)

"Maybe we should be part of his recording future"??? Hmmm........Brian and Roger playing on Adam's song(s) or album?? I'd rather have a Q+AL album, but I'd have NO problem with that!!!

This is all very interesting and sounds the most truthful that we have heard from Brian and Roger for some time. At times we forget even the major bands are at beck and call of the record company.

This once again proves what I'd been saying that this compilation wasn't their idea to begin with.

Ah, finally a good and honest interview with the two of them.

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

[QUOTE] [b]inu-liger wrote:[/b]

This once again proves what I'd been saying that this compilation wasn't their idea to begin with.[/QUOTE]

Yes exactly. It will be interesting to see how many of those who slated RT and BM for this album have anything to say.

This is actually really interesting. Thanks for this!

Read an amazing article on boxing promoter Don King and noted asshat Donald Trump today, on how their business model was to take credit for all things good, and lay blame when things go bad. Seems B + R have mastered that strategy. I'm confused, but it seems B + R are multi, multi millionaires. Why would they sign with a major label? Oh, massive distribution. But to think that the record company wouldn't want to recoup the investment after you've been a recording unit who's made shitloads of money after 40 years is disingenuous at best, a lie at worst. Universal wants to sell product, Roger wants to be an artist who doesn't want a compilation released? That's fucking rich.

Nice to "hear" them say this, but it's a bit too late, I think. They really had us going for a long time, getting us all so excited. One new song is much better than zero, though.

Let's hope Brian talking of an ep for those unreleased tracks bodes well for any future releases ! Ep the way to go, or mini album, 5 or 6 tracks.

Nuff said!

So Brian has now realised what we were all shouting 10-15 years ago; record some new stuff but release it under a 'Taylor/May' banner (much like Plant & Page did, and they even did Zep covers!), rather than as Queen! I'd much rather see that than them act as Adam's backing band than one of his projects.

Interesting to have it confirmed to that effectively the deal with the MJ estate resulted in them only being allowed to use one of those tracks, and that their arrangement of State of Shock is a full rock track.

Gotta love the way they moan about having to deliver a compilation album....after presumably signing a deal tying them to exactly that! And after flooding the market with them for 20 years too.....!!